They often catch the eye due to their dynamic nature, on models where they manifest themselves in this way. But the lack of tearing and stuttering from frame rate and refresh rate mismatches was very pleasant, with FreeSync active. You can also enable the ‘Frame Counter’ feature in the ‘Game Setting’ section of the OSD, which will display the refresh rate of the monitor. 8-bit colour is supported, whilst a 1ms MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time) is specified whilst the monitor is in its strobe backlight mode. Specifically, the lower end is affected more now making some darker shades a fair bit lighter than intended. Nous avons l’habitude avec AOC de retrouver des produits esthétiquement très propre. We didn’t observe any noticeable flickering with FreeSync on this model. The monitor offers quite comprehensive coverage of the sRGB colour space (99%) with just the smallest sliver of under-coverage in some regions. We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. In addition to the quantitative testing above, we performed a subjective assessment of the uniformity of a variety of ‘medium’ shades, including 50% grey. Very partial to JRPGs and the fetching of quests. Thanks! As the graphics on this game were really maximised (by increasing the ‘resolution scale’ or rendering resolution for the game), the frame rate dipped further so that triple digits were a distant memory. neemos #3 . The curved form factors make them attractive … (there is no set up G-sync setting on the left side of the control panel. The AOC C24G1 is one such model, coupled with a 1500R curve – that’s steeper than the 1800R curve used on the likes of the Samsung C24FG70 and C24FG73. Extremely cool-tinted, almost painful to look at. Most users won’t find this problematic or necessarily even notice that text looks different on this model compared to models of a similar pixel density and no subpixel-related text display issues. The first two blue blocks were slightly more blended with the background than ideal, although were still visible. To make use of our profile do the following: We used a BasICColor SQUID 3 (X-Rite i1Display Pro) to measure white and black luminance levels, from which static contrast ratios could be calculated. Again, not as saturated as on models with more generous colour gamuts but looking more or less as they should. Black highlights here indicate the highest white luminance, lowest black luminance and maximum contrast ratio recorded. Googled around for this question but everyone just kept linking some 10 page article that was a bit too in depth for me. It made tracking enemies very easy indeed and from a competitive standpoint this feature has considerable merit. Super-fast, 1500R curved 24” Full HD gaming display. The environments showcased some nice vivid-looking greens and rich earthy browns. In this case there was nothing particularly noteworthy in that respect, with a strong performance free from obvious overshoot even at reduced frame rates (and hence refresh rates, with FreeSync active). Note how clear and sharply focused the UFO and the small details on it become. The monitor includes various ‘Game Mode’ image presets; ‘FPS’, ‘RTS’, ‘Racing’, ‘Gamer 1’, ‘Gamer 2’ and ‘Gamer 3’. The curveThis monitor adopts a 1500R curve, which is steeper than the 1800R used by the older variant of the panel seen on the likes of the Samsung C24FG70/73. Alternatively, static interlace patterns may be seen with some shades appearing as faint horizontal bands of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of the intended shade. We also noticed a nice edge in motion clarity when watching film content with the feature enabled. Although it’s perfectly fine to consider this as conventional trailing (it is, in its appearance), it is technically strobe crosstalk which is hiding some overshoot. The UFOs move across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display. As usual for a VA model there were some perceived gamma shifts, meaning shades lost a bit of saturation towards the flanks and bottom of the screen. Remember that individual units vary when it comes to uniformity and that there may be further deviation beyond the points measured. You generally focus on more central regions of the screen when gaming and indeed strobe crosstalk in general is less obvious in more complex environments than simple tests like this designed to highlight the issue. This value is influenced by the element of input lag you ‘feel’ (signal delay) and that which you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness). Elsewhere brightness steps were distinct and appropriate.Performance on the black level tests was pleasing overall. If you hover over this, it will also report the variable refresh rate display supported by the display. There is also varying amounts of trailing behind the UFO, due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness. This was mainly located