Have you ever considered testing like a 10 year old 144Hz TN panel just to see how far we've come? Obviously color gamut has improved tons but I have no idea how good or bad motion performance was back then for example. It might be an interesting one off comparison.
Just upgraded from a BenQ Zowie 2720 from 2016 to a AOC miniLED display (the one reviewed here a few weeks ago, can't be bothered to write the name down!), the difference between old TN and the new tech is simply astounding. I knew that HDR and a wider color gamut would already be a huge improvement, but I still thought that motion clarity would be better on a background strobing TN. It is also better on the new VA panel, probably because of G-sync as well.
I tested my 2013 60hz TN, and this was a very fast panel of its time. The 60hz response time UFO test on a newer panel seems better but 24fps content like movies is better on the old TN, not even the fastest IPS or VA can make movies pan as smooth. But the picture quality of that old TN isn't all there.
This is the level of detail I love to see in a monitor review. I only buy once every 5-10 years so whatever I get had better be good... and it's fantastic to see all the potential pitfalls laid out so clearly!
Pfff, this is weak sauce compared to others There's a chinese reviewer, has subtitles, but that guy, does 2-3 times more tests of mobitor factors, stuff I never thought existed but maybe matter to 0.001% people youtube.com/@user-cl4bf9cn2f?si=U4jsOHEdWaXW59OW If you get over the language barrier, now these are monitor reviews Unbox does OK, butI have questions, did they use frewsync foe the dark smeara cuz I get that on my VA panel from dell but it only happens with freesync, I dunno, they don't specify
I almost bought something like that (Cooler Master GM27-FQS). It became slightly more expensive so i changed my mind, and now Tim explained what i could expect. Thanks! I guess I'll wait for cheap OLED or keep looking for a decent VA because I'd like to see some black colors after my current Acer XF240Q P. I'm not playing competitive games anymore, so i don't need anything that fast by sacrificing colors and contrast.
@Joao_Mthat's why Mini-LED is so interesting, wish there were more decent devices available around the world with it. In my country the only choice is Samsung and their horrible quality control
@Joao_M the new MSI OLEDs launching in January have better panel care capabilities and going forward I'm guessing will apply to at least some other brands also.
@Joao_Malrighty 7 months in for my Alienware aw3423dwf QD OLED ultrawide and no burn in lol every game is hella amazing 😅 probably too poor to afford it's all good man alrighty in like 30 games these past months
Let's hope you will be able to review KTC M27P20 Pro We need more mini-led reviews in general as this could be a nice solution better than LCD without OLED's flaws.
I had 3 gp27q. All 3 panels started to fall away from the panels. The first one also had what looked like burn makes on a white screen, the worst backlight bleed I have ever see. Second one was decent but both edges were coming away from the bezel. Third one had 8 dead/stuck pixels on day one and the left edge was coming away from the bezel. I would never even consider a cooler master monitor in the future. Got an Alienware dwf after the third cooler master and for an extra £250 during a sale it’s not even close
My GP27q was bad too, and HDR on or off would require reboot if screen. Bad backlight bleed. I've also been thinking f it and just get the Alienware. You enjoying it ? Better picture over the GP27q?
@@frdsg8350 Of course DWF has a better picture. It's an OLED, it may have it's caveats but in terms of picture it's unmatched. Especially QD-OLED (with controlled/little ambient lighting).
The KTC27T20 has basically the same specs but with much better response times and no EOTF issue. Black smearing is not noticeable at all (almost as good as samsung VA), and I’m very sensitive to it. It’s available for for the same price, but I was able to get it temporarily discounted to $350 which was an absolute steal, and I’m extremely satisfied with my purchase. Only Caveat is that the refresh rate is limited to 144 using VRR and local dimming, and you need to flash a firmware update to get the monitor in a useable state.
Actually, the EOTF / greyscale tracking issue is present in the M27T20 as well. I've tested it on Phantom Liberty myself, had to switch to my AW3423DWF to play through dimmer sections.
