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Best 27" 1440p AHVA/IPS/PLS Monitors
NCX:
Last Update=September 27th 2020
2020 Reviews Added Here
2018-2019 Reviews Added Here
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Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 1440p AHVA/IPS/PLS
Always purchase from retailers with hassle free return and exchange policies. Read retailers return and exchange policies before buying.
My recommendations are based off of testing more than 60 monitors and reading in-depth reviews from over fifteen reviewers across the realm.
Many monitors not found in this thread likely perform well, but it makes more sense to buy well reviewed monitors, and I like having sources to refer to, even though I do not always agree with them.
If a monitor is not mentioned it is because it has not been reviewed properly, been reviewed at all or is mediocre. All monitors suffer from regular quality control issues: back-light bleeding and pixel issues (dead and stuck pixels).
Recommendations are PWM or Flicker Free:
I do not recommend monitors which use low LED PWM Dimming frequencies since they ruin motion clarity and cause some people to suffer from health issues like head aches and eyestrain. LED PWM Dimming Side Effects.
NCX:
Table Of Content
Best 60-75hz Monitors
Best 144hz+ AMD Free-Sync Monitors
Best 144hz+ Nvidia G-Sync Monitors
Correct Display Height=Reduced AHVA/IPS/PLS Glow
Improve Perceived Contrast/Black Depth & Reduce Glare With Bias Lighting
Acer
AOC
Asus
BenQ
Crossover
Dell
Eizo
Gigabyte
Hazro
HP
iiyama
Lenovo
LG
MOTV
NEC
Nixeus
Overlord
Philips
Pixio
Planar
Qnix
Razer
Samsung
ViewSonic
X-Star
Yamakasi
NCX:
Best 60-75hz Monitors
Glossy* Monitors
*There are four kinds of glossy coatings used on monitors, they are the almost-glossy or low haze coating, full glossy, semi-glossy coating and plasma deposition coating.
There's only three modern (2016-2019) glossy-type coated 1440p monitor, the Dell S2718D, Nixeus Pro VUE27S and Planar PXL2790MW. Neither the Dell nor Nixeus are as accurate as the best matte competitors, and the Dell uses a semi-glossy coating which looks washed out under bright lighting, and looks grainy when viewed slightly off angle.
The Nixeus PRO VUE27S and Planar PXL2790MW use coated tempered glass some call Plasma Deposition Coating which is the clearest and most vibrant coating, but has a glass covered black bezel which vastly reduces the perceived black depth. The perceived black depth can be increased with bias lighting (light placed behind the display) or by placing non-stick silver tape tape on the black bezel.
The Planar is very accurate while the less accurate Nixeus needs to be set to the User mode to reduce the strong preset blue tint, and has high input lag (around 27ms if measured with the Leo Bodnar device) for a modern (2019) 1440p monitor. I tested the Planar and measured a 20ms delay with the Leo Bodnar device while Tom's Hardware, using their own testing methodology, measured 88ms for the Nixeus and 81ms for the Planar, which is a 7ms difference, hence my 27ms estimation for the Nixeus.
Spoiler (hover to show)The Nixeus is less accurate than the Planar, even when set to the User mode: Nixeus versus Planar RGB Level Measurements by Tom's Hardware:
The Nixeus also has less accurate, but still excellent preset gamma than the Planar
PDC coated monitors are the clearest, least reflective and most vibrant type of glossy monitors, but the black looks greyish due to the perceived black depth decreasing glass covered black bezel. The perceived black depth can be increased with bias lighting (light placed behind the display) or by placing non-stick silver tape tape on the black bezel.
Matte Monitors
1.) Samsung S27H850QFU (adjustable stand, AMD Free-Sync & 75hz)
2.) Asus VZ27AQ (AMD Free-Sync & 75hz)
3.) Dell S2719DM (AMD Free-Sync & 75hz)
4.) Acer BE270U (AMD Free-Sync & 75hz)
April 3rd 2020 Update thanks to stplsd
The S27H850QFU uses low frequency LED PWM Dimming (source) when the brightness is set below a certain point (x/100). It probably uses low frequency PWM when the brightness is set under 36 (0-35/100) like its predecessor the S27H850QFI.
The Asus VZ27AQ (Free-Sync & 75hz), Dell S2719DM (Free-Sync & 75hz), Dell U2719D (very accurate PLS), Dell U2719DC (IPS with USB-C), iiyama XUB2792QSU-B1 and Samsung S27H850QFU (best/most accurate; Free-Sync & 75hz) are the best of the non-wide gamut 2560x1440 IPS/PLS 60-75hz monitors for casual (non 144hz+) gaming and preset color accuracy wise.
*The Dell S2719DM (74hz) and iiyama XUB2792QSU-B1 (73hz) drop or skip frames when overclocked above the bracketed refresh rates when connected to Nvidia graphics cards pre-Nvidia Free-Sync supporting drivers. I'm not sure about the others or if the new Nvidia drivers from January 14th 2019 and on fix this issue since these monitors were tested before then.
