ocaholic - Displays > Viewsonic XG2730 Review

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Specifications

Screen Size	27"
Resolution	2560 x 1440 Pixel
Aspect Ratio	16 : 9
Panel Type	TN
Colors	16.7M colors (RGB 8-bit)
Lighting	LED
Brightness	350 cd/m2
Contrast	1000:1
Response Time	1 ms
Viewing Angle (H / V)	170° / 160°
Tilt	Yes
Connecitiy	HDMI 1.4 x 1 HDMI 2.0 x 1 DisplayPort 1.2 x 1 USB3.0 x 2
VESA Mount	Yes / 100 x 100mm
Dimensions (W x H x D)	624 x 427 x 250 mm
Weight	10 Kg

Features
144Hz Refresh Rate + FreeSync VESA Mount Design

Delivery
LCD Display AC/DC Adapter Power Cable DisplayPort Cable USB3.0 Cable Quick Start Guide

Page 2 - Specifications

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Gallery

Page 3 - Gallery

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Design / Ergonomics

These days gaming displays or generally gaming components feature visually more aggressive looks and the XG2730 is certainly no exception in this regard. There are lots of edges and corners and almost no round shapes at all, which makes the design look aggressive to a certain extent. It's great to see that Viewsonic was able to create a uniform design language for all its XG Gaming products.

In the case of the XG2730 display there is a frame, which is about 1cm thick and therefore Viewsonic is not putting a frameless design in place with the model. The bottom edge has been equipped with a red colored bezel, which prominently displays the XG Gaming writing. Having a look at the back shows a curved, plastic surface covered, which has been covered using matte plastic. We like to see this sort of plastic since it's less prone to scratches than its glossy counterpart. Another design element in the case of this display is its foot. The base solid and heavy, offering good stability and a very safe stand on any table. Furthermore the stand offers pivot, tilt, and height adjustment.

Especially due to its adjustability the XG2730 is a monitor that's comfortable to use. As we already mentioned there is a solid foot making it stand safely on any table. Apart from that there is the weight of 10 kilogram, which is not particularly high, but enough to make gravity do its job. In combination with the well-balanced weight distribution the XG2730 can be tilted by up to 15 degrees. What we always like when we see it and what can't be found with every gaming display is a VESA mount.

Controls and OSD

The OSD can be managed, using five buttons, which have been placed vertically on the right hand side. The button's functions have been marked on the frame with different symbols. There is also a sixth button, which is the power button. As illustrated with the picture below four of the buttons have been marked using the same sign, therefore the control is not intuitive right from the beginning. This is a bit frustrating and the user experience isn't the greatest. In combination with the buttons, which are sort of hard to push the whole OSD feels somewhat clumsy. Apart from that there is some input lag when pushing a button, which means you might end up pushing a button twice before something happens. Overall it will take some time getting used to this menu and you better bring some patience to the table.

Funcionality-wise the OSD itself offers a variety of differen options as well as gaming profiles. The G-button can be understood as a shortcut allowing you to browse through pre-defined profiles and therefore brings you directly to the OSD's "Game Settings" page in the menu. In total there are six different profiles from which you can choose and since the XG2730 is a gaming display, three of them have been dedicated to gaming. The second menu page allows for changing display related settings such as brightness, contrast, ... and on the third page you can cycle through the different inputs. The fourth page allows you to enable/disable the built-in speakers. Last but not least there is the setting menu where you can browse through options such as language, auto power, ECO mode and sleep.

Page 4 - Design / Ergonomics

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Image Quality

Working

Viewsonic equipped the XG2730' panel with a matte finish, eliminating reflections at all. Even in the case of direct sunlight, text for instance remains readable. Taking a closer look at colors shows, that red, green, and blue are bright and they appear vibrant or yet not overly vivid. When looking at white it seems like a very light grey and in the case of a black screen you see that the backlight shimmering resulting in a gradient. The viewing angle is average and and comparable with other displays that feature a TN panel. Overall the image quality is on a reasonably good level.

Having a look at the dimensions, we believe that this screen size in combination with the resolution is a good compromise. If you sit 50-70 centimeters away from the XG2730 written text is well readable. In the desktop environment this display is no stranger to multitasking and allows for a productive workflow having different windows open at the same time while still keeping the overview.

