- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Video
- Test Results
- Differences
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a good overall 27 inch, 1440p monitor that performs best as a gaming monitor. It has a native refresh rate of 144Hz that can be easily overclocked to 165Hz. The response time is excellent, so there's little blur trail behind fast-moving objects, and the input lag is incredibly low, giving you a responsive gaming experience. It also supports G-SYNC variable refresh rate (VRR) technology to reduce screen tearing, which is only available through a DisplayPort connection. As is the case with most IPS panels, it can't produce deep blacks and has poor black uniformity, but it has wide viewing angles. Unfortunately, it doesn't support HDR and has bad out-of-the-box color accuracy, but in SDR, it can get bright and it has an outstanding color gamut, displaying a wide range of colors.
Our Verdict
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a good monitor for most uses. It performs best as a gaming monitor thanks to its G-SYNC VRR support, incredibly low input lag, and excellent response time, resulting in clear motion. Its 27 inch, 1440p screen is good for opening multiple windows at once while working, and it can get bright and has great reflection handling. Unfortunately with an IPS panel, it doesn't perform well in dark rooms due to the low contrast ratio and poor black uniformity, but luckily, it has wide viewing angles if you want to share your screen with others.
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Excellent response time.
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Incredibly low input lag.
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Great reflection handling.
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Bad out-of-box color accuracy.
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Can't produce deep blacks.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is good for office use. Its 27 inch screen offers plenty of space and the 1440p resolution favors multitasking. It has great viewing angles if you need to share your screen with a coworker. Unfortunately, it has bad out-of-box color accuracy, so you likely need to calibrate it. Luckily, it can get bright and has great reflection handling so you can place it in most bright office environments.
Amazing gaming monitor. The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG's native refresh rate can be overclocked to 165Hz, and it supports G-SYNC VRR over a DisplayPort connection to reduce screen tearing. Its response time is excellent, resulting in clear motion, and the input lag is incredibly low for a responsive gaming experience. It's not the best choice for dark room gaming since it has a low contrast ratio and poor black uniformity.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is okay for multimedia. The high resolution allows you to watch your favorite videos online in high detail and it has wide viewing angles for when you want to share your screen with a friend. Unfortunately, it can't produce deep blacks and it doesn't support HDR. However, it gets bright and has good ergonomics, so you can place it in a position you like.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is decent for media creation. The high resolution and screen size favor multitasking, and the stand allows you to place the monitor how you like. It has excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing, but it can't produce deep blacks due to its low contrast ratio.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG doesn't support HDR.
- 7.8 Mixed Usage
- 7.9 Office
- 8.5 Gaming
- 7.4 Multimedia
- 7.5 Media Creation
- 5.7 HDR Gaming
- Updated Jun 17, 2020: G-SYNC was mistakenly identified as compatible, not native.
- Updated Jun 03, 2020: We retested the monitor for FreeSync compatibility because of NVIDIA's Adaptive Sync.
- Updated May 12, 2020: Review published.
- Updated May 08, 2020: Early access published.
Video
Test Results
The design of the Elite XG270QG is exactly like the Elite XG270. The entire monitor is matte black, there's RGB lighting on the back, and the anti-glare panels pictured above can be added if you wish. The stand has a unique design that lays flat.
Good ergonomics. You can adjust it however you like, and you can switch it into portrait mode in either direction. If ergonomics are really important to you, the ASUS TUF VG27AQ is a similar monitor with much better ergonomics.
The back of the monitor has RGB lighting and there's cable management through the stand. It has a quick-release button if you need to VESA mount it. There's also a headphone hook and a mouse bungee to hang your peripherals when you're not gaming.
The borders are thin on three sides, which is great for a multi-monitor setup.
Like the Elite XG270, the screen itself isn't very thick, so it doesn't stick out much when mounted. It gets much thicker with the stand attached, and the total thickness depends on the height you set your screen at, since the stand is slightly tilted.
The Elite XG270QG has a good build quality. There are no obvious gaps and overall it feels sturdy, but the plastic on the back has a bit of flex to it.
