1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,200 It's happening! QD OLED monitors have finally reached a price that's attainable for gaming enthusiasts. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:14,800 I expected that. What I didn't expect was that the first one to reach such a nice price would be from a real brand. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:24,100 But here it is! The Q27G4ZD from AOC, a 27 inch, 1440p, 280 Hertz, more on that later, 4 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:29,600 BEAST of a gaming monitor that delivers all of the goodness of QD OLED, 5 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:36,600 like perfect blacks, incredible motion clarity, and great viewing angles for just 420 bucks. 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,600 To put this in perspective just four years ago, this would have been $1,000 easily. 7 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:48,000 And if we go back further, an IPS with these specs would have been priced similarly just 10 years ago. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,200 And this is QD freaking OLED. 9 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:58,600 There's got to be a downside, right? Left side, right side, front side, and back side. 10 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:03,700 And now it's time for segue side to our sponsor. 11 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:07,300 Just what do you get for a little over $400? Do they cheap out somehow? 12 00:01:07,300 --> 00:01:13,900 Handy dandy power cable, USB B to A, DisplayPort, HDMI 2.1. 13 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:19,700 Got the base of our stand here, a little light and flimsy, but you know, it's not expensive. 14 00:01:19,700 --> 00:01:24,100 Manuals, manuals, don't need those. 15 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,500 The rest of our stand, the whole thing feels a little flimsy. 16 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:37,300 I won't lie, but you know, it's got the standard column design. It's got this nice, easy to set up screw on the bottom system that a lot of them use. 17 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:41,700 My only real complaint is that these legs are definitely going to jut out pretty far into your desk space. 18 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:58,300 So while mounting could be a good idea. Nice, got a little three year warranty sticker, three year zero dead pixel, advanced replacement, 19 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:02,900 one time accidental damage on the one year. That accidental damage is a big deal actually. 20 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:07,200 And we'll be talking about it later because these guys are, they're a little fragile. 21 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,400 I don't know if that three year dead pixel warranty means also image retention issues are burning. 22 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,200 A lot of the other guys do that. That might be the one thing you're missing out on. 23 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,500 You know, it's really not bad. I mean, it's relatively bezel-less. 24 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:29,100 They've only got the AOC logo right there. And other than that, I don't see a ton of like awkward branding anywhere on the back AOC gaming. 25 00:02:29,100 --> 00:02:37,900 Okay, good amount of swivel, decent amount of tilt and height adjustment, little stiff, but that's okay. 26 00:02:37,900 --> 00:02:41,800 And last but not least, can it pivot? It can one way pivot. 27 00:02:43,700 --> 00:02:48,800 It can two way pivot. It might not seem like a big deal, but because you've got this giant bezel here, 28 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,900 it's actually great that you can go left or right when you're pivoting. 29 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:57,400 So that when this does become a secondary display, no matter which side you put it on of your new primary, 30 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,700 you know, there's no bezel on that side. It's great. Love to see it. 31 00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:07,100 I'll be frank. It definitely feels like one of the most rickety kind of cheap stands I've ever used. 32 00:03:07,100 --> 00:03:12,900 But like, you're never going to really notice that while you're gaming unless you're slamming around on the desk, 33 00:03:12,900 --> 00:03:16,700 getting really angry and frustrated. Should be totally fine if you're concerned. 34 00:03:16,700 --> 00:03:20,100 I'm gonna break my monitor. I swear. Put it on an ARM. 35 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:31,700 Let's take a look at the IO. We've got a couple of USB-A ports, USB-B up, HDMI, HDMI, DisplayPort, headphone jack, and our power connector. 36 00:03:31,700 --> 00:03:36,700 Oh, check this out. I actually didn't notice these at first. We've got a couple of more USB-A ports on the side here. 37 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:39,800 One thing I didn't even think about until we started plugging everything in, 38 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,000 it's got a little bit of cable management on the stand as well. 39 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,300 Look at that. Beautiful. Really easy to use. 40 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:59,800 What a beauty. I still can't get over just how incredible QD OLED looks from any angle. 41 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,400 It just pops in a way that traditional backlit displays cannot. 42 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,500 And this is good old-fashioned SDR or standard dynamic range content. 43 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:13,500 And it's no one-trick pony featuring both strong color gamut performance in SDR for rich, vibrant colors, 44 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:19,900 and decent accuracy as long as you're in the right mode. Though we would recommend calibrating it for color-sensitive work. 45 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:24,300 They had to save a few bucks somewhere, I guess. And besides, this is a gaming display, you guys. 46 00:04:24,300 --> 00:04:30,800 It's for gaming. One area where older generation QD OLEDs fall a bit short of the newer ones is peak brightness. 47 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,900 In SDR though, we measured about 265 nits. 48 00:04:33,900 --> 00:04:39,600 Not bad for OLED. Let's fire up some HDR or high dynamic range content to really see it shine. 