AOC (the display maker, not the US politician) just announced one of the fastest gaming monitors available, the Agon AG273QZ. It's a 27-inch display with a twisted nematic (TN) panel capable of up to a blistering fast 240Hz refresh rate and incredibly low 0.5ms response time (MPRT), both of which are highly suited for esports.
What those numbers essentially mean is that the AG273QZ can keep up with your hardware. Whether the reverse is true depends on your setup, and in particular your GPU and CPU (in that order). The native resolution on this display is 2560x1440, and you'll need a meaty setup to push 240fps at 1440p in more demanding games.
If you have it, this is one of the fastest monitors around. It's not clear if the refresh rate can be overclocked to 280Hz on this model like the Asus TUF Gaming VG279QM ($399.99 on Newegg) allows with its IPS panel, albeit that's a 1080p display.
Here's a rundown of the pertinent specifications:
- Monitor size—27 inches
- Panel type—TN
- Resolution—2560x1440
- Response time—0.5ms (MPRT)
- Brightness—400 nits
- Constrast—80,000,000:1 dynamic, 1,000:1 static
- Viewing angles—170/160 degrees
IPS and VA panels typically yield better viewing angles and superior color accuracy, depending on the model. However, AOC claims the AG273QZ offers 93.7 percent coverage of the AdobeRGB color space, and 126.4 percent of the sRGB color space. Those are certainly respectable numbers, though we can't say how it actually performs because we have not spent any hands-on time with this model.
As for the 400 nits brightness rating, that's good enough to qualify for VESA's DisplayHDR 400 certification, which this monitor does. That's also one of the requisites for AMD's FreeSync Premium Pro branding, which this monitor also boasts.
We wish AOC would have included a gray-to-gray (GtG) response time metric, as that is more commonly used. Nevertheless, MPRT is gaining traction. According to the folks at Blur Busters, MPRT ratings are more useful anyway.
As for the refresh rate, I'm not aware of any monitors that go higher without overclocking, at least for now. There are 300Hz laptops, and Asus said at CES it will be coming out with a 360Hz G-Sync monitor later this year. But like the VG279QM, that's a 1080p display as well.
The AG273QZ will be available later this month for £659. It's not clear when it will arrive in the US or how much it will cost when it does, but a straight currency conversion would put the price at around $857.
