Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 27

HAVINGALREADYPLANTEDflagsinmice,
keyboards, headsets, speakers, soundbarsand
questionably useful light-up mousepads, Razer
is continuingits attemptstotakeover PC
hardwarewithits first-ever desktop monitor.
The Raptor 27 targetsthe sweet spot of a
27in screenat2,560x1,440, with afastrefresh
rateof144Hz. The matt-finishpanel alsouses
IPS tech, whichtraditionally offers better-
lookingcolours than VA or TN panels at the
cost of higher response time,although Razer
claims the default 7ms can be lowered to 4ms
with pixel overdrive enabled,and as lowas
1ms with the motion blur reduction setting.
Refresh ratesyncingisalsoincluded, in the
form of AMDFreeSync 2, and it’salso certified
as G-Sync Compatible,sowhether youown an
AMD or Nvidia graphics card, you’ll be ableto
sync therefreshratetothe GPU output,
reducingscreentear,uptothe 144fps mark.
The Raptor 27 even promisesHDR support,
albeit to the lowestDisplayHDR 400 standard.

CLEVER GIRL

That’s alot of encouraging specs, though one
of the bestthingsabout the Raptor27isits
physicaldesign. Buildquality is outstanding:
the aluminium stand is completely wobble-
free and offers heightand tilt adjustment, and
the baseisdecorated with RGBlight strips
that can be synced to other peripherals within
Razer’s Chroma ecosystem. That’s only one of
its party tricks,too: the screen canalso tilt all
the wayback until it’s flat, grantingeasy
access to theports that would otherwise be
hidden within therear recess.
Besidesthe expected HDMI 2.0b and
DisplayPort 1.4inputs, and a3.5mm combined
mic/headphone jack,there’s also aUSB
Type-C port,whichcan carryaDisplayPort
signal as well as data. Ifyou’vegot this
connectedtoyourPC,
youcan alsomake
use of two USB2
passthrough ports.
It’s ahappily
versatile mix, andthe
waythe cables canbe
routed –intheir own
individual channels,
cascadingdownthe
back of the sloping
stand –looks
marvellous. If Razer
was tryingtoimprove
subtlety withthis bit of
cable-tidying, however,

itppprrrooobbbaaabbblllyssshhhooouuullldddnnn’’’ttthhhaaaveeemmmaaadddeeeaaallllllttthhheee

bundledcablesbrightgreen.

Nevertheless,noothermonitorbalances

style withpracticalitysoeffectively.Further to

this, theRaptor27employsajoystick control

instead of fiddly individualbuttons, and the

onscreen display(OSD) is easy to navigate,

and stuffed with arich variety of settings.

MOTION DWELLING

The main Gaming screeniswhere the meat

of customisation lies. There aretoggles for

Adaptive Sync, Overdrive,MotionBlur

Reduction,HDR (moreonthislater) andeven

abuilt-in refresh ratecounter.

TheOverdrive feature is limited to three

settings –off, weak andstrong –but there’s

not much difference betweenthe latter two. A

tinytouchofblurring remains, so the Raptor

27 doesn’t entirelyescape thedrawbacks of

using an IPS panel,but both settings are

definitely up to the task whengaming. The

Strongsetting doesn’t suffer thecommon

overdrive-induced issue of high input lag,so

we were happytoleave it on.

Sadly,motion-blur reduction is best avoided.

It does indeed cutblurring on very fast-

moving objects, butitalso drastically reduces

brightnesswhile adding some hideous strobe

crosstalk –adouble-image effect –onthose

same objects. LeavingMBR off withoverdrive

on sets the response time to 4ms, whichisno

1ms but alot better than the default 7ms.

ptor 27 wastoo slow

ane gaming, and

shrate-syncingworks

too.Eventhough

cisn’t technically

orted natively, it

sfully cut down on

tear whenconnected

X1060-based PC.

ormore generalimage

wefound the sRGB

elds the bestresults.

eof its namesake

coverage is a

cally perfect 99.5%,

and althoughan

aaaveeerrraaagggeeedddeeellltttaaa-EEEooofff 222. 222888 mmmeeeaaannnsssiiittt’’’sssnnnooottt

amazinglyaccurateaswell,the1,2 09 :1

contrastratiokeepseverythingpunchy.

Peakbrightnessisdecenttoo,at 38 1cd/m^2.

Engaging HDRmode(whichneedstobe

done manually via theOSD) allows this to

rise to 476cd/m^2 ,atleast in HDR content

specifically, so theRaptor 27 does indeed

meet the requirements of DisplayHDR 400.

However, when viewingnon-HDR content in

HDRmode, brightnessonly reaches 365cd/m^2 ,

whichislower than in sRGB mode.

Still, even basic HDR is apotent addition to

theRaptor 27’s imperfect but accomplished

picturequality.Although the Gigabyte Aorus

AD27QD (Shopper379) heavily undercuts it,

HDRmakesfor afairly compelling reason to

choosethe Raptor 27 over its more numerous

and even cheaper HDR-less rivals.

SPEND GAME

At least, it is if you have the cash forit. Paying

£699 fora27in, Quad HD monitor requires

either an outrageously inflated bankaccount

or an outrageouslyinflated sense of bravado.

Whilethe design is brilliantand HDRisa

luxury extra, theAorus AD27QDand Acer

Nitro VG270UP (Shopper382) bothdeliver

similarly high specs and performance(the

Nitro VG270UP only differing in itslackof

HDR) forhundredsofpoundsless. That leaves

theRaptor 27 as amonitor that’s beautifully

made,but justtoo expensive to recommend.

JamesArcher

RAZER Raptor27

★★★★★

£699•From http://www.currys.co.uk

VERDICT

Withitsimmaculatedesign,vividIPSpanel
andterrifyingprice,theRaptor 27 aimshigh

QUADHDIPSMONITOR

SCREEN SIZE27in•RESOLUTION2,560x1,440•SCREEN

TECHNOLOGYIPS•REFRESH RATE144Hz•VIDEO

INPUTSHDMI,DisplayPort•WARRANTYOneyearRTB•

DETAILSwww.razer.com•PART CODERaptor 27

SPECIFICATIONS

CONNECTION PORTS

HDMI DisplayPort USB2 x2

USBType-C 3.5mm mic/headphone

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