Nixeus NX-EDG27X

Author: Adam Simmons
Date published: November 30th 2021

 

Introduction

There are many options available in the 27” 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) space, with high refresh rate IPS models often favoured for the mixture of speed and colour quality. This makes them rather versatile for gaming, content creation and general usage. The Nixeus NX-EDG27X is one such model, built around a high refresh rate WQHD IPS panel. This model doesn’t focus on fripperies such as HDR (High Dynamic Range) – which is usually heavily compromised on competing models anyway – nor does it try to dazzle you with RGB LED lighting or funky design elements. Instead, it focuses on a solid core performance with additions such as Adaptive-Sync support with a broad range of operation and an exceptionally flexible pixel overdrive control. This model certainly seems interesting on paper, but we find out how it all plays out in practice using our usual suite of tests – including a desktop, movie and in-game testing.

Specifications

The monitor adopts a 27” IPS (In-Plane Switching) type panel – more specifically an AU Optronics AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) panel. The monitor supports true 8-bit colour and offers a 165Hz refresh rate plus 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) resolution. A 1ms grey to grey response time is specified, but as usual don’t pay much attention to these specified response times. Some of the key ‘talking points’ for this monitor have been highlighted in blue below, for your reading convenience.

Screen size: 27 inches

Panel: AU Optronics M270DAN08.6 AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) LCD

Native resolution: 2560 x 1440

Typical maximum brightness: 400 cd/m²

Colour support: 16.7 million (8-bits per subpixel without dithering)*

Response time (G2G): 1ms

Refresh rate: 165Hz (variable, with Adaptive-Sync)

Weight: 4.9kg

Contrast ratio: 1000:1

Viewing angle: 178º horizontal, 178º vertical

Power consumption: Not specified

Backlight: WLED (White Light Emitting Diode)

Typical price as reviewed: $400 USD


*10-bit can be selected in the graphics driver at 120Hz or below when using DP and running at the native resolution. The panel used is only an 8-bit panel, but the scaler can add a dithering stage to facilitate work with higher bit depth content.

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Nixeus NX-EDG27X


Features and aesthetics

The monitor has a simple and unfussy home-office design, quite angular with extensive use of matte black plastic. And some glossy black plastic for the turntable, where the stand neck joins the base. The bottom bezel is ~8.5mm (0.33 inches) thick and includes a light grey brand logo for a touch of visual contrast. The top and side bezels are dual-stage, comprising a slim panel border that’s flush with the rest of the screen. And a slender hard plastic outer part – including both components the bezels ~8mm (0.31 inches) thick. The screen has a light to very light matte anti-glare finish, as explored a little later.

A simple design

Turned on

The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by buttons at the rear of the screen, running vertically down the right side as viewed from the front. This is shown in the image below. The bottom button is a dedicated power button, with a power LED beneath it. An odd place for a power LED as you can only see it from the front if the room is dark enough and you can see a slight glow on the wall behind the monitor. This glows blue when the monitor is on and red when signal to the system is lost and the monitor enters a low power state.

OSD buttons

The video below runs through this menu system. As noted there we found the control system awkward and at times frustrating to use. Most people won’t need to access it too frequently, so this may not matter too much once you’ve set everything up. But we just didn’t get on with the vertical button arrangement and how things were laid out. The counter-intuitive ‘up’ and ‘down’ button placement, lack of on-screen labels and indistinct buttons placed quite close together (including a power button placed right next to ‘enter’) was unintuitive to say the least.



From the side the screen is slim at thinnest point, ~15mm (0.59 inches). It has more central bulk, towards the stand attachment point. The stand offers full ergonomic flexibility; tilt (15° forwards, 15° backwards), swivel (15° left, 15° right), height adjustment (130mm or 5.12 inches) and pivot (90° clockwise rotation into portrait). The monitor in general has quite a lightweight construction, making it easy to transport and relocate. It isn’t as solidly built as some and the screen does wobble quite a bit if tapped or when the OSD buttons are used, rather than being firmly held in place by the stand. But it does the job, offers very good ergonomics and we didn’t have any issues with the screen slumping or shaking whilst we typed. Your mileage may vary depending on how solid your desk is or how vigorous your typing is. At lowest stand height the screen clears the desk by ~50mm (1.97 inches) with the top of the screen ~410mm (16.14 inches) above the desk. The total depth of the monitor including stand is ~199mm (7.83 inches), with the screen ~30mm (1.18 inches) back from the front edge of the stand. This is a compact design which is friendly for smaller desks, allowing you to place the screen relatively close to the wall if you wish.

The side

Portrait viewing

The rear of the monitor is mainly matte black plastic with some red plastic elements towards the flanks. The stand attaches centrally via 100 x 100mm VESA and can be replaced by an alternative VESA compatible solution if preferred. There are some ventilation slats beneath the attachment point, whilst a cable-tidy loop is located towards the bottom of the stand neck. The ports face downwards and include; DC power input (external ‘power brick’ with power indicator), 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, DP 1.2a and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Basic low-powered are also included, which deliver audio that’s pretty treble-biased and not particularly full or rich. So not a replacement for even quite basic standalone speakers or headphones, but there if you need them.

We could hear faint coil whine from our unit, which occurred regardless of refresh rate, brightness setting or speaker volume. In our case this wasn’t something we found too distracting and it was generally difficult to hear above normal system noise – unless you ‘tuned into it’, so to speak. Sensitivity to these sorts of noises varies and it can vary between units.

The rear

DC power input

The ports

The full capability of the monitor including 2560 x 1440 @165Hz and Adaptive-Sync can be leveraged via DP 1.2a, including AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia’s ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. HDMI 2.0 is limited to 144Hz and supports AMD FreeSync Premium but not Nvidia’s ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. A power cable and DP cable is included as standard. The image below shows the refresh rates supported for the native 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) resolution via DP. 144Hz is the maximum supported via HDMI.

Refresh rates WQHD (144Hz max via HDMI)

The images below show the refresh rates supported when running in the 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p) resolution using DP. The first image shows the resolutions categorised in the EDID of the monitor as ‘TV resolutions’ and listed here under ‘Ultra HD, HD, SD’. The second image shows resolutions categorised in the EDID and listed here as ‘PC’ resolutions.

Refresh rates Full HD 'TV' (DP)

Refresh rates Full HD 'PC' (DP)

The following images show the refresh rates supported for 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p) when connected via HDMI. The first image again shows the ‘Ultra HD, HD, SD’ (TV) resolutions and second list ‘PC’ resolutions.

Refresh rates Full HD 'TV' (HDMI)

Refresh rates Full HD 'PC' (HDMI)

If you’re intending to use the monitor with the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, be aware that a small settings tweak may be required to ensure 120Hz is selectable for supported resolutions. Details can be found in this article. The manufacturer specifically lists this model as 1080p @120Hz compatible on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. And 1440p @120Hz compatible on the Xbox Series X/S. Note that a ‘4k x 2k, 3840 x 2160’ downsampling mode is not included, so the monitor will not accept a 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) signal.

