Auria EQ276W 27" IPS Monitor Review: QHD For $400

[inflexion]

I purchased one of these about 6 months ago. For the price it has been great.

There are a couple issues that are annoying. The placement of the ports is one.

I am using it with a DisplayPort cable and everything is all good for personal use - for me.

Would buy again.

 

[mikenygmail]

[citation][nom]mikenygmail[/nom]Wrong, most people who would be in the market for this want a nice LG Panel IPS 2560x1440 monitor. Prices tend to come down on most computer parts, components and related items in time, and monitors have proven to be no exception.

Most people in general would now choose something like this featured monitor at $399 instead of paying $1,000 - not because they are low end TN screen users, but because it simply makes a lot more sense.[citation][nom]BigMack70[/nom]Huh? What do you imagine people would be switching to this monitor from?[/citation][/citation]

You assume way too much, and logic is severely lacking. For example, I already have 3 different types of monitors and I am interested in this. I may even sell my monitors and buy 2 of these. Most people don't even have 2560x1440 monitors at all, but at this price they might consider it. That doesn't mean they are "low end TN panel users" at all.

It's clearly not for you to say who is going to buy this monitor.

On another note, I will say, however, that these monitors will probably sell extremely well.

 

[mikenygmail]

Please excuse citation errors above.

 

[mikenygmail]

[citation][nom]BigMack70[/nom]Huh?[/citation]

That pretty much says it all... but just out of curiousity, what type of monitor(s) do you have, or have you had in the last 5 years?

 

[mikenygmail]

*curiosity

 

[nukemaster]

[citation][nom]nukemaster[/nom]What type do you like best?I have an S-PVA(was 600 dollars 5 years ago) and honestly after seeing glow on some of the cheaper IPS screens, it gets me worried about future monitor purchases.[/citation]

I like the P-MVA best. At 1920x1200 resolution, it's my main monitor. It's actually a SOYO Topaz S and I've had it a while. The IPS is a Dell 23" with 1920x1080 resolution and it's also nice.

So some of the older P-MVA monitors are superior to newer IPS monitors? I was not aware of that and it's somewhat shocking...

Its mostly the glow that is a pain on dark images or games. Also some have low contrast as well, but not all.

S-PVA next to IPS(I am sure it is eIPS because of the price). This thing was bad with dark colors and burned my eyes out on bright colors.
Another image

Many IPS screens had some kind of polarizer and it fixed the glow ,but you know, its all cost now.

 

[ceberle]

We use the HDMI input for input lag and response tests. The signal is fed from our Accupel pattern generator. We do this because input lag can vary between video cards, as well as other computer components. Even the keyboard or mouse can make a difference. The generator lets us feed a signal directly with no other hardware in the chain.
Christian

Doesn't testing latency over HDMI represent a worst-case-scenario for 1440p monitors, though? I thought the monitor had to process/upscale the 1080p input from HDMI, resulting in higher input lag than DL-DVI or DisplayPort?

Unfortunately, we don't know of a signal generator that outputs patterns over DVI or DisplayPort. And short of building a photosensor rig and using an oscilloscope, we don't have a better measuring method than to use a high-speed camera. As far as scaling latency, unless you play your games at the monitor's native resolution, you will experience the same latency from your computer as the monitor scales the image. So yes, it's a worse-case test. The thing we are concerned about is consistency between test subjects. By using the signal generator, every monitor is subject to the same test conditions with no variable other than the panel being tested. There will never be a change in PC hardware or drivers to potentially skew the results from one screen to the next.

Christian

 

[ilysaml]

@Bigmack

What levels of Brightness and Contrast are you using? Did you mean really 10 out of 100?

 

[ceberle]

[citation][nom]ceberle[/nom]We use the HDMI input for input lag and response tests. The signal is fed from our Accupel pattern generator. We do this because input lag can vary between video cards, as well as other computer components. Even the keyboard or mouse can make a difference. The generator lets us feed a signal directly with no other hardware in the chain.Christian[/citation]

You shouldn't be using HDMI for 1440p. Everyone knows that. Can we please have these tests re-run on DP and DVI-D please.

