1. Introduction2. Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P3. Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P On Screen Display Menu System4. Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P Analysis5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

Gigabyte is claiming that the AORUS FI27Q-P is the world's first High Bit Rate 3 (HBR3) monitor, which sounds great, although you probably have no idea what that means. In fact, it refers to the amount of bandwidth available over the DisplayPort link, hitting an overall total of 32.4Gbits/sec, exactly 50 per cent more than the previous HBR2. This allows the FI27Q-P to deliver 2K resolution at 165Hz with HDR and 10-bit colour, all at the same time.

HBR3 was actually launched with DisplayPort 1.3 back in September 2014, so it's surprising that it has taken over five years for monitors to arrive that use it. To make it work you need an HBR3-compatible cable and a graphics card that supports DisplayPort 1.3 and above, but that is quite a few of them now. For NVIDIA cards, a firmware update might be necessary, but quite a long list of GPUs support HBR3, whilst AMD Radeons have been HBR3-compatible at least as far back as the RX 480.

Apart from HBR3, the FI127Q-P has what are relatively normal capabilities for a high-end non-curved gaming screen. It has a 27in diagonal and a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, two features that sit very well together. The panel technology used is IPS, so you can be confident of good colour fidelity, although official contrast is only 1,000:1, lower than you see with VA panels, and pixel response is 1ms MPRT rather than grey-to-grey.

It's worth noting that typical maximum brightness is just 350cd/m2 as well, which isn't even enough for the basic DisplayHDR 400 standard, dampening the value of HBR3 a little. But the 165Hz refresh is allied with FreeSync 2 and G-sync Compatible status, which means that this monitor doesn't have the NVIDIA G-sync hardware inside but has been accredited as working. Gigabyte also boasts 95 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour space.

The remaining characteristics are as expected, with two HDMI 2.0 ports and a single DisplayPort 1.4 for video input, but no USB-C. There's a USB 3.0 hub, but only with two downstream ports. Ergonomic adjustments are comprehensive, including tilt, swivel, raise and even portrait mode. There aren't any built-in speakers, but you can plug your headset into the minijacks at the back for headphones and microphone.

There's nothing clearly missing here, but the price of around £460 also seems quite premium when you can get MSI's Optix MAG272CQR, offering many of the same capabilities but in a curved form, for £60-100 less. So you're paying a premium for HBR3. Let's find out if it's worth the extra outlay.

Specification:

• Screen size: 27-inch, 16:9 aspect
• Native resolution: 2,560 x 1,440
• Refresh rate: 165Hz, FreeSync 2, G-sync compatible
• Panel type: IPS
• Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 (typical)
• Brightness: 350cd/m2
• Response time: 1ms MPRT
• Display inputs: 2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• USB hub: Yes, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1
• Tilt: 5 degrees forward, 21 degrees backward
• Raise: 130mm
• Swivel: 20 degrees left and right
• Portrait: Yes
• Other: Audio output, microphone input

Retail Price: £459.95 (inc. VAT)

The Gigabyte AORUS FI127Q-P box hints at a feature of the monitor we haven't mentioned yet – an illuminated stand.

Within the box, alongside a choice of power cords, are HDMI and DisplayPort cables. There's upstream USB 3.0 wiring and a little plastic D that you can attach on the rear to help with cable management.

The theme of the FI27Q-P's design essentially revolves around different types of black, with both matt and glossy finishes. The stand is quite minimal and angular, although the carry hold at the top will come in handy (literally) if you use this screen at a LAN and need to cart it around.

Adjustment abilities are comprehensive. You can raise and lower the panel through a range of 130mm. The swivelling ability is a fairly limited 20 degrees in either direction. Tilting can be 5 degrees forward to 21 degrees backward, and there's the facility to rotate the entire screen into portrait mode too.

The little row of contacts on the plate on the stand that slots into the panel shows how lighting power is transferred from the main unit. But, of course, HBR3 is the main standout feature of the FI27Q-P.

The port allocation is merely reasonable rather than generous, with two HDMI 2.0 connections and a single DisplayPort 1.4 input. There's an upstream socket for USB 3.0, but only two downstream. Minijacks are included for microphone as well as headphones.

The built-in menu is controlled via a joystick in the middle underneath the bezel, which is also used for powering the unit on and off.
Pushing the joystick in turns the unit on when it's off, but not vice versa. Once the monitor is powered up, pushing it in again performs another function. But more of that in a bit. Once the monitor is on, the joystick can call up a number of Quick Switch menus, depending on which direction you push it, and these are all user-configurable.

Pulling the joystick towards you calls up a menu for the Picture Modes. These include the default Standard, plus a mysterious AORUS option, FPS, RTS/RPG, Movie, Reader, sRGB, and three user-configurable Custom slots.