As is the case with most IPS panels, the contrast ratio is disappointing, and blacks look gray when viewed in the dark. If you're looking for a similar monitor but with a VA panel for better contrast, check out the LG 32GK850G-B.
Note: The contrast was measured post-calibration, and it was better pre-calibration, but that makes the colors a lot less accurate.
The Elite XG270QG doesn't have a local dimming feature. The video above is provided for reference only.
The Elite XG270QG has good SDR peak brightness. There's no variation in content and it's bright enough to overcome glare in most rooms. Measurements were taken after calibration on the 'Custom 1' mode with Brightness set to 'Max'. The display was a bit brighter pre-calibration, but that makes the colors a lot less accurate.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
As is the case with most IPS panel monitors, the XG270QG has a great horizontal viewing angle. The image remains accurate when viewed from the side, so it's easy to share your screen with others.
Decent vertical viewing angle. It's better than the ViewSonic Elite XG270, but you still lose some image accuracy if it's mounted above eye level or if you sit close to the screen.
The Elite XG270QG has excellent gray uniformity. The edges of the screen are noticeably darker, but there's no visible dirty screen effect in the center, which is great if you want to watch sports. The uniformity is almost perfect in dark scenes.
Poor black uniformity. There's visible clouding throughout and some backlight bleed at the bottom and top right corner. It's much improved over the ViewSonic Elite XG270, but this could be due to panel variance.
Bad out-of-the-box color accuracy. All colors are inaccurate and the color temperature is much warmer than the 6500K target, giving it a red/yellow tint. The gamma does a decent job at following the target curve, but most scenes are darker than they should be.
The Elite XG270QG has amazing post-calibration color accuracy. Most colors are accurate, the color temperature is extremely close to the 6500K target, and the gamma follows the target fairly well.
You can download our ICC profile calibration here. This is provided for reference only and shouldn't be used, as the calibration values vary per individual unit even for the same model due to manufacturing tolerances.
Outstanding SDR color gamut. It covers all of the sRGB color space used in most content and it has excellent coverage of the Adobe RGB color space used in photo editing. This is much better than the ViewSonic Elite XG270 and the ASUS TUF VG27AQ.
The Elite XG270QG has an outstanding color volume. It's able to display a wide range of colors at different brightness levels but can't produce dark, saturated colors due to its low contrast ratio.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
This monitor doesn't support HDR.
There are no signs of image retention on the Elite XG270QG.
Great gradient handling, but there's some banding in darker shades. The Elite XG270QG is advertised as 10 bit, but it's actually 8 bit + FRC. When trying to display a 10 bit image, this happened.
There's no visible color bleed on this monitor.
Great reflection handling. The matte coating does an excellent job at diffusing a moderate amount of light, but struggles a bit in really bright rooms.
Great text clarity. With ClearType enabled (top photo) the diagonal lines on the letters R and N are clearer.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Advanced | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
Outstanding response time at its max refresh rate. The best Overdive setting is 'Standard' as there's the least amount of overshoot, but there's still some motion blur. If that bothers you, the 'Advanced' setting has less blur, but with more overshoot.
| Overdrive Setting | Response Time Chart | Response Time Tables | Motion Blur Photo |
| Standard | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Advanced | Chart | Table | Photo |
| Ultra Fast | Chart | Table | Photo |
The Elite XG270QG has an outstanding response time at 60Hz, better than most monitors, but not as good as the Elite XG270. Like at its max refresh rate, the recommended Overdrive setting is 'Standard' as motion looks the clearest on this setting, with minimal overshoot.
This monitor is flicker-free, which helps reduce eye strain.
The XG270QG has a black frame insertion feature to improve the appearance of motion. It can't be used when G-SYNC is enabled.
Update 06/03/2020: NVIDIA has added Adaptive Sync support so that new G-SYNC monitors also support FreeSync. We retested this monitor and saw that it's FreeSync compatible.
Excellent refresh rate. The native 144Hz refresh rate can be easily overclocked to 165Hz. G-SYNC VRR can only be used over a DisplayPort connection. Over HDMI, the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, and VRR doesn't work. This monitor is also FreeSync compatible over its full range through a DisplayPort connection.
