Product test
Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 review: looks good, but on shaky ground
by Kevin Hofer
AOC Porsche Design PD27: stylish but expensive
21/12/2020
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
AOC lets Porsche Design be the driving force behind the look of its new monitor. The result is a slightly more expensive but also more stylish piece of kit, the AOC Porsche Design PD27.
Design and what's in the box
What's less cool is unboxing the brick masquerading as the external power supply. At 16×7×4 cm, it's huge.
They probably didn't have space for it in the monitor. It's a shame as Carreras have their motor in the rear rather than externally. What's included at a glance:
- Fancily designed USB device
- OSD keypad controller fashioned in a ludicrously fancy design
- Fancily designed setup guide and other pointless paperwork
- External power supply featuring brick design
- HDMI, DisplayPort and USB cable (each 1.8 m)
- Speaker cable for the integrated speakers
What with all the flashy bits and bobs, I almost forgot the most important part, the monitor. The metal base is an eye catcher and reminiscent of a roll bar. Meanwhile, the 1000R curvature adopts the round shape of Porsche, and the almost borderless bezel design on three sides adds a sleek look. I think the design is a roaring success. It actually reminds me of a Porsche sports car.
The monitor and base are well made – nothing shakes or creaks. The frame might be plastic, but it doesn't look or feel it. At the bottom of the front side, it has a brushed aluminium look. The monitor tilts, swivels and is height adjustable. Ergonomically, everything is great. Except you can't really hide the cables.
But the roll-bar base does have its drawbacks. At 32.5 cm, it's pretty broad. This means you're unlikely to find space for the PD27 on a narrow desk.
Features and performance
The PD27 comes in at almost 800 Swiss francs. The design alone doesn't justify this high price. So it's up to the monitor and specs to pull out all the stops. It's safe to say the specs speak for themselves:
These features make the PD27 comparable with the Samsung Odyssey G7. While the AOC delivers slightly more in terms of brightness, the Samsung is certified DisplayHDR 600. Samsung also offers G-Sync, but the AOC monitor has the shorter reaction time of 0.5 ms.
Display and image quality
First of all, I used the Eizo monitor test to get an idea of the quality. As you would expect from a monitor in this price range, I didn't notice any pixel errors. The image was homogeneous, the colour distances were differentiated and the gradient was even.
The 1000R curvature takes a bit of getting used to. For a 27-inch monitor, it's extreme. But as I have the Samsung G7 27-inch on my test bench, I'm used to it. Personally, I love this curvature. That'll be because I sit really close to the monitor and am reliant on a wide field of view. If that's not the case for your setup, you might want to think twice about getting the PD27.
I used the x-rite i1Display Pro spectrometer to measure the PD27. I found that the monitor is very evenly illuminated on the whole. The brightest areas were in the middle of the monitor. Towards the bottom, however, the brightness decreases. And it didn't reach the advertised 550 nits even with the brightest settings in the OSD. That's because it only has to reach this maximum value for a split second. It's impossible for me to test that using this method.
In terms of colour space coverage, the PD27 is convincing. It might not meet the manufacturer value, but it comes very close to it. In all fairness, I have to say I've never reached the manufacturer value on any monitor. That's down to the test method. Manufacturers determine the values in a lab; I work them out in the office. For a 240 Hz VA panel, the values are very good. And if you're an ambitious hobby designer, you'll appreciate the display.
- 99.7% sRGB.
- 82.6% Adobe RGB.
- 87.7% DCI P3.
The static contrast is around 2040:1. You can see backlight bleeding in the corners, but for a VA panel that's not so unusual. And it's not like I notice it on a daily basis – only on this test image.
For gamers with Nvidia graphics cards, the lack of G-Sync might be a problem. Although the monitor isn't advertised as compatible with G-Sync, I was still able to activate it. My test games ran flawlessly with no screen tearing.
The PD27 is certified HDR400. As it's an entry-level HDR monitor, I wasn't expecting a lot from its HDR capabilities. As it happens, the HDR quality is fine and the colours look stronger, but I can't see a big difference when I turn off HDR.
Audio
The two 5 W speakers deliver better sound quality than most other inbuilt display speakers I've heard. So, are the PD27 speakers good? In a word, no. At least, not for my needs. I don't want to use the monitor for watching films, far less listening to music. For the odd Youtube video, the speaker quality is passable.
What's a bit annoying is the boot-up sound when I turn on the monitor. Fortunately, you can deactivate this via the OSD.
Cool OSD
You access the OSD by pressing the joystick on the back right of the monitor. Personally, I’m not a fan of joysticks for setting or adjusting values. However, the PD27 joystick is ergonomically designed so that it doesn't even bother me. You can also access the OSD with the keypad controller that comes with the monitor.
I'm pleasantly surprised the first time I open the OSD. The look is new and fresh. Finally, a change from barren OSDs. They can all take a leaf out of the PD27's book.
The OSD has eight main elements: OSD setup, extras, light FX, audio, colour settings, image settings, brightness and game settings. When you open each of these points, you'll find even more setting options. But I won't go into those in detail. There's just so much. Whether you're looking for RGB, logo projector, colour or game settings, the OSD leaves nothing to be desired.
Verdict: good monitor, you pay extra for the design
The PD27 does almost everything well, but it doesn't do anything perfect. Apart from design – if the monitor is to your taste.
Its colour precision is good but not good enough for professionals.
Similarly, its performance in gaming is good but not good enough for gaming pros.
Meanwhile, its HDR performance is OK, but I can't really spot a huge difference between HDR and SDR.
You can see where I'm going with this. More than anything, the PD27 is for casual gamers or ambitious but non-professional designers and graphic designers who've fallen in love with the monitor.
There's no denying you have to really love the look of the PD27 when it's going to set you back almost 800 francs. It's not exactly small change. Samsung's G7, on the other hand, offers similar specs and costs about 150 francs less (accurate on 16 December 2020). If you want to splash out that much on a monitor, you'll be getting a machine that doesn't do anything wrong but also doesn't do anything 100% right.
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
