Monitors with a diagonal of 27" and a resolution of 1440 p are perhaps the most popular category among gaming models. It is this combination of characteristics that provides a sufficiently large and clear image that can create an "immersion effect" in the game, while it does not place excessive demands on system performance and does not make the monitor itself too expensive. ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A - the company's new product on a fast Fast IPS panel – belongs to this category.
Features of ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A
| Diagonal | 27” |
| Curve | No |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Screen type | Fast IPS |
| Resolution | 2560×1440 |
| Pixel pitch | 0.233 mm (109 PPI) |
| Update frequency | 300 Hz |
| Color gamut | Extended, 95% DCI-P3 |
| Brightness | 300 cd/m² (typical), 400 cd/m² (peak in HDR) |
| Contrast | 1,300:1 |
| Wall mount | VESA 100×100 |
| Regulation | height, tilt, swivel, portrait mode |
| Connectors | 1× DisplayPort 1.4, 2× HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C (service port), audio minijack |
| Additional functionality | AMD FreeSync Premium, NVIDIA G-Sync, built-in speakers (2x2W) |
| Dimensions (including stand), W × H × D | 615×534×215 mm |
| Weight | 5.8 kg |
| Price in Ukraine | 15,999 UAH |
Design
The monitor has a restrained design typical of the affordable TUF Gaming line: a practical black matte plastic case and minimal decorative elements that indicate its gaming purpose. No "glitter" and RGB lighting – this is already the prerogative of the top-end Republic of Gamers line.
The screen is made in the traditional "frameless" design, when it is framed only by a thin line of the side edge of the case. After turning on, an additional black frame appears around the screen, hidden under the protective glass; their total width is approximately 9 mm.
Like other TUF Gaming monitors we reviewed, the VG27AQML5A has a stand in the shape of a capital letter V – this may not be very convenient if there is not enough space on the desk.
But unlike some other models from this line that we have previously reviewed (for example, VG27WQ3B or VG27AQA1A), here we see a fully functional "leg" with all possible adjustments: the screen can be tilted forward and backward (+20° ~ -5°), rotated left and right (+20° ~ -20°), changed in height (0~130 mm) and switched to portrait mode - both clockwise and counterclockwise.
All connectors are located in a niche under the stand mount on the left and are oriented downwards: these are DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1 and a minijack for wired headphones. You can also see USB Type-C here, but this is a service connector for monitor maintenance, so it is not even marked on the case, like others. The power supply in this model is built-in.
To organize the connected cables, a removable cover is provided that presses them against the "leg".
Menu
ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A is controlled using three hardware buttons and a 5-way joystick located in the lower right corner on the rear panel – a fairly traditional solution for this line, but in this model they have significantly increased in size, which makes them easier to use "blindly" and also reduces the likelihood of accidentally pressing the power button below them. The lower two buttons can be assigned custom functions in the system menu.
The first item is the gaming section - in it you can adjust the degree of overdrive, activate adaptive refresh rate, select a video mode in the GameVisual menu, access game settings in GamePlus, configure ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur) and Shadow Boost shadow enhancement.
The Image menu contains traditional image settings — brightness, contrast, blue filter in the backlight, dynamic contrast, etc. In the next menu, Color, you can change the color temperature, color saturation, and choose one of three options for the panel's color gamut.
The Input Select menu allows you to manually switch to a different video input, MyFavorite allows you to change the functions of "hot keys", and System Setup contains system settings: language and behavior of the on-screen menu (Ukrainian localization is available), volume level of the built-in speakers, resetting all settings to factory settings, etc.
Functionality
The ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A uses a 27-inch panel that the manufacturer calls Fast IPS. It is characterized by a significantly lower response time than conventional IPS, and in this parameter it is already approaching gaming TN panels – yes, the manufacturer notes the response time at 1 ms (GtG).
It is worth noting that the name Fast IPS is more of a marketing term, and at least according to the official description, it does not differ from similar panels from other manufacturers called Rapid IPS.
The panel resolution is 2560×1440 pixels, or QHD. At 27 inches, the dot pitch is small enough that from a typical viewing distance the image looks dense and doesn't break up into individual pixels (0.2335 mm, 109 PPI).
The maximum refresh rate of 300 Hz (both via HDMI and DisplayPort) is one of the highest among all Fast IPS models we have reviewed. In addition, the ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A supports AMD FreeSync Premium adaptive refresh rate technology and is compatible with NVIDIA G-Sync.
Like other ASUS gaming monitors, the VG27AQML5A supports ASUS' proprietary Extreme Low Motion Blur (ELMB) technology: it improves clarity in dynamic scenes by turning off the backlight "through the frame". It significantly reduces maximum brightness, but another drawback of this solution – screen flickering – is not very noticeable at a high refresh rate.
Usually, ELMB is incompatible with adaptive frequency modes, and the user has to choose one of them – but as in some other ASUS models, here we see an updated version of this technology, namely ELMB Sync, which can work together with the activated adaptive frequency mode.
In addition to the on-screen menu, you can also adjust the monitor's operating parameters using the proprietary DisplayWidget Center utility. It duplicates most of the OSD parameters, while offering much more convenient settings, and also has additional functionality – for example, individual settings of video modes for different programs and even voice control (still in beta). Moreover, if in the past such utilities required an additional connection of the monitor to the PC via USB, here control is via a single video cable.
We also note the presence of built-in 2×2W stereo speakers.
