AOC Q27G40XMN Review: 1440p 180Hz VA Mini LED Gaming Monitor

The AOC Q27G40XMN is the upgraded version of the popular AOC Q27G30XMN budget HDR gaming monitor. It bumps up the local dimming zone count from 336 to 1152 while keeping the same price! Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Image Quality

Based on a VA panel, the AOC Q27G40XMN monitor delivers a high static contrast ratio of 5,000:1, which ensures deep and inky blacks.

This is further improved by the use of full-array local dimming (FALD) as there are 1152 zones (consisting of 4608 LEDs in total) that can dim areas of the image that are supposed to be dark without affecting the bright parts.

Thanks to its mini LED FALD backlight, the monitor offers a true HDR viewing experience since it can simultaneously display deep blacks and bright highlights with up to 1,200-nits of peak brightness in HDR mode!

In SDR, without local dimming, you’re limited to around 450-nits, which is more than bright enough for everyday use even in well-lit rooms.

There are four levels of local dimming intensity: Off, Low, Medium and Strong.

For the best image quality, we recommend using ‘Medium’, though the best mode might vary depending on content type and your preference.

In some scenes with small bright objects on dark backgrounds, FALD can cause minor blooming artifacts as the light from the illuminated object bleeds into the surrounding dimmed zones. This is an expected behavior of this technology and it’s tolerable since it only occurs in extreme scenarios.

OLED panels don’t have this issue as they have per-pixel dimming, but they have other drawbacks, such as lower brightness and the risk of burn-in.

Related:W-OLED vs QD-OLED vs Mini LED – Which Monitor Delivers Best HDR Image Quality?

You’ll also find a few ‘HDR’ options: DisplayHDR, Picture, Movie and Game, which we recommend leaving at ‘DisplayHDR’ for the best accuracy.

Note that there’s another HDR setting called ‘HDR Mode‘ with the same Picture, Movie and Game options. This just simulates HDR for SDR content, which we recommend you leave disabled.

Next, thanks to its quantum dot enhanced film layer, the monitor has a wide 97% DCI-P3 gamut coverage for vibrant colors and 10-bit color depth (8-bit + 2-bit FRC) support for smooth gradients without banding.

There’s also an sRGB emulation mode with Delta E < 2 factory calibration in case you want to clamp the gamut down to 100% sRGB for accurate SDR color output in Windows.

Under the ‘Color Space’ settings in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu, you can choose between Panel Native, sRGB and DCI-P3.

While VA panels have the same 178° viewing angles specified as IPS or OLED panels, they aren’t quite as wide in practice.

There are minor shifts in gamma and saturation at certain viewing angles, but it’s negligible for everyday use. It’s only when it comes to professional color-critical work that VA viewing angles might cause concern.

Finally, the 2560×1440 Quad HD resolution on 27″ sized screens provides you with a decent pixel density of 108 PPI (pixels per inch). As a result, you get reasonably sharp details and text with plenty of screen real estate, while 1440p is significantly less demanding on the GPU than 4K UHD, allowing for higher frame rates.

Performance

The AOC Q27G40XMN has a maximum refresh rate of 180Hz, which provides you with a huge boost in motion clarity as opposed to the typical 60-75Hz displays.

You also get low input latency of around 3ms, which makes for imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

Moving on, the monitor has a fast pixel response time speed quoted at 1ms GtG. The good news is that there’s no dark-level smearing usually associated with VA panels.

There are four response time overdrive modes: Normal, Fast, Faster and Fastest.

The ‘Fastest’ mode is too aggressive and adds overshoot (inverse ghosting), so we recommend sticking with the Faster mode for optimal performance with virtually no ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

The AOC Q27G40XMN also supports variable refresh rate (VRR) with a 48-180Hz dynamic range for tear-free gameplay.

Sadly, as it’s the case with most VA and OLED monitors, there’s VRR brightness flickering in some games, usually those with fluctuating frame rates or in loading screens and in-game menus.

This doesn’t occur in every game, so we recommend simply disabling VRR in affected titles and using V-Sync instead to prevent screen tearing – or just gaming without any synchronization technology as tearing is not that noticeable at 180Hz.

The screen has a flicker-free backlight and there’s a low-blue light filter for a comfortable viewing experience.

Features

Beneath the bottom bezel of the screen, there’s a power button and four hotkeys for navigation through the OSD menu.

Besides the typical image adjustment tools (brightness, contrast and color temperature), the AOC Q27G40XMN also has some advanced settings, including five gamma presets (from 1.8 to 2.6) and automatic input detection support.

Useful gaming features include crosshair overlays, Sniper Scope (zooms in the area around your crosshair), Shadow Control (improves visibility in dark scenes), a refresh rate tracker and Game Color (adjusts color saturation).

You can also use AOC’s G-Menu desktop application to make all OSD-related adjustments using your keyboard and mouse.

Design & Connectivity

The monitor’s design is its weakest point as the stand is tilt-only (-5°/23°), but the screen is VESA mount compatible via the 100x100mm pattern.

Even a cheap $30 VESA desk-clamp stand will provide you with more ergonomics and desk space than any first-party monitor stand and you get to keep it for future upgrades, so it’s definitely worth the investment.

Further, the screen has a light matte anti-glare coating that diffuses reflections without making the image too grainy.

Connectivity options include one DisplayPort 1.4 input, one HDMI 2.0 port (limited to 144Hz) and a headphone jack.

At the moment, there’s an issue with NVIDIA drivers that requires chroma subsampling at 180Hz. The workaround is to create a custom resolution at 179Hz with RGB pixel format and 8-bit color depth (+2-bit FRC for HDR).

On AMD GPUs, 180Hz 8-bit works without issues.

Price & Similar Monitors

The AOC Q27G40XMN goes for $300, which is an incredible value for the price thanks to its 1152-zone mini LED FALD backlight. It delivers better HDR image quality than many more expensive monitors.

There’s also the AOC Q27G41XMN variant with an ergonomic stand, but it’s not available in the US.

The previous version, the AOC Q27G3XMN with 336 dimming zones, goes for around the same price, so we highly recommend going with the Q27G40XMN.

If you want something better, you’d need to invest at least $500 in a 4K 144Hz IPS mini LED model or an OLED monitor. For the best mini LED and OLED options, check out our best HDR monitors buyer’s guide.

In case you’re not interested in HDR but want a monitor with an ultrawide aspect ratio, higher refresh rate or an IPS panel in this price range, check out our best gaming monitor buyer’s guide for more options and information.

Conclusion

Overall, the AOC Q27G40XMN is an exceptional gaming monitor, especially considering its price.

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (WQHD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	180Hz
Response Time	1ms (GtG)
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-180Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	450 cd/m²
Brightness (HDR)	1200 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	5000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 97% DCI-P3
HDR	VESA DisplayHDR 1000
Local Dimming	1152-zone mini LED FALD
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)