AOC Agon AG271QG Review:
 One more very good IPS 165Hz Monitor 

The foot stand is well built and parts are made out of plastic. Adjustments are smooth and only the cable management solution is not optimal. The Design, as always, personal taste and so it is not included in this rating(!).

min. Range to the wall
Display: 17 cm
Foot Stand: 21.5 cm

Ergonomics on the AOC is very good. The only one thing I'm missing is a lower Min. height adjustment.

Min. height: 6 cm
Max. height: 19.2
Swivel: -20/20 °
Tilt: -3.5/21.5 °
Pivot: 1 /90°

On the back, we find a huge AOC logo and the typical red design accent in a brushed aluminum look which is made out of plastic.

Panel Width
Left, right, top: 1.2 cm
Bottom: 1.9 cm

The AOC's inner panel frame will cause some reflections from the image content displayed on the panel.

Border thickness: 2.1 cm
Total thickness: 6 cm

We also can wall mount the monitor (Vesa 100 x 100 mm). This however will take around 6 cm space in depth.

The monitor, except the foot stand, is completely made out of plastic. However, the plastic does not feel as good as on the Eizo FS2735 or the Asus PG279Q for example and because of its foot stand a bit better than the Acer XG271HU.

Because of the inner panel frame construction, I also have to deduct some rating points.

1x HDMI cable
1x DisplayPort cable
1x 3.5mm audio cable
1x USB 3.0 cable
1x Power cable

We find 5 physical buttons on the lower right.

The Back button
Navigation left and down
Navigation right and up
the enter button
and power on-off

Navigation is not really intuitive so that you will missclick many times. In the end, the navigation is not really something which is important within a monitor.

All typical options are available in the AOC. In addition, AOC includes a black equalizer and very good gamma settings. The menu is very simple and clean. Special features like on the Eizo FS2735, for example, are not included. Macro buttons and own presets is what we're missing here.

Native Contrast (120 cd/m2): 1371:1
Contrast with Local Dimming (120 cd/m2): N/A
Black Level: (120 cd/m2) 0,09 cd/m2

Compared to a VA or even an OLED panel, the AOC has only an average contrast ratio.

Important: Compared to other IPS panels the contrast otherwise is excellent. In a pitch black room, blacks look more like gray than real black. If ambient light is present, blacks appear much better (daylight, desk-lamps). Within a monitor IPS vs. VA is a completely different topic than IPS vs. VA in TV's - because of different circumstances, IPS monitor blacks are not that bad as IPS TV blacks. A video for this will be released soon.

since this is not a hdr monitor with brightness control, the brightness will not change with respect to a larger white or color area.

min brightness: 41.47 cd/mq
max brightness:

SDR Peak 2% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Peak 10% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Peak 25% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Peak 50% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Peak 75% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Peak 100%: 471,28 cd/m2

SDR Sustained 2% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Sustained 10% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Sustained 25% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Sustained 50% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Sustained 75% Square: 471,28 cd/m2
SDR Sustained 100%: 471,28 cd/m2

HDR is not supported.

HDR Peak 2% Square: N/A
HDR Peak 10% Square: N/A
HDR Peak 25% Square: N/A
HDR Peak 50% Square: N/A
HDR Peak 75% Square: N/A
HDR Peak 100%: N/A

HDR Sustained 2% Square: N/A
HDR Sustained 10% Square: N/A
HDR Sustained 25% Square: N/A
HDR Sustained 50% Square: N/A
HDR Sustained 75% Square: N/A
HDR Sustained 100%: N/A

The AOC has three different gamma setting. On "gamma1" we hit the perfect gamma curvature of gamma 2.2.

You should consider that gamma 2.2 is not perfect for everyone. Some people also can prefer gamma 2.0 for example. Gamma 2.2 is a standard in which most games and movies are mastered which means: If you want to see a game or a movie how it was edited in the post-production, with gamma 2.2 you will mostly the closest matches.

You also should not that Gamma 2.2 on a VA, an IPS, an OLED, as same as on a TN panel will look different.

The AOC's native color temperature on this unit was measured very close to 6500k. 6500k is the standard in which games and movies are mastered.

This does not necessarily mean that this is the perfect result for you. For print, the standard in color temperature, for example, is 5500k. Personally, I prefer a color temperature around 5800k. If you want to see the closest picture to that how a game or a movie was edited in the post-production, 6500k is the closest setting.

