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Introduction

Gaming has always been a subject to much debate when considering the purchase of an LCD monitor. Many years ago concerns about ghosting, response times and low frame rates were very common and many people were afraid to make the move to LCD from their trusty old CRT. Over the years things have improved greatly from a pixel response time point of view, with screens offering ghost-free images and a decent gaming experience. With the introduction of overdrive technologies several years ago we saw improvements made with all panel technologies, not just the traditional TN Film panels which seemed to be the choice of gamers. When response times reached a suitable level for a high level of gaming, questions then started to appear regarding the so-called input lag of LCD monitors, that being a delay between the image being sent and what is actually displayed. This could prove important to high-end gamers were every millisecond counts and they need absolute minimal lag when playing fast paced games. Manufacturers addressed this concern as well with technologies used to bypass signal processing and modes specifically designed to return a low input lag for the user.

From there, the obvious remaining limitation with LCD screens up until more recently has been their limited refresh rate. LCD monitors are traditionally designed to run at a refresh rate of 60Hz, meaning you are limited to frame rates of 60fps, again something which gamers were worried about. Then came the introduction of 120Hz compatible monitors. Designed primarily to support the latest active-shutter stereoscopic 3D content, these screens were also attractive to those wanting even smoother game-play in 2D applications, and a doubling of their supported frame rate. Now we have quite a decent range of screens which offer 120Hz input frequency support and the advantages are quite apparent when it comes to fast paced gaming.

Iiyama have recently released a new 27" monitor in their range which is clearly aimed at the gaming market. The ProLite G2773HS model offers a reported 1ms G2G response time, something we've only seen advertised on a couple of other models to date (e.g. ViewSonic VX2739wm). It also supports 120Hz input frequencies and so seems like a decent option for those wanting to game on a big LCD screen.

Iiyama's website states: "The 27’’ ProLite G2773HS is a real game changer. The use of a high quality 120Hz panel with a blistering 1ms Response Time offers you an amazing gaming experience. The screen offers crystal clear, smooth and judder free graphics during fast paced games and beautiful quality HD video. Hardcore gamers will really appreciate the few milliseconds advantage this screen gives you, allowing split second game changing decisions."

 


Specifications and Features

The following table gives detailed information about the specs of the screen:

Monitor Specifications

Size

27"WS

Panel Coating

Anti-glare (matte)

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Interfaces

D-sub, DVI-D, HDMI (with HDCP)

Resolution

1920 x 1080

Pixel Pitch

0.311 mm

Design colour

Glossy black plastic bezel and stand

Response Time

1ms G2G + 120Hz

Ergonomics

20° Tilt adjustment only

Static Contrast Ratio

1000:1

Dynamic Contrast Ratio

5 million:1

VESA Compatible

Yes 100mm

Brightness (cd/m2)

300

Accessories

power cable, HDMI cable, DVI-D cable (dual-link), audio cable,

Viewing Angles

170/160

Panel Technology

TN Film

Weight

5.6Kg

Backlight Technology

W-LED

Physical Dimensions
 

(WxHxD with stand)
647 x 454.5 x 239 mm

Colour Depth

16.7m (6-bit + FRC)

Colour Gamut

Standard gamut (~sRGB)
72% NTSC

Special Features

2 x 2.5W integrated stereo speakers, 120Hz support

The G2773HS offers a decent range of connections which is good to see from a gaming / multimedia orientated display. There are Dual-link DVI-D, HDMI and D-sub interfaces available for video connections. The digital connections are all HDCP certified and it's great to see HDMI included for connection of popular external devices like games consoles and Blu-ray players. DisplayPort is missing from this model which is becoming increasingly popular though. All the provided interfaces can support the full 1920 x 1080 resolution of the panel. The screen is packaged with cables for DVI and HDMI, but does not come with VGA for some reason. Presumably a cost cutting measure from Iiyama there but nice to see the digital cables are provided

There aren't really any extra features provided here and the screen is even missing USB ports which can be found on many monitors nowadays. There are only 2x 2.5W integrated stereo speakers available. There are no further features here such as ambient light sensors, card readers etc.

Below is a summary of the features and connections of the screen:

Feature

Yes / No

Feature

Yes / No

Tilt adjust

DVI

Height adjust

HDMI

Swivel adjust

D-sub

Rotate adjust

DisplayPort

VESA compliant

Component

USB Ports

Composite

Card Reader

Audio connection

Ambient Light Sensor

HDCP Support

Touch Screen

Integrated Speakers

Hardware calibration

Uniformity correction



Design and Ergonomics


Above: front views of the screen

The Iiyama G2773HS comes in an all black design with glossy plastics used for the bezel and stand. The bezel measures ~22mm along the sides and top, but is a little thicker at ~36mm along the bottom edge. There is a light grey Iiyama logo in the middle of the bottom edge which is not obtrusive, and a 'ProLite G2773HS' logo in the top left hand corner. The plastics do tend to pick up finger prints since they have a glossy finish so you may want to keep a cleaning cloth handy.
 

 
Above: front views of the screen. Click for larger versions

The screen looks pretty decent and sleek on the desk in its high gloss finish. The base of the stand is quite big and blocky though but is needed for a screen of this size to give it a sturdy base.


Above: front views of the screen labels and base of the stand. Click for larger versions

The panel coating is a light anti-glare (AG) offering as this is a TN Film based screen. It is not overly grainy or aggressive like some modern IPS based panels are which is good news for those who are bothered by that kind of thing. It is not a glossy coating however.

 
Above: back views of the screen. Click for larger versions (right only)

The back of the screen is a smooth rounded-off matte black plastic as you can see above. There are 4 screw holes for VESA 100 x 100 mounting if needed. The stand comes separately packaged but clips easily into place.

 
Above: views of the base and back of the stand. Click for larger versions

The base is a fairly big, rounded rectangular shaped plastic block as shown above, again in a high glossy black plastic. This gives the screen a good balance and avoids much wobbling.


Above: side views of the screen showing tilt range. Click for larger versions

The G2773HS has a pretty thin profile as you can see from the above. With the stand the screen is ~239mm thick. The stand offers only offers a tilt adjustment with a range of 20° up/down according to the spec. The full range of its adjustment is shown above and is reasonable enough for comfortable viewing angles. The movement is stiff and you need to grip the screen with two hands really to reposition it. The screen is pretty light overall though (5.6Kg) so it doesn't feel that sturdy when you move the tilt angle. When it is just sat on the desk though it is steady enough and doesn't wobble. It would have been nice to see height adjustment available also which is always useful I think. Pivot and swivel we can live without really, especially on such a large screen, but all three have been omitted in favour of a cheaper tilt-only stand.