Image quality of ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A
The screen is matte: there are no ghosting effects regardless of the viewing angle, even when viewed from the side. However, in this case, in bright lighting in the room, the black color does not look as deep black as on glossy screens – so for gaming sessions it is better to make the light more moderate.
The so-called "crystal effect" is almost absent – graininess in solid-tone areas of the image is practically impossible to see, except in a macro shot.
The manufacturer indicates a response time of the panel of 1 ms (GtG), with its minimum possible value at 0.3 ms (it seems, provided that the maximum degree of overdrive is used). This is a very outstanding indicator and the main advantage of Fast IPS technology, which turns out to be much faster than traditional IPS panels (which usually have an official response time of not less than 4 ms) – in this parameter it comes very close to gaming TN panels.
In the settings, there is an option to overclock the panel via OSD — the Variable OD item in the game menu. This parameter has 5 intensity levels and the ability to completely turn it off. Without overdrive, the image in dynamics has a slight blurring — however, it is weaker than on regular, non-"fast" IPS panels.
The first three overclocking levels gradually increase the clarity of the dynamic picture, and at the third of them the blurring almost disappears. At the fourth and fifth levels, the improvements are much weaker, while overdrive artifacts appear in the form of deterioration of small details at high speed of movement and, especially at the fifth, trails behind objects moving quickly on the screen. Therefore, we would advise leaving this parameter at the third level, which is offered by the manufacturer in the factory settings of the monitor.
Overdrive in dynamics, from left to right: off, level 1...5
Overall, as with other models with a Fast IPS panel that we have seen before, the speed performance of the ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQML5A is simply excellent, in this parameter the monitor is almost not inferior to gaming TN models.
Black uniformity is very good: in a dark room on a black background at maximum brightness, you can only see one slightly lighter area in the lower left corner.
The glow effect is traditionally quite strong for IPS: if you look at the screen from the side and from above, a noticeable glow appears on the black background, and the overall image becomes grayer.
As for the viewing angles, they are also typical for an IPS panel. If you lean to the side, the screen begins to noticeably lose brightness, and the image gradually acquires a warmer hue. The viewing angles in the vertical plane are much better: the brightness decreases much less here, and there is no change in color temperature at all. Contrast and color saturation almost do not decrease when viewed from any side.
When you first turn it on, eco mode is set, you can disable it in the system settings (System Setup – Power Setting – Performance Mode), after which the monitor automatically switches to the GameVisual – Racing video mode, which is traditionally the main one in all ASUS monitors.
As with all the latest models from this manufacturer, the settings offer a choice of color space from three options – sRGB, DCI-P3, or the full color coverage of the panel (Wide Gamut).
So, in Wide Gamut mode, the color gamut completely covers the sRGB space and is 97% DCI-P3 ( 88% Adobe RGB). In DCI-P3, it decreases slightly, mainly in the "red-blue" zone, to 95 DCI-P3. And finally, in sRGB space emulation mode, we see the standard color gamut, reduced to 73% Adobe RGB.
Color gamut, Wide Gamut - DCI-P3 - sRGB:
All three modes are clearly factory calibrated: their color accuracy is very good, with an average ΔE value significantly lower than one, and a maximum value of two. Recall that it is believed that the average user can notice the difference between the reference color and how the monitor displays it if this parameter exceeds 3 for him.
The monitor does not have any gamma settings, the one set by the manufacturer is slightly higher than the standard one (2.2) — this gives the image more saturation and makes the shadows a little deeper, which in the case of an IPS panel and its traditionally "not very black" black cannot be considered a drawback.
The minimum brightness is surprisingly very low for a monitor that does not use PWM for its regulation. So, "at zero" we get only 21 cd/m² - this is quite enough for comfortable gaming even in complete darkness. The maximum brightness is even slightly higher than the officially declared peak for HDR mode — 450 cd/m². This is still not enough for a full HDR effect, but it is quite enough to make the image very bright even in a room with strong background lighting.
But the static contrast is frankly low even by the standards of IPS technology and lower than the officially declared value (1300:1): the maximum we managed to obtain was at the level of 810:1.
The color temperature has three templates and the ability to customise the three primary colours – traditionally the warmest template, Warm , is closest to the standard value of 6500 K.
The color temperature uniformity is frankly mediocre: the maximum deviation of ΔE in different areas of the screen is only slightly below 9. However, the uniformity of the white field is almost perfect for this type of panel: the difference between the brightest area (center) and the darkest (upper right corner) is only 8%; usually in similar models we see a difference of 15-20% or even more.
In sRGB mode, most manual settings are disabled, but, fortunately, brightness is not – it is set to 26%, i.e. 127 cd/m² (a typical value for working in office lighting conditions), but the user can adjust it in the range of 19-410 cd/m². The contrast is further reduced, to 710:1, and the color temperature is increased to 7400 K (which corresponds to the Normal template).
The color gamut, as expected, is limited to the sRGB space, the color accuracy is slightly worse compared to the Racing mode, but not significantly — the average ΔE value is slightly less than one and a half, the maximum is 2.8. In general, it can be stated that if necessary, it is better to give preference to the Racing video mode with manual color space limitation than to use the sRGB mode, which has no significant advantages.
Other GameVisual video modes differ in basic settings for brightness, contrast, color saturation, gamma, etc. A little aside here is the MOBA mode, in which only green and red remain from the entire color gamut, and the Night Vision mode, in which the image in a night vision device is simulated.
You can visually compare the GameVisual modes in the following gallery.
GameVisual modes: Scenery, Racing, Cinema, RTS/RPG, FPS, sRGB, MOBA, Night Vision, User Mode