Calibration

Subpixel layout and screen surface

The image below is a macro photograph taken on Notepad with ClearType disabled. The letters ‘PCM’ are typed out to help highlight any potential text rendering issues related to unusual subpixel structure, whilst the white space more clearly shows the actual subpixel layout alongside a rough indication of screen surface. This model adopts a light to very light matte anti-glare screen surface, offering relatively good glare handling. In somewhat brighter conditions, with light striking the screen surface directly, you may notice a ‘glassy’ appearance when observing darker content in particular. This occurs less frequently and under a narrower range of lighting conditions than for even lighter matte or glossy screen surfaces, however. The screen surface also preserves clarity and vibrancy better than ‘stronger’ matte screen surfaces – more direct emission of light, lower diffusion and less of a layered appearance in front of the image. The screen surface texture has a bit of a ‘misty’ graininess to it, observed when viewing lighter content but. It doesn’t have strong graininess or a ‘smeary’ appearance, so most users will find this graininess unobtrusive or won’t really notice it.

Subpixel layout

As shown above, the monitor uses the standard RGB (Red, Green and Blue) stripe subpixel layout. This is the default expected by modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. Apple’s MacOS no longer uses subpixel rendering and therefore doesn’t optimise text for one particular subpixel layout to the detriment of another. You needn’t worry about text fringing from non-standard subpixel layouts and won’t need to change the defaults in the ‘ClearType Text Tuner’ as a Windows user. You may still wish to run through the ClearType wizard and adjust according to preferences, however. The subpixel layout and arrangement is normal and we had no subpixel-related concerns related to sharpness or text clarity on this model.

Testing the presets

The NX-EDG27X includes various ‘Color Effect’ presets; ‘Standard’, ’Game’, ‘Movie’, ‘Photo’, ‘Vivid’. These don’t block off access to any settings in the OSD and any changes made carry over to all other presets. These presets are really filters and they make additional changes to gamma and colour which can’t be effectively counteracted by changing other settings in the OSD. We explore them briefly in the OSD video, but for this section we’ll instead focus on other adjustments in the OSD. For the table below we focus on a range of manual adjustments in the OSD. Gamma and white point readings are provided, taken using a Datacolor SpyderX Elite colorimeter, alongside general observations.

Our test system uses Windows 10 with an Nvidia RTX 3090 connected using the supplied DisplayPort cable. Additional testing was performed using an AMD Radeon RX 580 and using HDMI, although observations for this table didn’t vary significantly between GPUs or inputs. No additional monitor drivers or ICC profiles were specifically loaded and the monitor was left to run for over 2 hours before readings were taken or observations made. The monitor was set to 165Hz in Windows, although that didn’t significantly affect the readings or observations in this table. When viewing the figures in this table, note that for most PC users ‘6500K’ for white point and ‘2.2’ for gamma are good targets to aim for. Individual targets depend on individual uses, tastes and the lighting environment, however. Aside from our ‘Test Settings’ where various adjustments are made, assume factory defaults are used with ‘Color Effect’ set to ‘Standard’.

Preset ModeGamma (central average)White point (kelvins)Notes
Gamma = Off (Factory Defaults) 2.1 8084K Vibrant overall, but colour temperature way off target. There was a clear icy look and overriding green tint. Setting colour temperature to ‘5400’ was close to 6500K on our unit, but the green channel was far too strong.
Gamma = Gamma1.8 1.8 7609K As above, marginally reduced cool tint and clear lack of depth in places plus excessive dark shade detail revealed due to gamma handling.
Gamma = Gamma2.0 2.0 7670K As above with some extra depth.
Gamma= Gamma2.2 2.2 7747K Quite similar to factory defaults with slightly reduced cool tint (still a clear icy appearance). Gamma tracking is different as described below.
Gamma= Gamma2.4 2.4 7858K As factory defaults, very slightly less cool-tinted and with extra depth and quite heavily masked dark detail due to gamma handling.
Temperature = User 2.1 7252K As factory defaults but less cool-tinted and a slightly stronger green tint.
Low Blue Light = Low 2.1 5528K A moderately effective Low Blue Light (LBL) setting, reducing blue channel and reducing blue light output quite effectively. Image has a warm and moderately strong green tint.
Low Blue Light = Middle 2.1 5181K As above, but now a very effective LBL setting. Warmer and slightly stronger green tint.
Low Blue Light = High 2.1 4912K As above, now an extremely effective LBL setting. Warmer again with a strong green tint.
Test Settings (see below) 2.1 6427K A vibrant and varied look to things. Colour channels much better balanced than factory defaults.
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Out of the box the monitor provided a vibrant image, but had an icy and slightly green tint to the image due to significant colour temperature imbalances. Gamma was set to ‘Off’ by default and tracked just slightly below our ‘2.2’ target on average, with alternative gamma settings also provided. The ‘2.2’ setting did provide an average gamma of ‘2.2’, but there were slight deviations in places. For medium-bright shades gamma was a touch too low, brightening some shades up a bit. And a bit too high for some darker shades, adding extra depth and masking some dark detail slightly. It was not possible to correctly balance the colour channels using this setting, either, as we were left with a red tint or a cool green tint with poor grey neutrality and other clear inaccuracies in both cases. A better balance could be achieved using the default ‘Off’ setting, which we stuck to for our ‘Test Settings’. The first graph shows results using ‘2.2’ and the second graph using ‘Off’; our ‘Test Settings’, though factory default colour channels showed similar results.

Gamma '2.2'

Gamma '2.2'

Gamma 'Off' ('Test Settings')

Gamma 'Off' ('Test Settings')

Given the intended uses for monitor, inter-unit variation and decent performance following OSD tweaking alone we will not be using any ICC profiles for this review or including any measurements or graphs using them. We wouldn’t recommend using them unless created for your specific unit using your own calibration device. But we appreciate some users still like to use profiles and some aspects such as gamut mapping for colour-aware applications can be useful. You can download our ICC profile for this model, which was created using our ‘Test Settings’ as a base. Be aware of inter-unit variation and note again that this ICC profile is not used in the review.

The monitor also includes a ‘Low Blue Light’ (LBL) feature, with three levels; ‘Low’ (weakest effect), ‘Middle’ and ‘High’ (strongest effect). Even the ‘Low’ setting is quite effective in reducing blue light output from the monitor, particularly if combined with reduced brightness. Reducing exposure to stimulating blue light in the hours leading towards bed is particularly important to aid a restful night’s sleep. These settings also impart a moderate to strong green tint, of increasing strength from ‘Low’ to ‘High’. That’s because the green channel remains strong, which is good for contrast preservation but bad for image balance. We used the ‘Middle’ setting for our own viewing comfort in the evenings, though not for any testing beyond that involving the setting itself. Our eyes adapted to some extent to the green tint over time, but never fully. If the monitor provided an easily accessible and togglable alternative without the green tint we would’ve preferred that. We also would’ve preferred to have the ability to assign the LBL setting to a shortcut key so we didn’t have to trawl through the OSD to activate and deactivate the setting.

Test Settings

For our ‘Test Settings’ we reduced brightness and made manual adjustments to colour channels. We found fine-tuning the colour channels tricky on this model due to a lack of precision – the smallest unit change (‘1’) had a significant impact on the image. We settled for a level which got as close to our target as possible without unwanted tints. Note that individual units and preferences vary, so these settings are simply a suggestion and won’t be optimal for all users or units. Based on data from another trustworthy review, factory gamma calibration seems to vary significantly so we’d recommend trying different settings to see what works best. We’ve also included our preferred ‘Over Drive’ setting used for most of the review and the refresh rate used in Windows, just for reference.

