Comparison MSI Optix G27C2 27 " black vs AOC AGON AG272FCX 27 " silver

The presence of a curved screen in the monitor design.

Such a screen has the left and right edges curved forward - it is believed that this shape significantly improves perception compared to a flat surface. At the same time, it makes sense to provide this feature only on fairly large diagonals - at least 30"; therefore, it is typical mainly for high-end models. It is also worth noting that in order to take advantage of all the advantages of a curved screen, you need to look at it from a certain point - at the optimal distance, strictly in the center; however, for computer monitors this is usually not a problem.

The main parameter of a curved screen is the radius of curvature. It is indicated in millimeters along the radius of a circle, the bend of which corresponds to the bend of the monitor: for example, the designation 1800R indicates a radius of 1.8 m.

The smaller the number in this designation, the more curved the screen (all other things being equal). At the same time, some manufacturers claim that the ideal curvature value is 1000R: supposedly, it is with this curvature of the screen that the image on it turns out to be as close as possible to a person’s natural field of vision, and the closer the curvature of the monitor is to 1000R, the better the viewing experience. However, in practice a lot depends on personal preference; and when viewed from a long distance (exceeding the radius of curvature by one a...nd a half times or more), all the advantages of a curved screen are lost.

Modern monitors can use displays with both glossy and matte screen surfaces. A matte surface is in some cases more preferable due to the fact that on a glossy screen, when exposed to bright light, noticeable glare appears, sometimes interfering with viewing. On the other hand, glossy screens offer better picture quality, higher brightness, and richer colours.
Due to the development of technology, monitors with a special anti-glare coating have appeared on the market, which, while maintaining all the advantages of a glossy screen, creates significantly less visible glare in bright ambient light.

The time each individual pixel on the monitor takes to switch from one state to another. The lower the response time, the faster the matrix responds to the control signal, resulting in less delay and better image quality in dynamic scenes.

Note that in this case, the gray-to-gray method is used (the time it takes to switch from 10% gray to 90% gray). Pay attention to this parameter if the monitor is specifically purchased for fast-paced games, movie watching, or other applications involving quick screen movements. However, there’s no need to chase the fastest models. It’s not often possible to discern the difference between 1 ms and 5 ms. For most scenarios, monitors with a 4 ms response time will suffice. In any case, it’s best to rely on live impressions for a true comparison.

The maximum brightness provided by the monitor screen.

Choosing a monitor with high brightness is especially important if the device is going to be used in bright ambient light — for example, if the workplace is exposed to sunlight. A dim image can be "dampened" by such lighting, making work uncomfortable. In other conditions, the high brightness of the screen is very tiring for the eyes.

Most modern monitors give out about 200 – 400 cd / m2 — this is usually quite enough even in the sun. However, there are also higher values: for example, in LCD panels (see "Type") the brightness can reach several thousand cd/m2. This is necessary taking into account the specifics of such devices — the image must be clearly visible from a long distance.

Dynamic contrast provided by the monitor screen.

Dynamic contrast refers to the difference between the brightest white at maximum backlight intensity and the deepest black at minimum backlight. In this way, this indicator differs from static contrast, which is indicated with a constant backlight level (see above). Dynamic contrast ratio can be expressed in very impressive numbers (in some models — more than 100,000,000: 1). However, in fact, these figures are poorly correlated with what the viewer sees: it is almost impossible to achieve such a difference within one frame. Therefore, dynamic contrast is most often more of an advertising than a practically significant indicator, it is often indicated precisely in order to impress an inexperienced buyer. At the same time, we note that there are "smart" backlight technologies that allow you to change its brightness in certain areas of the screen and achieve a higher contrast in one frame than the claimed static one; these technologies are found mostly in premium monitors.

The colour gamut of the monitor is based on the NTSC colour model.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Specifically, NTSC is one of the first colour models created back in 1953 with the advent of colour television. It is not used in the production of modern monitors, but is often used to describe and compare them. NTSC covers a wider range of colours than sRGB, which is standard in computer technology: for example, coverage of only 85% in NTSC gives about 110% in sRGB. So the colour gamut for this model is usually given for advertising purposes — as a confirmation of the high class of the monitor; a very good indicator in such cases is considered to be 75% or more.

Monitor colour gamut Rec. 709 or sRGB.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Nowadays, sRGB is actually the standard color model adopted for computer technology; This is what is used in the development and production of most video cards. For television, the Rec. standard, similar in parameters, is used. 709. In terms of the range of colors, these models are identical, and the percentage of coverage for them is the same. In the most advanced monitors it can reach or even exceed 100%; These are the values that are considered necessary for high-end screens, incl. professional.

— VGA. A connector designed for transmitting analog video signals back in the era of CRT monitors (especially for them). Today it is considered obsolete and is gradually falling out of use - in particular, due to low bandwidth, which does not allow full work with HD content, as well as double signal conversion when using VGA in LCD monitors (which can become a potential source of interference) .