A summary of the screens ergonomic adjustments is shown below:

Function

Range

Smoothness

Ease of Use

Tilt

20° up/down

Stiff

Moderate

Height

-

-

-

Swivel

-

-

-

Rotate

-

-

-

Overall

Limited adjustments with only tilt available. Stiff to move but reasonable range.

The screen materials are of a good quality and the design, while fairly basic, looks pretty good I think. There is no audible buzz from the screen, even if you listen very closely. It also stays nice and cool during use thanks to its low energy W-LED backlighting unit.


Above: interface and audio connections. Click for larger version

The back of the screen features the interface connections as shown above. There are two audio sockets on the right hand side, one to feed audio in from a PC (or other device) and then a headphone jack. You can of course use the screens integrated 2x 2.5W stereo speakers as well by feeding audio in to the green port or when using HDMI. Next to these are the HDMI, DL-DVI-D and D-sub connections for video inputs. The digital DVI and HDMI connections are HDCP certified. The inclusion of an HDMI port is very useful for connection of external devices. Cables are provided in the box for DVI (dual-link), HDMI, and audio, but not for VGA.


Above: power connection. Click for larger version

The back also features the normal power connection as shown above. The G2773HS has an integrated power supply so you only need a normal kettle lead type cable which is provided in the box.

 



OSD Menu

 
Above: view of OSD operational buttons and labels. Click for larger versions

The OSD is controlled via a series of 4 touch sensitive buttons located in the bottom right corner of the screens bezel. These are labelled as '1', down arrow, up arrow and '2' as you can see above. Operation is easy enough and the sensitivity of the buttons is good.

Pressing button '1' pops up the main menu which we will look at in a moment. The '2' button gives quick access to the input selection as shown above. The down arrow button gives quick access to the 'i-Style Color' menu which is a range of preset modes you might wish to try out.

The up arrow gives quick access to the audio menu as shown above so you can control the integrated speakers, or the sound from headphones if you have them connected. Shown above also is the main menu which is accessed by pressing button '1'. Once you're in any of these menus, the up and down arrows navigate you through the various options, and at the bottom the software guides you as to what buttons 1 and 2 will do, i.e. select or exit. The main menu is split into 9 sections as shown above. The first section is the 'auto image adjust' menu which is only available when using the analogue VGA input. It's greyed out here as we're using digital DVI.

The second section is the picture adjust menu, giving you the usual options to control things like contrast and brightness. You can also access the 'adv. contrast' option which is Iiyama's dynamic contrast ratio. We will test this a little later on in the review. There is also access to the 'ECO mode' menu giving you 3 options to assist with power saving. This section of the menu also offers you control over the overdrive feature which we will certainly be interested to test late on given that this is a gamers screen.

The following two sections were the input select menu and audio controls which we already looked at as they were available from the quick launch buttons as well. After this is the 'color adjust' section which offers options for 3 preset colour temperatures and a user configurable mode where you can control the RGB levels. You can also access the i-Style preset menu again from this section.

The 'information' section gives you some info about the resolution and refresh rate you are currently using. The 'manual image adjust' section offers options mainly for when you're using the analogue input again, but does have access to the 'video mode adjust' menu which controls the hardware level aspect ratio control.

Finally the setup menu gives you control over a few things relating to the OSD software itself and usefully allows you to turn off the Iiyama boot-up logo for the screen. The last section shown in the main menu is just the memory recall function allowing you to reset the OSD if you want.

The G2773HS also has a hidden factory menu available which is shown above. You can access this by holding the '2' button while you power on the screen. Once turned on, pressing '2' again brings up this menu. This confirms the screen is using a Chi Mei Innolux (previously CMO) M270HHF-L10 TN Film panel which is useful to know. Use this section at your own risk!

All in all the OSD menu offered a very good range of options and controls. It looked quite good as well and seemed to be a decent enough bit of software. Navigation was easy and straight forward and the touch sensitive buttons worked well. For some reason we did find that the OSD froze occasionally, but once you let it disappear automatically (after the defined OSD time) it seemed to work again.



Power Consumption

In terms of power consumption the manufacturers spec states 'typical max' power usage of 35W. In standby the screen apparently uses 0.5W.

State and Brightness Setting

Power Usage (W)

Factory Default (100%)

32.0

Calibrated (17%)

22.9

Maximum Brightness (100%)

32.0

Minimum Brightness (0%)

14.6

Standby

0.5

We tested this ourselves and found that out of the box the screen used 32.0W of power while at its default 100% brightness setting. After calibration, where we had adjusted the brightness control to 40% and therefore the backlight intensity, this was reduced to 22.9W. In standby the screen uses only 0.5W of power.

ECO Mode

Brightness Locked at

Power Usage (W)

Off

n/a

32.0

1

75

28.0

2

50

23.6

3

15

17.9

We tested the ECO mode menu as well which had 3 levels you could select. Each basically just locks the brightness control at a pre-defined level, therefore limiting the energy consumption somewhat. You can see the results of these modes in the table above.

We have plotted the results of these measurements on the graph below:

 


Panel and Backlighting

Panel Manufacturer

Chi Mei Innolux

Colour Palette

16.7 million

Panel Technology

TN Film

Colour Depth

6-bit + FRC

Panel Module

M270HHF-L10

Colour space

~sRGB

Backlighting Type

W-LED

Colour space coverage (%)

~sRGB, ~72% NTSC

The Iiyama G2773HS utilises a Chi Mei Innolux (formerly Chi Mei Optoelectronics / CMO) M270HHF-L10 TN Film panel which is capable of producing 16.7 million colours. This is achieved through 6-bits per sub-pixel and Frame Rate Control (FRC) techniques. The G2773HS uses White-LED (W-LED) backlighting and so the colour space of this screen is approximately equal to the sRGB reference and is considered a 'standard gamut' backlight type. A wide gamut screen would need to be considered by those wanting to work outside of the sRGB colour space of course. It should be noted as well that this module is 120Hz compatible and can deliver 120Hz refresh rates as well as support for 3D stereoscopic content.