Monitor Setup (defaults used for remaining settings)

Backlight= 48 (according to preferences and lighting)

Color Effect= Standard

Gamma= Off

Temperature= User

Red= 50

Green= 47

Blue= 46

OD Gain= 12

AMD FreeSync Premium= On

Refresh rate (Windows setting)= 165Hz


Contrast and brightness

Contrast ratios

An X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus was used to measure the luminance of white and black using a range of settings on the monitor, including those covered in the calibration section. From these values, static contrast ratios were calculated. The table below shows these results, with blue highlights indicating the results under our ‘Test Settings’. Black highlights indicate the highest white luminance, lowest black luminance and highest contrast ratio. Assume any setting not mentioned was left at default, with the exceptions already noted here or in the calibration section.

Note that the brightness control is referred to as ‘Backlight’ in the OSD.

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The average static contrast with only brightness adjusted was 1058:1, excluding the result at ‘0%’ brightness where the black point rounding threw off accuracy too much. This slightly exceeds the specified 1000:1, with a maximum value of 1147:1 recorded with the ‘Temperature = User’ setting and all colour channels in their neutral position of ‘50’. We had to make moderate colour channel adjustments for our ‘Test Settings’, with a contrast ratio of 976:1 – a sliver under the specified 1000:1. This isn’t as high as some IPS models but still exceeds the sort of results you’d typically see on others, including competing Nano IPS models. A maximum brightness of 397 cd/m² was recorded, very similar to the specified 400 cd/m². A minimum white luminance of 38 cd/m² was recorded – yielding a 359 cd/m² luminance adjustment range with quite a low minimum and fairly bright maximum.

The monitor includes a Dynamic Contrast setting called ‘DCR’ (Dynamic Contrast Ratio), which allows the backlight brightness to adjust (as a single unit) to average scene brightness. The monitor adjusted at a moderately rapid pace but tended to set itself to a relatively high brightness even for mixed content with quite a few dark shades displayed. It did dim quite effectively for predominantly dark content. As usual this Dynamic Contrast mode is a compromise which can’t properly compensate for intricate mixtures of light or dark on the screen. The constant adjustments can be bothersome and they aren’t always appropriate. As usual we prefer manual brightness control over a Dynamic Contrast setting such as this.

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)

The NX-EDG27X does not use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to regulate backlight brightness at any level. Instead, DC (Direct Current) is used to moderate brightness. The backlight is therefore considered ‘flicker-free’, which will come as welcome news to those sensitive to flickering or worried about side-effects from PWM usage.

Luminance uniformity

Whilst observing a black background in a dark room, using our ‘Test Settings’, we observed some backlight bleed and clouding, particularly towards the top left of the screen. It’s important to note that individual units vary when it comes to backlight bleed and clouding. The image below shows the results on our units, taken a sufficient distance back to eliminate ‘IPS glow’. This is most noticeable towards the bottom corners of the screen, from a normal viewing position. It appears as a slightly cool grey haze towards the bottom left and a warmer grey towards the bottom right. It ‘blooms out’ from sharper viewing angles with its tint depending on the angle, as demonstrated in the viewing angles video later.

Monitor displaying black in a dark room

The SpyderX Elite was used to assess the uniformity of lighter shades, represented by 9 equidistant white quadrants. The luminance of each quadrant was measured and compared to the brightest measured quadrant. The table below shows these values as well as the percentage deviation between each quadrant and the brightest point measured.

Luminance uniformity table

Luminance uniformity table

The luminance uniformity was variable but mainly good. The brightest point recorded was ‘quadrant 5’ in the centre of the screen (160.5 cd/m²). The greatest deviation from this occurred at ‘quadrant 4’ to the left of centre (138.2 cd/m², which is 14% dimmer). The quadrants above and below this (‘1’ and ‘7’) showed 13% deviation from the brightest point, whilst the remaining points showed much lower deviation. The average deviation between each quadrant and the brightest point was 7.63%. which is good. It’s important to remember that uniformity varies between individual units, whilst you can expect variation beyond the points measured. The contour maps below show these deviations graphically, with darker greys representing lower luminance and hence greater deviation from the brightest recorded point than lighter greys. Percentage deviations between each quadrant and the brightest point are also given.

Luminance uniformity map

Luminance uniformity map

The SpyderX Elite was also used to analyse variation in the colour temperature (white point) for the same 9 quadrants. The deviation between each quadrant and the quadrant closest to the 6500K (D65) daylight white point target was analysed and a DeltaE value assigned. A DeltaE >3 represents significant deviation that most users could readily notice by eye.

Colour temperature uniformity map

Colour temperature uniformity map

The colour temperature uniformity was good, with no significant deviation recorded. The point to the left of centre was recorded as closest to 6500K, whilst the point to the right of centre showed the greatest deviation from that (DeltaE 2.6). It’s again important to remember that individual units vary when it comes to uniformity and that deviation beyond the measured points should be expected. For example, the monitor had a noticeably cooler tint (higher white point) towards the extreme right edge, beyond the measured points.

Contrast in games and movies

The monitor provided a reasonable contrast performance on Battlefield 2042. The static contrast of 976:1 under our ‘Test Settings’ certainly isn’t sufficient to provide impressive depth and a strong atmosphere to darker scenes. Or darker content within the scene, including dark building interiors and other shaded areas. This is especially true if your room lighting is on the dim side, bringing out the contrast imperfections more clearly. It edges a bit past some IPS models in this respect, but still falls short of the VA contrast experience. A moderate amount of ‘IPS glow’ was observed, at a level we’d typically see on such models. This created a haze which emanates from the corners of the screen, eating away at the atmosphere and some of the dark detail. It’s most readily observed lower down the screen from a normal viewing position. The screen surface provided a slight graininess to lighter content, but this wasn’t smeary and there wasn’t obvious layering in front of the image.

Similar observations were made on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This title craves a strong contrast performance as it is brimming with dark locations such as caves, tombs and passageways. That isn’t really something this model provided, particularly in a dim viewing environment. Though it still edged past some IPS models in that respect, including competing models with LG Nano IPS panels. There was again a moderate amount of ‘IPS glow’, subduing the atmosphere peripherally. A strength of IPS-type panels like the one used here is strong gamma consistency. Meaning that dark detail levels can be more evenly maintained throughout the screen. ‘IPS glow’ affects this towards the corners or edges, but you don’t get the sort of more clearly defined shifts you see on VA and moreover TN models. The screen surface imparted slight graininess to lighter content, though most people will not notice this or will find it unobtrusive if they do.

We also observed the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, another title benefiting from a strong contrast performance. Many dark areas being lit up by bright pulses of energy, flames, light sabers and the like. The experience provided by the monitor wasn’t particularly cinematic, particularly in a dim room. Though was as expected for the panel type and a touch stronger than some. ‘IPS glow’ was again present to a moderate degree. Because this film is presented in a ‘letterboxed’ format with black borders at the top and side, these weaknesses were quite apparent there. Most video content is presented in 16:9 without these bars, including much of the streamed content on platforms such as Netflix and YouTube. The strong gamma consistency was again beneficial, whilst screen surface only slight graininess to brighter content. Something most users will find unobtrusive or unnoticeable.