Games

Battlefield 1

Thanks to its vibrant colors, quick 144-hertz refresh rate and AMD Freesync support, the XG2730 has proven to be a worthwhile companion for both an immersive single-player experience as well as hectic multiplayer games. Playing Battlefield 1 the monitor provided a decent contrast ratio. Due to the fact that TN panels are not too forgiving in the case of viewing angles, the perceived gamma is different when looking at the bottom or at the top edge of the screen. We have tested the XG2730 with both open and closed maps. Regarding open areas we haven't noticed any issues, but when inside a dark room we can't say the same. In some dark rooms the color reproduction is just not good enough and we're missing subtle details. Brighter elements like windows or objects stand out nicely against darker surroundings. Apparently FPS gamers have high expectations when it comes to response times. Lots of fast mouse movements could possibly result in striation. The XG2730 is capable of displaying pictures fast in enough, which means you won't notice any stuttering or striation.

Project Cars 2

The experience with Project Cars 2 was similar to the one we've just been describing regarding Battlefield 1. This game features dark scenes as well, like for instance when you're playing a night session. In this case there are the same issues as in combination with Battlefield 1 and therefore the picture is just not as crisp as we'd like it to be. Playing a day session the display is capable of leaving a better impression, with the colors being more vivid.

AMD Freesync

The XG2730 comes with 144Hz refresh rate and support for AMD FreeSync, which allows for a variable refresh rate. The working principle is fairly simple, basically the monitor dynamically adjusts its refresh rate to match the current frame your GPU can achieve. Freesync basically eliminates all stuttering (VSync on) or tearing (VSync off). Furthermore AMD Freesync should decrease latency. To enable AMD Freesync you need a compatible AMD GPU, recent drivers and the right display output. We have tested a wide range of games with AMD Freesync and it worked the same way with all of them. Nevertheless we favor Battlefield 1 with it's divers graphics settings. Overall FreeSync is highly effective in removing any kind of stuttering or tearing and it makes the gaming experience that much smoother.

Speakers

When our test system first booted into Window we were rather surprised how loud the built-in speakers are. With 2 Watts per speaker there is enough juice to make some noise. Watching a YouTube video every now and then is ok but apparently a comparison with standard desktop speakers cannot be made since they're simply not in the same ballpark by any means.

Page 5 - Image Quality

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Conclusion

The XG2730 from Viewsonic is able to convince with very good ergonomics as well as a TN panel with 144Hz refresh rate. We especially like the solid stand and the flexibility when it comes to tilting, swiveling or pivoting the panel and on top of that there is a VESA mount. Regarding the resolution we believe that 2560 x 1440 pixel is prefect in combination with a 27-inch TN panel. When it comes to the design Viewsonic chose to go with a lot of aggressive and edgy lines, which looks nice but we would have love to find a slimmer bezel. The integrated speakers were quite a surprise. Every now and then they can be used to watch a YouTube movie, which means they're not completely useless as this is the case with many other displays.

Performance wise one needs to be aware that this is a TN panel and not a VA, an IPS or a PLS panel for that matter, which all feature better color reproduction. Therefore the perceived gamma is dependent on the viewing angle. Looking straight at the center of the panel and from there to the outer edges one can observe slight gamma changes, especially when the to be displayed image is dark. Nevertheless color reproduction is good for a monitor with a TN panel.

This monitor supports AMD FreeSync and we've tested several games in combination with an AMD graphics, while there were no issues at all. The refresh rate of up to 144Hz makes this display very quick and highly responsive, virtually eliminating input lag. Overall the monitor performed well right out of the box. The only thing we'd like to see improved are the buttons to access and navigate through the OSD. Although they have been placed on the right side, which makes them well-accessible (especially for right-handed people), they're definitely not easy to push.

Checking prices we found the Viewsoic XG2730 listed on Geizhals for 591 Euro. Compared to other displays, which come with a similar feature mix the price is right in the middle. Nevertheless we believe that the prices of gaming monitors are pretty steep in general these days. Overall the Viewsonic XG2730 receives 4 out of 5 stars.