Nixeus EDG 27 IPS Freesync 144Hz Gaming Monitor Review: Hitting The Sweet Spot
Nixeus EDG 27 Subjective Analysis
While the Lagom and Techmind tests on the previous page lay out a monitor's performance in black and white (and blue and green and red and...), we also take into consideration a subjective analysis. You're not purchasing a monitor to view test patterns for hours on end, after all. To see how the Nixeus EDG 27 performed in the real world, we viewed a series of HD video clips and fired up a few games. Torturous, we know, but hey, you guys are worth every minute of our entertainment...
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Wonder Woman @ 1080P (YouTube), Scaled To Full Screen
Watching movies on the Nixeus EDG 27 was great. The screen offers bright whites, dark blacks, and excellent uniformity and color saturation, even without any fine-tuning. The panel's high-refresh rate and relatively fast response time, meant there was no easily noticeable ghosting with videos either. The wide viewing angle also keep the in-screen imagery looking good, even when sitting off to either side of the display. For video and multi-media tasks, the Nixeus EDG 27 is a solid choice, if you don't mind the bezel size.
We should also mention that the stereo speakers in the Nixeus EDG 27 are surprisingly good. They ARE NOT a replacement for a good speaker system by any means, but if you're the type that likes to game wearing a headset, and would like basic audio when tooling around on the desktop, working or doing homework, etc., the built-in speakers should be enough.
We should also mention that the stereo speakers in the Nixeus EDG 27 are surprisingly good. They ARE NOT a replacement for a good speaker system by any means, but if you're the type that likes to game wearing a headset, and would like basic audio when tooling around on the desktop, working or doing homework, etc., the built-in speakers should be enough.
We also did quite a bit of gaming on the Nixeus EDG 27, both with and without FreeSync enabled. We played some older titles like Left 4 Dead 2 (which can run at very high frame rates on the latest hardware), and some newer titles like Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Hitman, and The Division.
When playing games that run at very high frame rates, with the monitor configured at 144Hz, you get the low-lag and smoothness benefits of the high-framerate, but can still get some tearing. And with L4D2, when scrutinizing edges of brighter objects as they zip through darker areas on-screen the tiniest bit of ghosting is visible, but in no way did it detract from the game. And if you weren't specifically looking for it, we doubt you'd even notice.
Rise Of The Tomb Raider @ 2560x1440
When playing more taxing games, with framerates that may fluctuate above or below 60 FPS or so, that fall within the 30 - 144Hz FreeSync range of this display, the effect the variable refresh rate technology has on the on-screen imagery and / or lag is excellent. Disabling V-Sync may eliminate lag, but tearing may be evident. And enabling V-Sync may eliminate the tearing, but the lag can be annoying. With FreeSync though, especially on a good IPS screen with a wide frequency range like this one, the on-screen images don't suffer from visual artifacts and the tearing is gone too.
We wish there was an easy way to visually convey how variable refresh rate technologies like FreeSync affect on-screen animation, but there isn’t. We don’t have a means to capture DisplayPort feeds and shooting video of the screen and hosting it on-line doesn’t capture the full effect either. In lieu of a meaningful method to show the effects, you'll just have to take our word for it or go hit a big-box store and hope they have one on display.
We should also mention that simply using a high 144Hz refresh rate on your desktop when you've also got a good mouse is great too. There is a noticeable improvement when mousing or even moving windows around the screen. If you're the type that gets headaches when looking at a 60Hz screen for too long, the higher refresh rates of a display like this one may be ideal.
As we've mentioned, viewing angles on this display are also very good. As you can see in the pictures above, when viewing the screen from relatively steep angles, from the sides, top, or bottom, on-screen images appears mostly uniform, with rich colors, that aren't greyed or washed out. This is due to the wider viewing angles of the IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel used in the Nixeus EDG 27. Try viewing a cheap TN panel from angles like this and the screen washes out considerably.
When playing games that run at very high frame rates, with the monitor configured at 144Hz, you get the low-lag and smoothness benefits of the high-framerate, but can still get some tearing. And with L4D2, when scrutinizing edges of brighter objects as they zip through darker areas on-screen the tiniest bit of ghosting is visible, but in no way did it detract from the game. And if you weren't specifically looking for it, we doubt you'd even notice.
Rise Of The Tomb Raider @ 2560x1440
When playing more taxing games, with framerates that may fluctuate above or below 60 FPS or so, that fall within the 30 - 144Hz FreeSync range of this display, the effect the variable refresh rate technology has on the on-screen imagery and / or lag is excellent. Disabling V-Sync may eliminate lag, but tearing may be evident. And enabling V-Sync may eliminate the tearing, but the lag can be annoying. With FreeSync though, especially on a good IPS screen with a wide frequency range like this one, the on-screen images don't suffer from visual artifacts and the tearing is gone too.
We wish there was an easy way to visually convey how variable refresh rate technologies like FreeSync affect on-screen animation, but there isn’t. We don’t have a means to capture DisplayPort feeds and shooting video of the screen and hosting it on-line doesn’t capture the full effect either. In lieu of a meaningful method to show the effects, you'll just have to take our word for it or go hit a big-box store and hope they have one on display.
We should also mention that simply using a high 144Hz refresh rate on your desktop when you've also got a good mouse is great too. There is a noticeable improvement when mousing or even moving windows around the screen. If you're the type that gets headaches when looking at a 60Hz screen for too long, the higher refresh rates of a display like this one may be ideal.
As we've mentioned, viewing angles on this display are also very good. As you can see in the pictures above, when viewing the screen from relatively steep angles, from the sides, top, or bottom, on-screen images appears mostly uniform, with rich colors, that aren't greyed or washed out. This is due to the wider viewing angles of the IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel used in the Nixeus EDG 27. Try viewing a cheap TN panel from angles like this and the screen washes out considerably.