Lagom contrast tests

The Lagom tests for contrast allow specific weaknesses in contrast performance to be identified. The following observations were made in a dark room.

  • The contrast gradients were displayed well, with distinct brightness steps in each case.
  • Performance on the black level test was good. The first few blocks blended into the background readily, which is expected for a monitor tracking the ‘2.2’ gamma curve correctly for darker shades. There was no noticeable dithering.
  • Performance on the white saturation test was quite good. All patterns were distinct from the background, though the final pattern was a bit fainter than it could be. It was also masked a little by slight graininess from the screen surface.
  • The greyscale gradient appeared smooth without obvious banding or dithering.

Colour reproduction

Colour gamut

The colour gamut of the NX-EDG27X (red triangle) was compared with the sRGB (green triangle) and DCI-P3 (blue triangle) reference colour spaces using our ‘Test Settings’, shown in the images below. The first image shows readings on our Nvidia GPU and second on our AMD GPU where the colour gamut was very slightly wider. This was the case in the factory default state as well as under our ‘Test Settings’. The gamut fully covers sRGB with significant extension beyond. We measured 95-96% DCI-P3 coverage, with slight extension beyond for the red to blue edge. This falls a bit short of the 98% the manufacturer advertises but is in-line with the actual panel specification. This coverage provides good potential for accurate reproduction within the DCI-P3 colour space. Although not shown in the graphic, we recorded 86-87% Adobe RGB coverage which isn’t high enough for accurate reproduction there regardless of calibration. The generous gamut invites quite a bit of extra saturation and vibrancy to standard sRGB content outside of a colour-managed environment.

Colour gamut 'Test Settings' (Nvidia GPU)

Colour gamut 'Test Settings' (Nvidia GPU)

Colour gamut 'Test Settings' (AMD GPU)

Colour gamut 'Test Settings' (AMD GPU)

The monitor doesn’t offer an sRGB emulation setting to clamp the colour gamut closer to sRGB. Such settings are useful for more faithful representation of content within the sRGB colour space even in non colour-managed applications and without profiling of the monitor. To maximise colour accuracy within the sRGB colour space, for colour-managed workflows, full calibration and profiling with a colorimeter or similar device using the full native gamut is recommended. The generous DCI-P3 coverage also makes the monitor suitable for work within that colour space. You may try the ICC profile featured in the calibration section which includes gamut mapping for colour-aware applications, but best results are always obtained by calibrating your own unit with your own hardware.

Whilst a well-calibrated and flexible sRGB emulation setting would’ve been welcome, there are ways to achieve sRGB emulation via the graphics driver. AMD users can activate a flexible sRGB emulation setting found by opening ‘AMD Radeon Software’, clicking ‘Settings’ (cog icon towards top right) and clicking on ‘Display’. You should then ensure that the ‘Custom Color’ slider to the right is set to ‘Enabled’ and ‘Color Temperature Control’ set to ‘Disabled’. It may appear to be set this way by default, but the native rather than restricted gamut is likely in play. If that’s the case, simply switch the ‘Color Temperature Control’ slider to ‘Enabled’ then back to ‘Disabled’ to leverage the sRGB emulation behaviour. This setting is shown in the image below.

AMD Color Temperature Control disabled

The gamut below shows results using our ‘Test Settings’ with this driver tweak applied. The colour gamut now covers 92% sRGB with no real extension beyond. This setting certainly reduces saturation as intended and helps cut down on the gamut without profiling, including in applications that aren’t colour managed. It unfortunately goes a bit too far due to missing coverage in the green to blue region. It’s far from ideal having no sRGB emulation on the monitor itself and noteworthy under-coverage using the driver tweak.

Colour gamut AMD 'CTC disabled' setting

Colour gamut AMD 'CTC disabled' setting


Whilst Nvidia doesn’t have a similar option in their graphics driver, a third party tool called ‘novideo_srgb’ can be used. This provides very similar functionality to the AMD driver option and is a similarly effective GPU-side gamut clamp. The resulting gamut was similar to that shown above with the AMD tweak – this is expected given it uses the same data from the EDID of the monitor. The tool and its usage is covered in our sRGB emulation article.

Colour in games and movies

The monitor provided a vibrant and varied look to Battlefield 2042. As with most content you consume, things are designed with the sRGB colour space in mind here. Where the gamut of the monitor extends beyond this, as it does here, extra vibrancy and saturation is provided. This is different to a digital saturation boost (such as the ‘Saturation’ slider in the OSD), which simply pulls shades closer to the edge of the gamut without expanding the gamut itself. So the most saturated shades remain at the same level of saturation, whilst other shades are crushed towards the gamut edge without appropriate variety and distinction. The generous colour gamut brought out reds rather strongly, so earthy browns and rusty shades appeared with a fairly strong red bias. This also made fires in the game appear eye-catchingly vivid – though some yellows appeared orange and some deeper oranges appeared reddish. There were some quite lush and deep-looking greens alongside more muted shades, with fair but not extreme extra yellowing to yellowish greens and some shades appearing a bit more neon than intended. Not to the extreme extent seen on some models with greater Adobe RGB coverage, however. Sky blues also appeared vivid but not overdone to the same degree as some models with more extension in that region of the gamut.

We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where there was an excellent variety of shades with a nod towards strong vibrancy and saturation. There were some fairly lush-looking deep forest greens and a good variety of more muted shades. With some appearing a touch more neon than intended or with yellow components brought out too strongly. Reds were also brought out strongly, affecting the neutrality of some brown shades such as certain patches of earth, vegetation and woody textures. Lara Croft’s skin and indeed some of the other skin tones in the game tended to appear a bit too sun-kissed and richer than intended, too. Not to an extreme degree, but still showing more saturation than intended. The IPS-type panel of the monitor helped provide strong consistency. Maintaining its richness and saturation levels well throughout the screen. You don’t get the sort of perceived saturation and shade depth changes as you observe different sections of the screen, like you would on TN or VA models.

This strong colour consistency was reinforced by observations using the TV series Futurama. Because there are large areas of individual shade here, it’s a particularly unforgiving test for colour consistency and highlights any weaknesses there in an obvious way. The monitor did well here, without clear saturation shifts. Things were again presented in a vibrant and saturated way, which made for some rather eye-catching neon shades such as vivid bright greens and pinks. Deeper shades such as dark reds and purples appeared with strong depth, whilst more muted shades appeared varied but less pastel than intended. They shared in this same saturation uplift, too. In this respect things were not as the developers intend, but the vividness and variety was certainly there. With a livelier look than could be provided by the far more restrictive sRGB colour space.

Shade representation using SpyderCHECKR 24

The image below shows a printed reference sheet of 24 ‘sRGB’ shades, included as part of the Datacolor SpyderCHECKR 24 package. The screen is displaying reference photographs of this printed sheet, in both the same order as printed (right side) and reverse order (left side). The camera is mounted slightly above centre so that the image is representative of what the eye sees from an ergonomically correct viewing position. This, coupled with the inclusion of a flipped version of the shade sheet, allows both accuracy and colour consistency to be visually assessed. Bracketed numbers in our analysis refer to shades on the printed sheet or right side of the screen if they’re ordered consecutively from top left to bottom right.