Pushing the joystick left lets you adjust the volume of the headphone audio output.

Pushing the joystick back enables the Black Equalizer 2.0 setting, which has three levels above zero. This brightens dark areas of the image so you can see more details in shadows.

Finally, pushing the joystick right lets you choose between the three video inputs manually.

As already hinted, pushing the joystick in doesn't turn the monitor off. Instead, it enables four more options for joystick directions. Now, if you pull the joystick forward, this does actually turn the screen off.

Now if you push the joystick left, you get the Dashboard options. This will put PC information such as CPU temperature and frequency up in the top left of your screen (although you can change this). You can choose what to display, too. However, this only works if you have the USB upstream connected and the OSD Sidekick application installed and configured. You also need to be using Gigabyte components including graphics card and motherboard to get much more than the CPU frequency displayed.

Pushing the joystick right now gives you the GameAssist options, which superimposes further useful information onscreen, including a timer, a counter, and the current FPS. You can also use this to add a hardware crosshair or align multiple displays in a multi-monitor setup.

Finally, if you push the joystick backwards you get to the main menu, with the Gaming section the first that appears. This includes the main settings for this kind of activity. The Aim Stabilizer reduces the blur in fast-moving images, but you need to be running at a frequency higher than 75Hz and not in FreeSync or G-sync modes. We've already discussed what Black Equalizer 2.0 does. Super Resolution sharpens the image, whilst Overdrive improves response time. You can also toggle FreeSync if your graphics card supports it.

The second Main Menu section offers another route to the Picture presets. If you select one, you then get to alter its characteristics, including Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Black Equalizer level, Color Vibrance, Low Blue Light, Super Resolution, Gamma (which has five levels as well as, curiously, Off) and Color Temperature (Cool, Normal, Warm, or user-defined red, green and blue values). You can also specify whether Dynamic Contrast is enabled.

Next down is Display, where you can manually swap video inputs, change the colour range for the HDMI inputs, and adjust overscan when using an analog input.

Using the PIP/PBP section, you can place the signals from two of the video inputs onscreen, either side-by-side or with one superimposed on the other.

The System menu lets you choose the OSD language, options for the RGB LED lighting on the rear of the monitor, and headphone volume. You can also alter the transparency of the OSD, and the function of each of the Quick Switch joystick directions.

The Save Settings option simply lets you save the current settings into one of the user-configurable Picture presets.

Finally, resetting everything back to default has its own separate submenu option.

With the USB upstream plugged in and the OSD Sidekick application installed you can configure most of the monitor settings from your PC, including more detailed control over the RGB lighting on the rear of the screen.

Overall, the OSD feels less fully featured than it actually is, because you have to drill down into a preset to change settings like Brightness. This is a bit of a pain, but if you install OSD Sidekick, on the other hand, all these settings can be configured with your mouse from your operating system, which is much easier than any menu system built into the monitor itself. So you can readily configure this screen just the way you want it.
Our main test involves using a DataColor SpyderX Pro Colorimeter to assess a display’s image quality. The device sits on top of the screen panel surface while the software generates colour tones and patterns, which it compares against predetermined values to work out how accurate the screen is.

The results show –

• A monitor’s maximum brightness in candelas or cd/m2 at various levels set in the OSD.
• A monitor’s contrast ratio at various brightness levels in the OSD.
• The brightness deviation across the panel.
• The black and white points.
• The colour accuracy, expressed as a Delta E ratio, with a result under 3 being fine for normal use, and under 2 being great for colour-accurate design work.
• The exact gamma levels, with a comparison against preset settings in the OSD.

We first run this test with the display in its out-of-the-box state, with all settings on default. We then calibrate the screen using the SpyderX software and run the test again.

We always test the display subjectively on the Windows desktop, using it for general tasks such as browsing and word processing, and with games as well, even if the display is not intended solely for that purpose.

We pay careful attention to any artefacts, ghosting or motion blur, and enable any gaming-specific features, such as adaptive-sync settings like G-Sync or FreeSync, using a compatible graphics card in our test PC.

We performed the quality tests on the Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P at its native 2,560 x 1,440 resolution in the default mode, after resetting the OSD, which sets the refresh to 60Hz. Our test system was equipped with an AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition graphics card, which supports FreeSync and the requisite DisplayPort level for 165Hz HBR3.

Things get off to an excellent start with the Gamut, recording 100 per cent of sRGB, 90 per cent of AdobeRGB and 95 per cent of P3, exactly what Gigabyte claims.

Brightness uniformity is merely acceptable, with the top-right-hand corner being the most aberrant.

Colour uniformity has a similar drawback, with the top-right still diverging from the rest of the screen as the brightness level is increased.