PWM Flicker Tests at Various Backlight Brightness Settings

100%                                                  50%                                                   0%

Pulse Width Modulation Used

Yes

Cycling Frequency

~205Hz

Possible Flicker at

 

100% Brightness

No

50% Brightness

Yes

0% Brightness

Yes

We tested the screen to establish the methods used to control backlight dimming. Our recent article talks in more details about a common method used for this which is called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). A series of photos was taken using the method outlined in the article. These were taken at 100%, 50% and 0% brightness. This allows us to establish 1) whether PWM is being used to control the backlight, 2) the frequency at which this operates, and 3) whether a flicker may be introduced or potentially noticeable at certain settings.

A thin white line was shown on an all-black background and a photograph was taken at a slow shutter speed of 1/8 second as the camera was scanned left to right in front of the screen. This produces a series of white lines which can be used to identify the frequency of the PWM and how quickly the backlight is cycled on and off. The higher this frequency, the less likely you are to see artefacts and flicker. The duty cycle (the time for which the backlight is on) is also important and the shorter the duty cycle, the more potential there is that you may see flicker. Please remember that not every user would notice a flicker from the backlight but it is something to be wary of. It is also a hard thing to quantify as it is very subjective when talking about whether a user may or may not experience the side effects. We are able to at least measure the frequency of the backlight using this method and tell you whether the duty cycle is sufficiently short at certain settings that it may introduce a flicker to those sensitive to it.

The Iiyama G2773HS showed a cycling frequency of ~216Hz (27 lines at 1/8 second shutter speed) in the initial tests shown here. A further test at an even slower shutter speed allowed us to more accurately record the cycling frequency at approximately 205Hz. At 100% brightness there should be no flicker evident as the backlight is not cycled on and off using PWM. At lower settings PWM is used and the duty cycle becomes progressively shorter. Given the relatively low frequency of the PWM cycling compared with some other displays (e.g. PWM of 350Hz+) and the use of LED backlighting, there is a chance that flicker may be evident to some users as you lower the brightness setting as a result.

 


Testing Methodology

An important thing to consider for most users is how a screen will perform out of the box and with some basic manual adjustments. Since most users won't have access to hardware colorimeter tools, it is important to understand how the screen is going to perform in terms of colour accuracy for the average user.

I restored my graphics card to default settings and disabled any previously active ICC profiles and gamma corrections. The screen was tested at default factory settings using the DVI interface, and analysed using an X-rite i1 Pro Spectrophotometer (not to be confused with the new i1 Display Pro colorimeter) combined with LaCie's Blue Eye Pro software suite. An NEC branded and customised X-rite i1 Display 2 colorimeter was also used to verify the black point and contrast ratio since the i1 Pro is less reliable at the darker end.


Targets for these tests are as follows:

  • CIE Diagram - validates the colour space covered by the monitors backlighting in a 2D view, with the black triangle representing the displays gamut, and other reference colour spaces shown for comparison

  • Gamma - we aim for 2.2 which is the default for computer monitors

  • Colour temperature / white point - we aim for 6500k which is the temperature of daylight

  • Luminance - we aim for 120 cd/m2, which is the recommended luminance for LCD monitors in normal lighting conditions

  • Black depth - we aim for as low as possible to maximise shadow detail and to offer us the best contrast ratio

  • Contrast ratio - we aim for as high as possible. Any dynamic contrast ratio controls are turned off here if present

  • dE average / maximum - as low as possible. If DeltaE >3, the color displayed is significantly different from the theoretical one, meaning that the difference will be perceptible to the viewer. If DeltaE <2, LaCie considers the calibration a success; there remains a slight difference, but it is barely undetectable. If DeltaE < 1, the color fidelity is excellent.

 


Default Performance and Setup

Default settings of the screen were as follows:

Monitor OSD Option

Default Settings

Brightness

100

Contrast

50

Color Adjust Mode

User Color

RGB Levels

100, 100, 100

iStyle Color

Off


Iiyama G2773HS - Default Factory Settings

 
 

 

Default Settings

luminance (cd/m2)

291

Black Point (cd/m2)

0.30

Contrast Ratio

960:1

 

The out of the box performance of the G2773HS was poor really. You could tell immediately when you plugged the screen in that it was too bright, looked quite washed out and the colours didn't feel right at all. We followed the test feature through to see what the initial setup looked like. If we refer first of all to the CIE diagram on the left it confirms that the monitors colour gamut (black triangle) very closely matches the sRGB colour space (orange triangle). It extends a little past the sRGB space in some shades in this 2D view of gamut but seems to cover pretty much 100% of the sRGB space. The screen would be considered a standard gamut offering of course, thanks to its W-LED backlight unit.

 

 

Default gamma was recorded at 2.4 average, leaving it 10% out from the target of 2.2. Gamma was quite a long way out in all grey shades, but was particularly high in dark greys. This high gamma was leading to the washed out appearance of the screen at these default settings. Colour temperature was not too bad actually being measured at 6623k and being only slightly too cool (2% deviance) compared with our target of 6500k. Note that we are using a Spectrophotometer to make these measurements which is not sensitive to the W-LED backlight as some colorimeter devices can be. When using a standard gamut colorimeter not designed to work with modern backlighting units like W-LED, there can be a typical deviance of 300 - 600k in the white point measurement which is why some sources may refer to a different white point in this test incorrectly.

 

Luminance was recorded at a very high 291 cd/m2 which is too bright for comfortable use and very close to the specified 300 cd/m2 maximum brightness of the panel. The screen is set at 100% brightness by default and you will definitely want to turn the brightness control down a lot to get a more comfortable setting for day to day use. Even at this very high luminance the screen returned a reasonably low black point of 0.30 cd/m2. This gave us a static contrast ratio of 960:1 which was very good and about the limit of TN Film panel technology at present. Colour accuracy was very poor at default factory settings with an average DeltaE (dE) of 8.4, ranging up to a maximum of 18.2. This would definitely need some calibration to correct the default setup, preferably with a colorimeter device. The screen is of course designed for gamers primarily, who might prefer the bright and more unrealistic image provided by the screen out of the box. However for other uses and day to day type work it would need a fair amount of correction.


 

 

Calibration Results

 

I wanted to calibrate and profile the screen to determine what was possible with optimum settings and profiling. I used the X-rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer combined with the LaCie Blue Eye Pro software package to achieve these results and reports. An NEC branded and customised X-rite i1 Display 2 was used to validate the black depth and contrast ratios due to lower end limitations of the i1 Pro device.