I’ve used a Samsung VA monitor in the past and the dark smearing was obvious to me and I got rid of that monitor very quickly! I personally would NEVER buy any VA panel again! I’m very happy with my Cooler Master IPS Tempest HDR GP27U (4K) monitor is my end game monitor until a 4K HDR 360hz monitor is available and a GPU is capable of running AAA titles at 240fps+. That’s how happy I am with my Cooler Master 27U monitor! It does my SDR gaming extremely well, HDR gaming quite well, HDR BluRay playback extremely well & great fro my basic video editing needs. It’s bright during regular gaming sessions which brings life to games I didn’t get with non-mini led ips monitors in the past.
@@noir-13 I can't recall where I saw it (and can't find it, so take this with a grain of salt), but I believe there was a comment that asked them why they haven't reviewed the AOC. Tim replied that it's not available/not economical to buy it yet in Australia, which is unfortunate. We'll have to see RTINGs upcoming review first I suppose; it's in early insider access for now.
I purchased the Cooler Master Tempest GP27U (4K HDR) 🤩🥳and updated the firmware myself (little fiddly but nothing mind numbing) and NEVER experienced any flickering issue with my monitor with the same settings as stated by Tim here! Maybe Tim’s had the issue but I’ve had my GP27U monitor since launch 🚀and it’s been perfect💪👍😇 imo all this time. It offers awesome HDR and SDR 🤯🤩viewing and gaming and I’d recommend this monitor (GP27U) to anyone considering a new monitor purchase.
I'm very happy with the GP27Q. I'm very sensitive to flickering, but didn't notice any so far. The newer firmware (I have 1.2, but 1.4.1 is the newest) seems to have corrected this issue. My unit shipped calibrated, including a sheet with the calibration results. Comparison with a calibrated monitor suggest a good calibration. Great monitor in my opinion.
Would be really nice if Monitors Unboxed could re-test GP27Q with newest firmware, 1 year later. I think they are too severe with a suspected issue that can't be reproduced in actual gaming. Otherwise I would be very happy to know!
This is definitely another monitor that is actually manufactured by KTC for CM. Specs wise it seems to be the same as the KTC M27T20 which I have been asking you to review for months. However, the previous CMs also had the same design like their KTC counterparts, but this one is different. The M27T20 is measuring quite a bit better in terms of response times, though none of the reviews out there is from someone actually reputable enough. It is for a very similar price aswell.
I've also been trying to find a budget 1440p mini-LED HDR monitor and it seems that there could be a lot of promise with TCL panels (I'm not entirely sure on which monitors KTC is using them). There's a theory going around the Chinese internet that they managed to get their hands on Samsung's VA secret sauce when Samsung sold one of their Chinese panel factories to them and they've rebranded this as HVA. The AOC Q27G3XMN is using one of these HVA panels but its in a lower pricing bracket and only uses 376 dimming zones. Unfortunately no one seems to have reviewed it yet so its hard to know whether the anecdotal claims of excellent response time are actually true.
@@JohnSmith-vn8dm Rtings did a review on AOC, it's in early access now and should be live for everyone by the end of the week. Still waiting for KTC (2nd in the voting pipeline) to get reviewed.
M27T20 suffers from the same greyscale tracking issue as this one as they use the same vendor for the VA panel and likely the same approach to local dimming.
I currently have an old superwide precursor to the Odyssey with VA tech and black smearing is noticable here too. VA and OLED seem to be the dominant techs at the moment, but both have flaws. I'd fork out the expensive premium for an OLED if I could guarantee it would not get burn in issues. In any case the price of OLED is hopefully set to come down in the next years as Pusan National University in Korea have developed some new chemical that makes them much cheaper to produce, so it's probably best to wait to buy a monitor right now.
