Monoprice Zero-G Slim 27" IPS Monitor Review
by Chris Heinonen on August 26, 2013 12:00 AM ESTOnce again, there isn’t a good lag tester on the market that can do 2560x1440 natively. I’m sticking to using the Leo Bodnar lag tester at 1080p because it is a well-known, reliable test that is easy to duplicate. Most scalers also introduce very little delay now compared to color management and other display features.
Input lag is 22.53ms, which comes in ahead of most 27" displays except for the BenQ that is a native 1920x1080 display. I didn't notice much lag myself, if any, when using the Zero-G. Advanced picture controls like a color management system are more likely to introduce lag than testing at a non-native resolution, but this result still might improve if it were run at 2560x1440 and not 1080p.
Power usage on the Monoprice appears a bit strange. As I discussed, the Brightness control does not control the backlight as it should. Because of that, power usage is basically constant from minimum to maximum brightness.
The gamut on the Monoprice is 74% of the AdobeRGB gamut, which is slightly more than the sRGB gamut size of 71%. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
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steven75 - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
That require long term thinking/planning, which (sadly) many people do not seem capable of. Still, to each their own.mikato - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Yeah that's my thinking... Dell U2412Mgrave00 - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
I had a Samsung 305 plus go out twice, second time for good. That was your high end monitor for you. Faulty design but I enjoyed it while it worked. Point is, your largely just paying markup. It's all coming from a few places. Monoprice isn't some high end American brand and neither is Dell. I say this having one good Shimian and one current X-Star I'm going to have to send back for an entire line of dead pixels. Still going to save money in the end and get to 120hz or bust. I have no extra faith in the big names. Marketing.KAlmquist - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
Another reason to buy a good monitor is that, unlike most types of computer technology, it won't become obsolete in a few years. Sure, it's possible to get a lemon which dies the moment the warranty expires, but chances are that when you buy a monitor you are buying something that you will be living with for a long time.Gen-An - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Am I the only one who saw "Zero-G" and thought of Minmay's song "Zero-G Love" from Super Dimension Fortress Macross?bji - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Yes. There are thousands of names related to the word "Zero-G", not everyone is going to be familiar with the one you want to name-drop.arcanes - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Nice review and I agree with the conclusion.I honestly don't understand why manufacturers don't calibrate their displays before shipping them. Is it too much to ask for?
Question for the guys here - why do you want a cheap, uncalibrated 120hz 27 ips 2560x1440 display? for gaming? if so, ignoring the lag, show me the recent game you can run at 120fps@2560x1440 on high settings. Lets see, Crysis 3? no. Battlefield 3? no. upcoming direct x 11 games? haha. Maybe call of duty. And even for that you will need at least the 650$ 780gtx video card. So enlight me for your reason please.
max1001 - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Time is money and yes it is too much to ask for a cheap monitor.DanNeely - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Even if it's not generally reachable when gaming 120hz should be beneficial for non-gaming use by making the desktop response smoother.Grimmm - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
From my personal experience going on a year now with a Catleap 2B and a 670, Skyrim, Borderlands 2, BF3 on high (not ultra) to name a few.BF3 ultra benchmark numbers at 1080 are mostly worthless for comparison, not everybody needs 16xFSAA when they'd rather have a higher framerate (that they can actually use)
With Skyrim/BL2, I've had people walk over from the other side of the room when doing a bit of LAN gaming because the combined colors/smooth motion was "unbelievable"
With a great processor to prevent bottlenecks there, you can easily hit 80+FPS ultra (minus object detail, which is just wasteful extra tessellation) in Crysis 3 on a pair of 760s ($250 each)
Hopefully this was enlightening for you :P