The AOC does not support local dimming.

AOC's maximum deviation is 16% while around 15% is average on a gaming monitor. The result for gaming is very good whereas it is too much for a professional.

Here you should consider, those gaming monitors are not made for a perfect homogeneity. Within games, you wouldn't really see a difference. Everything above 8.0 already is very good for gaming.

A maximum deviation of 187K in the white point homogeneity. For games again a very acceptable result whereas for a real professional this wouldn't be a perfect result.

10% - 20% - 30% - 40% - 50% Grey

On uniform image content like skies, deserts and so on, you will observe a bit of DSE (Dirty Screen Effect). However, on a Grey Uniformity test pattern, this effect is much more obvious.

Viewing angles in bright image content strongly differ from viewing angles in dark image content. Close to the monitor (around 30cm) you will observe a bit of IPS Glow in bright and uniform colors (Oil-Filter look) close to the right and left of the panel frame.

All in all, viewing angles are very good - even not as good as on projectors or some OLED displays.

Note: we talk about Viewing Angles directly sitting in front of the display while moving the head a bit in every direction.

Viewing angles on dark image content at the AOC are poor. You have to find perfect height and tilt adjustments on your individual unit, otherwise, you will be able to observe much more IPS Glow.

Note: Correct height and tilt adjustments are very important for IPS panels in dark image content, especially in a pitch black room. This can drastically change the perception of IPS Glow. The further away, the more freedom you will have in viewing angles while gaming.

AG (Anti-Glare) Coating: Half matte

The AOC has a half matte panel coating and handles its reflections pretty well. A giant light source like a window, a display with a half matte or even matte panel coating handles its reflections better, whereas small light sources like a small lamp, a glossy panel with a good AG (Anti-Glare) coating has these kinds of reflections better under control.

Notice:
With a less aggressive matte panel coating you have subjectively a better image quality (contrast, colors, sharpness) whereas a very aggressive matte panel coating is visible on bright & uniform image content in form of dirt or a glitter effect.

Currently, I do not have any professionally good enough software. Since I hardly make any money with Lim's Cave, I depend on donations for this expensive software.

Calman Enthusiast: 399$

You can donate here. I'm thankful for any donations! As soon as the money is reached, I will produce a special thanks video, where each donation will be mentioned in the video

Currently, I do not have any professionally good enough software. Since I hardly make any money with Lim's Cave, I depend on donations for this expensive software.

Calman Enthusiast: 399$

You can donate here. I'm thankful for any donations! As soon as the money is reached, I will produce a special thanks video, where each donation will be mentioned in the video

sRGB: 99.6%
Adobe RGB: 74.3%

Note: The color gamut coverage is showing a coverage in a specific gamut (sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI-P 3..). It's most important for those who need a full spectrum for image editing, post-production, and so on, depending on what they plan to "edit" or "produce" - whereas for games it isn't necessarily needed to fill a full spectrum of a specific gamut. The DCI-P3 gamut coverage for example otherwise is very good if you plan to watch movies in HDR (wide color gamut).

sRGB: 113%
Adobe RGB: 77.8%

The overall color impression of the AOC is very good. Colors are vibrant, pop and are very intense. These IPS panels currently are offering the best color reproduction in high refresh rate panels as same as Samsung's CHG70 and CFG70 Quantum Dot series. A wide color gamut volume does not necessarily mean that colors look better. It's also a part of personal taste while some people prefer Quantum Dot colors (very intense) whereas other people prefer "just" intense colors.

Quantum Dot panels usually have a more transparent look with some advantages in Sci-Fi games for example, whereas they can also have an unnatural look in games with much yellow, orange, or reds (Game example: Firewatch).

The pixel structure will be added in future reviews while I'm currently saving money for a macro lens.

The AOC AG271QG does not support 3D.

Here we mostly already can observer color banding and harsh steps in the gradient. The AOC handles color banding good but not very good for an IPS panel. AU Optronic probably, in general, has some more issues with color banding.

Note: Points are given without using the black equalizer, on gamma set to 2.2 and on 120 cd/m2. Even on compressed content, you will observe a bit color banding while on with the black equalizer and gamma 2.0 for example, you will observer pretty clear and much more noticeable color banding issues.

