ViewSonic OMNI VX2728J-2K

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 either artifact type on this monitor.

We didn’t observe any static interlace patterns on this model, but we observed dynamic ‘interlace pattern artifacts’ under certain conditions. Fine interlaced vertical lines could be seen during movement or when scanning our eyes across the screen at times. They were reasonably faint at higher refresh rates (e.g. 120Hz+), but stronger at lower refresh rates such as 60Hz. They were observed in a similar fashion regardless of VRR being active and regardless of ‘Response Time’ setting. Not everyone will find them bothersome or necessarily notice them, particularly at higher refresh rates.

Responsiveness

Input lag

A sensitive camera and a utility called SMTT 2.0 was used to analyse the latency of the VX2728J-2K. Over 30 repeat readings were taken to help maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 1.95ms (under 1/3 of a frame at 165Hz) of input lag. This figure is influenced by both the element of input lag you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay). It indicates an exceptionally low signal delay which shouldn’t be bothersome even for sensitive users. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with VRR technology active in a VRR environment or HDR active in an HDR environment.

Perceived blur (pursuit photography)

Our article on responsiveness explores various factors affecting monitor responsiveness. A key concept explored is ‘perceived blur’, contributed to by both the pixel responses of the monitor and movement of your eyes as you observe motion on the screen. This second factor dominates on modern monitors, but both factors play an important role. A photography technique called ‘pursuit photography’ is also described, using a moving rather than stationary camera to capture motion on the screen in a way that reflects both parts of perceived blur. Rather than only reflecting the pixel response element.

The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the test running at its default speed of 960 pixels per second. This is a good practical speed to take such photographs at and highlights both elements of perceived blur well. The UFOs move across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display. All three rows of the test are analysed to highlight a range of pixel transitions. The monitor was tested at 60Hz (directly below), 120Hz, 165Hz and 180Hz* using various ‘Response Time’ settings. Although 144Hz was not documented here, it was tested and performed some way between 120Hz and 165Hz as you might expect. The final column shows the Gigabyte M27Q for reference, an IPS model which provides a decent performance level most are comfortable with.

*As noted earlier 180Hz is achieved using the ‘OverClocking’ feature of the OSD, isn’t guaranteed to work with all GPUs and blocks off Adaptive-Sync support.

At 60Hz, above, the UFO appears soft and unfocused without clear internal detailing. This reflects a moderate amount of perceived blur due to eye movement. Trailing is observed in places behind the UFO, due to weaknesses in pixel response time or overshoot (inverse ghosting) from aggressive pixel overdrive. With the ‘Standard’ setting there’s a bit of ‘powdery’ trailing with a reasonably bold initial section to the trailing, especially for the dark background (top row) behind the red UFO body. This can be observed to an extent for the medium background (middle row) but is much fainter for the light background (bottom row). The ‘Advanced’ setting as good as eliminates this, but replaces it with some overshoot, mainly ‘halo’ trailing that’s slightly brighter than the background or ‘dirty’ trailing with a slightly inky look due to being a bit darker than the background. This is not extreme overshoot, unlike with the ‘Ultra Fast’ setting. The optimal setting depends on your sensitivity to overshoot. Some will find ‘Advanced’ perfectly usable here as the overshoot isn’t highly eye-catching, but others will prefer the lower acceleration levels of the ‘Standard’ setting. With no real overshoot to speak of and still a pixel response performance that’s slightly superior to the M27Q reference. Below you can see how things appear with refresh rate doubled to 120Hz.

At 120Hz, above, the UFO appears significantly narrower with clearer internal detail. This reflects a significant decrease in perceived blur due to eye movement. To the eye the black lines which separate the segments of the UFO are less blended than they appear in the photos at 120Hz and above, so segmentation is more distinct. The pixel response requirements for a good performance here are significantly increased. The ‘Standard’ setting is quite similar to the M27Q reference, slightly stronger in places such as behind the UFO cockpit for the medium background. The ‘Advanced’ setting cuts down the ‘powdery’ trailing quite effectively and introduces a little overshoot – a far from extreme amount. ‘Ultra Fast’ introduces very strong overshoot. We consider ‘Advanced’ optimal here, with ‘Standard’ an option for those who wish to eliminate visible overshoot. Below you can see how things look with a bit of a bump up in refresh rate to 165Hz.