Iiyama G2773HS - Calibrated Settings, User Mode

Monitor OSD Option

Calibrated Settings

Brightness

40

Contrast

50

Color Adjust Mode

User Color

RGB Levels

95, 91, 82

iStyle Color

Off

 

Calibrated Settings

luminance (cd/m2)

120

Black Point (cd/m2)

0.15

Contrast Ratio

788:1

 

I left the screen in the default 'user color' mode as this would allow us to control the RGB channels during the calibration process which affords us even more control over the hardware itself. This would allow us to obtain an optimum hardware starting point and setup before software level changes would be made at the graphics card level. This helps to ensure tonal values are retained as much as possible. Adjustments were made during the process to the brightness control and to the RGB channels as shown in the table above. After this I let the software carry out the LUT adjustments at a graphics card level and create an ICC profile. The screen does not feature a hardware LUT calibration option so other than the OSD alterations, the rest of the process is carried out at a graphics card level in profiling the screen.

 

 

The calibration was a great success, especially considering the poor starting point. Even with the basic adjustments to the OSD menu you could tell the brightness was far more comfortable and there seemed to be a better balance to the colours.  With the full profilation of the screen the 10% overall gamma discrepancy that we saw before had been almost completely corrected now to leave us with 1% deviance and an average gamma of 2.2. There was still some slight discrepancy with the gamma curve as you can see from the table above in the lighter grey shades. White point was also corrected to 6465k, bringing it pretty close to the target within 1% deviance. Luminance had been reduced to a far more comfortable 120 cd/m2 after the adjustment of the OSD brightness control to 40%. Black depth was still a decent 0.15 cd/m2 and this gave us a calibrated static contrast ratio of 788:1. Colour accuracy was also improved very nicely with dE average now only 0.7 and maximum only 1.7. LaCie would consider colour fidelity to be excellent overall with only some slight discrepancies in some cases.

 

Testing the screen with various colour gradients showed smooth transitions with only some very slight gradation in darker tones being evident. At the very dark end this was slightly more apparent. There was also some very slight colour banding evident in the darker tones if you look very closely which has been introduced because of some of the corrections being made at a graphics card level. Gradients had been smoother and free from this slight banding at default settings but the calibration process had corrected gamma and other areas resulting in some tonal value loss. It's not something you'd notice in practice, but those working with a lot of gradients may need to consider it. There was also some very slight temporal noise evident, particularly in darker tones if you look very closely. This is a result of the FRC algorithm used to produce the 16.7 million colour palette. It's not something you'd notice in practice, and you do have to look very closely to see it.

 

You can use our settings and try our calibrated ICC profile if you wish, which are available in our ICC profile database. Keep in mind that results will vary from one screen to another and from one computer / graphics card to another.

 

 

Calibration Performance Comparisons

 

 

I've provided a comparison above of the G2773HS against some of the other screens we have tested in a similar size range. Out of the box average dE was 8.4 which was poor. Even the other gamer-orientated 27" TN Film model listed here, the ViewSonic VX2739wm, performed better out of the box with an average dE of 3.4. The BenQ XL2420T is also a gaming screen and while still not very good (5.4) out of the box, was better than the Iiyama.

 

 

Once calibrated the dE average was reduced to 0.7. This would be classified as excellent colour fidelity by LaCie. It was not quite as low as some of the other screens here which reached down to 0.2 average, but purely based on this measurement there is not really any significant difference here. However, in practice you do need to keep in mind that the G2773HS is a TN Film based model and so behaves differently to many of these other screens listed which are based on IPS panels largely. TN Film models have more restrictive viewing angles, and so changes in colour tone and contrast can be caused by changes to your line of sight. We will talk about this a little later on in the review but it's important to understand that it's not all down to a single dE value measurement.

 

Some of the professional range models from NEC are even more accurate still than a 'regular' IPS panel. Professional grade monitors like the NEC PA series and P241W also offer other high end features which separate them from some of these other models, including extended internal processing, 3D LUT's and hardware calibration. These comparisons are based on a small selection of tests, so it should be remembered that other factors do come into play when you start talking about professional use. For further information and tests of a high end professional grade screen with hardware LUT calibration, you may want to have a read of our NEC SpectraView Reference 271 review.

 

 

 

The calibrated black depth and contrast ratio of G2773HS were pretty decent. We had seen a default contrast ratio of 960:1 out of the box but we needed to make adjustments both at the hardware level and to the graphics card in order to correct the poor default setup. As a result the contrast ratio was reduced but was still a decent 788:1. It was on par with the ViewSonic VX2739wm which is its closest competitor in these comparisons really, being another 1ms rated 27" gamers screen. The AMVA panels of the BenQ EW2730V, GW2450HM and Philips 273E3QHSB offered excellent contrast ratios of around 2000:1 to 2500:1. TN Film panels cannot compete with this but have certainly made some improvements from several years ago. The TN Film panel of the G2773HS was on par with many of the IPS panels shown here though in terms of calibrated contrast ratio.
 

For the full reviews of the models compared here and the dates they were written (and when screens were approximately released to the market), please see our full reviews index.

 


 


Contrast Stability

I wanted to see how much variance there was in the screens contrast as we adjusted the monitor setting for brightness. In theory, brightness and contrast are two independent parameters, and good contrast is a requirement regardless of the brightness adjustment. Unfortunately, such is not always the case in practice. We recorded the screens luminance and black depth at various OSD brightness settings, and calculated the contrast ratio from there. Graphics card settings were left at default with no ICC profile or calibration active. Tests were made using an NEC branded and customised X-rite i1 Display 2 colorimeter. It should be noted that we used the BasICColor calibration software here to record these, and so luminance at default settings may vary a little from the LaCie Blue Eye Pro report.

OSD Brightness

Luminance
(cd/m2)

Black Point (cd/m2)

Contrast Ratio
( x:1)

100

287.9

0.30

960

90

264.4

0.28

944

80

243.5

0.25

974

70

222.0

0.23

965

60

198.8

0.21

947

50

174.6

0.18

970

40

151.2

0.16

945

30

127.8

0.13

983

20

103.1

0.11

938

10

79.5

0.08

994

0

55.6

0.06

927

 

Luminance Adjustment Range =  232.3 cd/m2

Black Point Adjustment Range =  0.24 cd/m2

Average Contrast Ratio =  959:1

The luminance range of the screen was wide with an overall adjustment range of 232.3 cd/m2. At the top end, the 100% brightness control returned us a luminance of 287.9 cd/m2 which was just shy of the specified maximum brightness of the screen which was 300 cd/m2. The OSD brightness control allowed you to adjust this all the way down to a nice low 55.6 cd/m2 which should afford you a decent enough range of settings for most users. For those wanting to work in very dark conditions it has this low level adjustment range which is good news. A setting of around 25% in the brightness control should return you a comfortable luminance of around 120 cd/m2 out of the box.

