Should I get an AOC AG274QXM?

[Valantar]

I'm growing tired of waiting for the perfect 27" 2160p 144Hz real HDR monitor to come along - I thought the Inzone M9 might be that, but ... it's 14000 SEK here in Sweden. That's 2500SEK above the US MSRP converted to SEK + 25% VAT. In other words: it's way overpriced here.

Then again, AOC's 1440p MiniLED offerings are widely available and "more affordable". Not that a 9000SEK monitor is "affordable", but .... well, it's 2/3rds the Inzone. Other than the resolution and accompanying lack of HDMI 2.1, it ticks pretty much every box, and on paper should have a far superior FALD array (576 zones, mini LED) compared to the Inzone.

Then there are the perennially paper launched options from Cooler Master and everyone else, and that 32" ViewSonic with a ludicrous $2500 MSRP and a (literally) doubly ludicrous Swedish price of SEK 50 000 (that's roughly US$5000, for reference). The CM looks good on paper, but has stayed on paper for more than half a year now, with no sign of actually launching. I can't find any other good options either.

To be clear, in case you have suggestions: I want a 144Hz or higher 27" monitor with good HDR, a built-in KVM and USB-C video input, ideally (but not necessarily) an integrated PSU, slim bezels, a VESA mount, and at least three inputs, good color . I want 2160p, but I'll probably be happy staying at 1440p - it's worked well for me for a decade at this monitor size. Outside of HDR, the Gigabyte M27U is a good option, and is slightly cheaper than the AOC - but also has no functional HDR at all. The same is true for essentially every other 2160p144 monitor in this price range.

Oh, and one major drawback for the AOC: I can't find a single high quality review, covering color accuracy, response times, overdrive modes, etc. Mean it could technically be crap even if it looks good on paper.

So, should I get the AOC? Should I keep waiting? I'm not interested in making any short-term purchases - I buy gear to keep it until it breaks or doesn't do what I need it to do any longer.

 

[Toothless]

I'd be looking at Nexius or MSI for monitors. 2/3 of my AOC monitors came with dead pixels and are just.. bland.

 

[cvaldes]

So, should I get the AOC? Should I keep waiting? I'm not interested in making any short-term purchases - I buy gear to keep it until it breaks or doesn't do what I need it to do any longer.

Here in the USA, we have a few merchants who offer generous no-questions-asked full refund customer satisfaction return window policies, like Amazon.com (as a first-party retailer), the Best Buy electronics chain, and some mom-and-pop computer stores.

I bought a 32" BenQ from Best Buy that I found unsatisfactory and returned a few days later with no questions asked. I replaced it with a better 32" Dell that I ended up keeping. Best Buy refunded me the entire original purchase amount, no annoying restocking fee.

Do you have such a thing in Sweden?

The other main consideration is post-purchase warranty coverage. Some companies stand by their products better/longer than others. I am a satisfied owner of both a 27" LG monitor and a 55" LG OLED television with the awareness that some people dislike LG for their relatively short warranty periods.

 

[TheLostSwede]

No, worst company I have ever dealt with.
Got one of their first gen 4K monitors and had all kinds of issues with it.
The speakers would push static noise as full volume at random, the right side of the screen would glitch for no reason and sometimes, it would just switch off, which required the power connector to be removed and you had to wait 10 seconds before plugging it in again.
Contacted the company, they offered to upgrade the display firmware.
Same issues happened when I got it back from "service" and nothing seemed to have been done.
Even upgraded my graphics card, just in case, same problems.
Friend of mine in a different country had the same issues.
Asked for a refund and they told me no. Got told it wasn't their issue.
Had to go through the local consumer rights office to get my money back, as it never worked properly.
I'll never buy another AOC product after that.

 

[Valantar]

I'd be looking at Nexius or MSI for monitors. 2/3 of my AOC monitors came with dead pixels and are just.. bland.

Nixeus doesn't exist in Europe, and from what I can tell, MSI doesn't have anything even remotely fulfilling my requirements, sadly.

Here in the USA, we have a few merchants who offer generous no-questions-asked full refund customer satisfaction return window policies, like Amazon.com (as a first-party retailer), the Best Buy electronics chain, and some mom-and-pop computer stores.