At 165Hz, above, the UFO appears a bit narrower with somewhat improved definition. This reflects a further reduction in perceived blur to eye movement, less significant than the initial doubling in refresh rate but an extra 45Hz which is still a significant boost. The black lines and segmentation of the UFO is more distinct than it appears here. The pixel response requirements for a good performance are further increased, so the ‘powdery’ trailing is increased somewhat. The ‘Standard’ setting is similar to the reference screen, slightly faster for the medium background with a less bold initial trail behind the UFO body for example. The ‘Advanced’ setting increases pixel response speed and cuts down on the ‘powdery’ trailing quite effectively, though some certainly still remains. Performance is superior to the reference screen now and there is no observable overshoot for these transitions – the extra 5Hz of the reference screen makes a negligible difference here. The ‘Ultra Fast’ setting again introduces strong and colourful overshoot, so needless to say we consider ‘Advanced’ optimal for 165Hz. Below you can see how things appear with the ‘OverClocking’ feature active and the screen set to 180Hz.

The UFOs appear a touch narrower and more sharply focused – with this being just an additional 15Hz the difference isn’t huge. The ‘Advanced’ setting is again optimal here. The reference screen is again shown (at 170Hz) just for easy visual comparison, with the ViewSonic offering superior pixel responses using its optimal ‘Advanced’ setting. The extra 15Hz when accompanied by suitable frame rate also aids connected feel, but as with the perceived blur difference it’s marginal. As well as increasing refresh rate to minimise perceived blur due to eye movement, the monitor offers an alternative in the form of ‘MPRT’. This is a strobe backlight setting that causes the backlight to pulse at a frequency matching the refresh rate of the display (100Hz+). Sensitivity to this flickering varies and some may find it bothersome whilst others will notice accelerated eye fatigue when using the setting, even if the flickering isn’t actively bothersome to them. The pursuit photographs below show the screen running this setting at 100Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz and 180Hz. The ‘Response Time’ setting can be changed, but we set this to ‘Advanced’ for the same reason we would with the setting deactivated. The relative change with each ‘Response Time’ setting is similar with and without ‘MPRT’ active.

Unfortunately, the monitor really struggles to make good use of this setting. If you focus on just the main object, you can see arguably more distinct internal detailing and a much narrower appearance to it. But it’s difficult to focus on this as it appears duplicated – this is due to a high level of strobe crosstalk. This forms a repetition of the main object which in this case is nearly as bold as the main object and overlaps it, hampering image clarity. The strobe crosstalk can appear differently depending on how far up or down the screen you’re observing, but all UFOs are shown roughly in the central region here (the middle row is the centre) and it’s still very strong – particularly for the dark and medium backgrounds. This is the case regardless of refresh rate, with increasing refresh rate making the strobe crosstalk fragment stick closer to the object, but still not removing the overlap either way. This strong central strobe crosstalk is problematic because it’s the region of the screen where your eyes spend most of their time focusing in the sort of competitive titles this setting is primarily designed for. The weaknesses were sufficient to be both distracting and uncomfortable and really detracted from the purpose of this setting for us when gaming. We don’t feel this setting will appeal to most users, even if they usually like to use this sort of setting. For these reasons we won’t be performing further assessment of this setting.

Responsiveness in games and movies

On various Battlefield titles, with the frame rate keeping pace with the 165Hz refresh rate, the monitor provided good fluidity. The monitor can output up to 2.75 times as much visual information per second as a 60Hz monitor (or this one running at 60Hz / 60fps). This significantly improves the ‘connected feel’, describing the precision and fluidity felt when interacting with the game. This ‘connected feel’ is also aided by the exceptionally low signal delay of the screen. The high frame and refresh rate combination has benefits elsewhere, reducing perceived blur due to eye movement – something demonstrated earlier using Test UFO. This makes it easier to keep track of enemies during firefights, for example, which provides a nice competitive edge. It can also make the experience more pleasant even for casual gaming or simply general desktop usage of the monitor.

It’s also important to consider pixel responsiveness, another area of perceived blur. As covered earlier with Test UFO, this monitor performs quite well in that respect – this is observed over a broader range of transitions when gaming, too. Using our preferred ‘Advanced’ setting there was little to complain about in the way of overshoot, very slight traces in places but well-blended and not something most would be able to clearly see even if looking out for it. There was a touch of ‘powdery’ trailing, strongest where bright or strongly saturated shades were set against a contrasting background. And to a lesser extent where dark shades were set against a contrasting background, such as a dark tree trunk against the sky. Even where the weaknesses were most readily observed, they were still fairly minor – very different to the more pronounced weaknesses observed on most VA models and also some IPS offerings.