49 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,300 If you've ever seen a QD OLED before, none of this is going to surprise you much. 50 00:04:43,300 --> 00:04:48,200 But thanks to the individual pixel level control of both color and brightness, 51 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,500 this thing looks great. And the ability to turn pixels completely off for infinite contrast 52 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:56,600 massively helps the image come to life and feel more immersive. 53 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:02,500 Darkness looks, well, dark. And specular highlights from something like a light glinting off a piece of metal 54 00:05:02,500 --> 00:05:05,800 looks bright rather than white compared to the world around it. 55 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,700 You know what else might brighten your day? We've got new colors for our legendary super soft hoodie. 56 00:05:09,700 --> 00:05:12,900 Blue and chocolate. Shipping now at LTTstore.com. 57 00:05:12,900 --> 00:05:17,100 I'd be wearing a blue one, but everyone keeps stealing them off the racks. Back to our monitor though. 58 00:05:17,100 --> 00:05:23,400 With all of that said, it's not perfect. We actually encountered some weird behavior in our testing wear in HDR. 59 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:29,400 We're only getting 69% of the BT 2020 color space when we get 80% when we test it in SDR. 60 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,300 It's not so nice. However, look at this thing. It's the kind of thing that our test equipment picks up, 61 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:38,700 but your eyes are unlikely to catch unless you're comparing it side by side 62 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:43,900 with a more expensive OLED. And if you're coming from a traditional IPS or VA monitor, 63 00:05:43,900 --> 00:05:48,000 you're still going to be blown away. And at least the colors you are seeing are pretty accurate. 64 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,300 We measured about an average Delta EITP of 12 in HDR movie mode 65 00:05:52,300 --> 00:05:59,000 and just 11.2 in HDR game, which is about on par with the tandem OLED LG GX7 we looked at earlier this year. 66 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,400 It's not on par with the tandem OLED in every way though. 67 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,700 For instance, we hit their claim of 1000 nits in HDR peak, 68 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:12,000 but we sacrifice color accuracy in that mode to get there. And our full field brightness is still capping out under 300 nits. 69 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,500 And we're not getting as much BT 2020 coverage as we expected, but guys, come on. 70 00:06:17,500 --> 00:06:25,100 The price though. Let's game on it. One minor issue that you might have to fix before you can game on this thing. 71 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:28,400 It's set to DVD mode out of the box. 72 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:39,100 So you have to go into your OSD settings, going to game settings, HDMI, and then change it from console DVD to PC. 73 00:06:39,100 --> 00:06:42,600 And now to 80 Hertz. Remember how I said we talked about that later? 74 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,200 Well, yeah, if you use DisplayPort, you're only going to get 240 75 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:51,800 and you got to update your HDMI to hit the full advertised 280 Hertz. 76 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:56,000 But now let's game on this thing. Oh, what the f***, there's a little connector here. 77 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,000 How did they do this? 78 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,600 Because this is a gaming monitor for gamers, I'm happy to report that at least right now, 79 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,100 motion pixel response times are kind of unmatched on OLED displays. 80 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:13,200 G-Sync Pulsar is here, but we'll talk more about it later. Oh, what the f***, there's a little connector too? 81 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,400 Sorry, I just haven't played Counter-Strike in a long time. Can I love Italy? 82 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:21,400 And it's just crazy how much they've changed it. One of the best things about OLEDs for gamers is whether you're talking 83 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,600 about QD OLED on this AOC model, or you go over to LG with their tandem W OLEDs, 84 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,700 your display is going to look extremely clear in motion. 85 00:07:29,700 --> 00:07:32,900 It's using sample and hold. So due to the way your eye functions, 86 00:07:32,900 --> 00:07:37,300 there will always be a bit of blur compared to NVIDIA's new G-Sync Pulsar displays. 87 00:07:37,300 --> 00:07:42,900 But OLED pixels are changing so fast, you can measure them in microseconds instead of milliseconds. 88 00:07:42,900 --> 00:07:46,700 So for anyone in this price bracket, this is going to be a huge upgrade. 89 00:07:46,700 --> 00:07:50,200 Of course, fast pixel response times are worthless 90 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,200 if overall input lag sucks. Fortunately, it doesn't. 91 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,400 We measured 0.3 milliseconds over theoretical perfect at 280 Hz 92 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:03,900 with the low input lag setting enabled. And at 120 Hz, if you're a console gamer, 93 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:07,800 just 1.4 milliseconds over perfect. Love to see it. 94 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,700 Okay, but I said earlier. There's got to be a downside, right? 95 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:22,400 And jokes aside, there is. 96 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:27,800 Aside from our weird BT 2020 coverage. Yeah, I've got to say like we're in a bright room right now. 97 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,000 So HDR looks good, but it could look a little nicer. 98 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,400 You know, I'm going to check if it's in peak 1000 mode. Let's do that. 99 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,300 Now that we're in HDR peak, definitely looks a little nicer, a little brighter. 100 00:08:38,300 --> 00:08:41,800 Leon is looking sexy as ever. Just wait for RE9 Requiem. 101 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:46,800 It's going to be great. Oh, I don't have. I forgot what to do here. You're supposed to run away from these guys. 102 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,800 Oh man, yeah. I've looked at Doom internal gameplay quite a bit 103 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,000 without having the monitors side by side to tell that this is losing a bit of BT 2020 coverage. 