I bought a 32" BenQ from Best Buy that I found unsatisfactory and returned a few days later with no questions asked. I replaced it with a better 32" Dell that I ended up keeping.

Do you have such a thing in Sweden?

Thankfully we have vastly superior customer protection laws than you, and pretty much anything bought online can be returned no questions asked within a couple of weeks from purchase (and longer from most retailers). But that doesn't help me - it takes a long time for our eyes to adjust to and make a reasonable assessment of any new monitor, not to mention the time needed to find a proper configuration etc. Longer than most return windows, I'd wager. (Plus, not having a car makes returning large, heavy items a major hassle, even if the nearest post office is a ten minute walk/three minute bike ride away.) And, crucially, I really want to avoid the hassle of getting a new monitor set up and cable managed into my desk - I want to be >90% sure I'm making a good decision before pulling the trigger. I'm not looking to buy anything to test it out.

No, worst company I have ever dealt with.
Got one of their first gen 4K monitors and had all kinds of issues with it.
The speakers would push static noise as full volume at random, the right side of the screen would glitch for no reason and sometimes, it would just switch off, which required the power connector to be removed and you had to wait 10 seconds before plugging it in again.
Contacted the company, they offered to upgrade the display firmware.
Same issues happened when I got it back from "service" and nothing seemed to have been done.
Even upgraded my graphics card, just in case, same problems.
Friend of mine in a different country had the same issues.
Asked for a refund and they told me no. Got told it wasn't their issue.
Had to go through the local consumer rights office to get my money back, as it never worked properly.
I'll never buy another AOC product after that.

Sheesh, that's ... uh, terrible. Damn. I guess I'm not that desperate - especially when I haven't seen a single review of it to assuage any fears of the same happening to me. Really tired of waiting for a good monitor though

 

[tabascosauz]

So, should I get the AOC? Should I keep waiting? I'm not interested in making any short-term purchases - I buy gear to keep it until it breaks or doesn't do what I need it to do any longer.

Have you had any prior experience with 27" 2160p, or just 27" 1440p?

imo it's a bit too dense for me, so I went back to 1440p, 32" might be a better 4K size for me. Some people like 27" 4K but often are the type of people to run 100% scaling - maybe they sit closer to the screen. Was hard to see the PPI difference usually, or make use of the added resolution (I usually run 125% scaling on 1440p, had to up to 150% I think for 4K). Other problem was performance - running 1440p or 1080p on 4K were both horrible, but I'm assuming you'll have no problems keeping the framerate high @ native.

As for reviews, RTINGS doesnt have one yet but TFTcentral does. https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/aoc-agon-pro-ag274qxm

I've only had one AOC monitor, a 23" 1080p60 IPS unit, I guess I must have lucked out given how poor their reputation seems.

The Adobe RGB coverage on the QXM is nutty.

 

[cvaldes]

Well, your money, your call.

If you don't want to take the time to set up the monitor with basic cabling, I don't know what to say.

No monitor manufacturer is going to give you 6-12 months for you acclimatize your eyes to their product, so AOC is no different than Dell, LG, Samsung, etc. in that regard. Looking at your System Specs, you already have an AOC. Are you happy with it? After all, it comes down to YOUR satisfaction level since YOU'RE paying for it.

 

[Valantar]

Well, your money, your call.

If you don't want to take the time to set up the monitor with basic cabling, I don't know what to say.

No monitor manufacturer is going to give you 6-12 months for you acclimatize your eyes to their product, so AOC is no different than Dell, LG, Samsung, etc. in that regard. Looking at your System Specs, you already have an AOC. Are you happy with it? After all, it comes down to YOUR satisfaction level since YOU'RE paying for it.

... that's why I ideally want a review, or in lieu of that, to hear of someone else's experiences before pulling the trigger. Your response essentially boiled down to "why not buy it and try", which ... IMO, that's hardly advice. I'm not asking for a 6-12 month time to acclimate, I'm asking for input.

Have you had any prior experience with 27" 2160p, or just 27" 1440p?

imo it's a bit too dense for me, so I went back to 1440p, 32" might be a better 4K size for me. Some people like 27" 4K but often are the type of people to run 100% scaling - maybe they sit closer to the screen. Was hard to see the PPI difference usually, or make use of the added resolution (I usually run 125% scaling on 1440p, had to up to 150% I think for 4K). Other problem was performance - running 1440p or 1080p on 4K were both horrible, but I'm assuming you'll have no problems keeping the framerate high @ native.