— DVI. A connector for video signal transmission, designed specifically for LCD devices, including monitors. Although the abbreviation DVI originally stands for “digital video interface,” this interface also allows analog data transmission. Actually, there are three main types of DVI: analog, combined and digital. The first type in modern computer technology has almost gone out of use (this function is actually performed by the VGA connector), and a purely digital connector - DVI-D - is indicated separately in our catalog (see below). Therefore, if the monitor’s specifications indicate “just DVI”, most likely we are talking about a combined DVI-I connector. In terms of the characteristics of the analog video signal, it is similar to the VGA described above (and is even compatible with it through a simple adapter); in terms of digital capabilities, it is DVI-D (single-channel, not Dual Link). However, due to the spread of purely digital standards, DVI-I is becoming less and less...common.

— DVI-D. A variation of the DVI interface described above that supports exclusively digital video signal format. The standard (Single Link) DVI-D interface allows you to transmit video in resolutions up to 1920x1080 at a frame rate of 75 Hz or 1920x1200 at a frame rate of 60 Hz, which is already enough to work with modern resolutions up to Full HD inclusive. In addition, there is a dual-channel (Dual Link) version of this connector, which has increased bandwidth and allows you to work with resolutions up to 2560x1600 (at 60 Hz; or 2048x1536 at 75 Hz). Accordingly, the specific DVI-D type depends on the monitor resolution. In this case, a single-channel screen can be connected to a dual-channel video card, but not vice versa. Also note that the situation with connectors is similar: Single Link and Dual Link ports are slightly different in design, and a single-channel cable is compatible with dual-channel input/output, but, again, not vice versa.

— DisplayPort. An interface originally created for video transmission (however, it can also be used for audio signals - in this DisplayPort is similar to HDMI). Found in many modern monitor models. Note that monitors with DisplayPort inputs are also compatible with Thunderbolt outputs (via an adapter).

The specific capabilities of this connector depend on its version. Modern monitors have the following options:

• v.1.2. The earliest version commonly used in our time, released in 2010. It was there that features such as 3D support and the ability to connect multiple screens in a daisy chain were first introduced. Version 1.2 allows you to transmit 5K video at a frame rate of 30 fps; working with higher resolutions (up to 8K) is also possible, but with certain restrictions.
• v.1.3. DisplayPort version released in 2014. It has one and a half times more bandwidth than v.1.2, and allows you to transmit 8K video at 30 fps, 5K at 60 fps and 4K at 120 fps. In addition, this version has a Dual-mode function, which allows you to connect to HDMI and DVI outputs through simple passive adapters.
• v 1.4. In this version, the maximum frame rate when working with one screen has increased to 120 fps for the 8K standard and to 240 fps for the 4K and 5K standards (data is supposed to be transmitted with compression using DSC - Display Stream Compression technology). Other features include compatibility with HDR10 and the ability to simultaneously transmit up to 32 channels of audio.
• v2.1. 2022 version using the same physical layer specification as USB4. The interface bandwidth has been doubled compared to v 1.4 (up to 80 Gbit/s, of which 77.37 Gbit/s is available for data transfer). At the same time, it supports connecting displays with resolutions up to 16K at 60 fps, 8K at 120 fps, 4K at 240 Hz and 2K at 480 Hz (without the additional use of DSC - Display Stream Compression technology). DP40 (40 Gbps) cables can now be longer than two meters, while DP80 (80 Gbps) cables can be more than one meter long.

— Mini Display Port. A smaller version of the DisplayPort described above, used primarily in laptops; especially popular in Apple laptops. Recently, there has been a trend towards replacing the Mini Display Port with a universal Thunderbolt interface; however, this interface operates through the same connector and provides the same capabilities. In other words, monitors can be connected to Thunderbolt (versions 1 and 2) via a standard miniDisplayPort cable, without using adapters (for v3 you will still need an adapter).

— HDMI. The HDMI interface was originally designed to transmit high-definition video and multi-channel digital audio over a single cable. This is the most popular of modern interfaces for this purpose; HDMI outputs are practically mandatory both for computer video cards and for media centers, DVD/Blu-ray players and other similar equipment.

The presence of several outputs of this type in the monitor allows you to keep it connected simultaneously to several signal sources - for example, a computer and a satellite TV tuner. This way you can switch between sources through software settings without fiddling with reconnecting cables, and also use the PBP function.

