Seasoned gamers who love high-speed games probably know that the ancient Greeks used the word “agon” to mean “fight” or “competition”. In honor of this theme, the company AOC created a line of monitors series AGON… It reflects a number of solutions that will be appreciated by professional gamers. For them, things like “response time” and “hertzovka” are important.
AOC launched a gaming monitor model this year AGON AG273QCG, which entered our test.
Package contents, appearance and connectors
The monitor is packed in a very high-quality, colorful and rather informative box. Inside there is a protective frame made of high-quality foam, which protects the device from mechanical stress during transportation. Also in the protective frame is the place where the delivery set and the two-piece monitor leg are located. The latter is assembled very easily and without the use of any tools.
The lower part of the leg is painted matt bright red, and the upper part is matte black. There is an elevator lifting-lowering mechanism, and the monitor screen is easily fastened to the leg and gently moves both to the right and to the left.
The package, in addition to the monitor itself, includes:
- User manual with software disc;
- Power supply cable;
- HDMI cable;
- Display Port cable;
- USB 3.0 Type-B cable;
- Two plastic cable clips;
- Screws for VESA mount x 4
The monitor screen itself, surrounded by a thin frame, looks very elegant. Only the underside of the frame turned out to be wider than the others, since the manufacturer placed the name of this miracle of technology on it.
The inscription is painted in the same color with the lower part of the AGON AG273QCG leg – it looks strict and soundly. We should also note the LED backlight located on the back of the device. It is she who radically changes the sensations at the first turn on. The developers have provided for this model 12 preset backlight modes, and the menu has the ability to personalize each of them by the user.
There is a bright logo above the LED backlight, and there are perforations on both sides of it for sound output from the monitor speakers. The total power is 4W, and most importantly, the AGON AG273QCG audio system supports DTS Audio technology.
The rear panel also contains all external interfaces, namely:
- 3.5 mm jack for microphone and headphones;
- Four USB outputs (one is yellow and is responsible for fast charging);
- One DisplayPort version 1.2;
- One HDMI version 1.4;
- One 3.5 mm audio input;
- Connector for mains power supply;
- One USB 3.0 Type-B port for connecting the built-in USB hub to a PC.
In case you want to place the monitor on a wall, the location of the connectors will be good for this option as well, since they are directed downward relative to the case.
A joystick is installed at the bottom in the middle of the screen body, which allows you to conveniently navigate the menu and has four quick access modes: to the right – control backlight modes, to the left – enable game modes, from yourself – switch between DP and HDMI ports, to yourself – enable the screen sight … In addition, the joystick itself is highlighted in four different colors depending on the one selected. Of the pleasant little things, it is also worth noting the retractable headphone holders installed on both sides of the screen.
Dimensions
The weight of the entire structure is 8.16 kg, dimensions – 612 * 563 * 249 mm. The monitor foot is flat and allows you to hide the keyboard under the screen when you are finished using the computer. Another plus of the model – there is no external bulky power supply in it. Everything is hidden inside the monitor case, the connection to the outlet is carried out with a standard power cable.
Specifications
The monitor has a diagonal of 27 inches, it is curved, which means that all points of the screen are equidistant from the user’s eyes. The bending radius is 1800R, which allows you to keep the whole picture in focus and respond quickly to events.
The manufacturer used a TN-matrix with a resolution of 2560 * 1440 pixels. This resolution allows the human eye to avoid graininess when looking straight ahead.
Anyone who is more or less interested in technology knows that the TN matrix is much inferior in quality to the viewing angle of the popular IPS matrix, where the brightness and saturation of the picture are not lost at sharp viewing angles. But since the player is sitting right in front of the monitor, this moment is not relevant. The main thing in a gaming monitor is speed, that is, response time. And here there is no equal to the TN-matrix. Its response time is 1 ms, which is why it was used in this device. It also made it possible to achieve a higher screen refresh rate – here it is equal to 165 Hz.
Settings and modes
There are seven preset operating modes in the menu. Three are named by analogy with the genres of games: FPS, racing, real-time strategy, three more come with the word “player” – Player 1, Player 2, Player 3. There is also an option to disable preset modes.