Note that there is always some disparity between how emissive objects (monitor) and non-emissive objects (printed sheet) appear. The representation of shades in this image depends on the camera and your own screen, it’s not designed to show exactly how the shades appear in person. It still helps demonstrate some of the relative differences between the original intended sRGB shade and what the monitor outputs, however. Full profiling and appropriate colour management on the application would provide a tighter match, our intention here is to show what can be expected in a non colour-managed environment.

SpyderCHECKR 24 'Test Settings'

The monitor represents things in a saturated way with some extra punchiness in places. The consistency is strong, without the clearer shifts in saturation at different points of the screen observed on TN or VA models. Due to the colour gamut extending quite a way beyond sRGB in the red region (high red energy), the red-biased shades are shown with extra vividness. Medium orange (3) is shown with extra saturation and ‘pop’, for example, whilst candy apple red (14) looks quite ‘neon’ compared to the more subdued and deeper appearance intended. Peach pink (20) and light chocolate brown (24) show a red bias for the same reasons. This is a bit more pronounced for light chocolate brown towards the bottom right of the screen due to some uniformity weaknesses on our sample. The extension of the gamut in the green region pushes some shades towards a livelier than intended representation as well, particularly dark lime green (18) which verges a bit more towards the neon end than intended. Though not to the extremes observed on models with more green extension in the gamut (typically showing superior Adobe RGB coverage). Some shades are represented in quite a pleasing way, such as aquamarine (4) and lilac (8), whilst others show only a little extra richness. Such as gamboge (23) which pushes a bit too much towards orange vs. yellow due to the gamut. As usual, we’d recommend profiling the monitor with your own colorimeter or spectrophotometer using the native gamut if you require the highest level of colour accuracy. The monitor doesn’t include an sRGB emulation setting to clamp the gamut closer to sRGB outside of colour-managed applications.

Viewing angles

Lagom’s tests for viewing angles help explore the idea of colour consistency and viewing angle performance. The following observations were made from a normal viewing position, eyes ~70cm from the screen.

  • The purple block appeared a pinkish purple throughout the screen, perhaps just slightly pinker towards the extreme edges. It did not show clear strengthening of the pink hue at some sections of the screen or with a little head movement as VA or TN models would show.
  • The red block appeared a rich and vibrant red throughout the screen. It was very slightly dimmer towards the extreme side edges, but there were no clear shifts towards burnt red or a pinker appearance as you’d see on some TN or VA models.
  • The green block was a saturated green chartreuse shade throughout the screen.
  • The blue block appeared royal blue throughout the screen.
  • The Lagom text appeared largely a blended grey with slight dark red striping throughout the screen. There were no clear flashes of saturated red, orange or green or shifts between these with a bit of head movement. This indicates a low viewing angle dependency to the gamma curve of the monitor, typical for an IPS-type panel.

Lagom Text Test

The video below shows the Lagom text test, a mixed desktop background, game scene and dark desktop background from a variety of viewing angles. You can see some shifts in contrast and colour for the mixed desktop background and game scene. These shifts are less pronounced than you’d see on TN or VA models. As you’d usually see from an IPS-type panel there’s ‘hazing’ (contrast loss) at sharper viewing angles. This ‘hazing’ is at quite a standard level for an IPS-type panel, creeping in at slightly shallower angles than some IPS models, particularly vertically, but to a lower degree than others. The dark desktop background reveals ‘IPS glow’, creating a ‘bloom’ of light as viewing angles steepen. Depending on angle, the glow may take on a cool grey or a slightly warmer tint.



Interlace pattern artifacts

On some monitors, particularly but not exclusively those with high refresh rates, interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions. We refer to these as ‘interlace pattern artifacts’ but some users refer to them as ‘inversion artifacts’ and others as ‘scan lines’. They may appear as an interference pattern, mesh or interlaced lines which break up a given shade into a darker and lighter version of what is intended. They often catch the eye due to their dynamic nature, on models where they manifest themselves in this way. Alternatively, static interlace patterns may be seen with some shades appearing as faint horizontal or vertical bands of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of the intended shade.

We did not observe any static interlace patterns on this model. Under certain conditions we observed some faint dynamic ‘interlace pattern artifacts’, fine interlaced vertical lines during movement or when scanning our eyes across the screen in a certain way. These were not readily observed at higher refresh rates, but more noticeable at relatively low refresh rates of ~60Hz or below. Even then, they remained relatively faint and most people won’t notice these or find them bothersome if they do.

Responsiveness

Input lag

A small utility called SMTT 2.0 was used alongside a sensitive camera to analyse the latency of the NX-EDG27X, with over 30 repeat readings taken to help maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 2.56ms (under ½ a frame at 165Hz) of input lag. At 60Hz we calculated a very slightly higher but still respectable value of 3.61ms. These figures are influenced by both the element you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay). It indicates a very low signal delay which even sensitive users should be happy with. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with Adaptive-Sync active in a VRR environment.

Perceived blur (pursuit photography)

Our article on responsiveness explores some of the key concepts surrounding monitor responsiveness. Chief amongst these concepts is perceived blur, contributed to by both the pixel responses of the monitor and movement of your eyes as you track motion on the screen. The perceived blur due to eye movement is the dominant cause of perceived blur on modern monitors, but pixel responsiveness is also important. A photography technique called pursuit photography is also explored, using a static rather than stationary camera to capture motion on a monitor. Pursuit photos reflect both elements of perceived blur, unlike static photos or videos which only reflect weaknesses in pixel response behaviour.

The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the UFO moving across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display. The test is set to run at its default speed of 960 pixels per second, which is a practical speed for such photographs and sufficient to highlight any weaknesses. The monitor was tested at 60Hz (directly below), 120Hz and 165Hz using various ‘OD Gain’ settings. Although 144Hz was not documented here, it was tested and performed some way between 120Hz and 165Hz as you might expect. The ‘OD Gain’ controls how aggressive the pixel overdrive is and can be set between ‘0’ and ‘100’ in single unit increments, with a default value of ‘24’. The slider is greyed out if ‘Over Drive’ is set to ‘Off’ (which is equivalent to setting ‘OD Gain’ to ‘0’). We tested the full range but will document our findings here using ‘0’, ‘12’, ‘24’, ‘50’ and ‘100’. We’re focusing in more on the values below ‘50’ because by that point overshoot becomes too strong not just in this test but more broadly. And many will find that visually distracting and unappealing. All rows of the UFO Motion Test were used, highlighting a range of pixel transitions between various shades. The final column shows a reference screen for comparison running what we deem to be its optimal pixel response time setting. This reference is the Gigabyte M27Q, a 27” model with IPS-type panel that offers a level of responsiveness many are comfortable with.

Note that any wavy patterns surrounding some UFOs in the background are slight image retention. We observed a fair amount of image retention during this test, especially at 60Hz and this is something we’ve seen on various monitors before. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally and wasn’t something we observed forming outside of tests like this..

