GIGABYTE M27Q 27 Inch Gaming Monitor

Pros: – Great value for performance – Great color and brightness – KVM switch for work-at-home – DP and HDMI cables included. Cons: – Depending on your GPU and what your are expecting (i.e. HDR, G-sync, Refresh Rate), you may be limited. See my comments in overall review. – Had some strange power cycling of the monitor occur when using KVM. – Online description indicates a 0.5ms response time, however the box indicates a 1ms. – Does not pivot side to side. Overall Review: I am very happy with the quality and performance of this monitor for the price point and I would recommend this monitor. Video Inputs: 1. I noticed that depending on what connection type you choose, the performance can vary: – Display Port connection – G-sync only works on DP, can run up to 170Hz, no HDR on DP – HDMI connection – no G-Sync, can only run up to 144Hz, HDR compatible – I do not have an AMD GPU to test Freesync. – Color/contrast seems better with HDR off. For that reason, I recommend DP connection. 2. KVM – KVM switch takes about 5-10 seconds to switch source input. Not an issue, I just expected the changeover to be faster. – After using a few times, my screen started intermittently connecting and disconnecting. I had to hard reset the PC to get the cycling to stop. It has only had it happed once so far, so time will tell. – Feature is beneficial for using 2 PC’s for work-at-home, and only using one keyboard/mouse. – PIP feature is nice. Other: – User manual is only available through download on Gigabyte website. – OSD software is just ok. Firmware update button doesn’t work.

Pros: -No dead pixels -Good viewing angles and minimal ghosting -Good color accuracy, contrast, and black levels once calibrated (poor out of the box) -Fast (170Hz) variable refresh via AMD Freesync Premium -KVM is excellent for sharing the display, mouse, and keyboard between my pc and laptop -Sturdy stand with height and tilt -Can set shortcuts for each of the 4 directions of the control stick (input, brightness, etc.) -Useful extras like refresh rate and system dashboard displays -Headphone jack on monitor (no speakers) Cons: -Backlight bleed, mostly at lower left -Occasional display black screen or power cycle from display port input -BGR subpixel setup (instead of RGB) makes text a bit blurrier without calibration -HDR doesn’t look good -Has a power brick -Stand does not rotate -USB-C cable not included (Display Port and HDMI are although short, <6') Overall Review: This monitor is a good value for the money. Out of the box, it didn't look great in any of the picture modes but once calibrated, I like it. After a couple weeks of fiddling, I ended up here (these are not professional so feel free to disagree): -Black Equalizer: 11 -Super Resolution: 0 -Overdrive: Picture Quality -AMD FreeeSync Premium: ON -Brightness: between 25 to 35 depending on room lighting -Contrast: 48 -Color: 10 (I also played with vibrancy in NVIDA Control panel) -Sharpness: 5 -Gamma: 3 -Color Temp: Normal -Low Blue Light: 0 -NVIDIA 2560×1440 (170Hz Refresh) -NVIDIA G-SYNC Enabled The G-SYNC setting says "Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible" but it lets you turn it on anyway and I can confirm it does in fact work. I have been happy with the KVM feature which lets me share the display, mouse, and keyboard between my gaming PC and work laptop. My work laptop has a Dell docking station with USB-C out. When using KVM, I believe one of the connections must be USB-C because that is what the mouse and keyboard use. For the other, you can choose between Display Port or HDMI which uses a USB return cable for the mouse and keyboard. Everything switches quickly for me (1-2 seconds) and I haven't had any keyboard or mouse dropouts. The BGR issue doesn't bother me. I came from a blurry 1080p display so this looks great. If you are used to better, it might bother you. The backlight bleed isn't noticeable enough for me in normal use. In a really dark scene, I can see it a bit at the bottom left but I can tolerate that. The biggest issue for me is the occasional blackout or power cycle from the Display Port input. It seems to happen a minute or so after turning on my PC (never happens with USB-C input) and it only ever does it once. I tried a second cable and that does it as well. Other reviews mention issues like this as well. Overall, I like it and plan on keeping it. It is a beautiful monitor for gaming, functional for work, and I got it at a great price. It has a few drawbacks but I am able to tolerate them.