The S2719D has fake HDR (lacks wide gamut 8 bit panel with full DCI-P3 color space coverage, local dimming and high brightness), only two HDMI, and the matte coating is slightly grainier than some competitors according to PC Monitors.
The Asus PA27AC and Viewsonic VP2768 only supports 60hz and lack Free-Sync, but are extremely accurate and supports hardware calibration with an accurate colorimeter like the X-Rite i1 Display Pro, and have 14 bit 3D Look Up Tables which help reduce banding and color and shade differentiation.
The very accurate and delay free BenQ PD2710QC, Dell P2720DC (USB-C), Dell U2719D, Dell U2719DC (USB-C), LG 27QD58P-B and Philips 272B7QUPBEB (USB-C) are also great 60hz matte 1440p options with 1000:1+ contrast and height adjustable stands.
Some other competitors are the Acer RC271U, Acer BE270U (Free-Sync & 75hz), AOC Q2790PQU, Dell U2715H, Dell U2717D, S2718D (semi-glossy), Lenovo L27q-10 IPS DP, Philips 272B8QJEB, Viewsonic VX2778 which aren't as accurate and/or have lower contrast than the monitors mentioned above.
NCX:
Best 144-165hz 1440p AHVA/IPS/PLS Monitors with Free-Sync
List of cards which support Free-Sync.
1.) Acer Nitro VG270UP (40-144hz AMD Free-Sync & 120hz back-light strobing = Visual Boost Response); AHVA version
1.) Eizo FS2735 (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync & back-light strobing) AHVA; from 2015
1.) Acer XF270HUA bmiidprzx (30-144hz AMD Free-Sync) AHVA
2.) LG 27GL850 (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync) LG IPS
2.) LG 27GL83A (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync) LG IPS
2.) Pixio PX7 Prime (20-144hz AMD Free-Sync) IPS type
2.) ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD (20-144hz AMD Free-Sync) IPS type
3.) Acer Nitro XV272UP (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync & back-light strobing) Innolux IPS
3.) ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q (48-170hz AMD Free-Sync & back-light strobing) IPS
4.) BenQ EX2780Q (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync) IPS type
5.) Razer Raptor 27 (20-144hz AMD Free-Sync) IPS type
5.) Gigabyte AORUS AD27QD (48-144hz AMD Free-Sync) Innolux IPS
6.) Asus MG279Q (30-90hz AMD Free-Sync) AHVA
6.) Nixeus NX-EDG27Sv2 & NX-EDG27v2 (30-144hz AMD Free-Sync) AHVA
7) Acer Nitro VG270UP (40-144hz AMD Free-Sync & 120hz back-light strobing = Visual Boost Response); Innolux IPS version
8.). Acer VG271 (40-144hz AMD Free-Sync & 120hz back-light strobing = Visual Boost Response); Innolux IPS
The Acer Nitro VG270UP (AUO AHVA panel) and Eizo Foris FS2735 is the best 144hz 1440p AHVA panel since they are very accurate as well as supports back-light strobing; the Acer is significantly cheaper, but lacks a height adjustable stand and USB ports, and Acer replaced it with an inferior Innolux IPS panel which is less accurate and has slower pixel response times.
The Acer XF270HUA uses an AHVA panel with faster pixel response times (less ghosting) than the Innolux IPS panels, as well as is very accurate. The Acer Nitro XV272UP and Gigabyte AORUS AD27QD are very similar, but the Acer is more accurate out of the box and when set to the over-saturation reducing sRGB mode.
The 27GL850 is also excellent, but needs to be set to the sRGB mode (which is very accurate and has adjustable brightness but locked color controls) to prevent the wide gamut panel from over-saturating the color of non-HDR content. The 27GL850 has negligible or very low input lag and very fast pixel response times with minimal overshoot, but the overdrive needs to be set from Normal to Fast at 144hz to provide the fastest pixel response times, and to Normal at 60hz to prevent obvious overshoot ghosting.
The Pixio PX7 Prime and ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD have negligible input lag, superior gamma tracking and sRGB (99.5% measured by Rtings) color space coverage than the LG 27GL83A-B which has faster pixel response times (less ghosting) and less color bleed (in gradient tests) than both the Pixio and ViewSonic. The Pixio PX7 Prime comes with a height adjustable stand, 165hz support and more inputs than the Viewsonic, but the ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD has better black uniformity (based on Rtings reviews) and slightly faster pixel response times (less ghosting).
The Gigabyte AORUS AD27QD (Innolux IPS) is the most consistently accurate 144-165hz 1440p AHVA/IPS panel with Free-Sync along with the Eizo FS2735, has a semi-wide gamut Innolux IPS panel with some HDR support and great gaming performance, but it is slower than the AHVA panels and LG IPS panel in the LG 27GL850. Read my in depth Gigabyte analysis here for much more information about how the reviewed units compare.
