Fanatic FPS gamers prey on 240Hz screens and gamers with a more limited budget will have to settle for Full HD at 144Hz. But what if you are looking for a good monitor for your regular computer work, which can also be used excellently for games? Then you quickly end up with a WQHD monitor (Wide Quad HD). We tested seven game screens, all with a screen diagonal of 27 inches.
Fast (144 Hz or faster) 27-inch WQHD displays with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels excel in the balance they offer. They are big enough for an impressive experience, but not so big that your eyes have to search too much in fast-paced games. A refresh rate between 144 and 165 Hz is more than fast enough for all types of games. The resolution and sharpness (pixels per inch) are excellent for both games and all-round use such as photo or video tasks. And unlike a 4K panel, you can control the resolution used with a reasonably modern graphics card such as a GeForce GTX 1070 or Radeon RX 580 with attractive settings.
In short, real luxury all-rounders. It is not surprising that they are not very cheap, because where you can quickly get a full-HD screen for 250 euros, our test starts with a screen of 449 euros and the costs can rise to beyond 1000 euros. No surprise then that none of the screens perform badly. Although we see positive outliers, it is important to first determine for yourself what you do with your screen. If you want to get started with photos, videos, or other creative tasks in addition to gaming, it quickly pays off to look at IPS monitors from 700 euros. If you are really primarily concerned with gaming, you can save by choosing the cheaper tn or va options. We tested two tn, two va, and three ips screens, explaining the pros and cons on each page. The other big split between the screens is the presence of G-Sync or FreeSync, which is advantageous if you have an Nvidia or AMD video card, respectively.
What else to watch out for
As true all-rounders, we have extensively tested the screens. Photographers will pay attention to the colors and gamers will pay attention to the speed and contrast. From our experience with game screens, in addition to speed, color and gray reproduction and good contrast are crucial. Matters such as gamma values and color temperature are important, but can often be easily made attractive via the screen itself (without calibration equipment). Pay particular attention to the physical dimensions of the screen, because some need up to about 40 centimeters depth on your desk, while others need half enough. We also point out that while some screens have speakers, you should not have high expectations of their quality.
Technology: IPS (In-Plane Switch)
IPS panels were traditionally used for good but expensive monitors, where practically every budget screen contained a cheaper tn panel. The difference was easily visible: ips has better colors, better black values, much better viewing angles and an all-round neater presentation of the image. Traditionally, ips was slower and therefore not a logical choice for gaming, but that difference has now been diluted with lightning-fast ips panels from the factories of AU Optronics, which can be found, for example, in the Asus PG279Q, Acer XB271HU and the Eizo FS2735 we tested. . The better tn panels nowadays also do very well in terms of color, but ips retains the lead, as well as in terms of viewing angles and contrast. If you do a lot of creative tasks, then they are worth it, but purely for gaming we think the extra price is a bit on the hefty side. But don't let that stop you if you have the money.