towards the bottom left of the screen. There is a certain flow and precision to the movements which is lacking on monitors with significantly lower refresh rates (or when running the game at a significantly lower frame rate). The first three blocks blended into the background quite readily, although that is quite normal for a monitor tracking the ‘2.2’ gamma curve correctly. The overshoot levels here are lower than either of the reference images. This describes how things ‘feel’ as you interact with your character and the game world. The wider colour gamut of the Samsung models (with their Quantum Dot backlight solution) injects some extra vibrancy. The maximum deviation from 6500K recorded was DeltaE 2.1, towards the bottom left of the screen. It made tracking enemies very easy indeed and from a competitive standpoint this feature has considerable merit.As we highlighted earlier, this model shows some strobe crosstalk. There was a small amount of ‘VA glow’ towards the bottom of the screen, but this was as slight as we’ve seen on a VA model before. The dips to around 100fps, for example, could be noticed with or without FreeSync active. Such an option does usually exist – it may be called ‘sync every frame’ or something along those lines rather than simply ‘VSync’. The overshoot was actually quite bright and fairly eye-catching for the light background – that’s not captured well in the images. The table below shows the luminance recorded at each quadrant alongside the percentage deviation between each quadrant and the brightest point recorded. There is a list of GPUs which support the technology here, with the expectation that future AMD GPUs will support the feature too. We did play, FreeSync requires a compatible AMD GPU such as the Radeon R9 290 used in our test system. This is typical for VA panels and related to perceived gamma changes. Again, typical for VA models. There were some examples of slightly colourful and brighter overshoot as well, where some hints of green and purple could be seen. There is a bit of overshoot in its place, as you can see the trail appears slightly dirty (most noticeable behind the cockpit area). The monitor gave a good cinematic look to such scenes. The purple block appeared lilac throughout, with a slightly stronger pink hue near the bottom and extreme side edges. Most commonly there was an extra bit of ‘powdery’ trailing, which was generally light and only added slightly to perceived blur. There was no obvious dithering and the final (white) block appeared fairly smooth without strong graininess from the screen surface. If a game ran at 35fps, for example, the refresh rate would be 70Hz to help keep tearing and stuttering at bay. It doesn’t radically change the experience, distort things or feel uncomfortable – it just draws you in a little bit more. Many pixel transitions were fast enough to deliver a solid 144Hz performance and there was no doubt that the monitor put the refresh rate to good use in many respects. This reflects another significant decrease in perceived blur due to eye movement. I also can’t overstate how much I prefer threading my cables through the C24G1’s stand as well, as opposed to having a chunky plastic red clip like the G2460PF. Note that you can’t enable FreeSync and MBR at the same time. Isolated examples of this are always possible on some titles, systems or driver versions – but they’re not specifically a monitor issue if they do occur. For those who prefer a mixture of strong image quality and decent responsiveness, though, the AOC C24G1 is an attractive alternative. The first to ‘Gamma’ settings lacked a bit of saturation and depth in places, although this was not extreme. Although it’s perfectly fine to consider this as conventional trailing (it is, in its appearance), it is technically strobe crosstalk which is hiding some overshoot. Note that the ICC profile is specific to our unit and, along with the OSD settings, it may not be optimal for all units. Both our responsiveness article and the G-SYNC article linked to explore the importance of these two elements being synchronised. This is shown in the below image, which shows pursuit photographs running from the top to bottom of the screen. The image below shows how things look at 120Hz. Some users would could also find it beneficial for viewing comfort – we found this screen comfortable to use, but we’ve found plenty of flat monitors comfortable as well. We actually found this less eye-catching in practice compared to the overshoot, it generally blended in quite well. Alongside some quite eye-catching neon shades (greens, yellows and purples in particular) and appropriate deep shades such as blues and reds. We used Lagom’s tests for viewing angle to more closely analyse colour consistency and the influence of viewing angle. The trailing (overshoot) behaviour is similar. These make changes to various settings in the OSD and in many cases lock off OSD options. All