AOC - AOC Q3279VWF

AOC

AOC Q3279VWF: a 32 inch VA Quad HD monitor for less than 250 €

Aprox. 212€

See specifications

For its Q3279VWF, AOC relied on its excellent Q3277PQU monitor. It thus takes up its 32 inch Quad HD VA panel, but does without its ergonomic foot and part of its connectors to reduce the cost as much as possible. We end up with a 32 inch VA Quad HD monitor sold for less than 250 €.

Positive points

Comfortable definition.

Image quality.

Excellent contrast.

Homogeneous slab.

Display delay.

Connectivity.

FreeSync compatible.

Bad points

Absence of rotation and height adjustment.

No USB hub.

Our review

Presentation

The AOC Q3279VWF monitor has a 32 inch (82 cm) VA panel displaying a Quad HD definition of 2,560 x 1,440 px. The manufacturer announces a brightness of 250 cd / m², a contrast of 3000: 1, viewing angles of 178 ° / 178 ° and a response time of 5 ms. This monitor is compatible with FreeSync technology between 30 and 75 Hz.

To date, this AOC Q3279VWF monitor is the most affordable 32-inch Quad HD monitor with a VA panel on the market. It is sold at around 250 €. Its closest competitor is the Textorm TX32, also in 32 inch VA Quad HD, but it is sold for around 300 €.


Presentation

Ergonomics

No frills, the AOC Q3279VWF is sober. The edges of the screen are made of shiny black plastic while the stand is covered with a plastic that imitates brushed aluminum. The coating of the slab is semi-gloss. Care must therefore be taken to choose the position of the monitor in the room to avoid reflections.

In terms of adjustment, the AOC Q3279VWF is satisfied with the minimum, namely the tilt adjustment between -2 ° and + 21.5 °. The stand is not rotatable and, above all, it is impossible to adjust the height of the screen, which is not trivial.

The back of the monitor is classic and sleek as possible. The ribbed plastic slightly enhances the quality of the whole. The connection, directly visible, is oriented perpendicular to the slab. There is no cable management system; it will therefore have to be tricky to make them disappear. Finally, the power supply is integrated, which saves space under the desk.

For an entry-level monitor, the connectivity is quite rich. The AOC Q3279VWF offers a DisplayPort and an HDMI input, but also a DVI input and a VGA input. There is also a headphone output that allows you to recover the sound sent via HDMI or DisplayPort to the monitor. However, there are no built-in speakers and AOC also ignores the USB hub.

Four buttons located at the base of the panel allow you to access the various settings and change the source. Nothing new on this side at AOC, the navigation is still laborious and the menus are not always clear. The OSD allows adjustment of brightness, contrast, gamma, color temperature, overdrive and offers some game presets including two customizable.

On our 140 x 60 cm desk, the 32-inch screen finally occupies a reasonable space. The shallow depth of the foot (15.3 cm) is a very good surprise, it leaves enough space for the keyboard and mouse. Finally, the Quad HD definition on a 32 inch diagonal offers an excellent size / definition ratio that allows you to work, play or watch a movie in good conditions.

By lowering the brightness to 53 to obtain a white at 150 cd / m², the AOC Q3279VWF consumes 26 W, or a relative consumption of 92 W / m², lower than the average of the monitors tested (100 W / m²). At minimum brightness (30 cd / m²), the monitor consumes 15 watts. Maximum consumption (265 cd / m²) increases to 38 W.


Ergonomics

Colors and contrast

Default: average gray temperature: 6.970 K.

Default: gamma curve at 2.1.

Default: Delta E average at 2.8.

The good surprise comes from the factory calibration. Right out of the box, this monitor displays a quality image. The temperature settles on an average of 6,970 K - fairly close to the 6,500 K of reference - with a relatively stable curve over the entire spectrum. The gamma, with an average of 2.1, is fairly close to the reference value (2.2) and displays a relatively stable curve. The colors are faithful with an average delta E measured at 2.8. Only red, yellow and green exceed a delta E of 3, threshold beyond which the human eye can perceive the difference between the colors requested and the colors displayed. Red is clearly out of the norm with a delta E greater than 8.

Manual adjustment: average gray temperature: 6,950 K.

Manual adjustment: gamma curve at 2.1.

Manual setting: average delta E at 2.7.

The different settings offered by the monitor do not improve the final rendering. We simply reduced the brightness to 53 in order to obtain a white close to 150 cd / m². The two gamma adjustments proposed do not allow an adequate result to be achieved: it is either too high or too low. The default value (gamma 1) is the one that comes closest to the target value. The curves are all identical to those obtained by default.

Calibrated: average gray temperature: 6,540 K.

Calibrated: gamma curve at 2.2.

Calibrated: average delta E at 2.1.

Calibrating the screen using a probe makes it possible to smooth the temperature and gamma curves. Color rendering is better (average Delta E at 2.1), but red, green and yellow still lack fidelity. You can download this color profile by following this link.

The 32-inch VA panel offers an excellent contrast ratio (4,510: 1). It is much higher than that of an IPS or TN model and can display very deep blacks. The AOC Q3279VWF monitor fits into the very closed circle of VA monitors displaying a contrast greater than 4000: 1, alongside the Textorm TX32 and the Philips BDM4037UW.

The average difference in lighting uniformity is only 4% across the entire panel, which is excellent for a 32-inch screen. We did not see any light leaks in the corners and no clouding was present on our test model. As far as viewing angles are concerned, VA technology is a bit more directive than IPS technology, but the viewing angles remain wide enough, at least enough not to suffer from variations in front color.


Colors and contrast

Reactivity

The AOC Q3279VWF does not use Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to adjust the brightness. It therefore does not flicker and does not cause headaches in the most sensitive people. It also offers a blue light filter.

This monitor manages FreeSync between 30 and 75 Hz and therefore works optimally when the graphics card sends between 30 and 75 images per second; a fairly wide range which suits the QHD definition of the screen. In the operating range, fluidity is at the rendezvous and the image does not suffer from tearing problems or jerks (micro-stuttering).

We measured the afterglow time at 9.5 ms with the overdrive ("overintensive" in French) set to "medium". This value limits ghosting. Beyond this ("high" setting), a rather annoying reverse ghosting effect appears. Finally, we measured the delay in the display (input lag) at 12.8 ms (60 Hz). There is thus no offset between the source and the display on the monitor.


Reactivity

Conclusion

The AOC Q3279VWF monitor is a nice surprise. It offers a quality image and a very high contrast, very rare at this price level. The definition Quad HD on such a diagonal remains a happiness, whatever the use (game, film, office automation). You have to live with limited ergonomics and the absence of USB ports.


Specifications