We're not sending a 1440p signal for the response tests, it's 1080p at 60 Hz, which is the max resolution of our signal generator. Read the above response for a more detailed explanation of the reasoning behind our test method. No test is perfect but Tom's is consistent. It may not be comparable to another publications' measurement but any monitor reviewed by us will be represented with a consistent and repeatable result.

Christian

 

[ceberle]

Thanks for the explanation. My only concern would be that if you were to ever put a native 1080p monitor and a 1440p+ monitor together in the test suite, that latency results would be unfairly biased towards the 1080p panels simply because of the upscaling issue.

That is sound logic but our results say otherwise. In the Absolute Input Lag chart, the AOC (1080p) wins but the ViewSonic VX model (also 1080p) comes in second to last. The Samsung and ViewSonic VP (both 1440p) beat the VX by 5 and 6 ms respectively. We'll have to test more 1080p screens to see if this holds true.

Christian

 

[Matthew Goldthwaite]

I'd love to see you guys review more monitors. Finding accurate pixel response and input lag measurements for displays is a nightmare.

 

[nss000]

Don't need a fancy$$$ vidcard to run the Auria. MyMSI_Z77A-gd55 mobo with early v1.2 BIOS will not tolerate NV_6XX graphics so I backed-out to a 2-gig NV_430. Excellent display performance with the cheapo ($80) legacy card ... and no, of-course I am too risk-adverse to flash a helles-belles MSI mobo and brick-it like sooooooooooooooooo many others!

 

[nss000]

[citation][nom]nss000[/nom]Don't need a fancy$$$ vidcard to run the Auria. MyMSI_Z77A-gd55 mobo with early v1.2 BIOS will not tolerate NV_6XX graphics so I backed-out to a 2-gig NV_430. Excellent display performance with the cheapo ($80) legacy card ... and no, of-course I am too risk-adverse to flash a helles-belles MSI mobo and brick-it like sooooooooooooooooo many others![/citation]

The comments talking about needing a beefy GPU are talking about gaming, and if you want to turn the settings up in games you do need a fairly beefy GPU for 2560x1440.

 

[nss000]

No doubt though as said I am not a gamr ... the latest Unigine HEAVEN brings both my gtx9800+ and 430x2gig systems to their knees. I imagine top-rung games demand as much.

 

[j0um]

Two words: Korean Yamakasi.

These will blow your mind and they are cheap QHD monitors. I own one and would never go back to any sub-$500 monitors.

 

[Richard Ward]

Feel free to call me out if I've got this wrong, but didn't you guys just test a QHD panel at HD resolutions?

"The AccuPel DVG-5000 is capable of generating all types of video signals at any resolution and refresh rate up to 1920x1080 at 60 Hz. "

I can see there might be some merit in this, but if you're testing a QHD monitor then why not test it at QHD resolutions?

 

[ceberle]

Feel free to call me out if I've got this wrong, but didn't you guys just test a QHD panel at HD resolutions?

"The AccuPel DVG-5000 is capable of generating all types of video signals at any resolution and refresh rate up to 1920x1080 at 60 Hz. "

I can see there might be some merit in this, but if you're testing a QHD monitor then why not test it at QHD resolutions?

We don't know of a signal generator that will render patterns at QHD resolutions. We don't want to use the computer for patterns since it introduces many variables into the signal chain. Color and luminance measurements are not affected by resolution so there is no downside to testing at 1080p. I'm sure at some point in the future, there will be a higher-res generator available.

Christian

 

[RetiredChief]

Ceberle – Glad to see you are planning a review on the Asus PB278q as I pretty sure I will opt for that over the Auria.

Not too concerned about the possibility of getting one with dead/stuck pixels and other screen defects as I would be evaluating it BEFORE I walked out the door + Try it out at my sons house, which means I could return it the next day on my way home. I’m about a 3 Hr drive from microcenter and he lives about 30 minutes away.

My biggest concern is the quality of the internal electronics and long term longevity (reliability). I also understand that the “Brick” gets somewhat hot which raises my eyebrow as “hot” AC adaptors tend to have a shorter live span – really hate to have the AC adaptor go out in a year, and possibly take the monitor with it.

Question, did you evaluate the older “LED” glossy model or the Newer model using the CCFL for backlight (apparently the newer ones are using a Dell 2711 panel) as this could have an impact on the review. Seems like around mid to late Feb is when the switch took place. The only way to tell is the box as they did not change the “LED” -> CCFL – Glossy model has a handle on top and the matte (AG) models had a “cut-outs” on the side for handles.