Yes, oleds are great but they are expensive and have a relatively short lifespan if used daily. I can’t wait for Oleds to become cheaper and more prevalent.
IPS is still the best tech for daily use imo. IPS has better response times and better viewing angles compared to VA at the cost of contrast. Samsung is currently the only one with decent VA panels. OLED is better in every way, but at the cost of longevity. I personally only use my QD-OLED monitor for gaming and leave it off for daily use and use my old IPS screens instead. But that does require VESA compatible monitor arms. Otherwise, your desk is a mess in that config.
i have the same Odyssey! i even tried the oled Odyssey and ended up replacing it with an alienware aw3224dwf and its honestly way better. no dumb smart tv bs and no remote just a beautiful color accurate fast snappy beautiful experience. plus i kept the old va Odyssey making both of best worlds when i dont want burn in over long periods of time playing
I still don't feel like the tech is there yet. It's my hope that mini LED monitors really start to take off in the second half of 2024 and become much more usable and less quirky and problematic by sometime in 2025. I'd love to get one, and I will NOT use an OLED for my desktop, so for now it's just the waiting game for me.
As a user of the GP27Q for over a year now, I’ve never had these flickering issues you refer to and the latest firmware (1.4.1) fixed a couple of the issues it did have previously.
Half the backlight died for me, RMA'd it and CM sent me the GP2711 because the GP27Q is no longer in production. It's been a massive downgrade, worse blooming, worse image quality, just worse across the board.
Dell UltraSharp U2724D, 27" with IPS Black panel might be worth a look. 120hz, 2000:1 contrasts, precalibrated 100%SRGB, WQHD, but 5ms reaction time. Sounds like a solid monitor for casual gaming and editing work in SRGB.
@@CptApplestrudl backlight bleed is expected for any LCD monitor tho. The amount of backlight bleed will vary from every production, i haven't seen a lcd display that has no backlight bleed
For anyone interested, it's had a firmware update and it's still super slow, still has atrocious black smearing which is noticeable even on the desktop and web browsing, and the HDR is still really bad in dark games. Also the blooming/haloing with this monitor in game when viewed dead on is insane.
@@MrCommunistGen honestly there's still an issue with switching between monitors with multi monitor setup, it's not critical but it is annoying. If you're planing in using for single monitor, it's likely completely fine. Ive got an OLED TV but I rate this monitor high. It's got a great quality to it
You should give a look at the acer nitro XV275UP3. The name is very similar to a monitor you have already reviewed but this one has full array local dimming (less than 400 zones) and a peak brightness of over 1000 nit. All this for less than 400€ which is kind of unheard of
I own this, too. I read a reddit post from someone who had terrible smearing/ghosting with their example of the same monitor, but mine has been real nice coming from an LG C1. At 336 zones for the price, the halo of the cursor on dark screens doesn't bother me at all in super dark areas and I never notice it, of course, in games at all. But I did have to cut off some of the brightness with Nvidia's gamma control (it's probably closer to 900 nits now rather than the 1110 MS's HDR config app shows) to bring the blacks down on the games I play that aren't exactly good examples of HDR mastering (even if they have an "HDR" mode).
Do you notice a different amount of black smearing at a higher or lower refresh rate? I think Blur Buster's UFO test is pretty useful for trying to spot this.
@@JohnSmith-vn8dm I don't. Someone with a camera set up to photograph blur may with the UFO test, though. I have an older VA, a nice one from 2019, that smeared like crazy until I did a lot of manual tweaking. This AOC, my owned example, looks better than even my C1 with the UFO test, specific ally. 180hz, HDR and local dimming (max) both on, and dynamic contrast also on. Only thing, that is a none issue for me, is when a game starts (HDR or AutoHDR) there is a very slight dimming/brightening happening on the loading screen, but it goes away once I start to play the game. I love HDR for games, but I've yet to play a Windows game that was actually mastered for HDR properly.