As for reviews, RTINGS doesnt have one yet but TFTcentral does. https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/aoc-agon-pro-ag274qxm

I've only had one AOC monitor, a 23" 1080p60 IPS unit, I guess I must have lucked out given how poor their reputation seems.

Not much direct experience outside of a few brief sessions, but I'd be going in planning to run 150% scaling to match a 1440p desktop, just with sharper text rendering. I really, really don't need more screen real estate for anything desktop based - 27" 1440p already fits nearly three A4 pages of text, and I have a secondary 24" 1080p monitor to the side. The main attractions with 2160p are as follows: increased sharpness on the desktop, increased compatibility (new gen and future consoles etc.), and increased configurability: a 2160p monitor can run 1080p and look good in a pinch even if the game lacks any advanced upscaling; for 1440p that step-down resolution is 720p instead, so ... yeah. This is of course less of a concern now than a few years back when I was first figuring out what I wanted thanks to the growth of FSR and the like, but still useful IMO. It also helps with backwards compatibility with older consoles, at least assuming that the display's scaler isn't terrible.

I also agree that 32" is a better resolution overall for 2160p, but after a few in-person tests I've settled on 32" just being too damn large for me, especially with the secondary display.

Thanks for the review link though! No idea why duckduckgo didn't show me that one.

Oh, and speaking of AOC, I didn't remember (or think to look), but my secondary monitor is actually an AOC - a 24P2C. It's ... fine? It's a pretty basic 24" 1080p IPS office monitor, with USB-C input and a 75Hz refresh rate + FS support. Not much to write home about, and it's colors never quite look good next to the U2711 (despite its calibration likely drifting massively in its decade+ of use), but it's fine for what it does - and it was cheap.

 

[TheLostSwede]

As for reviews, RTINGS doesnt have one yet but TFTcentral does. https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/aoc-agon-pro-ag274qxm

The size of that power brick!? Wtf is that junk?

Power Supply

19.5VDC, 16.9A

Why does a monitor need a 330 W power brick?

 

[cvaldes]

... that's why I ideally want a review, or in lieu of that, to hear of someone else's experiences before pulling the trigger. Your response essentially boiled down to "why not buy it and try", which ... IMO, that's hardly advice.

Someone has to be first...



This time it could be you! It's advice, just not the exact advice that you were hoping for. As you know if you ask for advice, sometimes you'll get advice that you didn't really want.



With your country's strong consumer protection laws, a Swede is in a better position to do this than most others on this planet.

So you can't find a glowing review of this monitor on the Internet. How many TPU forum participants do you trust? If some random bloke says "I bought one a month ago and I like it" (which is likely the extent of what you're going to get here in terms of qualitative assessment), is that enough for you? And remember that professional PC equipment reviewers don't spend much time with the products they're reviewing.

You complain about not being able to have enough time to acclimatize to a new monitor. Right.

Do you think the guys at Anandtech, FPS Review, Tom's Hardware, TechRadar, PC Gaming, whatever spend months and months staring at the same screen before they write their review?

Everyone's eyes perceive things differently. Ultimately it comes down to you whether or not you like the image generated by a given monitor or not. Same thing with stereo speakers, headphones, etc.

 

[Valantar]

The size of that power brick!? Wtf is that junk?

Power Supply

19.5VDC, 16.9A

Why does a monitor need a 330 W power brick?

Wow, that is ... something. I mean, I get that 65W PD from the USB-C requires some extra oomph, and those MiniLEDs no doubt consume some power, but 330w? That's just silly.

Someone has to be first...



This time it could be you! It's advice, just not the exact advice that you were hoping for. As you know if you ask for advice, sometimes you'll get advice that you didn't really want.



With your country's strong consumer protection laws, a Swede is in a better position to do this than most others on this planet.

That would be true if I had the type of time and energy needed to do something like that - and sadly I don't. Too much other stuff going on, and as I work from home I don't have the privilege of being able to leave my desk setup in shambles while changing out equipment, sadly.

