Aoc g2460pqu — характеристики

Contrast and brightness

Contrast ratios

Using a Konica Minolta CS-200 ‘Chroma Meter’ we measured the brightness of white and black using a range of monitor settings and calculated the resulting contrast ratio. Unless specifically stated assume default settings were used, aside from DPS being disabled. The results from our test settings and ICC profile are highlighted in blue whilst the highest white luminance, lowest black luminance and highest contrast ratio recorded are highlighted in black.

The AOC g2460Pqu averaged a contrast ratio of 1104:1 in ‘Gamma1’ which is excellent – on the upper end of what non-VA LCDs are capable of. Changing the ‘Gamma’ mode had no negative effect on static contrast. The highest luminance value recorded far exceeded the specified 350 cd/m2, at an eye-piercing 413 cd/m2. The minimum white luminance recorded, meanwhile, stood at 89 cd/m2. This is nice and low and similar to what was seen on the VG248QE but not the XL2411T. The luminance adjustment range this provided is excellent, at 324 cd/m2. Static contrast dropped just slightly to 1073:1 under our test settings, which is still strong. The ICC profile provided further corrections and dropped the contrast a little further to a still respectable and on-target 1000:1.

There are two dynamic contrast modes on the AOC. The first is called ‘DCR’ (Dynamic Contrast Ratio) which is a fairly classic implementation. The backlight dims and lightens as one unit (BLU or Backlight Unit) according to how bright or dark the image is. We found this setting made the backlight far too bright the vast majority of the time, even during mixed images. The changes in brightness were fairly gradual but still bothersome at times. The second dynamic contrast mode is one that has more utility, we feel, and is actually enabled by default (called ‘DPS’ or Dynamic Power Saver). The user sets the brightness as normal, but instead of the backlight staying as it is at a given brightness it is allowed to change. The specified brightness acts as a maximum, with the backlight dimming slightly to reflect the ‘darkness’ of the image. The changes in brightness are fairly subtle and many users will not actually realise this is enabled by default – its primary purpose is to save a bit of energy when darker content is being displayed. Both modes have limited appeal for a gaming monitor given that the whole backlight must dim or brighten as a single unit and that most images are mixed. You wouldn’t necessarily want the monitor to dim when you enter a dark room in a game such in a way that will affect the brilliance of your HUD and any explosions and gunfire, for example.

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)

The AOC g2460Pqu uses PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to dim the backlight below 100%. That means that the backlight switches on and off extremely rapidly to produce lower brightness levels. A minority of users are sensitive to this flickering and can suffer from visual discomfort (headaches etc.) when viewing a monitor that uses PWM. Aside from the BenQ XL2420TE, which is expensive and restricted to certain regions currently, all modern 120Hz+ LCDs use PWM and it isn’t something most users have to worry about. The video below shows the existence of PWM on this monitor as captured by a sensitive camera – nobody detects such a pronounced strobing, that’s just to demonstrate its existence. Note the lack of strobing in the video at 100% brightness, where PWM is not used as the backlight is not being dimmed.

Luminance uniformity

Looking at a black screen in a dark room highlighted a few imperfections. There was minor bleed at the bottom right and quite a patchy appearance at various points of the screen due to clouding. The bleed manifested itself as a slight blue-grey glow and the clouding as lighter grey patches. This did not prove to be problematic during regular testing and was far from the worst case of poor black uniformity we’ve seen. There was also a mild golden glow that could be seen if you viewed the monitor from off-centre. This is typical of a TN panel and is far less noticeable than ‘IPS glow’ or ‘PLS glow’ – it can’t be seen from directly in front of the monitor, either.

Introduction

The current ‘high refresh rate’ gaming monitor market is dominated by two players; ASUS and BenQ. By focusing on refresh rate as a means of improving the fluidity of the 2D experience, rather than simply facilitating 3D, they have created some compelling products. AOC have released their first ‘high refresh rate’ entry in the form of the g2460Pqu. Using the same panel as the XL2411T and VG248QE, there’s certainly potential for very high levels of responsiveness. But there is more to a monitor than just the panel. We feel that the current 24” super-speedy offerings could offer a more refined and well-tuned viewing experience. Can AOC’s latest offering deliver something a bit different in that regard? We shall find out.

Calibration

Testing the presets

We used an array of familiar images and applications (including the Lagom website and our game test titles) to subjectively assess the image performance using various settings on the AOC g2460Pqu. To provide a more thorough quantitative assessment we also used a Spyder4 Elite colorimeter. There are no true presets on this monitor so instead we analysed performance using the 3 ‘gamma modes’ of the monitor. Where only gamma mode is adjusted all other OSD settings were kept at default – aside from DPS (Dynamic Power Saving), which is a sort of dynamic contrast mode. This is enabled by default but we disabled this for consistency during analysis.

Conclusion

Having used 2 monitors (BenQ XL2411T and ASUS VG248QE) that use this 24” 144Hz panel already, we weren’t expecting anything mind-blowing in the way of image quality on the AOC g2460Pqu. Out of the box everything was too bright the colours were washed out, cool-tinted and bleached. Following OSD adjustments we were actually able to achieve a better balanced and more vibrant image at 144Hz than on other similar monitors, however. As usual with a TN panel the colour consistency and subtle shade variety was somewhat limited. There were also certain shades that could have done with a bit more richness – not helped by the strong matte anti-glare screen surface and colour gamut being a bit restrictive in places. The overall representation of colour was good, though, and there was a good rich but natural look to the image.