in all, the AOC C24G1 is a very fine gaming monitor indeed and a more than worthy successor to the G2460PF’s budget crown. Bright elements such as Lara Croft’s flashlight illuminating cave walls or artificial light sources stood out very nicely against the surrounding gloom. When I plonked my X-Rite Display i1 Pro colour calibrator on it, for example, it’s default Warm colour temperature profile was already displaying a whopping 98.8% of the standard sRGB colour gamut. As noted earlier, though, the greater flexibility in terms of brightness level is an unmistakable benefit to the AOC solution. Also note that FreeSync only removes stuttering or juddering related to mismatches between frame rate and refresh rate. This is contributed to not only by the pixel responsiveness of the monitor, but also the movement of your eyes as you track movement on this screen. This is not at all uncommon on VA models and this is far from the most extensive or ‘smeary’ trailing you’ll see for this transition from such a panel. For a VA panel, this is a very competent 60fps performer. Otherwise you will find there is obvious stuttering or juddering, which is painfully obvious as there is very little perceived blur due to eye movement to mask it. If fully installed, AMD drivers feature Radeon Settings, which makes activation of the technology very simple and something that usually occurs automatically. Advantages. This was less extreme than on non-curved VA models of this size that we’ve used. This reflects another significant decrease in perceived blur due to eye movement. We noticed a short burst of stuttering at the boundary. These elements also appeared fairly smooth with only slight graininess from the screen surface. The brightest point recorded was ‘quadrant 5’ in the centre of the screen (156.3 cd/m²). This did give a slight improvement to that feeling of ‘extra depth’ and being drawn in a little more to the experience, but ultimately the curve remained a subtle addition. This value is influenced by the element of input lag you ‘feel’ (signal delay) and that which you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness). Activating MBR (Motion Blur Reduction) did not have a measurable effect on input lag and neither did having FreeSync active vs. not active in the OSD. The monitor gave this title the kind of contrasty look it craved, much more so than competing non-VA models. The brightest point recorded was ‘quadrant 5’ in the centre of the screen (156.3 cd/m²). Comme c’est souvent le cas avec les écrans 144Hz, AOC nous propose avec ce modèle une résolution Full HD au format large 16:9 en 24 pouces, un classique. Also note that FreeSync only removes stuttering or juddering related to mismatches between frame rate and refresh rate. Note that this did not impact the values or observations in this table, provided the colour signal was corrected as directed in. The monitor itself must support ‘VESA Adaptive-Sync’ for at least one of its display connectors, as this is the protocol that FreeSync uses. When it comes to ~24” 144Hz gaming monitors, the vast majority of models use TN (Twisted Nematic) panels. But did find it accelerated eye fatigue even if we didn’t consciously notice the flickering – we’d avoid prolonged periods of using MBR for this reason. But equally, it was clear that the losses in saturation towards the flanks and bottom of the screen were relatively minor. If the frame rate alone dips and the refresh rate remains at a static 144Hz, because you’re not using FreeSync, these weaknesses aren’t as apparent. This is contributed to not only by the pixel responsiveness of the monitor, but also the movement of your eyes as you track movement on this screen. This explains why the dark background (top row) tended to show this most clearly in the main testing above, as it was higher up on the screen. The curve certainly doesn’t make things feel unnatural and it’s easy to forget it’s even there at all most of the time. Often with FreeSync models you get significantly increased overshoot introduced at lower frame rates, particularly as you dip well into the double digits. In this case there was nothing particularly noteworthy in that respect, with a strong performance free from obvious overshoot even at reduced frame rates (and hence refresh rates, with FreeSync active). There is a certain flow and precision to the movements which is lacking on monitors with significantly lower refresh rates (or when running the game at a significantly lower frame rate). It also significantly reduces eye movement and therefore decreases overall perceived blur massively – as demonstrated and explained earlier using Test UFO.The other element of perceived blur, pixel responsiveness, is something that VA models typically struggle with. As with any trailing or overshoot this is also fragmented by the strobe backlight rather than a smooth trail being apparent. 