1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,880 It's happening. QD OLED monitors have 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:09,760 finally reached a price that's attainable for gaming enthusiasts. I 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:15,240 expected that. What I didn't expect was that the first one to reach such a nice 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:18,200 price would be from a real brand. But 5 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:26,640 here it is, the Q27G4ZD from AOC, a 27-in 1440p 280 Hz, more on 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:29,040 that later, beast of a gaming monitor 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:33,640 that delivers all of the goodness of QD OLED like perfect blacks, incredible 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:39,400 motion clarity, and great viewing angles for just 420 bucks. To put this in 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:43,440 perspective, just 4 years ago, this would have been a thousand dollars 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:48,160 easily. And if we go back further, an IPS with these specs would have been 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:54,320 priced similarly just 10 years ago. And this is QD freaking OLED. 12 00:00:52,160 --> 00:01:00,760 There's got to be a downside, right? Left side, right side, front side, and 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:03,720 back side. And now, it's time for segway 14 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:08,920 side to our sponsor. Tello, a wireless service that doesn't 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,480 drive you crazy? Tello me about it. 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:15,400 Tello Mobile offers flexible and affordable phone plans with prices up to 17 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:18,960 $25 a month. Check them out using our link down below. Just what do you get 18 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:24,120 for a little over $400? Do they cheap out somehow? Handy dandy power cable, 19 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:29,200 USB B to A, DisplayPort, HDMI 2.1. 20 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:34,080 Got the base of our stand here. Little light and flimsy, but you know, 21 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:38,720 it's not expensive. Manuals, manuals, don't need those. 22 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:42,560 The rest of our stand. The whole thing feels a little flimsy, I 23 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:47,760 won't lie, but you know, it's got the standard column design. It's got this 24 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:50,320 nice easy to set up screw on the bottom 25 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:53,480 system that a lot of them use. My only real complaint is that its legs are 26 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:58,320 definitely going to jut out pretty far into your desk space. So, wall mounting 27 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,320 could be a good idea. 28 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:10,960 Nice. Got a little 3-year warranty sticker, huh? 3 years 29 00:02:08,119 --> 00:02:14,480 zero dead pixel, advanced replacement, one-time accidental damage on the one 30 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:18,880 year. That accidental damage is a big deal actually. Um and we'll be talking 31 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:23,680 about it later cuz these guys are they're a little fragile. Uh I don't 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,880 know if that 3-year dead pixel warranty means also image retention issues or 33 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,840 burn-in. A lot of the other guys do that. That might be the one thing you're missing out on. 34 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:36,720 You know, it's really not bad. I mean, it's relatively bezeless. They've only 35 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:40,760 got the AOC logo right there. And other than that, I don't see a ton of like 36 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:47,520 awkward branding anywhere. On the back, AOC gaming. Okay, good amount of swivel. 37 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:51,560 Decent amount of tilt and height adjustment. Little stiff, 38 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:58,760 but that's okay. And last but not least, can it pivot? It can one-way pivot. 39 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:01,920 It can two-way pivot. It might not seem like a big deal, but because you've got 40 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,320 this giant bezel here, it's actually great that you can go left or right when 41 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:08,720 you're pivoting. So that when this does become a secondary display, no matter 42 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:13,520 which side you put it on of your new primary, you know, there's no bezel on that side. 43 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,840 It's great. Love to see it. I'll be frank, it definitely feels like one of 44 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,920 the most rickety kind of cheap stands I've ever used. But 45 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:25,760 like, you're never going to really notice that while you're gaming unless you're yo, 46 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,400 slamming around on the desk, getting really angry and frustrated. Um should 47 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:33,480 be totally fine. If you're concerned, I'm going to put it on the wall mount. 48 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:39,880 Put it on an arm. Let's take a look at the IO. We've got a couple of USB A 49 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:43,160 ports, USB B up, HDMI, HDMI, 50 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:45,000 DisplayPort, headphone jack, 51 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:48,160 and our power connector. Oh, and check this out. I actually didn't notice these 52 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:51,320 at first. We've got a couple of more USB A ports on the side here. One thing I 53 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:55,640 didn't even think about until we started plugging everything in, it's got a little bit of cable management on the 54 00:03:53,960 --> 00:04:00,800 stand as well. Look at that. Beautiful. 55 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,800 Really easy to use. 56 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:13,960 What a beauty. I still can't get over just how incredible QD OLED looks from 57 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:18,239 any angle. It just pops in a way that traditional backlit displays cannot. And 58 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:22,960 this is good old-fashioned SDR or standard dynamic range content. And it's 59 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:27,760 no one-trick pony, featuring both strong color gamut performance in SDR for rich, 60 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:31,200 vibrant colors, and decent accuracy as long as you're in the right mode. 61 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:34,520 Though, we would recommend calibrating it for color-sensitive work. They had to 62 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:38,720 save a few bucks somewhere, I guess. And besides, this is a gaming display, you 63 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,600 guys. It's for gaming. One area where older generation QD OLEDs fall a bit 64 