The VG27AQ is certainly an interesting new screen, and it’s always great to see new technologies emerge. TUF Gaming VG27AQZ 165Hz* refresh rate decimates lag and motion blur to give you the upper hand in first person shooters, racers, real-time strategy, and sports titles.

The level of glow on this panel was comparable to other high refresh rate AUO IPS panels we’ve tested in the past such as the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q. The MOBA mode is almost monochrome, the sRGB option has poor contrast and is too warm, and the Cinema option is far too cool, with images that had a noticeable blue hue. A headphone output connection is provided for audio pass-through if you need it and there are also some basic 2x 2W RMS stereo integrated speakers. We stuck with the TF = 80 setting which we felt at this refresh rate and the upper end above ~130Hz delivered the optimal performance. The problem comes for 60Hz inputs and external devices where you either have to live with high overshoot (TF = 20) or slower response times (TF = 0).We had this working on an AMD FreeSync system (Radeon RTX590) without issue, but oddly it didn’t seem to work from an NVIDIA G-sync system (GeForce GTX1080). of the measured transitions were within the refresh rate window, or 100% if you allowed an additional 1ms leeway.

GamePlus menu– there are settings in the OSD for a familiar cross hair graphic to be added to the screen.The fact that these have until now been limited to a fixed refresh rate has caused some people problems, particularly in modern games and on older systems where refresh rates vary in practice and you ideally need support for VRR. Visually there was little difference between the two modes and we can only assume that this different strobing method was more suitable to coping with the refresh rate changes during FreeSync/G-sync operation and VRR. These OSD changes allowed us to obtain an optimal hardware starting point and setup before software level changes would be made at the graphics card level. The screens tested are split into two measurements which are based on our overall display lag tests and half the average G2G response time, as measured by our oscilloscope. If you move your viewing position back, which is probably likely for movies and games keep in mind, the effect reduces as you do not have such an extreme angle from your eye position to the screen edges.

Luminance uniformity of the screen was good overall, with the top right hand corner showing the only significant deviance on our sample. The comparisons made in this section try to give you a better view of how each screen performs, particularly out of the box which is what is going to matter to most consumers. The screen has the accuracy and contrast to handle gaming and esports, and its input lag measurement of 6.We are very used to working with 27″ 1440p screens all the time and find them very comfortable and a significant upgrade over 1080 / 1200p models. The consumption (comparing the calibrated states) is comparable to the other 27″ high refresh rate IPS gaming screens we’ve tested. The model we have with us at the moment is their 27″ VG27AQ, featuring an IPS technology panel with a 2560 x 1440 resolution. This doesn’t afford you a very low luminance option for working in darkened room conditions with low ambient light however so be a little wary if that is a specific requirement for you.

The Asus lost between 14% and 18% of its brightness on the left-hand edge and up to 16% on the right-hand edge, with Delta Es that veered up beyond an average of 4. Gamma was a little off and because there’s no gamma controls in the OSD menu this means it would be tricky to fully correct without a calibration tool.

As a result, with TF = 0 there is some smearing of darker shades on moving content which isn’t ideal.