Perceived blur, 60Hz

At 60Hz, shown above, the UFO appears relatively broad without clear internal detailing. This reflects a significant degree of perceived blur due to eye movement and is tied to the 60Hz refresh rate. There are also varying degrees of trailing behind the UFOs due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness. There’s very little to complain about in terms of conventional trailing here. Even with ‘OD Gain = 0’ the monitor performs these transitions well within the constraints of the 60Hz refresh rate. There’s a very small reduction in ‘powdery trailing’ using ‘OD Gain = 12’ for the medium background (middle row) and a small amount of overshoot (inverse ghosting) introduced. It takes the form of ‘halo’ trailing that’s somewhat brighter than the background shade and therefore stands out a bit. This is also visible for the light background (bottom row), but this isn’t strong overshoot using a setting of ‘12’. The ‘OD Gain = 24’ setting removes the already very small amount of ‘powdery’ trailing for the dark background (top row) and replaces this with overshoot. Whilst introducing more eye-catching and colourful overshoot elsewhere. A higher ‘OD Gain’ setting simply intensifies this overshoot. We consider a setting of ‘0’ or ‘12’ optimal (or thereabouts – remember this is adjustable in single-unit increments). It’s quite comparable to the reference here, which performs very well at 60Hz overall. The pursuit photographs below show how things look with refresh rate doubled, to 120Hz.

Perceived blur, 120Hz

At 120Hz, shown above, the UFO now appears significantly narrower with some slightly clearer internal details. This indicates a significant reduction in perceived blur due to eye movement. There are again varying degrees of trailing behind the UFOs due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness. Even with the ‘OD Gain = 0’ setting the weaknesses in pixel response time are only minor – a touch of faint ‘powdery’ trailing. Less than the reference screen, particularly for the dark background. Using ‘OD Gain = 12’ decreases this further, introducing just a touch of overshoot for the light backgrounds. The default setting of ‘OD Gain = 24’ further cuts down this already very small amount of ‘powdery trailing’ but introduces slightly more noticeable overshoot for the light background and some overshoot behind the UFO cockpit for the medium background. All you really get from setting this any higher at 120Hz is strengthened overshoot. We consider the ‘OD Gain = 12’ setting optimal. The pursuit photographs below show how things look with refresh rate increased somewhat, to 165Hz. The reference screen runs at 170Hz but this makes a negligible difference and therefore the comparison is still valid.

Perceived blur, 165Hz

At 165Hz, shown above, the UFO appears a bit narrower again with clearer internal detailing. The pixel response requirements for optimal performance are increased, so some of the weaknesses in pixel response time become more pronounced. We’d again classify the trailing behaviour as ‘powdery’ trailing, which remains relatively faint and sticks close to the object. Even in the worst case (dark background, ‘OD Gain = 0’) this is far from extreme and the monitor outperforms the reference screen. The ‘OD Gain = 12’ setting slightly reduces this without introducing any real overshoot to speak of. The ‘OD Gain = 24’ setting pushes things very slightly further without introducing clear overshoot. Considering these transitions and a broader range, the differences between a setting of ‘12’ and ‘24’ are really very subtle. Pushing the setting higher than this provides a slight improvement to the transition speeds for the dark background and therefore slightly reduces ‘powdery trailing’ – but this specific change is subtle. What’s less subtle is the introduction of stronger overshoot elsewhere. This also applies when considering a very broad range of transitions and testing settings between ‘24’ and ‘50’ which aren’t specifically documented here.

Ultimately everyone will have their own preferences, but we feel things are well-balanced here using ‘OD Gain = 12’. This is therefore a setting which performs well at all refresh rates tested (and all refresh rates supported under VRR, as covered later). The manufacturer advertises ‘variable overdrive’ for this model, implying things are carefully re-tuned over a range of refresh rates. From our testing we’d argue this is just a natively fast panel that performs well using a relatively low level of acceleration (e.g. ‘OD Gain = 12’ or thereabouts), which won’t introduce strong overshoot even at lower refresh rates. Semantics aside, it’s still nice to have a single overdrive mode experience from the monitor without you having to worry about different settings for different refresh rates, which is particularly relevant in a VRR environment. If we’re to nitpick, we’d say it would’ve been better if the overdrive would’ve focused more on speeding up some of the somewhat slower transitions involving dark or very bright shades (including for the dark background shown in this test) without overaccelerating transitions which are already performed quickly. This would’ve further cut back on the slight ‘powdery trailing’ in places without introducing strong overshoot elsewhere. But really the performance here is already very good and beyond a level most people are perfectly comfortable with (Gigabyte M27Q).

Responsiveness in games and movies

The monitor provided a fluid experience on various Battlefield titles, with the frame rate keeping pace with the 165Hz refresh rate of the monitor. Compared to a solid 60Hz experience, the monitor is outputting 2.75 times as much visual information every second. Coupled with the impressively low signal delay on this model, the ‘connected feel’ provided was excellent. This describes the precision and fluidity you feel when interacting with the game. Additionally, there’s a significant decrease in perceived blur due to eye movement, as illustrated using Test UFO earlier. This combination provided a nice competitive edge to game titles like this, making enemies easier to track and engage with superior detail visible during motion of various speeds. Outside of gaming and simply on the desktop these benefits can also be appreciated. Coming from 144Hz to 165Hz is only a slight difference that’s far more subtle than the initial boost up from say 60Hz to 120Hz with suitable frame rate. And even then it’s all very subjective, so not everyone will appreciate the extra potential offered by the refresh rate so much.

Strong pixel responsiveness is also important to help round off the experience. Reflecting what we explored earlier with the pursuit photographs, the monitor provided a pretty solid 165Hz experience with relatively minor weaknesses. These weaknesses were mainly focused around very bright or darker shades, providing a bit of ‘powdery’ trailing. This is far removed from the ‘smeary’ trailing typically provided by VA models and also significantly lower (less detrimental to perceived blur) than slower IPS performers. There was no real overshoot to speak of using an appropriate ‘OD Gain’ setting including ‘12’, which we settled on, or even a bit higher. Whichever way you cut it, performance was superior to the M27Q in terms of pixel responsiveness and as explored earlier that’s already at a level that most will find perfectly fine in terms of pixel responsiveness.

We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. A pleasing performance overall with only minor weaknesses. This title has a lot of ‘high contrast’ scenes which tend to capture some of the somewhat slower transitions, but even then the weaknesses are too minor for most to notice or find at all bothersome. There was again no overshoot to speak of that would sour the experience, either. We made additional observations using movie content at a range of frame rates, including ~24 – 30fps and 60fps content on platforms such as Netflix and YouTube. No real weaknesses presented themselves, with the visual fluidity limited by the frame rate itself rather than the monitor.

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Nixeus NX-EDG27X


VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology

FreeSync – the technology and activating it

AMD FreeSync is a variable refresh rate technology, an AMD-specific alternative to Nvidia G-SYNC. Where possible, the monitor dynamically adjusts its refresh rate so that it matches the frame rate being outputted by the GPU. Both our responsiveness article and the G-SYNC article linked to explore the importance of these two elements being synchronised. At a basic level, a mismatch between the frame rate and refresh rate can cause stuttering (VSync on) or tearing and juddering (VSync off). FreeSync also boasts reduced latency compared to running with VSync enabled, in the variable frame rate environment in which it operates.