Contrast performance was good from the traditional ‘numbers’ perspective, with high static contrast readings and a good level of detail in dark scenes. As is common on gaming monitors and seen to an even greater extent on other 144Hz models, there are certain enhancements made to gamma which set out to raise the visibility of dark places to give a competitive edge in games. It does what it’s supposed to, but certain dark shades become lighter than they should be which introduces some unintended and slightly unnatural looking detail in places. At the high end the monitor offered buckets of brightness, if you want it. White and other light shades didn’t really appear particularly crisp and pure, though; again the monitor was at the mercy of the high haze matte screen surface. There has been good movement away from these ‘strong’ and grainy matte screen surfaces for other panel types (IPS, PLS and in some cases VA) and it would be nice for the 144Hz models to follow suit.

What many users are going to be particularly interested with for a high-Hertz gaming monitor, of course, is the responsiveness. This monitor doesn’t have any 3D capabilities, does not support Nvidia 3D Vision (1 or 2) or LightBoost. The refresh rate is purely about giving extra fluidity in 2D. It did that, giving a more connected feel and reducing motion blur compared with even the fastest 60Hz monitors. The pixel responsiveness was not quite able to make the best use of this refresh rate, however. There was evident trailing in places as a result of pixel transitions occurring slower than they should. On the plus side there was absolutely no hint of overdrive trailing. For some reason AOC provided configurable ‘Overdrive’ settings if the monitor is running in 60Hz but not for higher refresh rates – and we feel that slightly higher acceleration would have been beneficial. The input lag was also not as low as we’ve seen on similar models. At around 13ms there’s enough input lag there to deter some users, but it isn’t really an astronomically high amount of input lag at all. As with the pixel responsiveness some users will find things really snappy and will feel that the increased refresh rate alone justifies the purchase – especially when coupled with the best image quality of all current 144Hz 24 inchers.

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Specifications

As with the models it is competing against, key specifications include a ‘Full HD’ TN panel with 144Hz refresh rate and ‘up to 1ms’ grey to grey response time specified. It’s nice to see AOC use the word ‘up to’ to highlight that different transitions actually occur at different speeds and not all will be as fast as the 1ms specified. At time of writing the monitor is not available in the US (unless imported), so a typical US retail price is not included. The key ‘talking points’ of the specification have been highlighted in blue for your reading convenience.

Screen size: 24 inches

Panel type: AU Optronics TN (Twisted Nematic) LCD

Native resolution: 1920 x 1080

Typical maximum brightness: 350 cd/m2

Colour support: 16.7 million (6-bits per subpixel plus dithering)

Response time (G2G): Up to 1ms

Refresh rate: 144Hz

Weight: 6.54kg (including stand)

Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 (80m:1 dynamic)

Viewing angle: 170º horizontal, 160º vertical

Power consumption: 25W typical

Backlight: WLED (White Light Emitting Diode)

Typical RRP as reviewed: £255

Responsiveness

Input lag

We calculate input lag using a modified ‘camera and stopwatch method’. A camera set to high shutter speed takes a snapshot of an on-screen stopwatch displayed both on the monitor being tested and a monitor of known input lag. Traditionally you compare with a single CRT monitor that is accepted to have ‘0’ input lag. To improve accuracy we compare input lag values with an array of monitors of known input lag and take an average from over 120 readings. This sort of testing is really the best you can manage without specialist equipment such as a photodiode and oscilloscope and seems to give quite representative input lag values comparable to those actually measured using said specialist equipment.

We measured around 13ms ( of input lag on the g2460Pqu. This is a value that will deter some gamers but shouldn’t bother others. It is certainly more input lag than you’ll find on competing 144Hz models and is quite similar to Samsung’s SA750 and SA950 series of 3D monitors (which many people find great for gaming).

Refresh rate

The g2460Pqu supports a 144Hz refresh rate, which allows it to output 2.4 times as many frames of information to the user each second. If your GPU can support it this means a true 144fps gaming experience. Each frame is displayed for under half as long as on a 60Hz monitor and the level of apparent blur during fast motion is greatly reduced. At lower frame rates this ‘blur reduction’ doesn’t apply, but the visual information is always updated over twice as frequently as at 60Hz. This gives a more ‘connected feel’ to the game world or even just the desktop as you move your mouse, increasing the fluidity of interactions in a way that you don’t get on a 60Hz monitor – even if this 60Hz monitor has ‘zero’ input lag.

Viewing angles

To reinforce the notion of colour consistency limitations we used Lagom’s tests for viewing angle. The following observations were made.

• The purple block appeared purple at the top and pink at the bottom with an obvious shift if you move your head.

The red block appeared a reasonably deep red at the top transitioning to pink towards the bottom.

The green block appeared a yellow-green with increasing yellow tint towards the bottom.

The blue block was a good solid blue throughout.

The Lagom text had a green hue at the top transitioning to orange and then red, shifting readily as you move your head. This shows the typical viewing angle dependency of the monitor’s gamma curve that you’d expect from a TN panel.

To help demonstrate how the monitor performs at various viewing angles and not just under direct viewing from in front we took a quick video. This shows the sort of shifts that can be observed on the Lagom text, a mixed desktop background and a dark desktop background. Note in particular the more pronounced contrast shifts vertically in particular. For the dark background you will also notice the aforementioned golden glow.