The 170hz ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q is faster than the Gigabyte monitors, BenQ EX2708Q and a few others, but also over-saturates SDR color (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) by over 30% and does not have a good SDR color mode.
The BenQ EX2780Q is very accurate when set to the Standard and Rec 709 Picture modes; the Standard mode uses the native wide gamut which covers 94% of the DCI-P3/HDR color space and over-saturates SDR color (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) by 33% while the REC 709 mode accurately emulates the REC 709 color space without significant over or under-saturation and should be used when not viewing HDR content. The BenQ has negligible input lag (<4ms measured with the SMT Tool) and fast pixel response times when the preset AMA High Response Time setting is used, but it's not as fast as IPS competitors like the LG 27GL850 which Playwares measured a 3ms pixel response average time compared to the BenQ's 6-7ms average.
The Razer Raptor 27 is very accurate, but has a slight preset red tint and over-saturates the color of non DCI-P3 content (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) by 36% since it uses a wide gamut and HDR capable panel without a properly functioning sRGB emulation mode. The HDR mode is more accurate than the SDR modes, and the Razer has negligible input lag and fast pixel response times for a non-TN panel.
Do to a lack of reviews I can't determine if the BenQ is faster than the Razer or vice versa, but I do know that the BenQ has a properly functioning SDR (HDTV/REC 709 &
The Samsung C27HG70 uses a VA panel with both back-light strobing, Free-sync and decent HDR support for the price. It has much better image quality than the TN panels, but slightly less sharp text caused by the curved VA panels pixel structure, and slower pixel response times which causes more ghosting, or smearing of black, browns and greys, especially medium and dark variants of these colors and shades.
The Asus MG279Q has a limited Free-Sync range, but is fairly accurate, has faster pixel response times than the Innolux IPS version of the VG270UP and Nixeus, and has a perceived black depth increasing matte grey bezel. The Free-Sync range can be increased to 60-144hz with the Custom Resolution Utility made by ToastyX.
The non-S version, the NX-EDG27v2 does not come with a height adjustable stand. The Nixues is very accurate, but is a bit too warm (5800k color temperature) or has a minor preset orange or red dominance. It can be considered to be display free or to have negligible input lag (TFT Central measured <5ms with the SMT Tool), but has significantly slower pixel response times than some AHVA panel using competitors, however, it is important to remember that the Nixeus is one of the cheapest 144hz 1440p non-TN panels, and that the Innolux IPS panels are also slower than the best AHVA panels such as the Acer XF270HUA bmiidprzx.
I'm not sure if the Nixeus is slower than the IPS version of the VG270UP since they were tested by different reviewers, and the Nixeus as better preset gamma accuracy than the VG270UP, but it can be improved by selecting the sRGB mode which locks the brightness and color controls. Both are two of the cheapest 144hz 1440p non-TN panels, so until more reviews come they will be equally ranked.
NCX:
Best 144hz 1440p Monitors with G-Sync
1.) Viewsonic XG2703-GS (30-144hz Nvidia G-Sync) AHVA*
2.) AOC AG271QG (30-144hz Nvidia G-Sync) AHVA*
3.) Asus PG279QE or QZ (60-165hz Nvidia G-Sync) AHVA
3.5) Asus PG279Q (30-144hz Nvidia G-Sync) AHVA*
4.) ViewSonic XG270QG 30-144hz Nvidia G-Sync) IPS*
5.) Acer XB271HU (30-165hz Nvidia G-Sync) AHVA*
*Support 165hz overclock
There are five 144-165hz 2560x1440 matte AUO AHVA panels (marketed as IPS) with Nvidia G-Sync, of which the AOC AG271QG is currently the best since the Viewsonic XG2703-GS was discontinued. The other two options are the Acer XB271HU (least accurate), and Asus PG279Q (overpriced and worst build quality) and PG279QZ, but none have gamma settings to combat potentially low preset gamma, the Acer suffers from a bit of overshoot ghosting at 60hz (important for console gaming), and the Asus can not scale 1080p very well. All of these monitors suffer from an obvious preset green/yellow tint, as well as tend to under-saturate blue. The Acer is the least accurate of the bunch, and AOC tends to purposefully preset their monitors gamma too low, but at least AOC has multiple useful gamma settings to achieve more linear 2.2 gamma while the Acer and Asus's gamma can only be lowered resulting in more washed out colors.
The XG270QG is very accurate aside from a slight warm preset green tint, and can fully cover the SDR (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) color spaces, but has average contrast (850:1) and over-saturates the color of non DCI-P3 content (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) since it uses a wide gamut and HDR capable panel without a properly functioning sRGB emulation mode. The ViewSonic XG270QG has negligible input lag and fast pixel response times for a non-TN panel at all refresh rates with the response time is set to the Standard (no overshoot) and Advanced (faster but with minor overshoot) settings.
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