FreeSync requires a compatible AMD GPU such as the Radeon RX 580 used in our test system. The monitor itself must support ‘VESA Adaptive-Sync’ for at least one of its display connectors, as this is the protocol that FreeSync uses. The NX-EDG27X supports FreeSync Premium via DP and HDMI on compatible GPUs and systems. You need to make sure ‘FreeSync Premium’ is enabled in the ‘Advance’ section of the OSD. On the GPU driver side recent AMD drivers make activation of the technology very simple. You should ensure the GPU driver is setup correctly to use FreeSync, so open ‘AMD Radeon Software’, click ‘Settings’ (cog icon towards top right) and click on ‘Display’. You should then ensure that the first slider is set to ‘Enabled’ as shown below. The top image shows the monitor connected by DP and the bottom image by HDMI. The setting is referred to as ‘AMD FreeSync Premium’ in both cases, although the exact wording may depend on the driver version you’re using.

Enable FreeSync (DP)

Enable FreeSync (HDMI)

The Nixeus supports a variable refresh rate range of 30 – 165Hz (144Hz max via HDMI). That means that if the game is running between 30fps and 165fps, the monitor will adjust its refresh rate to match. When the frame rate rises above 165fps, the monitor will stay at 165Hz and the GPU will respect your selection of ‘VSync on’ or ‘VSync off’ in the graphics driver. With ‘VSync on’ the frame rate will not be allowed to rise above 165fps, at which point VSync activates and imposes the usual associated latency penalty. With ‘VSync off’ the frame rate is free to climb as high as the GPU will output (potentially >165fps). AMD LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) is also supported by this model, which means that the refresh rate will stick to multiples of the frame rate where it falls below the 30Hz (30fps) floor of operation for FreeSync. This feature sometimes kicked in just slightly above this (~32Hz or 30fps) but that makes very little difference in practice. If a game ran at 29fps, for example, the refresh rate would be 58Hz to help keep tearing and stuttering at bay. This feature is used regardless of VSync setting, so it’s only above the ceiling of operation where the VSync setting makes a difference.

To configure VSync, open ‘AMD Radeon Software’. Click ‘Settings’ (cog icon towards top right) and click ‘Graphics’. The setting is listed as ‘Wait for Vertical Refresh’. This configures it globally, but if you wish to configure it for individual games click ‘Game Graphics’ towards the top right. The default is ‘Off, unless application specifies’ which means that VSync will only be active if you enable it within the game itself, if there is such an option. Such an option does usually exist – it may be called ‘sync every frame’ or something along those lines rather than simply ‘VSync’. Most users will probably wish to enable VSync when using FreeSync to ensure that they don’t get any tearing. You’d therefore select either the third or fourth option in the list, shown in the image below. Above this dropdown list there’s a toggle for ‘Radeon Enhanced Sync’. This is an alternative to VSync which allows the frame rate to rise above the refresh rate (no VSync latency penalty) whilst potentially keeping the experience free from tearing or juddering. This requires that the frame rate comfortably exceeds the refresh rate, not just peaks slightly above it. We won’t be going into this in detail as it’s a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature.

VSync options

Some users prefer to leave VSync enabled but use a frame rate limiter set a few frames below the maximum supported (e.g. 162fps) instead, avoiding any VSync latency penalty at frame rates near the ceiling of operation or tearing from frame rates rising above the refresh rate. The refresh rate at the bottom right of the OSD adjusts to coincide with frame rate in a VRR environment, if it’s within the main VRR window. This indicates that ‘FreeSync’ is active and doing its thing. The final point to note is that FreeSync only removes stuttering or juddering related to mismatches between frame rate and refresh rate. It can’t compensate for other interruptions to smooth game play, for example network latency or insufficient system memory. Some game engines will also show stuttering (or ‘hitching’) for various other reasons which won’t be eliminated by the technology.

FreeSync – the experience

As usual we tested various game titles using AMD FreeSync and found the experience similar throughout. Any issues affecting one title but not another suggests a game or GPU driver issue rather than a monitor issue. For simplicity we’ll just focus on our experience on Battlefield titles for this section, which offer sufficient flexibility in the graphics settings to allow the entire VRR range to be assessed on our Radeon RX 580. It’s not unusual to see some dips in frame rate below 165fps – even these slight dips without a VRR technology results in tearing (VSync off) or stuttering (VSync on). FreeSync removed such issues and if you’re sensitive to these issues as we are, it’s a very welcome technology to have.

Where frame rate fell off significantly there was an increase in perceived blur due to eye movement, whilst ‘connected feel’ worsens. This is purely linked to the frame rate and isn’t something a VRR technology can address. The technology worked all the way down to the advertised 30Hz (30fps), at which point LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) activated to keep tearing and stuttering at bay. There’s always a subtle momentary stuttering when LFC activates or deactivates, but this is much less noticeable than traditional stuttering from frame and refresh rate mismatches. Furthermore, because it occurs at such a low frame rate in this case there’s significant juddering to mask it. So it’s very difficult to detect even if you’re sensitive to it. The monitor provided good pixel overdrive tuning across the entire VRR range without introducing significant overshoot. There was a small amount of overshoot by ~60Hz and it became slightly stronger (but still fairly weak) at 30 – 40Hz. This was certainly not the strong overshoot you’d usually see on Adaptive-Sync models at low refresh rates when sticking with the same setting that works well at the maximum refresh rate. This was the case using our preferred setting of ‘12’ – a bit either side of this can also work well. In other words, a good single overdrive mode experience was offered here.

Nvidia Adaptive-Sync (‘G-SYNC Compatible’)

As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. As of driver version 417.71, users with Nvidia GPUs (GTX 10 series and newer) and Windows 10 or 11 can also make use of this Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology. When a monitor is used in this way, it is something which Nvidia refers to as ‘G-SYNC Compatible’. Some models are validated as G-SYNC compatible, which means they have been specifically tested by Nvidia and pass certain quality checks. With the NX-EDG27X, you need to connect the monitor up via DisplayPort and enable ‘FreeSync Premium’ in the ‘Advance’ section of the OSD. This enables Adaptive-Sync on the monitor and will unlock the appropriate settings in Nvidia Control Panel. When you open up Nvidia Control Panel, you should then see ‘Set up G-SYNC’ listed in the ‘Display’ section. Ensure the ‘Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible’ checkbox and ‘Enable settings for the selected display model’ is checked as shown below and press ‘OK’. If you’ve enabled ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ and it was previously disabled, the monitor should re-establish its connection with the system and the technology should now be active.

G-SYNC Compatible settings

You will also see in the image above that it states: “Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible.” This means Nvidia hasn’t specifically tested and validated the display, not that it won’t work. On our RTX 3090 the experience was very similar to that using FreeSync, as we described earlier. A slightly higher floor of operation was observed, with a 38 – 165Hz VRR range. An LFC-like frame to refresh multiplication technology was employed below that to keep tearing and stuttering from frame and refresh rate mismatches at bay. There was again a subtle momentary stuttering when the boundary was crossed, but this was particularly difficult to detect given the relatively low frame rate of this boundary. Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but you’re using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. The setting is found in ‘Manage 3D settings’ under ‘Vertical sync’, where the final option (‘Fast’) is equivalent to AMD’s ‘Enhanced Sync’ setting. You’ll also notice ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ listed under ‘Monitor Technology’ in this section, as shown below. Make sure this is selected (it should be if you’ve set everything up correctly in ‘Set up G-SYNC’).