I want to add to the review of this monitor. I tried to setup triple 4k setup, however, only 2 monitors at a time were able to be connected while the 3rd monitor remained off. I checked around forums and found out the display port DSC function did not work properly. So, the monitor can only be used for single display or dual display mode. It is a very pretty monitor, but, the blooming artifacts really hurt my eyes. I tried to adjust settings, but, this was hard to do. I would suggest waiting for another year to see what happens in the OLED market, wait until prices come down , or wait to see if these mini-LED panels improve in their ability to be connected in a myriad of configurations. I did get the gigabyte m28u instead and although it has a softer showing in picture quality, it s 85-90% of the quality of the gp27u at nearly half the price. For this channel, a tutorial on how to tell if monitors can be made in triple monitor setups would be great. More importantly n how to spot these issues ahead of time before buying so we can also save our time, too. Overall, thisis the best channel for monitor reviews.
I like that monitors of this type are being made, I have just returned a Dell AW3423DWF due to the sub-pixel layout making the panel blurry compared to my LG 34GN850.
@@Spr1ggan87 Hello, I am a Mac user. I recently bought the LG 32UN880, but it is definitely not a satisfactory screen. I am sending it back to Amazon. I am looking for an affordable monitor with good contrast ratio, good sharpness, good text quality. I am not a gamer. I write articles, read, research, surf RU-vid, and sometimes use Final Cut for my non-professional video editing. Is the Cooler Master Tempest GP2711 suitable for this scenario? Or should I go for a different monitor?
I think it would be interesting to test the KTC 1440p panel since it's a VA and combined with the mini led dimming zones it should be a better hdr experience
i had one and i just returned it. Basically unusable, vrr doesnt work at all and hdr has the same broken eotf/huge black crush to hide the horrendous dimming control. Pretty sure the backlight on this one is still from ktc with another panel.
@@lucidnonsense942 CM's GP27Q and GP27U is manufactured by KTC, but not using KTC panel (if there is one). I remember 27U is an AUO panel, and 27Q is an Innolux one. Not sure about 2711
All they did was raise the black levels which makes the blooming/haloing even worse, the only way to alleviate the issue is to lower the black level which brings you back the same issues the display had prior to the firmware update. Blooming wasn't really that noticeable on the GP27Q for me but on the GP2711 it's far and away worse, and there's no signs of any further firmware updates coming as CM have now moved on to OLED displays.
@Monitors Unboxed why is no one reviewing AOC Q27G3XMN? It has less dimming zones than the KTC which seems to be the same display as this cooler master while some how looking way better..Best part is it’s only $280! I don’t understand why it has no attention
Never heard of it before this comment... I would absolutely second this motion, but the only issue I see is that it doesn't appear to be in stock anywhere at the moment.
love how we never get this stuff in the UK. Seriously there have been so many monitors that have came out in mini LED and OLED and so many do not come to here at all... And its usually the cheaper models. Not that I am in the market for any as I have had the AW3423DW for over a year now but its nice to see cheaper mini LED and OLEDs becoming available.
I feel that pain. Computer hardware (GPUS, Monitors) in general is dogshit here in the UK. Price is always the same as the US dollar amount despite their weaker currency, and availability even at the shit price is either flakey or 0. And god forbid you try and ship it from the US and get customs charge you a small fortune for the pleasure of receiving the product you paid for, and the £30 shipping fee. I think US and even mainland EU just see the UK as an irrelevant island, and i guess they’re not wrong.
@@H94R yup we get fucked over hard. Sure we can get amazing deals as well but often times... they are better in the US. And like I said so many good monitors do not come out here at all. Which sucks. Could be worse I guess though... we could be Australia where everything is banned and they have to pay with their kidneys.
@@noir-13 Yeah we get the standard stuff. The awf is usually on sale for £750 which is great, I have the none F version so again I am not in the market for it. But its rare we get these mini leds that cost around $650. Heck a lot of 1440p panels that are around the $350 mark are around £350 to £500 here... which is stupid. Also for £750 I wouldnt buy the LG one at all.