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:47,760 short of the newer ones is peak brightness. In SDR though, we measured 65 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:52,360 about 265 nits. Not bad for OLED. Let's fire up some HDR or high dynamic range 66 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:55,920 content to really see it shine. If you've ever seen a QD OLED before, none 67 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:00,760 of this is going to surprise you much. But thanks to the individual pixel-level 68 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:05,080 control of both color and brightness, this thing looks great. And the ability 69 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,360 to turn pixels completely off for infinite contrast massively helps the 70 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:13,200 image come to life and feel more immersive. Darkness looks, well, dark. 71 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:17,240 And specular highlights from something like a light glinting off a piece of 72 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:19,760 metal looks bright rather than white compared to the world around it. You 73 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:25,720 know what else might brighten your day? We've got new colors for our legendary super soft hoodie, blue and chocolate. 74 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,880 Shipping now at lttstore.com. I'd be wearing a blue one, but everyone keeps 75 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,640 stealing them off the racks. Back to our monitor though, with all of that said, 76 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,640 it's not perfect. We actually encountered some weird behavior in our 77 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:42,480 testing where in HDR, we're only getting 69% of the BT.2020 color space when we 78 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:46,040 get 80% when we test it in SDR. It's not so nice. However, look at this thing. 79 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,800 It's the kind of thing that our test equipment picks up, but your eyes are 80 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,600 unlikely to catch unless you're comparing it side by side with a more 81 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:58,040 expensive OLED. And if you're coming from a traditional IPS or VA monitor, 82 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:01,360 you're still going to be blown away. And at least the colors you are seeing are 83 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:07,360 pretty accurate. We measured about an average Delta EITP of 12 in HDR movie 84 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:12,480 mode and just 11.2 in HDR game, which is about on par with the tandem OLED LG GX7 85 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:16,680 we looked at earlier this year. It's not on par with a tandem OLED in every way 86 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:20,400 though. For instance, we hit their claim of a thousand nits in HDR peak, but we 87 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:23,560 sacrificed color accuracy in that mode to get there. And our full-field 88 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:28,120 brightness is still capping out under 300 nits. And we're not getting as much 89 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:34,080 BT.2020 coverage as we expected, but guys, come on. The price though. Let's 90 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:40,280 game on it. One minor issue that you might have to fix before you can game on 91 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:42,080 this thing, it's set to DVD mode out of 92 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:46,720 the box. So, you have to go into your OSD settings, 93 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:51,520 go into game settings, HDMI, and then 94 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:51,520 change it from console DVD to PC. 95 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:57,720 And now, 280 Hz. Remember I said we'd talk about that later? Well, yeah. Uh if 96 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:01,440 you use DisplayPort, you're only going to get 240. And 97 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:06,720 you got to update your HDMI to hit the full advertised 280 Hz. But now, let's 98 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:11,400 game on this thing. Oh, what the There's a little connector here? 99 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,400 When did they do this? 100 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:18,280 Because this is a gaming monitor for gamers, I'm happy to report that at 101 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:22,120 least right now, motion pixel response times are kind of unmatched on OLED 102 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,800 displays. G-Sync Pulsar is here, but we'll talk more about it later. Oh, what 103 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:30,080 the There's a little connector, too? Sorry, I just haven't played Counter-Strike in a long time, and I 104 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:33,520 love Italy, and it's just crazy how much they've changed it. One of the best 105 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:37,680 things about OLEDs for gamers is whether you're talking about QD OLED on this AOC 106 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:42,400 model or you go over to LG with their tandem W OLEDs, your display is going to 107 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:46,560 look extremely clear in motion. It's using sample and hold, so due to the way 108 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:50,880 your eye functions, there will always be a bit of blur compared to NVIDIA's new 109 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:54,600 G-Sync Pulsar displays, but OLED pixels are changing so fast, you can measure 110 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:57,920 them in microseconds instead of milliseconds. So, for anyone in this 111 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:03,640 price bracket, this is going to be a huge upgrade. Of course, fast pixel 112 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:08,600 response times are worthless if overall input lag sucks. Fortunately, it 113 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:14,160 doesn't. We measured 0.3 milliseconds over theoretical perfect at 280 Hz with 114 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:19,800 the low input lag setting enabled. And at 120 Hz, if you're a console gamer, 115 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:22,400 just 1.4 milliseconds over perfect. Love 116 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,400 to see it. 117 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:34,039 Okay, but I said earlier, there's going to be a downside, right? And jokes uh 118 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:38,960 side, there is. Aside from our weird BT.2020 119 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:43,039 coverage, yeah, I've got to say like we're in a bright room right now, so HDR 120 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:46,480 looks good, but it could look a little nicer. You know what? I'm going to check 121 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,960 if it's in peak 1000 mode. Let's do that. Now that we're in HDR peak, 122 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:54,520 definitely looks a little nicer, a little brighter. Leon is looking sexy as 123 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:57,480 ever. Just wait for RE9 Requiem. It's going to be great. Oh, [ __ ] I don't 124 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:01,400 have I forgot what to do here. You're supposed to run away from these guys. 125 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:05,560 Oh, man. Yeah. I've looked at Doom Eternal gameplay quite a bit. Without 126 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,640 having the monitors side by side to tell that this is losing a bit of BT.2020 127 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:12,600 coverage, like I wouldn't know. I I genuinely probably wouldn't be able to tell you. Side by side, yeah, I could 128 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,840 probably see a difference. But like just like this, no idea. I would just be 129 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:22,600 like, yeah, it looks like a QD OLED to me. From any angle. 