So you can't find a glowing review of this monitor on the Internet. How many TPU forum participants do you trust? If some random bloke says "I bought one a month ago and I like it" (which is likely the extent of what you're going to get here in terms of qualitative assessment), is that enough for you? And remember that professional PC equipment reviewers don't spend much time with the products they're reviewing.

You complain about not being able to have enough time to acclimatize to a new monitor. Right.

Do you think the guys at Anandtech, FPS Review, Tom's Hardware, TechRadar, PC Gaming, whatever spend months and months staring at the same screen before they write their review?

But that's exactly the thing: a review gives one type of information - how it is to use, if it has glaring issues, the quality of life type of stuff. I wouldn't give much credit to what some random forum user said about colors, motion, etc. - but I might be willing to take that risk if they were overall very positive and had no other issues. Similarly, a review as you say generally says little to nothing about the quality of life stuff - which can indeed make or break a product - but it gives hard facts on how the display performs in important ways. There is obviously gambling involved either way - a great performing panel can have terrible firmware or just be buggy and broken in various ways; a monitor someone loves can be smeary or horribly oversaturated with no way of fixing this. Again: this is exactly why I'm asking for input, and "buy it and try" isn't useful in either direction.

Everyone's eyes are different. Ultimately it comes down to you whether or not you like the image generated by a given monitor or not. Same thing with stereo speakers, headphones, etc.

That is absolutely true to some extent, yes. But reviews and the experiences of others are a useful filter for taking bad things out of consideration before having to get used to something new.

 

[tabascosauz]

a 2160p monitor can run 1080p and look good in a pinch even if the game lacks any advanced upscaling; for 1440p that step-down resolution is 720p instead, so ... yeah.

Careful going in with that assumption without having prior experience - on paper that's how it should work, but in my experience at 27-28" downscaling to 1440p or 1080p on 4K is somehow equally if not more ass than 1080p on 1440...reminds me a little of "120Hz works better for 60fps games", sounds great doesn't work

Though nowadays it should be much less of a concern. Things like DLSS and FSR that seamlessly scale resolution so that it's not nearly as jarring.

The size of that power brick!? Wtf is that junk?

Power Supply

19.5VDC, 16.9A

Why does a monitor need a 330 W power brick?

Doesn't justify 330W, but I think it has 60W PD or something, to charge laptops

 

[TheLostSwede]

Doesn't justify 330W, but I think it has 60W PD or something, to charge laptops

Yeah, recently got a new 4K HDR600 display and it comes with a 180 W power brick that's less than half the size of that behemoth.
My monitor does 65 W USB PD charging as well. Ok, no mini LED backlight, but even so.

 

[cvaldes]

Wow, that is ... something. I mean, I get that 65W PD from the USB-C requires some extra oomph, and those MiniLEDs no doubt consume some power, but 330w? That's just silly.

That would be true if I had the type of time and energy needed to do something like that - and sadly I don't. Too much other stuff going on, and as I work from home I don't have the privilege of being able to leave my desk setup in shambles while changing out equipment, sadly.

But that's exactly the thing: a review gives one type of information - how it is to use, if it has glaring issues, the quality of life type of stuff. I wouldn't give much credit to what some random forum user said about colors, motion, etc. - but I might be willing to take that risk if they were overall very positive and had no other issues. Similarly, a review as you say generally says little to nothing about the quality of life stuff - which can indeed make or break a product - but it gives hard facts on how the display performs in important ways. There is obviously gambling involved either way - a great performing panel can have terrible firmware or just be buggy and broken in various ways; a monitor someone loves can be smeary or horribly oversaturated with no way of fixing this. Again: this is exactly why I'm asking for input, and "buy it and try" isn't useful in either direction.

That is absolutely true to some extent, yes. But reviews and the experiences of others are a useful filter for taking bad things out of consideration before having to get used to something new.

Well, then sit back and wait for that unicorn review to materialize. It sounds like you have the patience for it.

I'll stop telling you to buy it and try it out yourself.

If a new restaurant opens down the street, what you do? Do you wait for the professional reviewer from your city's newspaper to review it? Do you wait for friends to try it out first? Your barber? Read Yelp reviews? Do you have a required numeric threshold? Weighted scoring system?

Some people might just look at the posted menu (which is like a spec sheet or marketing webpage) and say, "Hey, sounds tasty, I'll have lunch here."