Black depth was good across the range from the TN Film panel. This ranged from 0.30 down to 0.06 cd/m2.

We have plotted the luminance trend on the graph above. The screen behaves as it should, with a reduction in the backlight intensity controlled by the reduction in the OSD brightness setting in a linear relationship.

Static contrast ratio remained high and pretty stable across the range, with an average figure of 959:1 which was decent for a TN Film panel. Remember these are the contrast ratios before calibration and with the screen at default settings.

 


Dynamic Contrast

The Iiyama G2773HS features a dynamic contrast ratio (DCR) control, which boasts a spec of 5,000,000:1 (5 million:1). Dynamic contrast ratio involves controlling the backlight of the screen automatically, depending on the content shown on the screen. In bright images, the backlight is increased, and in darker images, it is decreased. We have come to learn that DCR figures are greatly exaggerated and what is useable in reality is often very different to what is written on paper or on a manufacturers website.

For this test I would use the colorimeter to record the luminance and black depths at the two extremes. Max brightness would be recorded on an almost all white screen. Black depth would be recorded on an almost all black screen. In real use you are very unlikely to ever see a full black or full white screen, and even our tests are an extreme case to be honest. Carrying out the tests in this way does give you a good indication of the screens dynamic contrast ratio in real life situations however.

 

 

Dynamic Contrast

Specified DCR Range

5 million : 1

Available in Presets

'Off' i-Style Color only

Settings

On/Off

Max luminance (cd/m2)

225.9

Min Black Point (cd/m2)

0.06

Max Dynamic Contrast Ratio

3765:1

The DCR function was only available when you turn the i-Style Color mode off. You can then turn the DCR feature on and off from within the main 'picture adjust' menu. When enabled, you cannot manually change the brightness or contrast controls any more.

Unlike a lot of screens we have tested recently, this DCR did seem to function to a degree which was good. As you switched between white and black content you could see the DCR function working. It seemed to make fast changes and took about 3 seconds in total to control the full range of its adjustments. These changes were a little bit stepped as well, rather than being very smooth. Nevertheless at least it did work. On an almost all-white screen the luminance reached up to about 226 cd/m2 maximum which was less than we know the 100% brightness setting to produce (nearer to 300 cd/m2). On an almost all-black screen the black depth reached down to 0.06 cd/m2 which was the minimum black depth we'd seen in our contrast stability section, when brightness was set to 0%. It seems that the DCR function is able to control the brightness of the screen between a setting of 0% and ~70%. This gave us a useable dynamic contrast ratio of 3765:1. Even if the feature was able to control the full range of brightness adjustments, with a top luminance of 287.9 cd/m2 and a minimum black depth of 0.06 cd/m2 we would still only get a DCR of ~4798:1 so still a long way off the specified 5 million:1 figure.

We did test the screen with a completely all black image and confirmed the backlight was not being turned off completely as it can be on some screens. In real use you would never see a 100% all black image anyway, so when that does happen it is a bit of a cheat anyway and a way for manufacturers to quote crazily high DCR's.

We would like to start seeing realistic DCR figures being quoted from manufacturer, not made up numbers which don't translate into real performance. I'd rather see a screen like this with a useable DCR of 3765:1 and above, than  a screen with an advertised 100 million:1 which only works in the most extreme and unrealistic circumstances that a user will never see, even to a small degree. In many cases the DCR functions don't work at all in real use. Good to see Iiyama have provided a working DCR here, although the range is not massive.

 


Viewing Angles


Above: Viewing angles shown from front and side, and  from above and below. Click for larger image

Viewing angles of the G2773HS were as you might expect from a TN Film panel. Unfortunately this panel technology is inherently poor in this field, and so viewing angles are far more restrictive than other competing technologies like IPS, PLS and VA. Although the manufacturer will quote a viewing angle of 170 / 160 (a classic indication that a TN Film panel is being used by the way if in doubt), in practice there are some obvious contrast and colour tone shifts both horizontally and vertically.

As you move your head from side to side in a horizontal plane, there is a contrast shift and the image becomes lighter and a slight yellow hue is introduced. As you move to a wider angle the image can become darker and a darker and slightly pink colour tint is introduced as you can see from the above photos. Vertically the fields of view are more restrictive still. From above the image becomes pale and washed out, while from below there is a characteristic TN Film darkening of the image. Unfortunately vertically the viewing angles will introduce noticeable shifts in the contrast and colour tone of the image which mean that for any colour critical work it is not really very well suited. TN Film panels have long suffered from these restrictive viewing angles due to the nature of their pixel structure. They are still fine for a single user for general use and certainly the TN Film panels offer their advantages when it comes to pixel response times and gaming. If however, you were hoping to do any colour critical or photography work you may find these shifts in the appearance of the image difficult. There is also the added issue of the poor default colour setup to deal with on this screen as well. An IPS panel would probably be a wiser choice if you were looking for a screen with much wider viewing angles but having said that you are probably mainly interested in gaming if you are considering this screen.



Above: View of an all black screen from the side. Click for larger version

On a black image there is a slight pale silvery tint introduced to the image when viewed from a wide angle. This isn't too severe and shouldn't present any real problems in practice.



Panel Uniformity

Measurements of the screens luminance were taken at 35 points across the panel on a pure white background. The measurements were taken using BasICColor's calibration software package, combined with the NEC customised X-rite i1 Display 2 colorimeter. The above uniformity diagram shows the difference, as a percentage, between the luminance recorded at each point on the screen, as compared with the reference point of a calibrated 120 cd/m2 in the centre of the screen. This is the desired level of luminance for an LCD screen in normal lighting conditions, and  the below shows the variance in the luminance across the screen compared with this point. It is worth noting that panel uniformity can vary from one screen to another, and can depend on manufacturing lines, screen transport and other local factors. This is only a guide of the uniformity of the sample screen we have for review.

Uniformity of Luminance

The luminance uniformity of the G2773HS sample was mediocre on the whole with a few areas of high deviance. The screen was darker along the right and left hand sides, particularly in the upper regions of the screen. Here the luminance ranged down to 96 - 98 cd/m2 with up to -25% deviance from the central 120 cd/m2 point. The central and upper regions were a little closer to the target with most of those sections being within about 15% deviance from the centre. Only about a third of the screen was within 10% deviance which wasn't that great sadly, we had seen better from other screens in the past.


