AOC G2460PQU 144Hz Gaming Monitor Review

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Built like a tank and blazing fast.

By Matthew D. Sarrel

AOC offers no less than 6 versions of the G2460 24" monitor, and its "PQU" variant falls roughly into the middle of its lineup since it has a higher refresh rate than a standard monitor, but doesn't include adaptive refresh rate technology. The G2460PQU (See it on Amazon) is considered the “extreme professional” version since it does sport the 144Hz refresh rate, and at $279 it's in the upper tier of pricing for 144Hz, 24" monitors. Before we jump into the specifics and our hands-on impressions and testing, check out the manufacturer-supplied specs:

Design and Features

The G2460PQU is far from the most stylish gaming monitor available, but it does make an effort. I'm not a fan of its noticeably wide bezel (0.5" on the top and sides and a huge 1" on the bottom) and plain matte black finish, but it does have a small red accent that is universal for "gaming." The uninspired design is coupled with a 24" TN panel that sports an anti-glare treatment that works quite well even in daylight. The monitor feels substantial and well-made, and tips the scales at a hefty 13.8lbs. The panel mounts solidly on a plastic arm that can be raised or lowered 5.25 inches and can also be tilted forward five degrees and 20 degree back. The panel itself rotates a full 90 degrees so that you can view the screen in portrait mode, and there are also four VESA holes on the back of the monitor in case you want to mount it to a wall at some point.

Connection options abound with the G2460PQU as it offers HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, and dual-link DVI so literally every base is covered. Almost every monitor on the market has two or three of these ports, but it's rare to see all four on one model. AOC also provides DVI and VGA, cables, but you're on your own should you choose to use DisplayPort or HDMI (Note: you will need to use DisplayPort or DVI to get the benefit of its high refresh rate). There are also a surprising four USB ports (usually there's just one, two, or zero), with two ports flanking each side of the panel. Sadly they are USB 2.0 ports instead of the much-faster USB 3.0), but since most people use these ports for their keyboard, mouse, and headset USB 2.0 works just fine. Also, one of the ports supports fast-charging for compatible phones and devices.  AOC cleverly hides the menu buttons along the right side of the bottom edge of the cabinet next to the power button (that’s sarcasm). The menu buttons have descriptions that are barely visible etched into the red accent line along the bottom of the cabinet, and you are going to need a flashlight if you try to adjust any settings in the dark. Thankfully AOC includes a software CD with a program named i-Menu that lets you control monitor settings from the Windows desktop.

Opening the on-screen display (OSD) yields 6 sub-menus: Luminance, Image Setup, Color Setup, PictureBoost, OSD Setup, and Extra. The most important settings are on the Luminance menu, and include brightness, contrast, and gamma. Here’s where you’ll want to make your first tweak to drop the brightness below 40 and increase Gamma to Gamma 2 in order to get rid of the ugly washed out image quality that’s provided out of the box. There’s also a setting for Dynamic Contrast Ratio or DCR, which increases contrast at the expense of shadow and highlight detail. You’ll want to set DCR to off. Overdrive can be used to reduce ghosting behind fast moving on-screen objects and you can turn that off as it is not needed when running at 144Hz.

The i-Care setting uses a sensor mounted on the front bezel to automatically adjust brightness based on room lighting. I preferred to leave i-Care off and adjust brightness manually for more precise control. Dynamic Power Saving (DPS) can decrease energy use by up to 50 percent at the expense of decreasing brightness. I preferred to turn DPS off and (again) adjust brightness manually. The next menu, Color Setup, contains settings to control color temperature. The default preset, “warm”, appeared a bit cool to me. I suggest setting Color Temp to “user” and then manually adjusting the adjacent RGB sliders. Dynamic Color Boost (DCB) enhances specific colors of the palette with settings like Sky-Blue. Being the purist that I am, I preferred to leave DCB off, but you might want to turn it on when looking at images that require color enhancement.

Gaming

My objections to the G2460PQU’s chunky design and complicated OSD faded away once I configured the various settings to my liking, and began evaluating picture quality using test patterns and playing games. I tested using my PlayStation 4 connected via HDMI and my gaming rig connected via DVI. I played Madden 17 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare on my PS4 and was more than pleased with the picture quality and no noticeable lag. Performance from my PC at 144Hz was even better with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1, as they both appeared very smooth and responsive even while engaged in Battlefield 1’s screen-filling mayhem. The G2460PQU provides an immersive PC gaming experience with fluid motion that lacks any visible blur.

Color accuracy is very good but not perfect. The G2460PQU exhibits thorough color space coverage with a slight over-coverage of green that was only noticeable during testing and not during gameplay. I noticed color inconsistencies such as weaker saturation in the bottom third of the panel. This bothered me during game play because the top two-thirds of the panel displayed a beautiful, rich color, and the bottom third looked slightly muted. Viewing-angle performance was consistent with other TN panels (meaning not good) and I saw color-shifting start around 70 degrees from center in any direction (side-to-side and up-and-down). Also, this monitor is available in both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync versions if you dig the style but want it with an adaptive refresh rate. Sound produced by the dual 2-watt speakers had good mid-range, non-existent treble, and bass that got distorted when turned up high. Gamers will want to rely on a headset or external speakers and use the built-ins as a last resort.

Purchasing Guide

The AOC G2460PQU Extreme Professional Gaming Monitor has an MSRP of $279.99 and oddly is often found for sale above MSRP. Amazon, however, is currently selling the model for slightly below the $279 asking price:

Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

The Verdict

The AOC G2460PQU provides a smooth and immersive gaming experience at 144Hz with a big caveat, which is that you'll need to configure it properly first. The wide bezel and dated look of the cabinet aren't for everyone, but its solid construction, multiple video inputs, and USB 2.0 hub help ease the pain a bit.

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