What makes you buy a new videogame, go see a new movie, buy a candy bar? A pair of shoes? Eyeglass frames? Toothpaste?

Some of those things you can't return. At least you can return a PC monitor.

 

[Valantar]

Careful going in with that assumption without having prior experience - on paper that's how it should work, but in my experience at 27-28" downscaling to 1440p or 1080p on 4K is somehow equally if not more ass than 1080p on 1440...reminds me a little of "120Hz works better for 60fps games", sounds great doesn't work

Though nowadays it should be much less of a concern. Things like DLSS and FSR that seamlessly scale resolution so that it's not nearly as jarring.

Oh, I know - this is a large part of why I'm warming back up to 1440p. Though GPU scaling (and especially integer scaling) is a good workaround for crappy monitor scalers.

Yeah, recently got a new 4K HDR600 display and it comes with a 180 W power brick that's less than half the size of that behemoth.
My monitor does 65 W USB PD charging as well. Ok, no mini LED backlight, but even so.

That sounds a lot more reasonable, yeah. I mean, a bright 27" panel consumes ... 40W? Maybe 60W if it's a relatively inefficient wide gamut backlight? Let's say that MiniLED array doubles that, and add 65W for charging and another 20W for the USB ports - that's still "just" ~200W. 330W just seems stupidly overkill.

Heck it even removes the only advantage of external monitor PSUs - thinner power cabling going into the monitor. Ugh.

That being said, that review didn't make it seem half bad. No issues noted, and the display seemed to perform decently - good color when calibrated, good HDR (if a tad washed out and very inaccurate at high brightness), and good response times and motion clarity. Still ... eh. I'll have to think about it, that's for sure.

Well, then sit back and wait for that unicorn review to materialize. It sounds like you have the patience for it.

I'll stop telling you to buy it and try it out yourself.

If a new restaurant opens down the street, what you do? Do you wait for the professional reviewer from your city's newspaper to review it? Do you wait for friends to try it out first? Your barber? Read Yelp reviews? Do you have a required numeric threshold? Weighted scoring system?

Some people might just look at the posted menu (which is like a spec sheet or marketing webpage) and say, "Hey, sounds tasty, I'll have lunch here."

What makes you buy a new videogame, go see a new movie, buy a candy bar?

Some of those things you can't return. At least you can return a PC monitor.

... and none of these things are $1000, 5-to-10-year investments either. So maybe there are slightly different thought processes and considerations behind the idea of trying them out?

 

[cvaldes]

... and none of these things are $1000, 5-to-10-year investments either. So maybe there are slightly different thought processes and considerations behind the idea of trying them out?

LOL, good luck when you buy real estate... Or motor vehicles... Get a spouse... Or have kids...



Again, you can still return a PC monitor for a full refund and the biggest hassle is stuffing it back into the box with the cables and maybe hauling it to a shipping center.

Based on what I've seen with divorces by family members and friends, returning your bride to the altar isn't so simple...

 

[Valantar]

LOL, good luck when you buy real estate... Or motor vehicles... Get a spouse... Or have kids...



Again, you can still return a PC monitor for a full refund and the biggest hassle is stuffing it back into the box with the cables and maybe hauling it to a shipping center.

Based on what I've seen with divorces by family members and friends, returning your bride to the altar isn't so simple...

Yeah, 'cause all of these tend to be things people "just try" ... oh, right wait, that's kind of the point, isn't it? Cheap, transient things are easily tried with little consequence, expensive, intransient things are generally not. Almost as if advice could be adjusted accordingly? Can't say I have had much trouble getting what I have from the list above, but figuring out those things definitely took a long time, yes.

And yes, as I've said above I'm aware that I theoretically can buy and test a monitor. The problem is the practical possibility of doing so, the hassle involved, and the risk of not having time to form a firm opinion within the return window, risking getting stuck with a product I'm unhappy with. Hence the desire to try and make an informed decision. Is that so weird?

 

[cvaldes]

And yes, as I've said above I'm aware that I theoretically can buy and test a monitor. The problem is the practical possibility of doing so, the hassle involved, and the risk of not having time to form a firm opinion within the return window, risking getting stuck with a product I'm unhappy with. Hence the desire to try and make an informed decision. Is that so weird?

