Bottom Line
The AOC AG276QZD2 is the most affordable OLED gaming monitor yet it doesn’t heavily compromise on image quality and performance. It even offers a fully ergonomic design with a USB hub and plenty of useful features.
The AOC AGON PRO AG276QZD2 is yet another 27″ 1440p 240Hz OLED gaming monitor. What makes this one special is that it’s often the most affordable model available at just $500 – so, let’s see how it compares to other variants!
Image Quality
The monitor is based on Samsung’s QD-OLED panel with a diamond-shaped triangular subpixel layout, which offers better text clarity than their first-gen panels or LG’s W-OLED panels with RWBG subpixel layout.
There’s some minor fringing on small text and fine details since the pixel density is not as high as that of the 32″ 4K models, but it’s negligible. In games and videos, it’s not noticeable at all.
The AOC AG276QZD2 has a pixel density of 110 PPI (pixels per inch), which results in decent detail clarity without any scaling necessary. The 2560×1440 Quad HD resolution is not nearly as taxing on the GPU as 4K UHD, which allows you to maintain higher frame rates.
Moving on, the monitor delivers a stunning SDR and HDR image quality thanks to the OLED’s self-emissive pixels, resulting in an infinite contrast ratio with true blacks and no blooming, glowing or other visual artifacts associated with LED-backlit panels.
You also get vibrant colors with a wide 99.3% DCI-P3 color space coverage, true 10-bit color depth support for smooth gradients without banding and 178° wide viewing angles, which ensure flawless image quality regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.
In Windows, colors will be over-saturated when viewing SDR content, but you can change the ‘Color Gamut’ option from the default ‘Panel Native’ to ‘sRGB’ in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the monitor to clamp the gamut down to ~100% sRGB for better accuracy.
Some users might prefer the extra vibrancy of the wider color gamut, in which case you can stick with the Panel Native mode.
There’s also a DCI-P3 mode with a high 2.6 gamma that’s intended for viewing movies in a dark room and for video editing in that color space. Color settings are locked in these two modes, but you can adjust the brightness!
The AOC AG276QZD2 is factory calibrated at Delta E < 2, allowing you to enjoy accurate colors out of the box and even do professional color-critical work.
Next, the monitor has a decent 250-nit peak brightness for 100% APL (Average Picture Level, white window test size).
A peak brightness of 250-nits is sufficient under normal lighting conditions, but if you plan on using the monitor under studio lighting or facing a big window, you should consider a mini LED display instead.
Mini LED displays have significantly higher brightness, but they have blooming artifacts and slower response time speed. The choice between the two technologies mainly comes down to personal preference though.
In HDR, the AOC AG276QZD2 gets a boost in peak brightness up to 450-nits for 10% APL and up to 1,000-nits for < 3% APL for punchy highlights.
For optimal HDR viewing experience, we recommend setting ‘HDR’ to ‘HDR 1000 Max’ or ‘HDR Peak’ depending on your region and firmware version. The DisplayHDR preset limits brightness to ~450-nits, while the other modes (Picture, Movie, Game) are not accurate.
The ‘HDR Mode’ should be disabled as it only simulates HDR when in SDR mode.
LG’s W-OLED panels have a higher brightness on paper, up to 1300-nits for < 3% APL, but it’s important to keep in mind that these measures refer to white luminance. QD-OLED panels have a higher color luminance, that is, the colors are more saturated and brighter, which results in an overall higher perceived brightness.
The AOC AG276QZD2, however, does have a bit undersaturated HDR performance, which can hopefully be addressed via a firmware update.
Performance
Next, the AOC AG276QZD2 monitor offers buttery-smooth motion clarity thanks to its high 240Hz refresh rate and instantaneous pixel response time speed.
The near-instant response times also ensure that there’s no trailing behind fast-moving objects regardless of your refresh/frame rate as there’s no need for variable overdrive.
Input lag is also excellent at around 2ms of delay, which is imperceptible.
Further, the monitor supports variable refresh rate (VRR) for tear-free gameplay and has NVIDIA’s G-SYNC Compatible certification. It also works with AMD GPUs via Adaptive-Sync, but since there’s no HDMI 2.1 port, you cannot use VRR on the PS5.
As expected from OLED displays, in some games, there will be noticeable VRR brightness flickering. This mainly occurs in dark scenes of games and in loading screens, menus and games with fluctuating frame rates.
Since screen tearing is not that noticeable at 240Hz, you can simply disable VRR in affected games or use V-Sync to prevent tearing instead (though this method adds a bit of input latency).
The AOC AG276QZD2 is flicker-free and there’s a dedicated low-blue light filter setting.
Features
At the rear of the monitor, there’s a directional joystick for quick and easy navigation through the OSD menu. You can also use AOC’s G-Menu software to make your OSD adjustments in a desktop application.
Besides the usual image settings (brightness, contrast and color temperature), the AOC AG276QZD2 offers three gamma presets, color saturation (Game Color), automatic input selection and PiP/PbP support.
There’s also a diverse aspect ratio control: Wide, Aspect, 4:3,1:1, 17” (4:3), 19” (4:3), 19” (5:4), 19” (16:10), 21.5” (16:9), 22” (16:10), 23” (16:9), 23.6” (16:9), 24” (16:9).
Other useful gaming features include Shadow Control (improves visibility in dark scenes), crosshair overlays, Sniper Scope and a refresh rate tracker.
The main downside of OLED displays is the risk of permanent image burn-in. Basically, when displaying an image with bright static elements for too long, those elements can burn-in and always remain visible as an afterimage. However, as long as you’re using the monitor carefully, it shouldn’t be an issue.
