ASUS VA24DQ Review: Affordable 24″ 1080p IPS FreeSync Gaming Monitor

The ASUS VA24DQ is yet another budget-friendly 24″ 1080p IPS monitor.

It’s great for gaming due to its quick response time and Adaptive-Sync up to 75Hz as well as for everyday use thanks to its IPS panel with vibrant colors and wide viewing angles.

What makes this monitor different from the rest of similar alternatives is the inclusion of a DisplayPort input allowing you to use Adaptive-Sync with compatible NVIDIA graphics cards!

Image Quality

The ASUS VA24DQ monitor is based on a 23.8″ IPS panel with 178° wide viewing angles, a 1,000:1 static contrast ratio, a 250-nit peak brightness, standard sRGB color gamut, and dithered 8-bit color depth support (6-bit + 2-bit FRC).

The 1080p resolution is still considered the standard and it’s the most widespread resolution, and since it’s being displayed on a 23.8″ screen, you get rather decent detail clarity and a good amount of available screen real estate.

What’s more, 1080p is not very demanding on your GPU, so if you have a weaker PC system, you won’t have a lot of trouble pushing a decent frame rate in video games.

Moving on, the IPS panel technology ensures the most accurate and consistent colors, which is great as you’ll even be able to do some entry-level color-critical work on this monitor.

Of course, for professional-grade accuracy, you’ll need a properly factory-calibrated display or a calibration device.

Thanks to the monitor’s wide 178° viewing angles, the image will remain basically perfect regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.

A peak brightness of 250-nits and a static contrast ratio of 1,000:1 are standard specs for an IPS display at this price range (and higher); the ASUS VA24DQ display will be more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions.

The 1,000:1 contrast ratio provides decent blacks and whites, but blacks will be somewhat grayish in comparison to similarly priced monitors with VA panels.

However, VA displays have disadvantages of their own such as narrower viewing angles, slower response time, and less consistent/accurate colors.

Performance

The ASUS VA24DQ input lag amounts to only ~10ms which makes for imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

Its 75Hz refresh rate provides a small, but noticeable boost in motion clarity as opposed to the standard 60Hz displays while the 5ms GtG pixel response time effectively eliminates prominent ghosting in fast-paced games.

Further, the monitor supports Adaptive-Sync which allows you to enable FreeSync on compatible AMD graphics cards over DisplayPort and HDMI, and G-SYNC Compatible on supported NVIDIA cards over DisplayPort.

This technology provides you with a variable refresh rate (VRR) that synchronizes the monitor’s refresh rate to the GPU’s frame rate thus eliminating screen tearing and stuttering completely without any noticeable input lag added.

The VRR range is only 48-75Hz, so if your FPS (Frames Per Second) rate is below or above that, Adaptive-Sync will stop working until your FPS is back within the supported range.

You can try using a free third-party application called CRU (Custom Resolution Utility) to manually increase the range.

Just how far you’ll be able to increase the VRR range will vary across different units of the monitor, the same case as with overclocking.

All in all, the ASUS VA24DQ offers a smooth gaming experience thanks to its low input lag, quick response time, and variable refresh rate.

Another thing to keep in mind is IPS glow which affects all IPS panel monitors. This is an expected drawback of the technology similar to backlight bleeding, but here, the ‘glowing’ is visible around the corners of the screen.

It’s mostly noticeable if you have set very high brightness and are watching dark content in a dark room. The amount of visible glowing also varies between different units, but for all except the most extreme cases, it’s totally manageable. 

Features

There are five hotkeys in addition to a power button placed beneath the bottom bezel of the screen at the left side; the hotkeys are used for OSD (On-Screen Display) menu navigation.

While not in the menu, you can use them as shortcuts for input source selection, brightness, and low-blue light filter (the last two can be assigned to different functions).

The first thing you’ll find when you enter the OSD menu are the Splendid pre-calibrated picture modes (Scenery, Theater, Game, Night View, sRGB, Reading, Darkroom, and Standard).

We recommend using either the Standard mode or the sRGB mode if you want more accurate colors. You can visit this website to see how your monitor performs in different image tests, and make adjustments where necessary.

Next, you’ll find the Blue Light Filter feature which eliminates the harmful low-blue lights which along with the monitor’s flicker-free backlight ensures a comfortable viewing experience.

Standard image adjustment tools, such as brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and color temperature are available as well, of course.

Other gaming features include Trace Free (response time overdrive, we recommend using the default setting) and GamePlus.

The GamePlus feature opens a menu that consists of customizable crosshairs, on-screen timers, and an FPS counter which keeps track of the monitor’s refresh rate.

Lastly, there’s a feature called QuickFit that places a virtual grid on your screen with different dimensions for photos (2×2, 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, 8×10), documents (B5, letter), and grids (three centered vertical lines or 3×3 split).

Make sure the following features are disabled for optimal image quality: VividPixel, ASCR, and ECO Mode.

Design & Connectivity

The design of the ASUS VA24DQ IPS monitor includes ultra-thin bezels which are ideal for multi-monitor setups, an anti-glare matte coating that eliminates reflections, -5°/23° tilt adjustability, and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, VGA, a headphone jack, and dual 2W integrated speakers.

Even though the monitor doesn’t have a fully ergonomic stand or USB ports, it’s very rare to find all – DisplayPort, audio jacks, and VESA mount compatibility on a display at this price range!

Price & Similar Monitors

The ASUS VA24DQ goes for ~$120 making it the best 24″ 1080p non-144Hz IPS monitor for gaming, everyday use, and other multimedia use including entry-level content creation.

In fact, at the time of this writing, it’s the cheapest (uncertified) G-SYNC Compatible monitor which makes it a perfect budget gaming option for NVIDIA’s entry-level GPUs with DP 1.2a such as the GTX 1050.

The fact that it’s not officially certified by NVIDIA shouldn’t bother you as there are no visual artifacts such as brightness flickering, you just have to manually enable the G-SYNC Compatible mode in NVIDIA Control Panel.

Of course, if you have a bit more powerful PC system, we highly recommend investing another $40 for the ASUS VP249QGR 24″ 1080p IPS monitor with a higher 144Hz refresh rate for a much more enjoyable gaming experience.

ASUS offers plenty of 24″ 1080p IPS models with FreeSync up to 75Hz under similar names and minor differences:

There are also the VA247HE and VA247HEY (FreeSync up to 75Hz) and VA249HE (60Hz) models, but these are based on VA panels.

You should also check out the AOC C24G1A 1080p 144Hz gaming monitor with a curved screen and an ergonomic stand. It offers a better gaming experience than the VA24DQ due to its higher refresh rate and it has a higher contrast ratio for deeper blacks, but its viewing angles aren’t quite as good. It goes for as low as $144 though.

Conclusion

In case you don’t need 144Hz, the ASUS VA24DQ is our top-recommended budget monitor for gaming, multimedia, productivity work, and similar use under $140!

Specifications

Screen Size	23.8-inch
Resolution	1920×1080 (Full HD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	75Hz
Response Time	5ms (GtG)
Adaptive Sync	FreeSync (48Hz-75Hz)
Speakers	2x2W
Ports	DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, VGA
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	16.7 million (6-bit + FRC)
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)