ASUS Announces A 144Hz WQHD Gaming Monitor With FreeSync
by Brandon Chester on August 19, 2015 12:59 PM EST
Today ASUS announced a new monitor targeted at the gaming market. The ASUS MG278Q is a 27" TN panel with a resolution of 2560x1440 and a 144Hz refresh rate. In the chart below you can see further information about the monitor and its specifications.
| ASUS MG278Q | ||||||
| Resolution | 2560x1440 | |||||
| Refresh Rate | 144Hz | |||||
| Panel Size | 27" | |||||
| Peak Brightness | 350nits | |||||
| Response Time | 1ms (GtG) | |||||
| Viewing Angle (H/V) | 170° / 160° | |||||
| Inputs / Outputs | 1 x DisplayPort 1.2 1 x Dual-link DVI 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x 3.5mm audio 3 x USB 3.0 (1 upstream 2 downstream) |
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| Color Depth | 16.7 million colors (Likely 6bit+AFRC) | |||||
| Dimensions | 625 x 563 x 233mm (with stand) | |||||
Being a gaming-oriented display, the MG278Q's focus is on a low response time and a high refresh rate rather than color accuracy. Since it's a TN panel it's likely that the panel has a native 6bit color depth per subpixel and uses temporal dithering to emulate 16.7 million colors, although this has not been confirmed. In addition to the 144Hz refresh rate, the MG278Q supports AMD's FreeSync technology which utilizes the Adaptive Sync feature of DisplayPort 1.2a to enable a variable refresh rate synchronized to the GPU's rendering of frames. More information about FreeSync and how it works can be found here.
ASUS is yet to announce pricing fort he MG278Q, but we've seen TN displays with similar specifications from Acer and BenQ for $500-600. The MG278Q will be available in North America in early September
Source: ASUS
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Salvor - Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - link
Higher response time, usually ~5ms vs ~1ms for TN. Doesn't matter for many things, but if you're a pro gamer or something it's nice.BurntMyBacon - Friday, August 21, 2015 - link
The response time of some of the 144Hz IPS "Sync" monitors is pretty decent.Lag is usually a bigger issue for me than response time.
Lag The referenced monitors do quite well in this regard. Compares nicely to Asus ROG Swift PG278Q. See Response Time and Lag sections:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_xb270hu.h...
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_mg279q.ht...
SeanJ76 - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
Duh!! We are in a gaming forum........Alexvrb - Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - link
Is price an issue? Because if it is... price. Response time as Salvor mentioned CAN be an issue too but some high-end IPS units are pretty decent.Mr Perfect - Friday, August 21, 2015 - link
What are you referring to by IPS glow? I have one, so I'm going to guess the phenomenon where an all black screen will appear slightly lit? In practice I don't notice it, since the screen is rarely pitch black. Maybe if you like playing Doom 3 without a flashlight mod. ;)The main issue with them is the price. Unless you buy one of those cheap Korean import screens, IPS mainly show up in expensive professional or gamer models.
looper - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
Get the Eizo FG2421 (1920x1080), far better color, and fast... and it has been great for FPS (BF4) gaming...SeanJ76 - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
Your always better off with BenQ than Asus when it comes to TN panels, I own the XL2420TE a $400 144hz 1ms Lightboost/Motion Blur panel. I will not be upgrading for years.Bobberr - Thursday, August 27, 2015 - link
XB270HU?Guspaz - Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - link
Well, there's the ASUS PG2749Q, which is a 27" 1440p 144Hz IPS display with G-Sync. It's not out yet, although Acer has a display out that uses the same panel.It'd be nice if AMD and nVidia could form a working group to unify G-Sync and FreeSync.
testbug00 - Wednesday, August 19, 2015 - link
AMD joined a group and they all made Async. Freesync is AMD's branding on Async. Any product that supports Async should work with a Freesync monitor. VESA standards are _Standards_. There's nothing to unify regarding the two platforms.Nvidia is off doing it's own thing with Gsync.