We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. There are plenty of scenes here which involve mixtures of bright and much darker shade, such as caves with a little light coming in from outside or from torches. This showcased the weakest pixel transitions performed by the monitor, but even then the ‘powdery’ trailing stuck quite close to the object. It was not ‘smeary’ in appearance or as bold as on even some IPS models let alone most VA models. There was no real overshoot to speak of, again small traces for some transitions but nothing we found remotely eye-catching. We also observed video content at a range of refresh rates, including ~24 – 30fps content on platforms such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video as well as 60fps content on YouTube. There were no real weaknesses from the pixel responses of the monitor, with the main barrier to fluidity being the frame rate of the content itself.

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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 VX2728J-2K supports FreeSync Premium via DP and HDMI on compatible GPUs and systems. Note that HDR can be activated at the same time as FreeSync. You need to make sure ‘Adaptive-Sync’ is set to ‘On [FreeSync Premium]’ in the ‘Setup Menu’ section of the OSD. You should also ensure the GPU driver is setup correctly to use FreeSync – so open ‘AMD Software’, click ‘Gaming’ 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’ via DP and ‘VRR’ via HDMI, although the exact wording may depend on the driver version you’re using.

The ViewSonic supports a variable refresh rate range of 48 – 165Hz (48 – 144Hz via HDMI). That means that if the game is running between 48fps and 165fps (for DP), 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 48Hz (48fps) floor of operation for FreeSync. If a game ran at 40fps, for example, the refresh rate would be 80Hz to help keep tearing and stuttering at bay. LFC usually activated at a slightly higher refresh rate of 55Hz or just slightly below – this slightly different floor of operation makes little difference in practice. 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 Software’. Click ‘Gaming’ 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.



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. If you go to ‘Setup Menu’ – ‘Information’ in the OSD, the current refresh rate of the monitor is listed. This updates in real time and will reflect the frame rate of the content, if the monitor is within the main VRR window. Finally, it’s worth noting 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 very similar in all cases. Issues affecting one title but not others would suggest a problem with the game or GPU driver rather than the monitor. We’ll just focus on Battlefield titles here, for simplicity. These titles provide a suitable range of graphics options to allow the full VRR range to be assessed with our Radeon RX 580. This isn’t a powerful GPU, so dips below 165fps are common – even with greatly reduced graphics settings. Without the technology active you can observe tearing (VSync off) or stuttering (VSync on) due to the frame and refresh rate being out of sync. Enabling FreeSync resolves this and is certainly a nice thing to have active if you’re sensitive to tearing or stuttering. It doesn’t make low frame rates feel like high frame rates, though, so it’s still beneficial in terms of perceived blur levels and ‘connected feel’ to have a high frame rate where possible.

The monitor doesn’t use tightly tuned variable overdrive, which would carefully re-tune the pixel overdrive and significantly slacken off acceleration levels as refresh rate drops to minimise overshoot. Using the setting we prefer for higher refresh rates, ‘Advanced’, there’s an increasing level of overshoot as refresh rate drops. However; it isn’t an extreme amount of additional overshoot and even down to ~60Hz it isn’t as eye-catching as it is on some models. Some people may wish to simply use the ‘Advanced’ setting throughout the VRR range and could consider this a single overdrive mode experience. Others may prefer switching to the ‘Standard’ setting, which eliminates the overshoot and provides a touch more ‘powdery’ trailing – but still offers a competent performance for these relatively low refresh rates. FreeSync worked down to the floor of operation of ~55Hz (55fps), below which LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) kicked in. LFC keeps the refresh rate at a multiple of the frame rate to keep tearing and stuttering at bay. There was a subtle momentary stuttering when LFC activated or deactivated, something we always observe and not specific to this model. It was much less noticeable than traditional stuttering from frame and refresh rate mismatches, but if you’re sensitive to it and frequently passing the boundary it could be annoying.

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 later 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 VX2728J-2K you need to connect the monitor up via DP to use ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’. You also need to make sure ‘Adaptive-Sync’ is set to ‘On [FreeSync Premium]’ in the ‘Gaming’ section of the OSD. 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.