Additionally, you can manually adjust the brightness, contrast, warmth, color for yourself. The menu also contains purely gaming settings. For example, Shadow Control is a technology for lightening the dark parts of an image without changing the brightness of all other parts of the image. The enemy will not hide in a dark nook, and you can notice him. The main thing is to remember to turn off this mode when watching YouTube videos and other media content.
It is also possible to turn on the hardware sight – a crosshair in the middle of the screen, so that in those games where the sight is not provided, you have the most accurate understanding of the center location. And there is also a built-in FPS counter, which makes it possible not to waste time and not switch to the desktop in order to launch additional utilities to check the speed if you suddenly feel the brakes.
On a PC, in order not to constantly go into the monitor settings, you can use the native utility from AOC – G-Menu. It allows you to bind certain parameters to a certain game and not only, reduce the range of the harmful blue spectrum, adjust power consumption depending on the time of day, and also control the back LED-lighting using a mouse and keyboard.
AOC AGON AG273QCG has two image enhancement technologies at once. The first – G-Sync from NVIDIA – replaces the standard frame synchronization between the monitor and the video card with a more advanced version, which means that if you have a GeForce accelerator, the monitor will adjust itself to your current FPS and will display a frame as soon as it is formed. video card. Thanks to this adjustment, gaps at the edges of fast-moving images disappear, small artifacts disappear, and the picture itself looks smoother in dynamics. The second technology – ULMB, also from NVIDIA – is designed to reduce blurring of fast moving images. At the same time, these two technologies do not work, therefore, they are included in the corresponding games separately from each other.
Tests and use in games
According to the official data declared by the manufacturer, the display brightness is 400 cd / m2 and the contrast ratio is 1000: 1. In the DisplayHDR Test program, we were able to see the maximum effective value at 250 (76.477898 nits), and the minimum at 15 (0.382156 nits). Also on the official website there is information about DisplayHDR 400 support, but we did not find a word about this on the box and in the settings, and MonitorTest indicates SDR support. Perhaps this is just a typo. But the speed of response and picture updates should please. In normal mode, the matrix is capable of delivering a maximum of 144 Hz via Display Port and a response of about 4 milliseconds. When you enable overclocking in the settings (G-Sync Settings menu), the maximum refresh rate increases to 165 Hz, and the response is about 1 ms. It should be noted that the monitor is capable of outputting no more than 60 Hz via HDMI.
We were able to test the monitor in conjunction with PC, Xbox One X and PS4 Pro in projects such as Forza Horizon 4 (PC), Gears 5 (PC), Ghost of Tsushima (PS4), Killer Instinct (Xbox One X). Despite the capabilities of the device (2560 x 1440 resolution), PS4 Pro did not allow setting the resolution higher than Full HD (1920 by 1080), which made the picture look a little unclear.
On Xbox One X, the monitor resolution can be set to 2K, so there were no issues with legibility.
On a PC, this monitor felt best and was able to show a very smooth picture both in races and in shooters. Despite the fact that the device uses a TN matrix, bright colors look good on it, but you should not look at an angle from the sides, since the picture starts to give off a little yellow.
On the bottom, the viewing angle obscures the image, and it looks even worse than in the test photo. Also, this monitor has glare on all four sides. This is slightly noticeable in dark scenes in games and 21: 9 screensavers, where there are black bars at the bottom and top.
Outcome
AGON AG273QCG is a good monitor for those looking for maximum performance and minimum response, that is, professional gamers. For those who conduct gaming sessions directly sitting in front of the screen. Thanks to its technology, it allows you to get a clear picture without straining your eyes. Rainbow RGB lighting, of course, is a nice bonus, but it is rather distracting, and after 2-3 days you can break loose and turn it off forever.
If you are looking for a sofa entertainment monitor for a large group, then this is definitely not for you. If you decide to improve your professional gaming skills in network games, then in this device you will find everything you need only for this.
Author: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs)
A photo: Sergey Dyakonenko (Madnfs) and Alexey Olkin…
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