IPS vs VA Gaming Monitors – AOC AG275QXN 1440p 165Hz Review

A few weeks ago I tested AOC’s AG275QX, a 1440p 170Hz IPS gaming monitor that, as long as the price is right, is a pretty good shout. So you might be wondering what it’s doing back here on my desk – well this isn’t actually an AG275QX, it’s an AG275QXN. Big deal, I know! The difference here is which panel this uses. Instead of using an IPS panel capable of running at 170Hz, this is actually a VA panel running at 165Hz instead. Seeing as these two are so similar, I thought this would be a good chance to compare side-by-side the differences between the two and talk through why I would buy one over the other.

Just to make it clear, these monitors are identical physically. They share the same stand, same shell, same menu system, same options in that menu, the same I/O. Literally everything. So the only difference is the panel itself – but you’d be surprised just how much of a difference that can be. Both are still 2560×1440, both run at basically the same refresh rate – 165 vs 170 Hz isn’t exactly much – and both claim the same industry-standard-lie of a “1ms GtG response time”. Both also claim 400 nits of peak brightness and HDR 400 certification.

I’ll start with one of the biggest differences, the contrast ratio and brightness. While I’m not 100% sure AOC have used the exact same backlight arrangement between the models, in my testing I could only get the IPS model to run at around 200 nits, with a pretty abysmal 0.29 nit black level. That makes for a 690:1 contrast ratio, which is pretty poor and means that anything that should be completely black is more like a dark grey. That also means even if you did have 400 nits of peak brightness (and assuming more of that 400 nits didn’t leak through which it would) you’d still only have just shy of a 1400:1 contrast ratio. By comparison, the VA panel did push out 400 nits, actually 462 nits, and at 462 nits only bled 0.14 nits of light on black. That gives a 3310:1 contrast ratio – and that’s still not amazing for a VA panel! You’ll regularly find VA panels with 4000:1 contrast ratios or better, but still it’s worlds better than the IPS model. It’s about 5 times better actually, and while it’s still no OLED, it will give a much better viewing experience overall for slower moving content like films, TV and YouTube videos.

Which brings me nicely onto the other major difference, the response times. This is the complete opposite of the contrast, where the IPS is considerably better and the VA panel. Of course, this data was collected using my open source response time tool, which you can pick up at OSRTT.COM! I’ll put just the response time heatmaps up side by side here as neither have bad overshoot on the “Medium” overdrive mode, and you can see the differences. Just looking at the averages, the IPS panel averaged 5ms on the initial time, whereas the VA was near-on 8ms. That’s a substantial difference – enough to take the results from generally inside the refresh rate window, to definitely at least some ghosting.

What’s worse though is how sluggish VA panels are to get from full black to basically anything else. Looking at the top row of the VA panel’s results, you can see just how painfully slow it can be. In fact, none of the results in that row are faster than the absolute slowest result from the IPS panel. That manifests as a noticeable amount of smearing in fast motion, which if we look at some high speed footage confirms that. The IPS panel is pretty much done drawing the newest frame by the time the next refresh rate cycle comes around. The VA though isn’t, with the central row leaving two or three previous frames on screen at once, and the darker line at the top showing more like four.

The difference is night and day, even while actually playing games. The IPS panel feels smooth and responsive, decidedly crisp, and feels like a good fit for faster paced games. Sure, it’s no TN or OLED so it’s not an actual competitive esports panel, but it’s not too far off. Compare that to the VA, which feels blurry during motion. It feels almost jelly-like when flicking around in CSGO, which makes for a slightly uncomfortable experience. Of course in slower paced games – something like Cyberpunk – the VA might actually be better thanks to the deeper blacks giving a more cinematic look, but in motion the IPS is considerably better. It’s also worth noting that in competitive games, having a low contrast ratio might actually be a good thing as it means enemies can’t hide in dark areas as easily.

The final catch with these monitors is their price tags. The VA option, the QXN, is just £270 right now on Amazon, whereas the IPS model, the QX, is a whopping £400 instead! That’s definitely enough of a discount to give you pause. Personally, I would still opt for an IPS panel for my gaming monitor – although as I mentioned in my full review of the QX I’d likely get a cheaper option – the Gigabyte M27Q is more like £320 right now and is even better – so that would be what takes my cash. If you don’t play as many competitive games and would prefer to see any amount of dark shades rather than a wash of grey, the VA panel might be the better fit for you.