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 what we described with FreeSync. With the technology getting rid of tearing and stuttering from what would otherwise be frame and refresh rate mismatches, within the VRR range of ~55 – 165Hz. 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 as the boundary was crossed, as we observed with our AMD GPU as well. Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but you’re using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD 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’).



If you go to ‘Support’ – ‘Information’ in the OSD, the current refresh rate of the monitor is listed. This updates in real time and will reflect the frame rate of the content, if the monitor is within the main VRR window. And as with AMD FreeSync, HDR can be used at the same time as ‘G-SYNC Compatible’.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

HDR (High Dynamic Range) on an ideal monitor involves very deep dark shades and brilliantly bright light shades being displayed simultaneously. As well as a broad range of shades between these extremes, including muted pastel shades alongside vivid and strongly saturated shades. Ideally, per-pixel illumination would be provided (e.g. self-emissive displays such as OLED), or for LCDs a very large number of precisely controlled dimming zones used. A solution such as FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) with a generous number of dimming zones, for example. Such a solution would allow some areas of the screen to remain very dim whilst others show brilliantly high brightness. Colour reproduction is also an important part of HDR, with the ultimate goal being support for a huge colour gamut, Rec. 2020. A more achievable near-term goal is support for at least 90% DCI-P3 (Digital Cinema Initiatives standard colour space) coverage. Finally, HDR makes use of at least 10-bit precision per colour channel, so its desirable that the monitor supports at least 10-bits per subpixel. HDR10 is the most widely supported standard used in HDR games and movies and what is supported here.

For games and other full screen applications that support HDR, the VX2728J-2K automatically switches to its HDR operating mode if an HDR signal is provided and ‘HDR’ is set to ‘On’ in the ‘Setup Menu’ section of the OSD. Some game titles will activate HDR correctly when the appropriate in-game setting is selected. Others that support HDR will only run in HDR if ‘Use HDR’ is turned on in Windows, too. Related Windows HDR settings are found in the ‘Windows HD Color settings’ (Windows 10) or ‘HDR’ (Windows 11) section of ‘Display settings’ (right click the desktop). If you want to view HDR movie content, ensure ‘Stream HDR Video’ (Windows 10) or ‘Play streaming HDR video’ (Windows 11) is active. Also note that there’s an ‘HDR/SDR brightness balance’ (Windows 10) or ‘SDR content brightness’ (Windows 11) slider that allows you to adjust the overall balance of SDR content if HDR is active in Windows. This is really just a digital brightness slider that only makes changes for SDR content, and you lose contrast by adjusting it. The settings in the OSD are greatly restricted under HDR and the gamma and general balance to the image is off when viewing SDR content, with things appearing more muted and unintended dark detail revealed for example. So we’d only recommend activating HDR in Windows if you’re about to use an HDR application that specifically requires it.

For simplicity we’ll focus primarily on Shadow of the Tomb Raider here. We’ve tested this title on a wide variety of monitors under HDR and we know it features a good HDR implementation which tests the hardware capabilities of the monitor appropriately. Although our testing focuses on HDR PC gaming with an RTX 3090 connected using DP, similar observations were made when viewing HDR video content on the Netflix app. There are some additional points to bear in mind if you wish to view such content. We also made similar observations using HDMI, which would be used when viewing HDR content on an HDR compatible games console for example. Testing on both our Nvidia and AMD GPUs provided a similar experience, via both DP and HDMI.

The usual settings you’d see under SDR such as brightness, contrast, sharpness and ‘Colour Temperature’ can’t be adjusted under HDR. A mild sharpness filter is applied under HDR which you can’t disable, but this isn’t strong enough to give a clear artificially oversharpened look. You can adjust ‘Response Time’ under HDR. You will need to switch ‘HDR’ back to ‘Off’ under SDR to regain these controls and some others which are locked off, which is an annoying an unnecessary restriction. The monitor does at least remember the settings you were using when last using SDR, even if these adjustments are locked off. The VX2728J-2K doesn’t include even the lowest level of VESA DisplayHDR certification (VESA DisplayHDR 400) – though even if it were certified at that trier, it indicates only a basic HDR experience is provided. We measured a colour gamut of 95% DCI-P3, shown in the representation below. The red triangle shows the monitor’s colour gamut, the blue triangle DCI-P3 and green triangle sRGB. This gamut allows for a reasonable level of vibrancy under HDR, with some reasonably rich-looking greens of vegetation (a bit less vibrant than we’d expect given the gamut) and some fairly eye-catching bright red berries, purple flowers and painted artifacts for example. More generous Rec. 2020 coverage (more coverage of and extension beyond DCI-P3) and superior dimming precision would help add extra depth and saturation. Because game developers have extended colour spaces beyond sRGB (namely DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020) in mind, you don’t observe the same oversaturation that you do when using the native gamut of the monitor under SDR. The red push to some wood tones, skin tones and earthy browns were toned down for example. And some green shades which appeared slightly too eye-catching or bright under SDR appeared more appropriately muted under HDR.