@@naamadossantossilva4736 Man, it's REALLY rough in Brazil. I've had a guy describe the situation to me and it's like todays Russia, which is already very bad, but at least three times worse. I feel for you, folks...
KTC M27T20 has the exact same backlight and same problems on US firmware. Newest EU firmware though (which can be also installed without any problems on US model of the monitor) fixes HDR issues and doesn't have VRR flickering in SDR nor with local dimming, just like GP2711. Maybe you should contact Cooler Master and ask them to cooperate with KTC for the latest firmware? They're almost the same monitors after all (GP2711 seems to have a bit worse response times and much higher peak brightness (1600 nits compared to 1000 on KTC)).
I like the blacks VA offer, but if you play any dark games like hunt showdown it's a horrible experience, tried the new cheaper AOC and the neo G7, sent both back! Just bought the AOC 27inch oled.
@woltergrant colors are off, grainy mat coating, horrible black smearing on dark objects. Yes it was the Q27G3XMN, you get what you pay for! There is a reason it cost 259$ In bright games its probably fine, but I play alot of games that have shadows or in woods and I can't handle that black smearing. OLED or IPS all the way! OLED has no black smearing at all...
Still waiting for the perfect monitor. The review of the AOC Q27G3XMN is amost out from rtings. The response time looks good enough and let's check if the HDR experience is good. I find hardware unboxed review more useful but he doesnt have the time and Australian availability is different to Europe/USA to test all monitors out there xD.
I’ve had this for a week and it looks really good. In SDR the haloing is not good but I just turn local dimming of for normal work flow. For HDR with local dimming it looks amazing with almost no haloing. Need to try some super dark content though. I’m interested in the rtings review
@@woltergrant I leave the local dimming off while in SDR mode and it turns on automatically when I switch to HDR mode in Windows 11 (Nvidia GPU). I do, however (at least for now) have the Dynamic Contrast Ration *on* in SDR mode, but I'm probably gonna turn that off else I'll eventually need sunglasses to read websites at night...
This looks like a solid buy, but sadly the refresh rate isn’t 240hz. The closest 1440p Mini LED with that refresh rate is the KOORUI GN10 but there just aren’t many reviews on it which leaves me unsure. I may have to keep waiting for some new monitors to hit the market.
I would suggest doing the Blurbusters test at two different settings. At this point 960 (if that's the setting that you use) doesn't really help separate newer esports panels and really isn't representative of modern fast paced games like Fortnite/Overwatch/Apex, Overwatch especially. Perhaps 2400, as this is more in line with something like a Genji or Tracer dash.
Can you test the new GP2711 using GAME profile instead of your custom user profile while in HDR? It should fix the brightness issues instantly as using a USER profile for me on my GP27Q makes it too dark to play. I really like the Cooler Master Mini-led HDR monitors but it's too dark to play some dark games like Sons of the Forest in Caves while in HDR HOWEVER I normally use a lightly calibrated custom setting but I noticed that when I stop using my custom profiles on the monitor and just use the GAME profile in HDR the brightness it significantly better, I tested in real HDR games with HDR vs SDR and yes you can see it's a genuine enhancement to both color and lighting. I tried Forspoken and Cyberpunk 2077 and prefer the HDR presentation.
Can you review the INNOCN 32M2V? It's a 32" 1100 zone mini LED 4K monitor that's been going for $600 on sale recently and would love to get your review of it!
Thanks! All I want is a premium 27" 1440p or 4K monitor that's not OLED that's 240-360hz with superb HDR performance. Is it really that difficult? I just can't buy into OLED until all burn-in issues are resolved, same for TV's.
Can you review the XG49WCR? I was almost ready to pull the trigger on it but this review made me pause as both are VA panels. I would like to know how it handles motion.
