ASUS Announces A 144Hz WQHD Gaming Monitor With FreeSync
by Brandon Chester on August 19, 2015 12:59 PM EST
Today ASUS announced a new monitor targeted at the gaming market. The ASUS MG278Q is a 27" TN panel with a resolution of 2560x1440 and a 144Hz refresh rate. In the chart below you can see further information about the monitor and its specifications.
| ASUS MG278Q | ||||||
| Resolution | 2560x1440 | |||||
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz | |||||
| Panel Size | 27" | |||||
| Peak Brightness | 350nits | |||||
| Response Time | 1ms (GtG) | |||||
| Viewing Angle (H/V) | 170° / 160° | |||||
| Inputs / Outputs | 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 1 x Dual-link DVI 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x 3.5mm audio 3 x USB 3.0 (1 upstream 2 downstream) |
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| Color Depth | 16.7 million colors (Likely 6bit+AFRC) | |||||
| Dimensions | 625 x 563 x 233mm (with stand) | |||||
Being a gaming-oriented display, the MG278Q's focus is on a low response time and a high refresh rate rather than color accuracy. Since it's a TN panel it's likely that the panel has a native 6bit color depth per subpixel and uses temporal dithering to emulate 16.7 million colors, although this has not been confirmed. In addition to the 144Hz refresh rate, the MG278Q supports AMD's FreeSync technology which utilizes the Adaptive Sync feature of DisplayPort 1.2a to enable a variable refresh rate synchronized to the GPU's rendering of frames. More information about FreeSync and how it works can be found here.
ASUS is yet to announce pricing fort he MG278Q, but we've seen TN displays with similar specifications from Acer and BenQ for $500-600. The MG278Q will be available in North America in early September
Source: ASUS
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hulu - Thursday, August 20, 2015 - link
I'd guess 120 and 144 Hz are good frequencies to pick because they're multiples of 24. After all, movies are 24 fps.*
Apart from that, is there any info about the FreeSync refresh range for this monitor? Sadly many high refresh rate FreeSync monitors have suffered from a high minimum.
Also, has there been any developments on AMD driver side in regards to possibly introducing frame multiplying for low fps?
BurntMyBacon - Friday, August 21, 2015 - link
I believe the Acer XB270HU is a G-Sync monitor.Nenad - Friday, August 28, 2015 - link
I did not see refresh range for this monitor, but for its IPS variant (Asus MG279Q) FreeSync range is 35 - 90HzYukaKun - Thursday, August 20, 2015 - link
Insta buy for me.It's gonna hurt mah' pocket, but the smile on my face will be worth it.
Cheers!
Cptmurphi - Thursday, August 20, 2015 - link
Having owned both TN and IPS monitors I can say they both have their fundamental pros and cons with the nature of their respective technology. TN has its color and viewing angle deficiencies but has the advantage of super fast pixel response times, which is why they are rated as low as 1ms gray to gray. Perfect for high refresh rate usage. IPS has excellent color reproduction and viewing angles but slower pixel response times. Then you have VA panels with their superior contrast and black levels. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it, but even with a 60hz TN vs a 60hz IPS, both rated at 5ms pixel response time, I notice a significant difference with motion. With IPS I see lots of image smearing with motion but significantly less or none on TN. Ive decided that I prefer motion resolution and pixel speed over color and viewing angles. No perfect tech with lcd unfortunately. Just tradeoffs. The speed of TN goes hand-in-hand with high refresh rates. I haven't tried a 120hz + IPS yet so I can't comment there. From what I gather, high refresh rates can't fix or compensate for slow pixel response times which are responsible for smearing and ghosting. I do believe 120hz + on ips would definitely help with responsiveness and overall fluidity. Like I said, I could just be more sensitive to motion blur than others. Also, this all depends on the type of games you play. Fast, twitch, FPS type games as well as quick 3d slash'em games like DMC are amazing on a fast TN. Smearing or ghosting reduces the experience for me. I think that to get the most benefit from high refresh monitors, you need the fastest pixel response possible. This is my personal opinion based on my experience. Not in any way bashing IPS. I love IPS. TN can only TRY, and I emphasize, TRY, (with artificial methods like dithering, not to mention having to view from dead center) to come close to the native color reproduction of an IPS screen, but it's just not in the cards. There's a reason why professional graphic designers, etc, use ips displays.BurntMyBacon - Friday, August 21, 2015 - link
Certainly you are more likely to get a faster screen at a lower cost with TN than with IPS. IPS gamers have to be very selective of which monitor they use as many IPS screens have multiframe response times and >30ms input lag. That said, there are IPS monitors that do significantly better. The HP ZR24W, was the first IPS I used that seemed game worthy. Certainly not the equal of TN for speed, but usable. There are much better options now with the introduction of 144Hz IPS monitors that actually have faster response times to go with it. I have two with their respective reviews linked in earlier posts.That all said, color reproduction on TN is far better than it once was as well. The better TN panels have replaced 6bit w/dithering panels with true 8bit panels giving them a much larger color space. Color accuracy is also better. Viewing angle remains an issue, particularly at larger screen sizes, though.
SanX - Saturday, August 22, 2015 - link
Forget the small size not 4k monitors. They all are just waste of money, they all lose to good quality low input lag 4k TV. The ideal size lies around 50". Look at Samsung 50JU7500 or 7100 or if you want larger gamut look at JS nanodots modelsSeanJ76 - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
@FreeSync.....I guess Asus missed the review of G-Sync vs FreeSync...SeanJ76 - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-freesync-v...