Colour gamut 'Test Settings'

The monitor also supports 10-bit colour, which can be used efficiently for HDR10 content like this to facilitate enhanced luminance and shade mapping precision expected under HDR. Though in this case, it’s purely related to shade mapping due to the universal dimming of the backlight. This is handled with monitor dithering up to 120Hz (up to 60Hz via HDMI) via the native resolution. For higher refresh rates the GPU adds a dithering stage. We’ve carefully observed a range of content, including fine gradients, on a broad range of monitors where 10-bit is supported monitor side (usually 8-bit + FRC) and where the GPU handles the dithering under HDR. Including comparisons with a given model where the monitor handles the dithering at some refresh rates and the GPU handles it at others. Regardless of how ’10-bit’ is achieved, the resulting image is essentially identical. 10-bit colour helps the monitor put its wide gamut to good use and also enhances the nuanced shade variety. When observing dark shades, for example, the improved nauanced shade variety helps give a natural uplift of detail. This is preferable to the artificial lightening of dark shades that can achieved under SDR using a gamma enhancement. For bright shades the enhanced variety smooths out gradients and allows for more natural shade progressions for weather and particle effects, for example. To help accentuate these advantages, the monitor would need a good level of dimming precision on the backlight and that simply isn’t offered here. The image below shows one of the scenes we particularly like from Shadow of the Tomb Raider under HDR. Remember that the photo is purely for illustrative purposes and in no way represents how the monitor appeared running HDR in person.

This scene highlighted some advantage from the 10-bit precision, but for both the bright and dark shades there was a definite lack of shade variety. This was linked to the backlight being controlled as a single unit without local dimming, so there is no contrast advantage under HDR. This distinguishes it from a ‘true’ HDR experience where strong contrast is a key aspect. The monitor doesn’t employ Dynamic Contrast under HDR, it simply sticks to its maximum brightness level (270 nits as recorded earlier). The result is a definite lack of depth to shadow details and even many of the medium shades here are lacking the depth they should have as a result. When considering darker scenes than this, they simply lack any semblance of depth or atmosphere which really breaks the immersion there and separates this from a true HDR experience. The brightness is also too limited for bright elements to stand out appropriately or for there to be sufficient dynamic range there to truly demonstrate the 10-bit advantages. This is a very rudimentary HDR experience, far removed from a ‘proper’ HDR experience – it gives a different look to things and can be used for a bit of variety, but it isn’t something you’ll want to use all the time. The section of video review below runs through the HDR experience using various scenes from Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Interpolation and upscaling

It may be desirable or indeed necessary to run the monitor below its native 2560 x 1440 (QHD or 1440p) resolution. This could be for performance reasons or because you’re using a system (such as a games console) that doesn’t support a QHD 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 for refresh rates listed in the first list (‘Ultra HD, HD, SD’) in the ‘Features and aesthetics’ section, so up to 120Hz. 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.



The monitor includes a few ‘Aspect Ratio’ settings which will adjust the image to suit various different resolutions – you can also select a different aspect ratio to the resolution selected to ‘emulate’ that experience. You can select 4:3, 5:4, 16:9 or 16:10. Using the default 16:9 setting and running the monitor at 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p), the interpolation process provides moderate but not extreme softness compared to viewing a native Full HD monitor of this size. This can be offset to a degree by upping ‘Sharpness’ to ‘75’. This also introduces slight over-sharpening to some elements, noticed most keenly when viewing some in-game text for example, but it’s not too strong. Overall, we feel this is one of the better interpolation experiences on a monitor and if you need to run it at the Full HD resolution for whatever reason it is still quite useable.