Incredibly low input lag, especially at its native resolution. It stays low with VRR enabled, but there's a bit more lag than normal with a 60Hz refresh rate. The ASUS TUF VG27AQ has a much better input lag at 60Hz.
The 27 inch, 1440p screen offers plenty of screen real estate and is great for multitasking or for seeing more details in your game.
The XG270QG only has one HDMI 1.4 input compared to two HDMI 2.0 inputs on the ViewSonic Elite XG270.
The XG270QG has a few extra features, including:
- RGB Illumination: A hexagon on the back whose RGB lighting could be customized through the on-screen display.
- Blue Light Filter: Blue light suppression to reduce eye strain.
- Crosshair: Puts a crosshair on the screen for shooter games.
- Eco Mode: Limits some features to save energy.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 27 inch ViewSonic Elite XG270QG. There's a 1080p version with a higher refresh rate available, and you can see the differences below.
| Model | Size | Resolution | Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ViewSonic Elite XG270QG | 27" | 1440p | 165Hz |
| ViewSonic Elite XG270 | 27" | 1080p | 240Hz |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their ViewSonic Elite XG270QG doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, such as the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit of the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG was manufactured in November 2019, and you can see the label here.
Compared To Other Monitors
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a good overall 1440p, 165Hz monitor with amazing gaming performance, but it doesn't stand out against similar monitors. See also our recommendations for the best gaming monitors, the best 1440p monitors, and the best 27 inch monitors.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG and the Gigabyte M27Q perform very similarly gaming-wise. The main difference is that the ViewSonic is a native G-SYNC monitor with FreeSync compatibility, while the Gigabyte is a native FreeSync monitor with G-SYNC compatibility. The Gigabyte supports HDR, gets brighter, and has more extra features, like a Picture-in-Picture mode, a built-in KVM switch, and a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort and 10W charging.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270 and the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG have similar performance but have some different features. The XG270 has a 1080p screen and 240Hz refresh rate and it supports HDR, while the XG270QG has a 1440p resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. The XG270 has much better out-of-box color accuracy, slightly better reflection handling, and better response time at 60Hz. The XG270QG has much better black uniformity, a better SDR color gamut, and quicker response time at its max refresh rate.
The ASUS TUF VG27AQ is better than the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG. The ASUS supports FreeSync, has much better ergonomics, better contrast and black uniformity, the out-of-box color accuracy is significantly better, and it supports HDR. On the other hand, the ViewSonic supports G-SYNC and has a quicker response time, which is much better at 60Hz than the ASUS, a better SDR color gamut, and it has better reflection handling.
The LG 27GL850-B and the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG are two similar-performing monitors. The ViewSonic has a max refresh rate of 165Hz, G-SYNC support, a black frame insertion feature to help reduce motion blur, and better ergonomics. The LG supports HDR and has much better out-of-box color accuracy. Even though the LG has a max refresh rate of 144Hz, the two monitors still have a very similar response time, except the LG is quicker at 60Hz.
The ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q and the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG are two very similar monitors. Both have 1440p, 165Hz, IPS panels with native G-SYNC support. The ViewSonic has a better response time at 60Hz, better reflection handling, and a wider color gamut in SDR. The ASUS has much better out-of-the box color accuracy, better ergonomics, and a better contrast ratio.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG and the ASUS ROG Swift PG279QZ are very similar in terms of performance. Both are 27 inch, 1440p, 165Hz monitors with native G-SYNC support and no HDR support. The ViewSonic can get brighter, it has a better SDR color gamut and much faster response time at 60Hz. The ASUS has a better contrast ratio, slightly better viewing angles, and much better out-of-box color accuracy.
The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is a bit better overall than the Dell UltraSharp U2520D. The ViewSonic is a much better choice for gaming as it has a 165Hz refresh rate and G-SYNC support. It also has a much quicker response time and lower input lag. The Dell is a slightly better choice for office use as it has better ergonomics, significantly better out-of-the-box color accuracy, and it has a higher pixel density since it's a smaller screen.