AOC G2460PF 144Hz FreeSync Monitor Review

Introduction & Closer Look

One of the major troubles with monitor technology advancements compared to graphics card progress, was the difference in frame rates between the two; you would have SLI setups generating 150+ frames when monitor technology stood firmly at 60Hz. Not only is this a waste of power/frames, but it pushed monitor manufacturers to focus on research and design. What they came up with was monitors with higher refresh rates, which some may argue that the naked eye can only notice a certain amount of frames. My take is that no matter who says what, you can tell the difference between a 60Hz and 144Hz monitor at their respective FPS limits; even a snail would probably be able to tell.

Enter AMD with their open source FreeSync technology, a technology which was not only designed to compete with NVIDIA’s G-Sync tech, but also designed to give tearless, seamless and consistent performance throughout, without breaking the bank. One of the major setbacks from G-Sync is the actual cost of the monitors due to the extra hardware required; AMD’s FreeSync doesn’t need this which allows monitor manufacturers the ability to keep prices pretty much similar to non-FreeSync monitors. One such company pushing this is global monitor powerhouse AOC…

AOC have sent us one of their latest FreeSync laden models, the AOC G2460PF 24” 144Hz 1ms gaming monitor which is generally more useful for AMD graphics cards than NVIDIA; hence the AMD FreeSync technology. At first glance, this is a very stylish 24” 1080p monitor with black brushed aluminium style shroud; in conjunction with a very vibrant red stripe on the bottom bar of the screen. The similar technologies are often used in various devices that provide you with great opportunities to play free pokies games for mobiles, tablets etc.

OSD buttons can be found on the right-hand side at the bottom; this allows you to change contrast, cycle through the presets and more importantly, adjust the brightness…

We did look at one of their earlier models in the shape of the G2460Pqu, but the main difference this time round are obviously the inclusion of the FreeSync capable PCB; as well as an upgrade to the style and overall aesthetic.

At the rear, there is a large vent which allows for proficient cooling of the PCB and other components associated with the screen itself.

The AOC G2460PF features a click and lock monitor to base mounting system, which not only makes it easy to mount without the need for extra screws, but it’s very secure and looks good too.

On the underside of the back panel, either side has a set of I/O sections; the left containing the VGA connections and the right focusing on the power. In terms of display connectivity, we have 1 x VGA port, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI and 1 x DVI-I port; pretty much all the connections you are going to need for any graphics card over the last 5 years and beyond!

The right-hand side features a power input for a “kettle” power lead, with an on/off switch without the need to unplug at the wall. A dual port USB 2.0 hub is also present; USB 3.0 would have been a lot more desirable, but on the plus side it does support passive and active devices.

Landscape or portrait? The G2460PF supports both…

Specifications

General

Monitor Line – AOC
Gaming Monitor Size – 24 Inch
Screen Format – 16:9
Brightness – 350 cd/m² (type)
Contrast Ratio – 1000:1
Dynamic Contrast Ratio – 80M:1
Viewing Angle Response time – 1 ms
Maximum Resolution – 1920×1080@144Hz: DisplayPort / DVI Dual Link

Connectors

1 xD-Sub
1 xDVI
1 xHDMI
1 xDisplay Port Input

See more at http://aoc-europe.com/en/products/g2460pf#product-detail-technical

Performance

To test the performance and the colour accuracy of the AOC G2460PF monitor, I used a device called the Spyder 4 Elite, which is essentially a tool for monitor calibration. It is very accurate and can tell you things the naked eye cannot.

To get started, after the installation and calibration of the AOC G2460PF, the results are as follows:

To sum it up in a way everyone will understand, although sRGB and AbodeRGB are both RGB, they are very different. sRGB is the most common colour space used today but AdobeRGB has a wider colour space which can mean more colours but not as accurate when looking at colours which overlap on sRGB. This is mainly used for photographers and people just using their monitors for normal tasks such as web browsing or gaming will never need to worry about this.

Out of the box, the difference between stock and after calibration of this sample wasn’t substantial, which shows pretty good out of the box performance. We still recommend that some form of calibration is performed, but not everyone has the knowledge or access to these kind of things; hence why the uncalibrated results are very important in our opinion. A strong showing in the white point (CIE xy) result is a major highlight.

Colour Accuracy

This is a measure of how close the calibrated White Point is to the desired or target White Point value. In Target Brightness mode this is calculated as the difference in Lab colour space between the Target and Calibrated values for White Point and Brightness. In normal mode this is not really Delta E but Delta ab because it is calculated only as the difference in ab chromaticity (because there is no numeric brightness target in normal mode).

A Delta E of less than 3 is good. Less than 2 is quite good. Less than 1 is excellent but not often achieved in practice.

The majority of the colour accuracy results show that the AOC G2460PF monitor show very positive results (after calibration) although the 1F result is a little concerning; overall everything seems to tick all the right boxes though! Performance is especially good for a sub £200 monitor and it really only matters to those demanding accurate colours in things such as professional photo and video editing.

Conclusion

It should go without saying that this screen is top quality; even in our review of the G2460Pqu a couple of years ago it was a great model. Now that it comes with AMD’s FreeSync technology (there is an NVIDIA G-Sync model available, albeit £100 more expensive), gamers should certainly be salivating in their mouths. If you have never experienced G-Sync or FreeSync previously, it makes for a fantastic and seamless gaming experience; you do need capable graphics power however to make the use of the 144Hz feature, so bare that in mind!

Performance & Design

For AMD armed gaming, the AOC G2460PF is a sure fire winner as the FreeSync benefits don’t only allow for tear-free gaming on fast action games such as FIFA 16, League of Legends and Battlefield 4, but the 1ms response time makes everything work together like a cheese and ham sandwich; tasty, simple and effective. AMD’s FreeSync main pitfall over the NVIDIA variant however is that it’s limited to refresh rates via AdapticSync; NVIDIA’s G-Sync isn’t so this is pretty much the only major difference between the two. The other main difference is price, with this same monitor with an NVIDIA G-Sync module costing £100 more; is it worth it? Not if you already have an AMD card or you’re looking for a high performance, but wallet friendly option to get you into 144Hz gaming.

Although general gaming performance is brilliant, much in part to AMD’s FreeSync technology, the only potential stab in the back here is the 1F result; I wish we could ignore it, but we simply cannot. Although it doesn’t affect general usage in gaming so much, it will have a slight effect on those wanting top quality video/photography editing performance. However, with this being a monitor being primarily aimed at gaming and the fact it’s a TN panel and not IPS, I wouldn’t have recommended this monitor for studio scenarios anyway. 144Hz is absolutely fantastic and when you compare it to a flat 60Hz, the difference in fast action games is incredible.

Value

For £200 in the UK or $250 in the US (at time of review), you get a lot of monitor for your money. The screen quality is great for the money and the AMD FreeSync capability gives more for your money than a regular 144Hz monitor in our opinion. 1080p 144Hz gaming is more widely accepted due to advancements in graphics card technologies and with monitors following in the footsteps and working together with vendors, the PC gaming experience has never been better!

Huge thanks to AOC/AMD for sending a sample of the G2460PF in for review!