24” 144Hz models hit the sweet spot for many gamers in terms of affordability, size and choice of models on the market. As usual for the technology, though, the transition between normal FreeSync operation (at 48Hz) and the refresh rate suddenly shooting up as the frame rate drops (sticking to a multiple of it) was not entirely smooth. Unfortunately, we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with FreeSync active in a variable refresh rate environment. There were some weaknesses in terms of pixel responsiveness, but nothing as major as we’ve observed on most of the VA models we’ve tested. It can then be replaced with an alternative 100 x 100mm VESA solution, if preferred. There is a more noticeable trail for the dark background, however. There was a significant increase in perceived blur and a worsening ‘connected feel’ regardless of the technology. You may run into a few issues if you happen to find yourself in a beam of direct sunlight, as I found when a rogue bit of autumn sunshine came streaming in through my window, but on the whole I don’t think you’ll run into too many problems here. The will display ‘FreeSync’ under ‘V. They had good natural-looking skin tones, with only minor saturation loss towards the extreme edges and very bottom of the screen. Plus, most of the time you’re going to be facing it straight on anyway, and probably won’t even notice it. This did give a slight improvement to that feeling of ‘extra depth’ and being drawn in a little more to the experience, but ultimately the curve remained a subtle addition. The maximum deviation from 6500K recorded was DeltaE 2.1, towards the bottom left of the screen. I was also pleased to see it played nicely with my Nvidia graphics card, too. And finally, there were some transitions that gave a somewhat ‘smeary’ appearance – these are transitions which are significantly slower than optimal and occur where darker shades are involved. It made tracking enemies very easy indeed and from a competitive standpoint this feature has considerable merit.As we highlighted earlier, this model shows some strobe crosstalk. These perceived shifts are not picked up by colorimeter measurements. Elsewhere brightness steps were distinct and appropriate.Performance on the black level tests was pleasing overall. FreeSync – the experienceWe tested various titles on this monitor with FreeSync active, including but not limited to; Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hitman and Dirt Rally. This is very much the case with the C24FG70/73, where the notorious bright ‘purple trailing’ can become particularly extreme and unsightly. This lifts up the image a bit, providing an edge in depth and saturation. Shades maintained good richness throughout, much more so than on competing TN models where there are significant saturation shifts vertically. All rows of the UFO Motion Test were used. The ‘Strong’ setting provides some obvious overshoot, although not as strong as at 60Hz. This value is influenced by the element of input lag you ‘feel’ (signal delay) and that which you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness). This is an alternative to VSync which allows the frame rate to rise above the refresh rate (no VSync latency penalty) whilst potentially keeping the experience free from tearing or juddering. This was particularly true where they were set against the darker background, with the strong contrast of the screen combining with the colour characteristics of the panel to lift those shades out in a way simply not seen on competing TN models. The following image gives a rough idea of how this test appeared from a normal viewing position. This helped give deep elements a nice atmospheric look, with brighter shades standing out nicely as well. The following image shows how things look with the refresh rate bumped up to 100Hz. Timestamps: Features & Aesthetics Contrast Colour reproduction Responsiveness Conclusion24” 144Hz models hit the sweet spot for many gamers in terms of affordability, size and choice of models on the market. You can either configure this globally under ‘Global Settings’ or for each game individually. Significantly lower than on some curved models and slightly lower than we observed on the Samsung C24FG70 we reviewed. You can either configure this globally under ‘Global Settings’ or for each game individually. This was not something we really noticed much when playing games and it’s certainly easier to spot in tests designed to specifically highlight the issue. We also assessed contrast performance on the Blu-ray of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You can also enable the ‘Frame Counter’ feature in the ‘Game Setting’ section of the OSD, which will display the refresh rate of the monitor. For the mixed desktop background, you can see a loss of contrast and saturation as viewing angles become more extreme. To bring things in-line and provide a slight edge in richness, we found full calibration with an ICC profile beneficial.