130 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:24,760 Oh, man, and the motion clarity. 280 Hz 131 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:28,840 with a QD OLED? God, it's fantastic. I haven't seen 132 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:31,640 G-Sync Pulsar in person. I didn't go to CES this year, and I 133 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:36,600 didn't see it a couple years ago when it was first unveiled. But over a 134 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:42,240 traditional IPS or VA display, it's just it's night and day. Even like a 500 Hz 135 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:45,600 IPS, I'd probably take the 280 Hz OLED, to be perfectly honest. It's just so 136 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:50,120 snappy and responsive, and there really is like zero latency. And the HDR just 137 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:53,520 looks incredible. Even if Pulsar is going to be a little bit clearer, you 138 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:59,200 just can't beat it when it comes to watching content. Because the Q27G4ZD 139 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:03,960 uses an older generation of Samsung QD-OLED panels, it's missing three key 140 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,920 improvements. First, if you're in a brightly lit room, kind of like our 141 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:10,320 studio right now, it's going to have a bit of a magenta hue to it. If you're a 142 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:14,440 goblin who games in a windowless cave like me, it won't matter. And honestly, 143 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:18,480 even in a lit room, it's not too noticeable as long as there's content 144 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:22,280 playing on it. But it is a complaint about these older panels that you often 145 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:25,720 see on subreddits and the internet and wherever else you're looking for reviews 146 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:30,440 for these things. Next, the subpixel layout is not the traditional RGB stripe 147 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,760 that the new hotness is getting. If you're sensitive to text fringing, which 148 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:39,720 if you are, you probably already know, this monitor might not be the one for you. Finally, there's the scariest 149 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:44,280 issue, the fragility. Anything before the newest fifth gen panels are super 150 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:47,160 easy to scratch. Like I'm talking you accidentally put your fingernail on it 151 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:51,240 while you're wiping down your screen with a microfiber, not good. It's one of 152 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:54,720 those things where with content on screen again, you probably won't even be 153 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:59,160 able to see the damage, but you'll know it's there. And it just kind of sucks. 154 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:02,320 Trust me, my cat has scratched both of mine. 155 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:06,000 It's painful, even if I can't see it most of the time. And on the subject of 156 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:10,040 fragility, image retention with QD-OLED has been heavily mitigated, but it is 157 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:13,640 still very possible if you run at high brightness and constantly no life the 158 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,960 same games. But there are ways to mitigate that. The bright side of these 159 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:21,800 issues is that at least some of them are solvable. Text fringing? Try MacType or 160 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:26,440 better ClearType. Image retention? Hide that taskbar, hide those desktop icons, 161 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:30,839 hide your kids, hide your wife, set your wallpaper to black, and keep all of the 162 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:34,240 mitigation features turned on. Okay, you don't need to set it to black, just use 163 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:39,000 something like Wallpaper Engine to change it once in a while or to use a 164 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:42,600 moving wallpaper just so that things don't get too static. Realistically, as 165 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:47,880 long as you're not using this thing strictly as a news monitor, you should 166 00:11:44,839 --> 00:11:49,640 be fine. But the real question is, 167 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:54,120 should you buy it? Like most things in life, I think it depends. If your budget 168 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:58,400 was already a little higher, this isn't quite the same thing but 169 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:03,120 cheaper. However, if you were looking at spending closer to $350, I think saving 170 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:07,400 up another, you know, 15-ish percent is going to get you way more than a 15% 171 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:12,360 improvement to your enjoyment compared to an IPS, especially if you're doing 172 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:18,480 more than just multiplayer games. I mean, it's really hard to explain just 173 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:20,280 how good proper HDR on an OLED display 174 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:25,000 looks when it comes to, you know, single-player campaigns. G-Sync Pulsar 175 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:30,000 is an exception to that if you're a pure gamer who are only focused on motion 176 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:34,720 clarity for the most intense e-sports. But those are starting at $600 anyway, 177 00:12:32,839 --> 00:12:40,320 which is a very different price point. We'll have the Q27 G4 ZD linked down 178 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:44,320 below, and we'll also have our sponsor, Tello. 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Check out Tello's plan and find the one that is right for you 188 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:25,440 using our link in the video description. 189 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:33,640 Thanks for watching. If you liked this video, maybe check out the one where I showed off my $670 gaming monitor. As 190 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:39,760 amazing as this guy is, the bottom of the barrel is looking mighty impressive 191 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,760 these days. Oh, how far we've come.