Backlight Leakage

Above: All black screen in a darkened room. Click for larger version

As usual we also tested the screen with an all black image and in a darkened room. A camera was used to capture the result. There was no obvious backlight bleed from the W-LED unit which was pleasing. There was a slight bit of leakage along the bottom edge as you can pick out from the photo above which is just above where the W-LED backlight unit sits. Overall this shouldn't be an issue in practice and it was good to see there were no major bleeding problems from this panel.

 


General and Office Applications

The Iiyama G2773HS isn't like many other 27" screens in the market. It does not offer a massive WQHD 2560 x 1440 resolution and instead sticks with a smaller 1920 x 1080 resolution across its 16:9 aspect panel. While this of course has some cost saving advantages, and is perfectly suitable for multimedia use, it is not as good for general day to day office work. This relatively low resolution on such a large screen means there is a 0.311mm pixel pitch and the text appears large as a result. This might be good for those with any kind of eye sight issues, and for those who prefer a larger text size for a lot of web and text based work. However, you need to consider that this same 1920 x 1080 resolution can be found on small screens as well, including 21.5" diagonal models. On screens that size the resolution is arguably a little too high and text is a little too small, but on a 27" diagonal sized screen I personally think it is too low. The screen is certainly comfortable for a lot of text reading, but it just doesn't look quite as sharp and crisp as a higher resolution equivalent. You do also really miss the desktop real-estate when coming from a 2560 x 1440 screen to this.

The resolution is still adequate for side by side splitting of content on the screen which is useful. The digital DVI interface offered a slightly sharper image quality than the D-sub analogue interface and so should be used wherever possible for your PC connection. At least with the AG coating being pretty light here on the TN Film panel the white backgrounds did not appear too grainy or dirty as they can on some modern IPS panels for instance.

There is a specific 'text' preset available from the OSD menu which was a little cooler than our calibrated normal mode (where i-Style Color was set to 'off'). You will definitely need to turn the brightness control down considerably to make the screen comfortable, as it is far too bright out of the box while at 100%. You may want to reduce the brightness down to ~25% to achieve a low enough luminance for comfortable working in normal lighting conditions. The backlight does afford you adjustment down to around 56 cd/m2 as well for working in low light conditions which is good.


The screen sadly does not offer any USB ports which I think are always handy for connecting external devices. There are also very limited ergonomic adjustments available from the stand with only a tilt function provided. This does allow a reasonable adjustment range back and forth, but height adjustment is certainly missed.
The restrictions of TN Film come in to play a little here since the viewing angles are not very wide. You will need to ensure you are aligned at the right angle to the screen to avoid distracting contrast and colour tone shifts. If you are hoping to use the screen for colour critical work you may want to consider whether TN Film technology is really suited to you, and look at an IPS panel instead. There are no added functions such as ambient light sensors or human motion sensors here, but Iiyama have included 2x 2.5W stereo speakers which should be ok for some casual 'office noises' and the odd mp3 or YouTube video.
 

 
Above: photo of text at 1920 x 1080 (top) and 1600 x 900 (bottom)

The screen is designed to run at its native resolution of 1920 x 1080 and at a 120Hz recommended refresh rate. Of course for office use 60Hz has no effect on overall picture quality, although movements of the mouse and dragging around of windows will look and feel snappier and smoother in 120Hz mode. If you want you are able to run the screen outside of this resolution of course. We tested the screen at a lower 1600 x900 resolution while maintaining the same aspect ratio (16:9) to see how the screen handles the interpolation of the resolution. At native resolution the text was sharp as you can see from the top photograph. When you switch to a lower resolution the text is more blurry. There was fairly low levels of overlap of the pixels and text was still reasonably readable although the resolution was too small for a screen this size. Native resolution is recommended where possible of course.

 


Responsiveness and Gaming

The G2773HS  is rated by Iiyama as having a 1ms G2G response time which implies the use of overdrive / response time compensation (RTC) technology, used to boost pixel transitions across grey to grey changes. The Chi Mei Innolux (formerly CMO) M270HHF-L10 panel being used is rated by CMO with a 3.4ms ISO response time (black > white > black) for reference. A figure of 1ms G2G is pretty adventurous and implies a very aggressive overdrive application. We have tested one other 1ms rated screen in the ViewSonic VX2739wm which had failed to deliver the real-world results that that spec implies. We will see if the Iiyama can improve on that here.

 

Before we get in to the get into the side by side screen comparisons I want to quickly talk about the overdrive control available through the screens OSD menu. It is available within the 'picture adjust' section of the OSD menu as shown above. This allows you to manually control the overdrive / RTC impulse being applied to the pixels, with 5 levels and an off option available. I'm not sure why the settings have been set up as they are with -2 up to +2. It might have made more sense to have them as settings 1 - 5 I think.

Overdrive is designed to help improve pixel responsiveness and reduce motion blur and ghosting in practice by speeding up the transitions the pixels make to change from one colour to another. This can have varying levels of success depending on the panel technology, its underlying native responsiveness and how well the RTC impulse is applied by the monitor electronics. In some cases a poorly controlled or overly aggressive RTC impulse can cause issues of its own, in some cases leading to artefacts in the form of dark or pale trailing behind moving objects. You may wish to read our specs section for some further information about overdrive / response time compensation.


Click for larger version

The screen was tested using the chase test in PixPerAn, a good bit of software for trying to quantify differences in real terms responsiveness between monitors. As a reminder, a series of pictures are taken on the highest shutter speed and compared. The images above are the best case examples from the screen with the Overdrive function in each of its 6 settings.

I would start by noting that in all the settings the moving image appeared very smooth and was free from any obvious ghosting or trailing. Even in the 'off' setting, the car showed very low levels of motion blur with only a slight trail evident in the photos above. As you switched between each of the overdrive settings there was a very slight change, and you had to look pretty hard to spot it really. A trained eye can pick out the differences and the camera has also picked them up as shown above. As you move from 'off' to -2 and then -1, the blurring of the image is reduced slightly and you will see the trail image behind the moving car becomes less noticeable. In fact when you reach a setting of '0' the blur is almost completely eliminated, the moving car becomes even sharper and trailing is reduced. A more noticeable difference is introduced as you switch to a setting of +1 though as a pale trail first becomes evident behind the moving car, caused by an overly aggressive RTC impulse. This becomes more severe when overdrive is switched up to maximum on +2 and a more noticeable dark overshoot is also clear. It seems that a setting of '0' is the optimum on this screen, returning very low levels of motion blur and being free from the overshoot artefacts introduced in modes +1 and +2.