No, as long as you fully understand that you might not be able to make an informed decision each and every time, even for things that are significant and possibly life-changing expenditures (whether it be with time, money, emotional or spiritual capital).

No one wants to feel like they wasted their money.

You are free to wait until the perfect set of conditions converge in a miraculous moment of celestial harmony. Maybe that moment is a week away. Maybe it's three years away. Maybe it comes but right before you place your order someone releases a newer and better product that hasn't been reviewed yet and then you're back to square one. Maybe it'll never come.

In tech, there's always something better right around the corner... If there weren't these companies would all be out of business.

Anyhow I wish you the best for your purchase decision whenever it may be.

 

[Valantar]

No, as long as you fully understand that you might not be able to make an informed decision each and every time, even for things that are significant and possibly life-changing expenditures (whether it be with time, money, emotional or spiritual capital).

No one wants to feel like they wasted their money.

You are free to wait until the perfect set of conditions converge in a miraculous moment of celestial harmony. Maybe that moment is a week away. Maybe it's three years away. Maybe it comes but right before you place your order someone releases a newer and better product that hasn't been reviewed yet and then you're back to square one. Maybe it'll never come.

In tech, there's always something better right around the corner... If there weren't these companies would all be out of business.

Anyhow I wish you the best for your purchase decision whenever it may be.

It days something truly fascinating about humans when this is a possible outcome of asking for advice about something. Yes, because wanting to try to make a somewhat informed decision is obviously equivalent to waiting for the perfect set of conditions. Nice interpretation you've got there. You do you, I guess? If the best advice you've got to give is one of the two possible - and therefore obvious - outcomes of not getting any advice (either getting it to test, or not doing so), then... thanks for stating the obvious?

 

[cvaldes]

Look, no one here can wave a magic wand to make a dozen high-quality product reviews of a specific product SKU appear on the Internet. And you should understand that the volume of TPU forum regular contributors is actually pretty limited (particularly on a back-to-work Monday) and that your chances of getting a measured thoughtful insightful testimony beyond "love it, works great" or "it sucked, returned it" was pretty limited.

This monitor released a year ago:

AOC Launches AG274QXM Monitor with Mini LED: 27" WQHD, IPS, 170 Hz, 1 Ms, HDR 1,000

AOC via its Chinese website launched a new monitor that stands in its premium offerings. The AOC AG274QXM packs the latest Mini LED technology, enabling lighting of 576 individual zones, improving contrast and brightness enough so that it features VESA's DisplayHDR 1,000 certification. The 170...

www.techpowerup.com

and there is no TPU review and no subsequent discussion. How many more reviews you are expecting from a tech product launched 14 months ago? Hardware reviewers focus on the now, even if this monitor from June 2021 is still a shipping product.

And yet you asked the two questions anyhow: "So, should I get the AOC? Should I keep waiting?"

And if someone gives you answers to those questions but don't provide all of the criteria of that ideal product review based on long-term ownership, whose fault is that? Theirs?

Let me revise my answer to your second question. Don't buy it. Just keep waiting until AOC releases a product that is better reviewed.

 

[Valantar]

Look, no one here can wave a magic wand to make a dozen high-quality product reviews of a specific product SKU appear on the Internet. And you should understand that the volume of TPU forum regular contributors is actually pretty limited (particularly on a back-to-work Monday) and that your chances of getting a measured thoughtful insightful testimony beyond "love it, works great" or "it sucked, returned it" was pretty limited.

But ... have I asked for that? Heck, this thread has already led me to a high quality review that I didn't find on my own. That is quite honestly more than I was expecting. Mostly, I was hoping to get some input from the TPU hive mind, which tends to be extremely knowledgeable about all things related to PCs. As I said above: you're reading things into this that were neither asked for nor implied.

This monitor released a year ago:

AOC Launches AG274QXM Monitor with Mini LED: 27" WQHD, IPS, 170 Hz, 1 Ms, HDR 1,000

AOC via its Chinese website launched a new monitor that stands in its premium offerings. The AOC AG274QXM packs the latest Mini LED technology, enabling lighting of 576 individual zones, improving contrast and brightness enough so that it features VESA's DisplayHDR 1,000 certification. The 170...

www.techpowerup.com

and there is no TPU review and no subsequent discussion. How many more reviews you are expecting from a tech product launched 14 months ago? Hardware reviewers focus on the now, even if this monitor from June 2021 is still a shipping product.

