Gigabyte Aorus FV43U Monitor Review – 4K/144Hz w/ HDMI 2.1

1. Introduction2. FV43U Design3. FV43U OSD4. FV43U Panel Analysis5. System Latency6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

After spending nearly two weeks with the Gigabyte Aorus FV43U, it is hard not to be impressed with this screen.

It simply ticks a lot of the right boxes to deliver an immersive gaming experience. First and foremost, it's huge, but the 4K resolution and high refresh-rate complement the size perfectly. Its HDR implementation is surprisingly good, despite the fact there's no full array local dimming (FALD) setup, while this screen delivers the best contrast of any VA panel I have tested.

Those different factors add up to deliver a monitor that will appeal to both console and PC gamers. Yes, it is a VA panel so there will be a touch of ghosting visible, but set on the Balance overdrive mode this did not bother me at all when gaming. Likewise, for the small amount of backlight bleed present, you can see this if you're staring at a static black image, but when you're actually in-game it becomes a complete non-issue.

Unfortunately, there is one area of the FV43U's design that is a bigger hindrance to it earning a strong recommendation from KitGuru, and that is the HDMI 2.1 ports' bandwidth. For reasons that are still unclear to us, Gigabyte has limited the HDMI 2.1 ports to just 24Gbps bandwidth, exactly half of what HDMI 2.1 is capable of. This has the biggest effect for PS5 users who will be forced to use 4:2:0 chroma subsampling when playing at 4K/120Hz.

This isn't as much of a problem for PC and Xbox gamers, where Display Stream Compression is available to deliver the same effective bandwidth required for a 4K/120Hz/10-bit experience without chroma subsampling. Even then however, it is still a problem for the FV43U. More and more HDMI 2.1 screens are finding their way onto the market, with the likes of LG's CX OLED range garnering rave reviews, so for me it doesn't make sense to limit yourself with the reduced HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, when this simply isn't an issue for many other screens.

Still, if you game exclusive on PC or Xbox, I won't say the Aorus FV43U is not worth considering – I've had a really enjoyable two weeks using it. I do think Gigabyte has shot itself in the foot somewhat though, as otherwise this screen would've been gunning for our top award.

You can buy the FV43U from Overclockers UK for £954.95 HERE.

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Pros

• 4K/144Hz gaming experience is terrific at the 43in screen size.
• Excellent contrast.
• Peak brightness exceeds 800 nits in SDR mode.
• HDR performance is great.
• Superb out-of-the-box colour accuracy.
• Decent integrated speakers.
• Solid OSD with a Windows-based app as well.

Cons

• HDMI 2.1 bandwidth limited to just 24Gbps.
• Some small amount of ghosting visible.
• OSD could occasionally be slow to navigate.
• Awkward port placement.

KitGuru says: The FV43U is a great monitor that's let down by the strange decision to limit its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.

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