We also carried out the same tests when the screen was set at 120Hz instead of 60Hz and the results were the same. Movement appeared smoother and the frame rate was higher, but the underlying pixel responsiveness is not changed of course, and the perceived responsiveness was also equal. The overshoot was still noticeable in +1 and +2 modes and so we would recommend sticking with setting '0'.


Display Comparisons

The screen was tested again using the chase test in PixPerAn for the display comparisons. As a reminder, a series of pictures are taken on the highest shutter speed and compared, with the best case example shown on the left, and worst case example on the right. This should only be used as a rough guide to comparative responsiveness but is handy for a direct comparison of the impact of this setting:


27" 1ms G2G Chi Mei Innolux TN Film + 120Hz (Over Drive = 0)


27" 1ms G2G CMO TN Film (Response time mode = Advanced)


27" 6ms G2G LG.Display H-IPS


27" 8ms G2G AU Optronics AMVA (AMA setting = Premium)

We have first of all provided above a comparison of the responsiveness of the G2773HS against 3 other screens we have tested, with different panel technologies being used. The closest rival from these comparisons is the ViewSonic VX2739wm which uses a CMO TN Film panel and is rated with a 1ms G2G response time. That was the World's first 1ms rated screen back in 2010 in fact. The responsiveness of the ViewSonic had not quite lived up to the hype though and in practice we had needed to tone down the RTC application, using the 'advanced' setting instead of the 'ultra fast' which had just introduced far too much overshoot. In the 'advanced' mode there was still some slight blurring to the image and the panel behaved more like a 2 - 3ms G2G rated TN Film panel in practice. The Iiyama G2773HS has actually made some slight improvements in pixel responsiveness. You are still unable to really run the Iiyama at its maximum RTC levels, as a setting of +1 or +2 introduces a noticeable overshoot and the RTC impulse is not controlled correctly. However, a setting of '0' seemed optimal and offered a slightly more responsive feel than the ViewSonic VX2739wm had, and a slightly sharper moving image. The slight blur evident on the ViewSonic test above has pretty much been eliminated on the Iiyama which is positive news.

The Dell U2711 is a very popular 27" model, but is based on an IPS panel. Although responsiveness was good, there was a dark overshoot introduced to the moving image which was unfortunate. The multimedia-orientated BenQ EW2730V uses one of the older generation of AMVA + W-LED panels and real life responsiveness was not great. It showed high levels of motion blur, even when the AMA (BenQ's name for the overdrive control) option was set to its maximum. These IPS and AMVA panels are not as responsive as the Iiyama's TN Film panel, but you might expect that given the 1ms spec of the Iiyama, the varying target markets of the 3 models, and the fact that the G2773HS is clearly a gamer orientated screen.

 


27" 1ms G2G Chi Mei Innolux TN Film + 120Hz (Over Drive = 0)


27" 6ms G2G LG.Display H-IPS


27" 12ms G2G LG.Display H-IPS (W-LED)


27" 5ms G2G Samsung PLS (response time = faster)

We have also provided a comparison above against 3 other 27" models we have tested. The recently tested DGM IPS-2701WPH and the HP ZR2740w have IPS panels and could not keep up with the Iiyama when it comes to pixel response times. The Samsung S27A850D had impressed us and was the first panel we have seen with Samsung's new PLS panel technology. That showed lower levels of blur to the two IPS based models but was not as fast as the Iiyama still in practice.

 


27" 1ms G2G Chi Mei Innolux TN Film + 120Hz (Over Drive = 0)


24" 4ms G2G AU Optronics AMVA (AMA = Premium)


24" 8ms G2G LG.Display e-IPS


24" 6ms G2G LG.Display e-IPS (Video OverDrive = On)


24" 6ms G2G LG.Display H-IPS


I have provided a comparison of the G2773HS above against some popular 24" models based on IPS and AMVA panels. These other models are all modern overdriven panels, boasting response times of 4 - 8ms G2G. The AMVA panel of the BenQ GW2450HM had greatly improved responsiveness compared with the BenQ EW2730V which we'd looked at earlier, and was finally able to compete with the fast IPS screens which was great to see. The BenQ GW2450HM, Dell U2412M and HP ZR2440w all had low levels of motion blur bit did have some slight dark overshoot evident as you can see from the photos above. The Iiyama again was more responsive thanks to its very fast TN Film panel.

 


27" 1ms G2G Chi Mei Innolux TN Film + 120Hz (Over Drive = 0)


24" 2ms G2G AU Optronics TN Film + 120Hz (AMA = On)


22" 3ms G2G Samsung TN Film + 120Hz

I've also included a comparison above against two other very fast 120Hz compatible screens we have tested. In both cases these other screens are also using TN Film panels and are aimed primarily at gamers. Firstly there is a direct comparison against BenQ's XL2420T. This showed very low levels of motion blur, but some dark overshoot was introduced as a side-effect. The Samsung SM2233RZ performed very well in these tests and showed very low levels of motion blur. When 120Hz mode was enabled the overdrive artefacts evident in 60Hz mode were almost completely eliminated, which is something we also saw with the BenQ XL2420T as well. The Iiyama compared very favourably to both, with very low levels of motion blur. It was also free from any significant overshoot when set to the '0' overdrive setting which was great. It's very hard to separate these three screens in the real world when it comes to responsiveness, although the Iiyama and Samsung models perhaps have the slight edge as they are more free from overshoot artefacts and dark trailing. Having said that, looking at it from a complete gamers point of view the BenQ does have a wealth of gaming extras and features which shouldn't be ignored.

There is something else going on here as well which can't be picked out by the camera when comparing them with the other screens discussed above. All of these TN Film models are running at 120Hz refresh rates, which allows for improved 120fps frame rates as well. This can really help improve smoothness and the overall gaming experience so these screens still have the edge when it comes to fast gaming. This needs to be considered along side the responsiveness of the pixels for sure.

The Iiyama G2773HS should be excellent for gaming, even at high levels. The pixel response times were excellent and the overdrive control does afford you a bit of control over the RTC impulse which is good. Add to that the support of 120Hz refresh rates and you have a screen capable of delivering a smooth gaming experience at high frame rates which is always good news.
 

Additional Gaming Features

Aspect Ratio Control - The screen offers several options for hardware level aspect ratio control within the 'manual image adjust' section of the OSD and then within the 'video mode adjust' sub-section. There are settings for full screen (fills the screen no matter what the input resolution and aspect), over screen (an over-scan feature useful sometimes for external devices), aspect ratio (maintains the source aspect ratio, but fills as much of the screen as possible), and dot by dot (1:1 pixel mapping, maintaining the source resolution exactly and putting black bars along any side necessary.