At the same time, the port itself has different versions, and the most common in our time are as follows:

• - v.1.4. The earliest version actively used in our time; appeared in 2009. Supports resolutions up to 4096x2160 at 24 fps, and in the Full HD standard (1920x1080) the frame rate can reach 120 fps; 3D video transmission is also possible.
• - v.2.0. Version introduced in 2013 as a major update to the HDMI standard. Supports 4K video with frame rates up to 60 fps (due to which it is also known as HDMI UHD), as well as up to 32 channels of audio and up to 4 audio streams simultaneously. Also in this version there is support for ultra-wide format 21:9.
• - v.2.1. Quite a significant update compared to version 2.0, introduced at the end of 2017. A further increase in throughput made it possible to provide support for resolutions up to 8K at 120 fps inclusive. Improvements have also been made regarding working with HDR. Note that to use all the features of HDMI v 2.1 you need HDMI Ultra High Speed cables, although basic functions are available with regular cables.

— USB C (DisplayPort AltMode). Another type of USB interface used to work with video signals. It has a small size (not much larger than a microUSB) and a reversible design that allows you to connect the plug to either side - this makes Type C more convenient than previous standards. At the same time, we note that such a monitor may initially be designed for connection to a USB C output (at least, such an adapter cable may be supplied in the kit); it would not hurt to clarify this point separately.

— Thunderbolt interface. Thunderbolt is a data transfer protocol (used in Apple devices), the throughput of which reaches 40 Gbps. The connector itself, as well as the speed, depend on the version: Thunderbolt v1 and v2 use miniDisplayPort (see above), monitors with Thunderbolt inputs are not necessarily compatible with the original miniDisplayPort outputs - it wouldn’t hurt to check this compatibility separately. And Thunderbolt v3 is based on the USB C connector (see above).

— Mini-Jack input (3.5 mm). Audio input with standard 3.5mm mini-jack. Usually, it looks like a socket into which a mini-jack plug is connected from a signal source. The signal itself from such an input can be fed either to the monitor's built-in speakers or to the audio output (see below for both).

— Mini-Jack output (3.5 mm). Analogue audio output using a standard 3.5mm mini-jack. Usually it is universal, it can be used both for connecting headphones and as a line output for computer speakers or other active acoustics. The presence of an audio jack on the monitor is convenient because such a port is usually closer to the user than the audio card outputs, and connecting headphones or speakers directly to the monitor is easier than pulling a wire to the system unit.

-LAN. Standard connector for wired connection to computer networks. The presence of such an input in most cases turns the monitor into a network device: any network user with the appropriate access rights can display an image on it. Another use case for LAN is a direct connection to another device. For example, in this way you can connect a laptop with a LAN output without disconnecting the monitor from the PC (to which it can be connected, for example, via the DVI interface). And some especially advanced models have embedded software tools that allow using t...he local network to view the contents of devices connected to this network, and even use some web services directly from the monitor, without using a computer as such.

— Composite. One of the simplest and most common analogue audio/video inputs. Like component, it uses three wires and in its standard form consists of three RCA connectors; in some monitors, both interfaces can even be implemented through one set of connectors, switched to "component" or "composite" modes in the settings. The peculiarity of this standard is that it allows you to transmit both picture and sound: one of the wires is used for the analogue video signal, and the remaining two are responsible for the left and right stereo channels. However the composite interface is considered outdated: due to video transmission over a single cable, the quality and noise immunity of the picture are low, and there is no talk of HD resolutions at all. On the other hand, such outputs are still quite popular in video technology — both modern and frankly outdated (like VHS VCRs). And the ability to connect both video and sound at once is very convenient. However, if the monitor has neither audio outputs nor built-in speakers, it usually provides a stripped-down version of this connector — "composite video", with one RCA jack.

— Coaxial (S/P-DIF). An electrical version of the S / P-DIF interface: through one coaxial RCA connector (tulip), sound is transmitted digitally, including multichannel. This connector is found mainly among large-format plasma and LCD panels (see "Type"), where it plays the role of an output for connecting external audio systems — primarily home theaters and other advanced multi-channel acoustic sets.

— Linear. The line interface is a standard audio interface for transmitting an audio signal in analogue format. In general, the most popular way to use this connector is to output sound to active speakers and/or an external amplifier. However, monitors can have both outputs and inputs of this type. In this sense, the line interface is similar to the 3.5 mm jack described above; moreover, in some models, the mini-Jack plays the role of a linear connector.

— Optical. Another type of S / P-DIF connector, in addition to the coaxial output described above. It is used for the same purpose — to output multi-channel sound to external acoustics — however, it uses not an electrical, but an optical (light-guide) cable, so that such a connection is absolutely not subject to electrical interference. On the other hand, optical fibre requires careful handling, as it can crack from bending or strong pressure. It is also worth noting that, unlike coaxial, the optical output is found in both large and relatively small monitors.

— COM port (RS-232). Universal digital interface for transferring various data. In monitors, it usually plays an auxiliary role: it allows you to control the screen settings from a connected computer or other device, and in models with touch screens it can also be used to transfer data from the sensor to the computer. It is much less common than USB, it is practically not used in laptops, but it has the advantage of a maximum cable length — 15 m versus 5 m.