G-SYNC Compatible settings

Note again that you can observe the refresh rate displayed towards the bottom right of the OSD. This displays the refresh rate of the display and therefore indicates the frame rate if that is within the VRR window (38 – 165Hz). This is a useful indication that the technology is active and doing its thing.

Interpolation and upscaling

It may be desirable or perhaps necessary to run the monitor below its native 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) resolution. For performance reasons, or because you’re using a system (such as a games console) that doesn’t support a WQHD signal. The monitor provides scaling functionality via both DP and HDMI. It can be run at resolutions such as 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) and can use an interpolation (scaling) process to map the image onto all pixels of the screen. This is supported at up to 165Hz (144Hz via HDMI) as well as 120Hz and 60Hz. To ensure the monitor rather than GPU is handling the scaling process, as a PC user, you need to ensure the GPU driver is correctly configured so that the GPU doesn’t take over the scaling process. For AMD GPU users, the driver is set up correctly by default to allow the monitor to interpolate where possible. Nvidia users should open Nvidia Control Panel and navigate to ‘Display – Adjust desktop size and position’. Ensure that ‘No Scaling’ is selected and ‘Perform scaling on:’ is set to ‘Display’ as shown in the following image.

Nvidia scaling options

The monitor offers a few scaling options under ‘Aspect Ratio’ in the ‘Picture’ section of the OSD; ‘Full’, ’16:9’, ‘4:3’ and ‘1:1’. The ‘Full’ setting allows the monitor to use interpolation to fill up all pixels of the screen, disregarding the aspect ratio of the source resolution and potentially stretching and distorting things. The ’16:9’ and ‘4:3’ settings enforce a 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio, respectively. The ‘1:1’ setting is a pixel mapping mode that only uses pixels called for in the source resolution, displaying it without any interpolation and filling in remaining pixels as a black border. These settings are quickly demonstrated in this section of the OSD video. When running the 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p) resolution, the interpolation process of the monitor gives things a somewhat softer look than running the Full HD resolution natively on a screen of this size. This isn’t as extreme as some models – better clarity is maintained in comparison. The monitor also offers a few settings that add extra sharpness. This won’t make things look like they would on the native screen, but can offset some of the softening and subjectively give a more pleasing look. There’s ‘Ultra Vivid’ that can be set to ‘Low’, ‘Middle’ or ‘High’ to boost sharpness using a fairly aggressive but not extreme sharpness algorithm. We found the ‘Low’ setting worked fairly well, though looked a bit oversharpened in some respects. Alternatively, you can increase ‘Sharpness’ to ‘3’ or ‘4’ (default is ‘2’) – we found setting this to ‘3’ or perhaps ‘4’ offset some of the softening quite well, whilst giving less of an oversharpened look overall compared to using the ‘Ultra Vivid’ setting. Either way, this is a relatively good interpolation performance from the monitor with decent flexibility to increase sharpness according to taste.

As usual, if you’re running the monitor at 2560 x 1440 and viewing 1920 x 1080 content (for example a video over the internet or a Blu-ray, using movie software) then it is the GPU and software that handles the upscaling. That’s got nothing to do with the monitor itself – there is a little bit of softening to the image compared to viewing such content on a native Full HD monitor, but it’s not extreme and shouldn’t bother most users.

Video review

The video below shows the monitor in action. The camera, processing done and your own screen all affect the output – so it doesn’t accurately represent what you’d see when viewing the monitor in person. It still provides useful visual demonstrations and explanations which help reinforce some of the key points raised in the written piece.




Timestamps:
Features & Aesthetics
Contrast
Colour reproduction
Responsiveness (General)
Responsiveness (VRR)

Conclusion

The Nixeus NX-EDG27X offers the popular combination of 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) resolution and 27” screen size, alongside a 165Hz refresh rate. This provides a decent amount of ‘desktop real estate’ and good pixel density. The monitor has a light-weight construction, with a bit of wobble to the screen if you tap it but good ergonomics and a stand that does the job without eating up too much desk space. The port selection is basic and the OSD is fairly limited compared to some competing models with an unintuitive and at times frustrating control system. We found colour channel adjustment lacked the precision we’d usually like, too, which wasn’t ideal when combined with the poorly calibrated white point of our unit.

On the contrast things things were much as expected – a touch stronger than some IPS models including competing Nano IPS monitors. But still pretty limited static contrast coupled with ‘IPS glow’, insufficient for a ‘deep and atmospheric’ experience. The IPS-type panel delivered strong colour consistency, with quite strong DCI-P3 coverage providing a vibrant look to sRGB content. There was no sRGB emulation setting to tame the gamut, whilst the GPU-level sRGB emulation was less than ideal in this case due to significant sRGB undercoverage. For general consumption some will enjoy the vibrant look of the native gamut, but the lack of sRGB emulation will restrict the appeal for others. This model lacks any HDR support, where strong DCI-P3 coverage makes sense. Some competing models offer this, but it’s usually only a very basic HDR experience which certainly doesn’t revolutionise the viewing experience.

The monitor offers highly flexible ‘levels’ of pixel overdrive, with a 0 – 100 slider. Tuning wasn’t perfect and we would’ve liked to have seen some of the relatively slow (but still quite fast) transitions accelerated without introducing obvious overshoot elsewhere. But the monitor still performed well at high refresh rates including its maximum 165Hz, even using a relatively low overdrive setting. And it outperformed the Gigabyte M27Q in this respect, which is already at a level most are comfortable with when it comes to pixel responsiveness. Input lag was low whilst the monitor provided a good VRR experience via both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia’s ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. This included a generous range of operation and a single overdrive mode experience, with respectable performance including relatively low overshoot throughout the VRR range. Overall, we felt this monitor will hit the spot for those after vibrant and consistent colour output as well as a nice ‘set and forget’ overdrive experience and strong overall responsiveness. Though it felt a bit rough around the edges and we’d struggle to recommend it over competing models like the Gigabyte M27Q. Whilst the M27Q is not quite as responsive as the Nixeus, many will still find it hits the spot in that regard. It’s also significantly cheaper, more widely available and more feature-rich – a more thorough comparison is drawn in this post.

PositivesNegatives
Vibrant colour output with strong consistency from the IPS-type panel, with quite generous DCI-P3 coverage
No sRGB emulation offered, limited Adobe RGB coverage and no HDR support
Light to very light matte screen surface provides impedes the image less than ‘stronger’ matte surfacesModerate ‘IPS glow’ affects dark detail and atmosphere, screen surface a touch grainy
Solid responsiveness overall with low input lag, good 165Hz pixel response performance and a pleasing VRR experienceOverdrive tuning could’ve been more selective, accelerating some transitions more effectively without creating clear overshoot elsewhere
Good pixel density and resolution for work and play, good ergonomic flexibility from the standBasic design with screen wobbling if lightly tapped, OSD frustrating to use and somewhat limited in features compared to some competitors
The bottom line; vibrant and responsive with a pleasing Adaptive-Sync VRR experience, but quite cut down when it comes to ports and feature set for the price.PC Monitors

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Nixeus NX-EDG27X

 
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