Preset Modes - There is a 'game' preset mode available from within the i-Style Color preset mode menu if you want a mode with boosted brightness and a more unnatural feel. This locks the brightness at 100% though and cannot be changed. For some reason the dynamic contrast option is not available in any of the i-Style color modes which is odd.

3D Support - The Iiyama G2773HS doesn't carry the NVIDIA 3D vision certification unfortunately and so while it can support a 120Hz refresh rate, the NVIDIA 3D package does not work natively with the screen. It is not a display designed to be used with 3D content, and so the retail cost is lower as a result. We did try several methods to see if we could override this lack of support, including this interesting 'hack'. We did manage to get the NVIDIA graphics card to see it as a compatible screen using the method there, and managed to get some of the setup 3D content to work to a degree. However, it didn't seem to work properly, and there was a lot of flicker. It may be possible to find a work-around to allow proper stereoscopic 3D support, but the main thing to keep in mind is that this screen isn't designed to support 3D and so it won't be easy if it is at all possible. We'd be interested to hear from readers who have managed to get NVIDIA 3D working on non-certified screens, particularly on this model, so please do get in touch.

 



Input Lag

We have recently written an in depth article about input lag and the various measurement techniques which are used to evaluate this aspect of a display. We have also improved our method by adopting the SMTT 2.0 tool which is used to generate the results below. Please see our full input lag testing article for all the details.

Input Lag Classification


To help in this section we will also introduce a broader classification system for these results to help categorise each screen as one of the following levels:

  • Class 1) Less than 16ms / 1 frame lag - should be fine for gamers, even at high levels

  • Class 2) A lag of 16 - 32ms / One to two frames - moderate lag but should be fine for many gamers. Caution advised for serious gaming and FPS

  • Class 3) A lag of more than 32ms / more than 2 frames - Some noticeable lag in daily usage, not suitable for high end gaming


For the full reviews of the models compared here and the dates they were written (and when screens were approximately released to the market), please see our full reviews index.

 Class 1

Our tests here are based on the new format using SMTT 2.0. We have provided a comparison above against other models we have tested to give an indication between screens. However, please note that many of the other screens tested here were using older stopwatch methods and not the SMTT 2.0 tool. For reference, those shown as darker blue lines were tested using SMTT 2.0.

The Iiyama G2773HS showed an average display input lag of only 12ms during this test, ranging up to 13ms maximum. This was good and should not present any major problems, even for fast gaming. The lag of this screen has been categorised as CLASS 1 as detailed above.
 

For more information about the SMTT 2.0 tool, or to purchase a copy please visit:

http://smtt.thomasthiemann.com/index_en.html



Movies and Video

 

 The following summarises the screens performance in video applications:

  • 27" screen size makes it a pretty good option for an all-in-one multimedia screen and comparable to smaller LCD TV's in size.

  • 16:9 aspect ratio is more suited to videos than a 16:10 format screen, as it leaves smaller borders on DVD's and wide screen content.

  • Native 1920 x 1080 resolution can support true 1080 HD content

  • Digital interfaces 1x DVI and 1x HDMI support HDCP for any encrypted and protected content

  • Good to see an HDMI connection available which is very popular with external devices including games consoles and Blu-ray players. Would have perhaps been good to see DisplayPort as well which is becoming increasingly popular and more widely used.

  • Black depth and contrast ratio are pretty good. Detail in darker scenes and shadow detail should not be lost due to these measurements.

  • Dynamic contrast ratio is available and works to a degree, allowing for a DCR up to around 3765:1

  • There is a specific 'Cinema' preset mode available in the i-Style Color menu which is very bright and makes the screen look more vivid. Might be useful to some users.

  • Excellent pixel responsiveness means there should be no issue in fact paced scenes

  • Viewing angles are restrictive unfortunately, due to the use of TN Film panel technology. Contrast shifts are pretty obvious and may prove a problem if you're trying to watch the screen from different angles or with other people.

  • Limited ergonomic adjustment range available from the stand with only tilt available. It could prove difficult to obtain a comfortable position if you are watching from various locations and angles. Height adjustment would have been useful.

  • No noticeable backlight leakage, and nothing significant from the edges which is good. This type of leakage may prove an issue when watching movies where black borders are present but it is not a problem here.

  • 2x 2.5W integrated stereo speakers available if you want, along with audio pass-through and a headphone socket. Might be useful for the occasional video but of course the speakers aren't up to a great deal.

  • No picture in picture (PiP) or picture by picture (PbP) modes available on this model.

  • For PAL sources, we have tested the screen and confirmed it will support the full native resolution of 1920 x 1080 at 50Hz refresh rate.

 


Conclusion

I think Iiyama have achieved well what they set out to do. They have produced a large size, responsive screen ideal for gamers, but with some cost savings compared with the competition. The screen had impressed us with its excellent pixel response times, support of 120Hz refresh rates and low input lag. This could certainly be considered a good gamers screen. The only thing missing, and presumably a measure taken to keep costs down, is the native support of 3D stereoscopic content which might put some people off. Those looking for a fast screen with high frame rate support for normal 2D gaming will not be disappointed though.

There were a few areas you will have to sacrifice though with this screen. The out of the box setup was poor and so some form of calibration is really needed for any general use beyond multimedia and gaming. Ergonomic adjustments from the stand are limited and the screen lacks some of the premium features of more expensive models. There are the usual restrictions with viewing angles particularly which are inherent to the TN Film panel technology used. The screen is also only a 1920 x 1080 resolution offering and so doesn't have the desktop real-estate and general all round performance that a 27" IPS or PLS panel can offer. Having said that, the connectivity options are good and there were a reasonable range of options available to play with, including the integrated speakers and a moderate dynamic contrast ratio.

Perhaps most important is the price point of the G2773HS as it currently retails for ~£320 GBP (inc VAT). Other competing 27" TN Film models with 120Hz support like the Samsung S27A750D (~£400) and Asus VG278H (~£480) are quite a lot more money, but do offer 3D support and some extras of course. For those wanting a 120Hz compatible screen in this size bracket, who aren't worried about the few missing extras, the G2773HS is worth considering as a good gamers screen.
 

Pros

Cons

Excellent pixel responsiveness

Poor default setup, needs calibrating

120Hz refresh rate support ideal for fast gaming and improved frame rates

Limitations of TN Film panel technology, particularly with viewing angles

Decent range of connectivity options

No native 3D support

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