104 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,600 Like I wouldn't know. I genuinely probably wouldn't be able to tell you side by side. 105 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:06,500 Yeah, I could probably see a difference, but like just like this. No idea. I would just be like, yeah, it looks like a QT OLED to me from any angle. 106 00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:12,100 Oh man. And the motion clarity 280 Hz with a QT OLED. 107 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:16,200 God, it's fantastic. I haven't seen G-Sync Pulsar in person. 108 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:23,200 I didn't go to CES this year and I didn't see it a couple years ago when it was first unveiled, but over a traditional IPS or VA display, 109 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,600 it's just, it's night and day. Even like a 500 Hz IPS. 110 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,800 I'd probably take the 280 Hz OLED to be perfectly honest. 111 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,500 It's just so snappy and responsive and there really is like zero latency 112 00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:39,600 and the HDR just looks incredible. Even if Pulsar is going to be a little bit clearer, 113 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:47,800 you just can't beat it when it comes to watching content. Because the Q27 G4ZD uses an older generation of Samsung QT OLED panels, 114 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:53,500 it's missing three key improvements. First, if you're in a brightly lit room, kind of like our studio right now, 115 00:09:53,500 --> 00:09:58,300 it's going to have a bit of a magenta hue to it. If you're a goblin who games in a windowless cave like me, 116 00:09:58,300 --> 00:10:02,500 it won't matter. And honestly, even in a lit room, it's not too noticeable 117 00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:07,000 as long as there's content playing on it. But it is a complaint about these older panels 118 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,700 that you often see on subreddits and the internet and wherever else you're looking for reviews for these things. 119 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:16,300 Next, the sub pixel layout is not the traditional RGB stripe 120 00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:20,000 that the new hotness is getting. If you're sensitive to text fringing, which if you are, 121 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,100 you probably already know this monitor might not be the one for you. 122 00:10:23,100 --> 00:10:26,400 Finally, there's the scariest issue, the fragility. 123 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,900 Anything before the newest fifth gen panels are super easy to scratch. 124 00:10:30,900 --> 00:10:36,400 Like I'm talking you accidentally put your fingernail on it while you're wiping down your screen with a microfiber, not good. 125 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:41,600 It's one of those things where with content on screen again, you probably won't even be able to see the damage, 126 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:47,600 but you'll know it's there and it just kind of sucks. Trust me, my cat has scratched both of mine. 127 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:53,300 It's painful, even if I can't see it most of the time. And on the subject of fragility, image retention with cutiolid 128 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:56,700 has been heavily mitigated, but it is still very possible 129 00:10:56,700 --> 00:10:59,800 if you run at high brightness and constantly know life the same games. 130 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,800 But there are ways to mitigate that. The bright side of these issues is that at least some of them are solvable. 131 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,700 Text fringing, try Mac type or better clear type. 132 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:12,000 Image retention, hide that taskbar, hide those desktop icons, 133 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,000 hide your kids, hide your wife, set your wallpaper to black 134 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,600 and keep all of the mitigation features turned on. Okay, you don't need to set it to black. 135 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,200 Just use something like wallpaper engine to change it once in a while 136 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,700 or to use a moving wallpaper just so that things don't get too static. 137 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:31,900 Realistically, as long as you're not using this thing strictly as a news monitor, 138 00:11:31,900 --> 00:11:36,200 you should be fine. But the real question is, should you buy it? 139 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:41,500 Like most things in life, I think it depends. If your budget was already a little higher, 140 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:48,000 this isn't quite the same thing but cheaper. However, if you were looking at spending closer to $350, 141 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,100 I think saving up another 15-ish percent is going to get you way more 142 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:55,700 than a 15% improvement to your enjoyment compared to an IPS. 143 00:11:55,700 --> 00:11:59,600 Especially if you're doing more than just multiplayer games. 144 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:04,500 I mean, it's really hard to explain just how good proper HDR 145 00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:09,100 on an OLED display looks when it comes to single-player campaigns. 146 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:12,800 G-Sync Pulsar is an exception to that if you're a pure gamer 147 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:17,400 who are only focused on motion clarity for the most intense esports. 148 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:22,100 But those are starting at $600 anyway, which is a very different price point. 149 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:27,600 We'll have the Q27 G4ZD linked down below and we'll also have our sponsor. 150 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,900 Thanks for watching. If you like this video, maybe check out the one where I showed off my $670 gaming monitor. 151 00:12:32,900 --> 00:12:38,000 As amazing as this guy is, the bottom of the barrel is looking mighty impressive these days. 152 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,200 Oh, how far we've come.