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Sadly, its BGR subpixel layout results in some text clarity issues that bothered many users. For gaming, content consumption and everyday use, the BGR layout issue is negligible, which is why it’s still a popular model today. Clarity was never in question. A 27-inch QHD monitor has an ideal 109ppi pixel density, so whether you work or play on it, the image is always sharp. It’s important to visit the M27Q X’s menu to lower the sharpness slider from 5 to 4 though. It’s a subtle but visible improvement in cleanliness. And the change removes all signs of font anti-aliasing.
The Off mode is too slow, while ‘Speed’ is too aggressive as it introduces high levels of overshoot (inverse ghosting). ‘Smart OD’ is supposed to function as variable overdrive, but it’s not very effective and should be avoided.For the first set of text samples, ensure you select the 2nd option as shown in the image below. This second text sample should look clearer (bolder) than the first when viewed in person on this monitor. The remaining samples help fine-tune according to your own preferences. While it has no official G-SYNC Compatible certification by NVIDIA, there are no issues when using VRR with compatible GeForce GPUs over DisplayPort. Further up the screen the screen strobe crosstalk appears in front of the object. This becomes fainter and eventually disappears a bit further down. For the more central regions of the screen the strobe crosstalk becomes displaced behind the object, becoming increasingly bold further down the screen until it eventually melds into the main object. Making the object appear doubled. Whilst the strobe crosstalk isn’t too strong centrally, and this is the main area of the screen you observe when immersed in something like a competitive FPS game, it is still visible in some central regions and very strong lower down. There’s also that pesky overshoot throughout the screen and some additional issues to consider, as we explore a little later when we provide subjective analysis of this setting.
The M27Q X features simple and unassuming styling with an 8mm-wide flush bezel for the main panel and angular accents on the triangular base. All parts are finished in matte-textured plastic. The upright is a solid piece with a 130mm height adjustment and 5/20 degrees of tilt. There is no portrait or swivel functionality. The panel can be placed high enough to use vertically with the eyepoint at center-screen. The anti-glare layer is matte and keeps reflections at bay while maintaining a sharp, grain-free image.You will also see in the image above that it states: “Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible.” This means Nvidia hasn’t specifically tested and validated the display. On our RTX 3090, the experience was very similar to what we described with FreeSync. The floor of operation for VRR was slightly higher and depended on the static refresh rate selected for the monitor. At 170Hz and 165Hz, the floor was 55Hz. At 144Hz it was 53Hz and at 120Hz it was 50Hz. We observed the same LFC-like frame to refresh multiplication technology below this, keeping tearing and stuttering from frame and refresh rate mismatches at bay. There was again a momentary stuttering as the boundary was crossed, much as we observed with our AMD GPU. bit can be selected in the graphics driver at up to 120Hz when using DP and running at the native resolution. 10-bit and 12-bit can be selected at up to 60Hz when using HDMI. The panel used is only an 8-bit panel, but the monitor’s scaler can add a dithering stage to facilitate work with higher bit depth content.
Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but you’re using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. The setting is found in ‘Manage 3D settings’ under ‘Vertical sync’, where the final option (‘Fast’) is equivalent to AMD’s ‘Enhanced Sync’ setting. You’ll also notice ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ listed under ‘Monitor Technology’ in this section, as shown below. Make sure this is selected (it should be if you’ve set everything up correctly in ‘Set up G-SYNC’). Once you connect the monitor to your PC via a USB cable, you can use the Dashboard feature, which can show your system performance (CPU/GPU fan speed, utilization, etc.) on the screen. Design & Connectivity Instead of testing for response time, we test for input lag using the HDFury Diva Matrix. In this case, the Gigabyte M27Q X measured a very good input lag of 1.6 milliseconds. You might've already guessed, but when it comes to input lag, the smaller that number, the better. While other monitors like the Corsair Xeneon 32QHD165 do measure under 1 millisecond, the difference here will be unnoticeable except, perhaps, in edge cases at the far extremes of competitive esports.
A 27-inch QHD/IPS panel with 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR and extended color.
Finally, remember that you can use the ‘Refresh Rate’ feature in the ‘Game Assist’ section of the OSD to display the current refresh rate of the monitor. This will reflect the frame rate if it’s within the main variable refresh rate window. The polling rate (update frequency) is very high for this so it can be difficult to read exact frame rate at times, but it will still give an indication of the frame rate and the fact the technology is working. And as with AMD FreeSync, HDR can be used at the same time as ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. This is an sRGB emulation setting. The colour gamut is restricted significantly, curtailing saturation. The default brightness is reduced but can be adjusted. Gamma remains a touch too high and the image has a cool-tint, neither of which can be adjusted in the OSD using this setting. On the flip side, while the contrast was low, the color gamut results were pretty good, as Gigabyte M27Q X registered 100% of sRGB coverage, 96% of Adobe RGB, and 93% of DCI-P3. These are better results than some other QHD monitors we’ve looked at, like the Razer Raptor 27. When it comes to pixel response time performance, the Gigabyte M27Q-P has five overdrive settings: Off, Smart OD, Picture Quality, Balance and Speed. As usual, if you’re running the monitor at 2560 x 1440 and viewing 1920 x 1080 content (for example a video over the internet or a Blu-ray, using movie software) then it is the GPU and software that handles the upscaling. That’s got nothing to do with the monitor itself – there is a little bit of softening to the image compared to viewing such content on a native Full HD monitor, but it’s not extreme and shouldn’t bother most users.
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