Gigabyte recently introduced their latest monitor – the Aorus CV27Q. Branded as the world’s first tactical monitor, this claim is due to features such as an “aim stabilizer” and “black equalizer”. This monitor will support up to a 1440p resolution and an impressive 1ms response time – something that is extremely desirable when it comes to gaming.
Although not preferred by some, this monitor is curved. The Aorus CV27Q has a 1500R curved panel that they claim gives the user a better sense of immersion. This feature might not be for everybody but it can lead to some pretty nice workstations when used in multi-monitor settings.
What do these features mean for us?
To help cut through some of the jargon used to sell these monitors, it appears that the “aim stabilizer” aims to “counter the motion blur and enhance the gamer’s visual clarity”. This is similar to the impressive refresh rate that the monitor offers.
This monitor is also a FreeSync 2 display that supports HDR. This allows the monitor to adapt its refresh rate on the fly to match that of your GPU, this is great as it allows for a lot smoother gameplay to be achieved. Please take note, however, this is only compatible with AMD GPUs! Currently, this monitor is undergoing some testing with Nvidia to allow it to integrate their G-Sync program.
The “black equalizer” feature allows the monitor to display black areas with more contrast compared to lighter areas. Gigabyte states, this feature “divides the screen into 1,296 subareas and equalizes each subarea individually, so gamers can see the dark areas more clearly without having overexposure in the bright areas”. Impressive before and after examples are available on their website.
What else is on offer?
Aside from the two features above, this monitor also has an impressive stock of other features. As is standard these days, the monitor comes equipped with a variety of connectivity ports but also includes two USB 3.0 ports as well as more than one 3.5mm jack. Features like these are now becoming more popular on monitors as they simply give users more and more options to choose from.
Another interesting addition is a version of Gigabytes active noise-canceling technology. This will allow for ambient noise to be reduced when listening through one of the monitor’s included headphone jacks. This will allow you to hear ambient noises more clearly as well as communications from your teammates.
A more detailed list of the specs is as follows:
- 27-inch VA panel
- 2560×1440 (Quad HD)
- FreeSync 2 HDR
- 165Hz refresh rate
- 1ms MPRT
- 400 nits brightness
- 3,000:1 typical contrast ratio
- 12,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
- 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4
- 2x USB 3.0
Final thoughts
It’s such a mixed bag when it comes to selecting a monitor these days. Depending on the features you want, you may even be locked in by the graphics card you run. Once you have an idea of what you want in a monitor it starts to become a lot easier to choose.
This monitor looks like it would fit right in on most systems. With a 1440p resolution, FreeSync 2 HDR and a 165Hz refresh rate this is one of the more impressive listings we’ve seen.
What do you think? Are you sold on curved monitors? Do you find some of these features to be gimmicks rather than necessities? Let us know in the comments below, we love hearing your thoughts.