After just a few minutes of using this (not only) gaming monitor, you will first be drawn to it, and after setting HDR in Windows, the high contrast will literally amaze you. Black is truly black because the corresponding pixels are then completely turned off, so unlike backlit LCD monitors, they do not emit any light. This, together with the brilliant display of not only white, but also light shades of colors creates a realistic impression, especially if the game or video supports HDR.
The display panel has a matte surface with an effective anti-reflective treatment, which makes brilliant, rich colors stand out even more. The resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels is as if tailor-made for a diagonal of 26.5 inches. The density of 109 pixels per inch is completely sufficient considering the expected viewing distance. Even occasional gamers will immediately notice smooth movement, which is a result of a latency of 0.03 ms, which is two orders of magnitude lower compared to classic monitors. Simply put, the minimum time for which a pixel remains in a given state, that is, a color shade, is much shorter than with LCD monitors. A monitor with a shorter response time displays fast movements more smoothly.
If the player has a table placed so that the back wall faces the room, everyone who comes will first see the design of the back wall of the monitor, including the lighting effects on the surface of the irregular pentagon. The base has a similar shape with a relatively small footprint, so you have more space on the table for the keyboard, mouse and other necessary things. The stand allows the display panel to be shifted in height by 13 cm, rotated by 30 degrees to the sides and tilted forward by 4° and backward by 21.5°. I was also pleasantly surprised by the built-in speakers, although a little more bass would have been nice. They have a power of 2 × 5 W. There is, of course, also a 3.5 mm jack connector for connecting headphones or external speakers. The monitor is powered from an external source.
The attractive user interface is controlled using a practical mini-joystick on the back wall. The OSD menu is adapted to the primary purpose of the monitor for gamers. Predefined display profiles for different game genres are available. The implicit standard mode is perfect for graphic work. The manufacturer declares 92.5% NTSC color space coverage, 136.7% sRGB, 96.9% Adobe RGB and 98.3% DCI-P3 coverage. The factory calibration protocol is included. HDR support is a matter of course for a gaming monitor. Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 values approaching 100% indicate that the monitor is also a good choice for amateur and semi-professional graphic designers, photographers or video editors.
I tested the monitor with a gaming PC with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card as well as a cheaper and weaker RTX 3050. I recommend connecting via DisplayPort when the maximum refresh rate is 240 Hz. Connecting via HDMI allows you to reach 144 Hz. The display supports both Free Sync technology for adaptive synchronization and G-Sync. The resolution of 2560 × 1440 pixels was also tightened by a weaker graphics card. The subjective impression of the display in, for example, the game Halo or Microsoft Flight Simulator is excellent, even at 144 Hz when connected via HDMI or at an even lower frequency. This is due to the properties of the OLED display panel. With the RTX 4080 graphics card, I was able to enjoy smooth movement with a frame rate of 240 Hz. G-Sync also worked great. Smooth imaging facilitates actions in dynamic action games, especially aiming at opponents.
In Halo, but also in some strategy games, I appreciated the function to increase the details in the shadows. Due to the OLED technology enabling the display of deep shades of black, this function is more than useful. I will return to the brilliant colors. In the strategy game Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, I started playing the Komnenos episode from the Victors and Vanquished pack on my relatively old laptop and noticed an unnatural coloring of the scene, which fluctuated from purple to blue, so I was worried that I was starting to leave the display. When I resumed the game with the OLED AOC AG276QZD monitor, I found it to be a deliberate change of color mood depending on the time of year the game was going on. On an OLED monitor, this change in color mood was in line with the intentions of the game’s creators, on a classic LCD monitor, it looked more like a malfunction. Color rendering is much better even in older SDR games. Watching HDR movies and videos on streaming services is also an experience.
PROS, CONS:
+ Excellent image, true colors, anti-glare screen
– Nothing important
PARAMETERS:
Screen: OLED 26.5″ (68.58 cm); resolution: QHD 2560 × 1440 px, 16:9, 110.8 PPI; gamut: 92.5% NTSC, 136.7% sRGB, 96.9% Adobe RGB, 98.3% refresh rate (DP), 144Hz (HDMI), brightness: 1000 nits, dynamic contrast 80M:1 HDMI 2.0, 2× DisplayPort; 3.5 mm audio jack; consumption 35 W, stand-by: 604.4 × 71.3 mm; weight: 6.41 kg
Cena: 900 EUR
Source: www.nextech.sk