Although Gigabyte rates the FI27Q-P at 350cd/m2, it hits this at more like 80 per cent brightness. At 100 per cent, the screen manages 433.5cd/m2, which would be enough for the initial level of DisplayHDR.

The default Standard mode equates to 342.2cd/m2, with a cool 7900K white point and 2,430:1 contrast – much higher than the stated 1,000:1. Switching to AORUS mode drops the brightness and contrast down a little to 326.5cd/m2 and 2,310:1 respectively, with an even cooler 8800K white point. FPS and RTS/RPG modes both use identical brightness of 379.1cd/m2, contrast of 2,690:1 and 7100K white point. The differences are in the sharpness and other settings.

Movie mode is a much less bright 179.7cd/m2, with a lower 1,420:1 contrast and much cooler 10600K white point. Reader mode is surprisingly brighter at 249.7cd/m2, with a higher 1,970:1 contrast and warmer 6300K white point. The final sRGB option is the least bright of all at 161.1cd/m2, and also with the least contrast at 880:1, although the white point is a mid-range 6900K.

 

The Gamma presets provide a perfect range from 1.8 to 2.6 in 0.2 increments. “Off” also equates to the mid-range 2.2, but so does Gamma 3, so we don't know why Off exists – the monitor could just use Gamma 3 as its default instead.

An average delta of 1.87 means very accurate colour, but we expected more from an IPS panel. So as usual we fired up the SpyderX to see if we could get there.

Gamut remains unchanged after calibration, and as excellent as before.

We only retested the gamma in the Off setting, where it continued to deliver a mid-range 2.2.

Calibration has improved the most important reading, however – colour accuracy. The new result of 0.75 is one of the best we've seen.

Overall, there are some areas of true excellence here. The gamut is superb, and you can achieve amazing colour accuracy with calibration, or very good without. The fact that the gamma settings are so perfectly stepped shows careful attention to detail in the setup. The only chinks in the armour are brightness and colour uniformity.

Gaming, of course, is where this screen is meant to truly shine. So we switched the refresh to 165Hz and made sure that FreeSync was enabled, which it was automatically. We then fired up CS:GO, Rainbow 6 Siege and League of Legends. CS:GO really flew and was incredibly smooth. The adaptive sync allowed the game to hit 165Hz when it could and drop gracefully to a still-high rate otherwise, for a very pleasant FPS experience with no ghosting or tearing. Although Rainbow 6 Siege wasn't hitting the top end frame rates, it still played well. This is a very accomplished gaming monitor.

The Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P is a very capable gaming screen. We're not sure the headline HBR3 capability is going to mean quite so much to most buyers as Gigabyte would like, but there are plenty of other reasons to like what this monitor has to offer. It has all benefits of an IPS panel with excellent colour accuracy capability and superb gamut, plus brightness and contrast well beyond what Gigabyte officially states.

If you've got a graphics card that can drive 2,560 x 1,440 at a high enough frame rate, the 165Hz refresh and AMD FreeSync with NVIDIA G-sync compatibility promise a smooth gaming experience. The ability to change the monitor's settings within Windows using the OSD Sidekick software makes it much more likely you'll tweak things to optimise your gaming too.

You get a decent range of inputs, although no USB-C and having just two USB downstream ports means you can only hook up keyboard and mouse, rather than external storage or other peripherals as well. The range of ergonomic adjustment is good, and the customisable lighting on the rear adds some fun bling factor.

The one downside with the FI27Q-P is the price. It's not ridiculously expensive, but when you can get MSI's Optix MAG272CQR for at least £60 less, the latter is a better value option. The MAG272CQR doesn't have quite such a good gamut due to the lack of HBR3, but its colour accuracy is similar and it's curved too. The Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P is still well worth buying if you want what HBR3 has to offer (primarily 10-bit colour) whilst gaming at high frame rates, but the MAG272CQR gives you more gaming features for the money.

The Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P is available from Overclockers UK for £459.95.

Pros:

• 2,560 x 1,440 resolution is the current gaming sweet spot.
• 165Hz refresh.
• HBR3 provides 10-bit colour at top refresh.
• Great colour accuracy (excellent when calibrated).
• FreeSync 2 adaptive sync plus NIVDIA G-sync Compatibility.
• OSD Sidekick software makes configuration easy.
• Built-in USB 3.2 Gen1 hub.

Cons:

• A little pricey.
• Only two USB downstream ports.
• Mediocre brightness and colour uniformity.

KitGuru says: The Gigabyte AORUS FI27Q-P is a very capable gaming screen, offering 10-bit colour at up to 165Hz thanks to HBR3, although you're paying quite a bit more for the privilege.

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