... TPU barely reviews monitors? Have I asked if anyone has seen a TPU review? I don't see how this is even relevant. People here read and watch all kinds of stuff, so I was hoping someone had seen something I hadn't. Which it turned out was right! Believe it or not, this thread has been useful and informative - though no thanks to your "contributions".

And yet you asked the two questions anyhow: "So, should I get the AOC? Should I keep waiting?"

And if someone gives you answers to those questions but don't provide all of the criteria of that ideal product review based on long-term ownership, whose fault is that? Theirs?

IMO, it is kind of expected that if you ask someone for advice, that advice should come with some kind of reasoning attached. Why would I listen to it otherwise; why would I accept it as good advice? And why would I take it as advice at all if what is given is the most empty, obvious statement possible? Again: that isn't advice. It's just stating the obvious, while contributing no knowledge or wisdom of any relevant kind to any of the considerations being made. To me, that isn't useful. You might see it as such, but, sorry, I don't. If you think a sensible, useful, helpful response to "hey, I'm looking at this thing and considering buying it, what do you people think?" is "why don't you buy it and try?" then ... I would suggest reconsidering how you give advice to others. 'Cause that's not helpful.

 

[cvaldes]

I didn't realize your Internet searching didn't locate the TFTcentral review. It is the second hit in a DuckDuckGo search for me.

Anyhow, best of luck with your purchase decision!

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I'd pass on it... IPS still does pretty poorly for contrast something that is very necessary for a good HDR experience. I would be waiting for somthing similar to the neo G7 but flat if sticking to a typical 27/32 inch monitor... I personally got tired of waiting for a true hdr monitor and grabbed an LG C1 last year that is paired with a 27 inch 1440p ips monitor. A true hdr 4k display is a game changer and by far the best purchase I've every made pc wise to improve my gaming experience. There seems to be more and more good hdr monitors coming out that to me it would be worth waiting for better options.

 

[Valantar]

I'd pass on it... IPS still does pretty poorly for contrast something that is very necessary for a good HDR experience. I would be waiting for somthing similar to the neo G7 but flat if sticking to a typical 27/32 inch monitor... I personally got tired of waiting for a true hdr monitor and grabbed an LG C1 last year that is paired with a 27 inch 1440p ips monitor. A true hdr 4k display is a game changer and by far the best purchase I've every made pc wise to improve my gaming experience. There seems to be more and more good hdr monitors coming out that to me it would be worth waiting for better options.

Given that this is FALD with a decent zone count, I'm not that worried about IPS's relatively low contrast. I mean, I'm fine with the contrast on my current IPS, and I'm not particularly sensitive to blooming - I've literally never noticed it on our Samsung TV, which is much larger than this with a comparable zone count, but also higher native contrast of course being a VA panel. Would I prefer an OLED for contrast? For that use, if it was sufficiently bright, sure, but given my need for this to be a work monitor at all, I wouldn't dare go that route due to burn-in (and for some idiotic reason Samsung's QD-OLED panels have a stupid triangular subpixel structure killing their text rendering sharpness, making them unsuitable for my use as well). A flat Neo G7 would indeed be good - as long as it doesn't have any of VA's own frequent issues, or Samsung's notoriously shit monitor QC - but I don't see that arriving any time soon. Samsung seem dead set on selling either curved high end panels or mediocre flat ones, with nothing in between. I did consider picking up a 48" LG C1 on a recent sale (it was really cheap), but that would be as a gaming-only TV, not as a monitor replacement - far too large for that. Either way, they ran out of stock almost immediately, and it seems to have been an EOL sale, so it's not likely to come back at that price - and the C2 is nearly 2x the price.

But yeah, for now I'll hold off. This still seems like a strong contender, but I'll likely give it a few months at least and see what shakes out. Maybe the cool-looking stuff that "launched" at CES starts arriving before the holiday season?

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Definitely a hard choice when you need a multiuse monitor still not a lot of good options that also support HDR if any. Hopefully that changes over the next 6 months. My only experience with FALD IPS is a Samsung Q80 and QN80 (2021) both had pretty terrible image quality compared to The Samsung QN90a and my C1 especially in hdr maybe it's the size and on somthing 27/32 it would be less noticeable.