Color Depth: 8-Bit

Within color gradients, the AOC otherwise performs great, without any issues.

Bezels are very stiff in the AOC, especially at its corners. This causes some more than usual IPS glow at my unit and a bit more Backlight Bleed.

Note: The panel frame construction is VERY IMPORTANT on a display, especially within an IPS panel. A well-constructed panel frame can drastically improve the IPS Glow quality and cause less Backlight Bleed issues.

An IPS panel does not suffer from clouding.

Unfortunately, my unit suffers from Backlight Bleed on exact 3 places.

Note: This can differentiate within each individual unit. You also can take a look at the gaming monitor list to check if there are ratings from other users available.

The IPS Glow on the AOC (on my unit) is a bit worse than average on current AU-Optronics high refresh rate panels. Compared to other IPS panels the Glow, in general, is also bad. Compared to the Asus PG279Q otherwise, the IPS Glow is stool good.

Note: Also the IPS Glow can strongly differ from each individual unit. In future I will try to order several units, to get better test results. Take a look at the gaming monitor list on Lim's Cave to find out if other users made a different experience within the IPS Glow.

Native: 144Hz

Factory Overclock: 165Hz

The AOC's refresh rate is perfect for those who want a high refresh rate monitor. Of course, there are already 240Hz or even 480Hz panels on the market, the difference in games between 144hz and 240hz still is slight. The difference from 144Hz to 165Hz is mostly just a gimmick.

Adaptive Sync: G-Sync

G-Sync Range: 30-165Hz

G-Sync works great on the AOC, no issues at all. No frame skipping, no stuttering issues. In a load screen, it can sometimes start to flicker, when your fps drops below 30fps. This, however, is usual.

Best Overdrive Settings: Medium

The AOC AG271QG has a very fast response time which is excellent for any games you want to play. No smearing issues as on VA panels. I do recommend to use the overdrive settings on "medium" whereas on "strong" you will be able to observe artifacts. On medium, you still will have some overshoot. A TN panel still is slightly faster.

Note: On test pattern, you will be able to see the difference much better compared to a TN panel, whereas in games the difference is only very slight.

On the desktop I couldn't notice any strange horizontal or vertical scanlines. On a specific test pattern from BlurBusers, we clearly can see that there are some horizontal scan lines on the moving object. In games, you will rarely be able to see them.

Currently, I'm working on own test-pattern and test-tools which will be shared on Lim's Cave in near future. With these tools you will be able to check your monitor for:

Judder-Free 24p: Tool in developement
Judder-Free 24p via 60p: Tool in developement

A 24p playback without judder only matters if you watch movies on your monitor.

60Hz: No
120Hz: No
144Hz: No
165Hz: No

No frame skipping issues. This means you will not have trouble with stuttering.

The AOC also has no issues with any color temperature artifacts. Everything is perfect here.

Since the AOC AG271QG is a G-Sync monitor, it uses ULMB as a backlight scanning feature. Personally, I'm a real fan of this feature and even it produces more Ghosting / Crosstalk than a TN panel, the result still is very good. Note: You also should consider here, that Ghosting is much less visible within a game compared to specific test images. On the top and bottom of the screen Ghosting / Crosstalk also is more visible. Downsides of MBR (Motion Blur Reduction): - Less vibrant colors - The display gets darker - Crosstalk / Ghosting - Only G-Sync OR ULMB (MBR)

The AOC offers a max. brightness of 120 cd/m2 while ULMB is enabled. For many people, this will be too low even I would recommend getting used to 120 cd/m2 (when the room is not too bright)

Currently, I cannot measure the Input-Lag because I don't own specific Input-Lag hardware. Since I hardly make any money with Lim's Cave, I depend on donations for this expensive camera.

1000 FPS Camera Sony RX100 IV: 700$

You can donate here. I'm thankful for any donations! As soon as the money is reached, I will produce a special thanks video, where each donation will be mentioned in the video.

Native Resolution (165Hz): 3-4 Ms
Native Resolution @60Hz: ??
With Adaptive Sync (G-Sync): ??
With ULMB: ??

1x HDMI 1.4
1x DisplayPort 1.2
4x USB Downstream
1x 3.5mm Audio Out
1x 3.5mm Audio In

The AOC has everything you want. For a 10/10 score we miss a 2nd HDMI input and easier to reach USB ports on the back.