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AOC Q27G4ZD QD-OLED 240 Hz gaming monitor review: Fast, colorful, and reasonably priced

27-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor with 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR10, and wide gamut color.

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AOC Q27G4ZD
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level

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AOC Q27G4ZD
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The Q27G4ZD doesn’t have a variable brightness option. Therefore, it measures the same whether field or window patterns are used. It peaks around 254 nits, which isn’t super bright, but it is bright enough. I would not use it in my sunny office at full honk because it would be fatiguing after a short while. It’s easy to tell which screens have variable brightness. The Aorus and Asus both peak at well over 400 nits. Whatever your preferred light level, blacks are unmeasurable, so contrast is theoretically infinite.

After Calibration to 200 nits

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AOC Q27G4ZD
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Calibration produces no change in contrast or black levels. Setting the Q27G4ZD is easy because you will see uniform brightness in all content. This holds true for HDR as well; I’ll talk more about that on page five. ANSI contrast is also unmeasurable since the black squares of the checkerboard pattern don’t register on my light meter.

Test Takeaway: The Q27G4ZD’s lack of variable brightness might be an issue for some users, but it doesn’t make a difference in SDR content. There is plenty of light available here and no matter what output level you choose, black levels and contrast are the same as any OLED, theoretically infinite.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Skip27
    The best advice I ever received was not to upgrade your monitor until you are ready to NEED high-end monitors. I used a wonderful 27' Asus for over a decade, and it was great, but when I replaced it with my current 31.5' Dell, I intentionally went 60hz because I do not want to be the kind of guy who thinks a $470 monitor is "cheap." You never get impressed with a better monitor, but once you use one for long enough, anything less feels garbage. The same is true with graphics cards. I never go over the x70 nvidia cards because I do not want to drop a grand every year. I have a 4060ti right now, and it is good enough. My next card will likely be AMD, but it will not cost over $500. Recklessly increasing one's standards gets needlessly expensive.

    That said, I hope this Dell will be as tough as my old Asus. That monitor took a beating and it still works, although light bleed started to get our of control in the corners.
    Reply
  • Mindstab Thrull
    The big benefit of this AOC is that it's a solid monitor under 500 USD - which means that other companies are going to have to take notice that there's an OLED encroaching on "great VA/IPS/etc" territory.

    I hope this means that in Canada, maybe in another year or two we can get OLED's under 500 CAD - which at current exchange rate is about 350 USD. I will be ecstatic when that happens!

    Mindstab Thrull
    Nomming ur sanities since 1837 BSE (Before the Sarpadian Empires)
    Reply