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
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
Responsiveness (General)
Responsiveness (VRR)

Conclusion

The ViewSonic OMNI VX2728J-2K provides the popular combination of 27” screen size, QHD resolution and 165Hz+ refresh rate. A good amount of ‘desktop real estate’ and respectable pixel density for both work and play is provided here. The screen offers decent build quality for a budget offering, with coated metal included for the stand neck, with fully adjustable stand providing good ergonomics. The monitor includes a basic array of ports, without USB of any variety for example, but squeezes in basic integrated speakers for convenience. The OSD includes the usual essentials plus a few not always found on monitors such as a sharpness control and integrated crosshair plus well-tuned ‘Black Stabilization’ setting. This proved useful as there were no alternative gamma settings in the OSD. Also absent was an integrated on-screen frame counter (refresh rate display) and flexible shortcut system, whilst we prefer joysticks for intuitive navigation through OSDs.

The monitor provided good colour consistency, in-line with other good IPS performers, though viewing angle performance for off-angle viewing was weaker than some IPS models. A generous colour gamut was provided, exceeding the specified 90% DCI-P3 with 95% recorded. This provided a vibrant look and good potential for work within both the sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces. A notable omission was any form of sRGB emulation setting, however. Contrast fell in line with expectation, slightly exceeding the specified 1000:1 or very close to it depending on settings used. The level of ‘IPS glow’ was also as expected, though our unit suffered from a moderately high level of backlight bleed which brought this out more strongly in places. The brightness adjustment range was decent though not outstanding, with a maximum a bit beyond specified, and basic HDR support was offered for ‘a bit of variety’. We stress the basic, though, as brightness capability and lack of local dimming severely handicapped this setting. The requirement to manually activate it and deactivate it in the OSD (if you want full setting availability under SDR) was also an odd quirk.

In terms of responsiveness the monitor provided a competent 165Hz performance with exceptionally low input lag. It also has the ability to run at 180Hz via an integrated overclocking feature (GPU dependent) but doing so disabled Adaptive-Sync. Most will want to stick to 165Hz (which isn’t dramatically different to 180Hz) with VRR instead. The monitor provided a solid AMD FreeSync and Nvidia ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ experience and for many this will be a ‘single overdrive mode experience’. The ‘Advanced’ setting is free from strong overshoot throughout the refresh rate range, which was nice to see particularly on a budget offering. The monitor included an ‘MPRT’ strobe backlight setting, but this can’t be used alongside VRR and was poorly tuned with significant strobe crosstalk. Overall, we feel this is a capable monitor for a very attractive price and it sits well and, in some ways, stands out amongst its peers. If you require a more generous gamut including very strong Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 coverage either due to the strong hit of extra vibrancy or for colour-accurate work within those spaces, the MSI MAG274QRF-QD would be a good alternative to consider. This model also provides emulation for multiple colour spaces, higher brightness output and slightly stronger contrast. It comes at a significant price premium, so if you’re sticking to a tighter budget and can live without these features then the ViewSonic is worth careful consideration.

Positives	Negatives
The IPS-type panel and decent DCI-P3 coverage provided strong consistency and good vibrancy, with good potential for work within both the sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces	Gamma didn’t track the ‘2.2’ curve well ‘out of the box’ (‘Black Stabilization’ to the rescue), no sRGB emulation setting and limited Adobe RGB and Rec. 2020 coverage
Decent static contrast close to specifications or slightly above depending on settings, a ‘relatively light’ matte anti-glare screen surface provided good glare handling without strong graininess	Static contrast not as strong as some IPS offerings, a moderate but expected level of ‘IPS glow’ ate away at depth and atmosphere, HDR support is very basic (as expected for models of this price)
Convincing 165Hz performance with exceptionally low input lag, well-tuned pixel responses and good VRR performance with ‘single overdrive mode experience’	Minor weaknesses in pixel responsiveness for some transitions, 180Hz overclock blocks off VRR (though difference vs. 165Hz is negligible)
A decent pixel density and ‘desktop read estate’ from the QHD resolution, good ergonomics, reasonably feature-rich OSD and attractive pricing	Limited connectivity options compared to some models and OSD not as intuitive or flexible as it could be

The bottom line; a capable budget offering with good all-round performance, including vibrant colour output and respectable responsiveness.PC Monitors

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