This is why OLED in my opinion is just gonna be the future basically indefinitely. Burn in can and will be fixed especially with tricks like we’ve seen.
Tim I guess you don't have access to Iiyama monitors? They have an amazing 21:9 g-master gb3467wqsu-b5. Motion clarity at 165Hz is on par with Neo G7, and it cost £310 in UK.
If they used the latest ADS Pro display instead and if they could get around 2000:1 contrast + quantum dot then they could have made a almost perfect LCD...
For when the review of the redmagic gaming monitor, it's a mini-led 4k 27inch with 5k local dimming zones With a HDR 1000 certification I would be really hyped to see monitor unboxed review it
I had the same thought multiple times about various issues each time they released firmware for the GP27Q earlier in the year. They said it worked fine on their hardware.
Hello, I am a Mac user. I recently bought the LG 32UN880, but it is definitely not a satisfactory screen. I am sending it back to Amazon. I am looking for an affordable monitor with good contrast ratio, good sharpness, good text quality. I am not a gamer. I write articles, read, research, surf RU-vid, and sometimes use Final Cut for my non-professional video editing. Is the Cooler Master Tempest GP2711 suitable for this scenario? Or should I go for a different monitor?
Just got the GN10 and it does have a bit of blooming and issues with the audio, as well as flickering when HDR and adaptive sync were both on. However it is a very solid monitor for the price point
@@ggboi1837 Have you tested doing testufo and hear coil whine? Hisses more than my active speakers 😅. Consumer rights suck in my country, I wish I could refund and Im probably gonna buy the Asus VG27AQM1A (1440p260hz) tho I am not seeing much reviews
I wish someone would just release a relatively cheap 4k60 FALD panel for movies and sightseeing games. I'd rather have my responsiveness and high framerates and insane contrast on different monitors than pay 2-3x the price to have both on one monitor, or pay the same for an OLED and have to replace it every 2-3 years.
Cooler Master is marketing monitors now? Was the industry, and certainly the PC enthusiast, better served when companies didn't think they needed to market every piece of the machine, and we had a higher degree of specialization. Sure, having a lot of options can be good, but it can also be debilitating: paralysis by analysis. Might make a good podcast topic.
this could be interesting since for some reason I don't really notice smearing, now I have to see how much it will cost in europe since for now I can't even find it online. Edit: nevermind I got to the part about bad hdr tuning for low brightness
Yeah I was flipping between this and a 42” OLED and ultimately concluded that the compromises mini LED needs were just too much, especially on KTC’s cheaper implementation. Either way, it is nice that this level of HDR capability is available for so little now. Only 3 years ago mini led tech was well above 1000$ on most monitors
Only reason they are compromised is because it’s Chinese trash. If these companies would simply produce real products and not repackage stock garbage it would be fine
Great video Tim! Just like how OLED isn't interesting while burn in is a possibility; I like the idea of mini-LED/micro-LED panels, but until they can make each pixel dimmable to remove halos from the wonky zones is when they will have a product I'd like to buy. By that point they may have been able to fix the burn in issue on OLED panels. For me OLEDs are like plasmas my dad had a plasma tv. It's great for what it is at the time, but has sacrificed long term life. You can't expect to use an OLED for 10 years where as a garbage IPS can (assuming something doesn't break along the way). Nobody normally chooses to stick with their old tech, but when hard times come and you need the option longevity matters. Also, I try to avoid falling into the modern consumerism traps and companies typically fall short in the execution to price ratio for me.
The monitor looks so good on paper, but the response times are unusable for faster paced gameplay and the hdr really needs a lot of tuning. I can't buy it like this unfortunately...
I'm pretty disappointed. Why use such a slow VA panel? What was Cooler Master thinking? I guess they were going for: lots of local dimming zones and high HDR brightness at a low price. But with the dark smearing issues I can't see this giving a good experience in gaming. Could be a decent content consumption panel for > = 60fps content though.