AOC even offers a 3-year warranty that covers burn-in, as well as plenty of burn-in prevention features, such as Pixel Orbiting, Panel Refresh, Logos Protection, Boundary and Taskbar Dimmer, Thermal Protection and Screen Saver.
Design & Connectivity
The stand of the monitor is sturdy and offers full ergonomic support, including up to 130mm height adjustment, -5°/25° tilt, +/- 90° pivot, +/- 30° swivel and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.
There’s also customizable LightFX RGB lighting at the back of the monitor.
The screen has a glossy screen surface, which provides a more vivid image quality without graininess associated with anti-glare matte coatings.
However, it also makes the image more reflective and since there’s no polarizer, black level is raised when the screen is hit by direct lighting.
Connectivity options include two HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 144Hz), two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs, dual 5W integrated speakers, a headphone jack and a dual-USB 3.0 hub (two downstream and one upstream).
1440p 120Hz mode is supported, but on the Xbox consoles, you can only use HDR at 4K 60Hz since the Xbox only supports HDR at 4K UHD.
On the PS5, you won’t be able to use VRR as there’s no HDMI 2.1 VRR support on the monitor, but you can run the monitor at 1440p 120Hz HDR.
Price & Similar Monitors
The AOC AG276QZD2 price ranges from $500 to $600, which is exceptional value for the price given that the MSI MAG 271QPX E2 and the Gigabyte FO27Q2 based on the same panel go for $600 – $700.
The main difference between these models is that the Gigabyte FO27Q2 has a built-in KVM switch and a USB-C port with DP Alt Mode and 18W PD, whereas the MSI MAG 271QPX E2 has a USB-C port with DP Alt Mode and 15W PD.
Both models also have HDMI 2.1. So, if you don’t need any of these features, the AOC AG276QZD2 is the way to go.
Other models worth considering in the $500 – $600 price range are the LG 27GS93QE (matte anti-glare coating) and the ASUS XG27AQDMG (glossy screen surface with a polarizer, so blacks don’t raise under direct lighting).
These use LG’s W-OLED panels with an RWBG subpixel layout, so their text clarity isn’t as good and their colors aren’t as vibrant.
| LG 27GS95QE / 27GS93QE* | KTC G27P6S | ASUS XG27AQDMG | Gigabyte FO27Q2 | MSI 271QPX E2 | AOC AG276QZD2 | |
| Panel | W-OLED MLA+ | W-OLED MLA+ | W-OLED MLA+ | QD-OLED | QD-OLED | QD-OLED |
| 100% APL Brightness | 275-nits | 275-nits | 275-nits | 250-nits | 250-nits | 250-nits |
| 10% APL Brightness | 750-nits | 750-nits | 750-nits | 450-nits | 450-nits | 450-nits |
| ≤ 3% APL Brightness | 1300-nits | 1300-nits | 1300-nits | 1000-nits | 1000-nits | 1000-nits |
| DCI-P3 Color Gamut | 98.5% | 98.5% | 98.5% | 99.3% | 99.3% | 99.3% |
| USA Burn-in Warranty | 2-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year | 3-year |
| Display Inputs | DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1 | DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0 | DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0 | DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1 | DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.1 | 2x DP 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0 |
| Other Ports | 2x USB-A 1x USB-B | 2x USB-A 1x USB-B | 2x USB-A 1x USB-B | 2x USB-A 1x USB-B | – | 2x USB-A 1x USB-B |
| USB-C (DP Alt Mode + Power Delivery) | No | Yes (65W) | No | Yes (18W) | Yes (15W) | No |
| KVM | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Audio Ports | Headphone Jack, Optical Digital Audio Out | Headphone Jack, 2x5W Speakers | Headphone Jack | Headphone Jack, 2x5W Speakers | Headphone Jack | Headphone Jack |
| Other | Hardware Calibration | – | ELMB | – | – | – |
| Screen Surface | Matte | Matte | Glossy | Glossy | Glossy | Glossy |
Finally, if you want a model with a higher 360Hz refresh rate, we recommend the MSI MAG 271QPX, which can be found on sale for $600!
Check out the best OLED and mini LED monitors currently available in our dedicated best HDR monitors buyer’s guide.
Conclusion
The AOC AG276QZD2 is the most affordable OLED gaming monitor yet it delivers exceptional image quality and performance with plenty of useful features.
If you don’t need a higher refresh rate or any special features, such as KVM or USB-C, the AG276QZD2 is for you!
Specifications
| Screen Size | 26.7-inch |
| Resolution | 2560×1440 (WQHD) |
| Panel Type | QD-OLED |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 (Widescreen) |
| Refresh Rate | 240Hz |
| Response Time | 0.03ms (GtG) |
| Speakers | 2x5W |
| Adaptive-Sync | G-SYNC Compatible (48-240Hz) |
| Ports | 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0 |
| Other Ports | Headphone Jack, 2x USB 3.0 |
| Brightness (1 – 3% White Window) | 1000 cd/m² |
| Brightness (10% White Window) | 450 cd/m² |
| Brightness (100% White Window) | 250 cd/m² |
| Contrast Ratio | Infinite |
| Colors | 1.07 billion (true 10-bit) 99.3% DCI-P3 |
| HDR | VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black |
| VESA | Yes (100x100mm) |
The Pros:
- Infinite contrast ratio, decent peak brightness, wide color gamut
- Instant response time
- Plenty of features, including VRR up to 240Hz
- Fully ergonomic design, USB hub
The Cons:
- Risk of burn-in (though covered by 3-year warranty)
- HDR content a bit undersaturated
- No Uniform Brightness mode