For Individuals that are within driving distance not a problem as they can see what they are getting - for mail order, not so lucky, expect a LED Glossy and recieving a Matte CCFL version.

Rather lengthy discussion on the monitor at: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1694047

PS - I'm lucky as the difference in price in not the deciding factor, Then again I do like getting my moneys worth otherwise I'd opt for a 30" 16:10 IPS monitor - LOL

 

[ceberle]

We reviewed the glossy-screen LED model. We'll look into getting one of the newer versions in for comparison.

Christian

 

[RetiredChief]

Cheers,
Only mentioned as most buying today will not get what you reviewed and not sure how closely the two models will be.

The bottom line is in either case the $400 is about the best bargain out there. If enought of the market share stared going to that line it should result in the higher priced models dropping some to stay competitive - kind of win-win.

 

[am11587]

I've got an Auria at home, and the color looks absolutely terrible on Standard unless I turn the DCR setting on. It's like there's a layer of dirty, brown dust across the screen. This weird color issue disappears if I have DCR on or else use any of the other display modes(movie/text/game), but those have their own issues. But if I turn on DCR, the brightness and contrast are no longer alterable and are absurdly high. To get the best of both worlds(colors that aren't all tinted brown and contrast/brightness at levels that don't remove any detail from an image), I've had to leave the monitor set to Standard with DCR on, and adjust the Brightness/Contrast levels in the nvidia control panel to 25% brightness and 0% contrast.

 

[nukemaster]

DCR will mess with things(try to make bright images more bright and dark images darker.) no matter what you set in the Nvidia/AMD/Intel control panel.

If it is THAT bad, can you maybe return it?

 

[cbrownx88]

While consistent, this sounds lazy. I personally would LOVE to know if DP has less latency than DVI.

"We use the HDMI input for input lag and response tests. The signal is fed from our Accupel pattern generator. We do this because input lag can vary between video cards, as well as other computer components. Even the keyboard or mouse can make a difference. The generator lets us feed a signal directly with no other hardware in the chain.
Christian"

 

[PeteJackson]

I am a software developer by trade and I have 3 of these screens on my desk attached to a linux box. I couldn't be happier with the number of quality pixels I got for the price. Now, if only Auria would step up the pixel density on their panels to match some of the higher end laptops out there (ie. Chromebook Pixel and Macbook Retina, 240px per inch or so) I'd be a happy man. Monitor technology has lagged the advances in CPU, memory, and storage for far too long! "Full HD" isn't a feature: it's a low resolution screen!

In any case: bravo for some mainstream coverage for these screens. Love them!

 

[Marcus52]

[citation][nom]chumly[/nom]Most video cards have Dual link DVI so this isn't really an issue unless yours does not. I use a Catleap Q270 monitor right now (let me tell you, there is NO going back for me after getting one of these, 1080p monitors are as good as yesterday's trash to me). This was a B grade panel and it ended up having no visable defects or bad pixels (I only paid $245 for it off of ebay new from Korea, they've gone up $100 since). The reason I ended up going with the panel I did was from a quite extensive post on hardforum detailing how the DVI-only monitors were having incredibly low input lag compared to any of the other 1440p IPS panels available. I'm getting incredible framerates with my 670 and my games are streak/ghost/stutter/tearing free.Maybe this Auria monitor just can't hack it vs. its' Korean counterparts.Also it's good to know you can always take apart these monitors and replace the PCB so that you can overclock them to 120Hz, but Overlord is the only place selling the part and it's $200[/citation]

One of the very good reasons to buy from Overlord is that they supply a one-year warranty, and they are an American company (the units are assembled in China from Korean parts, including an LG panel).

My experience has been good so far, and judging from the input from others, Overlord does an outstanding job backing up its products. They also provide a kit for upgrading your Korean monitor to the 120 Hz overclock capability.

The down side right now, at least for the 120 HZ capable monitors, is availability, as they are still smoothing out the manufacturer and parts supplier end of things. (Also, the price of the 120 Hz version keeps going up and is now at $555. Not bad considering the capability, but getting a little high for a Korean monitor, in my opinion, even if the parts it's made with are strictly controlled by Overclock.)