LABS TEST / 27 IN GAMING MONITORS
L
iketheGigabyteAorusFI27Q,the
ViewSonicXG270QGsetsitself
apartwitha hostofextrafeatures.
YougetRGBlighting,a USBhub,a headphone
stand,mousecablebungiesandevensight
shieldsforthesides.
It’salsooneofthesmarter-looking
displaysontest,witha verystark,plainblack
lookaccentedbysubtleRGBlightingzones.
There’sa fetchinghexagonalringoflight
ontheback,andtheoutertwoquartersof
theundersideemita glowtoo.Bothlights
combinetoprovidea gentlebackground
glowthatcangenuinelyhelptoreduce
eyestrainif you’reinanotherwisedarkroom.
Allthiseleganceisrathernullifiedif
youattachthesidesightshieldsthough.
Theysupposedlyhelpyouconcentrateby
blockingoutdistractions,whilepreventing
othersfromseeingyourscreen.Unless
you’reregularlyrockinguptoLANs,though,
thisisa nichefeature.
VIEWSONIC ELITE
XG 2 7 0 QG/£708inc VAT
SUPPLIER alza.co.ukThe headphoneandmousebungie
additions are really welcome though. The
former flips down from the left and provides
an ample length of plastic on which to hang
your headphones without them encroaching
on the screen. Meanwhile, the bungies are
littler rubber arms that flip down from the
underside of the screen, providing a bungie
for either left or right-handed users. The
positioning seems too central at first, but it
actually works well, and they fit a handful of
different mouse cords we tried.
The included stand is a hefty, sturdy affair
as well. Its movements are a little stiff, but its
sheer weight means the stand stays firmly
planted whichever way you’re trying to twist
and turn the display.
The XG270QG has impressed so far, then,
but the OSD menu is a problem. It uses a
mini-joystick control on the underside that too
easily tips to the side, making it tricky and fiddly
to push directly inwards, and not off to the
side at the same time. The menu layout is also
decidedly unintuitive, making it a chore to use.
The second problem is that, although the
XG270QG has an sRGB colour balance mode,
it doesn’t have an sRGB colour gamut mode,
so you’re always stuck with the extended
colour gamut. That said, the extended range
here didn’t stand out as obviously as on the
other displays, with colour largely looking
quite natural, despite the 140 per cent sRGB
colour space coverage.
Looking more generally at image quality,
the XG270QG has a slightly disappointing
contrast ratio of 882:1 in its default mode,
and 908:1 in sRGB colour mode. That’s a little
behind some of the better displays, and it’s
noticeable in general use. Otherwise this
display performs well, with a decent colourbalance and gamma in both the colour modes
we tested, as well as a plentiful maximum
brightness. Average uniformity was decent
too, although the top and bottom left corners
showed quite noticeable drops in brightness
of 8.2 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively.
When it comes to gaming, you get the option
to overclock the refresh rate to 165Hz, and the
display also includes ULMB support, although
not ELMB, so it sadly can’t be enabled at the
same time as G-Sync. Largely, performance
was on a par with the other displays here,
although you need to crank up the overdrive
setting to make it as responsive as the others.Conclusion
The ViewSonic XG270QG packs in loads of
features but demands a high price for the
privilege. The extras are all welcome and
well implemented, but they don’t add up to
justifying the extra cost. At this price, it could
do with a proper sRGB mode as well.VERDICT
A cracking monitor, but it struggles against
considerably cheaper competitors.SONIC
+ Packed with features
+ Smart design
+ Good s RGB mode
image qualityEGGMAN- Below-par contrast
- Poor OSD controls
- Middling gaming
performance
IMAGE QUALITY
22 / 30
FEATURES
20 / 20GAMING
21 / 30
VALUE
10 / 20OVERALLSCORE
73 %
SPEC
Screen size 27in
Resolution 2,560 x 1,440
Panel technology IPS
Maximum refresh rate 144Hz
(overclockable to 165Hz)
Response time 1ms
Contrast 1,000:1
Adaptive sync FreeSync and G-Sync compatible
Display inputs 1 x DisplayPort 1.2, 2 x HDMI 2
Audio Headphone out, audio in, speakers
Stand adjustment Height, rotation, pivot, tilt
Extras RGB lighting, 3-port USB 3 hub,
headphone stand, mouse bungie, side shields