Like AOC's G-Sync panel, Philips' 272G5DYEB is a 144Hz 1080p TN model, but its diagonal measures 27in rather than 24in. It sits on a large circular base and has thick bezels, so it's comparatively chunky, but it does have the full suite of physical adjustment options, so you can easily minimise the impact of the average viewing angles you get from a TN panel.
The 272G5DYEB only comes with a single DisplayPort input, so you can't hook up multiple devices, or use a picture-in-picture mode, but the feature set is bolstered by a whopping count of four USB 3 ports.
Navigation is achieved via four touch-sensitive buttons and the OSD is easy to use, although it's still not as good as the remote control and joystick systems also on test this month. It's good to have 27 inches of screen real estate too, making for immersive gaming, but the screen size also magnifies the 1,920 x 1,080 resolution - you'll want to turn up your anti-aliasing to avoid seeing too many jagged edges.
In terms of image quality, the Philips screen has an overly warm image by default, more so than the AOC, with a reading of 5,900K - a 600K deviation is the ideal value. There are cooler image options but all of them were a little too blue. The contrast ratio of 530:1 is very similar to AOC’s reading too, and is roundly beaten by much of the competition.
With an average delta E of 2.23, the Philips' colour accuracy is better than the AOC, but the results are extremely close. Still, other displays managed even better out-of-the-box results. The Philips panel responds very well to being calibrated, though, achieving the second best delta E result in this regard. Meanwhile, gamma comes out as a respectable 2.1, but the sRGB gamut cover is only 97 percent, the second lowest result. Like the AOC panel, brightness uniformity comes out at around 85 per cent.
Philips says this screen can provide a 1ms pixel response time, with overdrive settings available in the OSD. The default setting is 'Faster' but you can turn it off altogether or select 'Fast' or 'Fastest' instead. We found the default setting was the best in scenes where ghosting is usually detected, however.
Once again, G-Sync proves that it's simply great for gaming - there's just no denying it. With this screen, regardless of your frame rate, you'll definitely have a smooth experience. As with the AOC, rendering above 144Hz triggers vsync, but with a panel this fast, it’s hard to detect any visual artefacts, so this switch isn't really an issue. In fact, the gaming experience is very consistent across all G-Sync screens, and this one only has slight ghosting issues (easily overcome in the OSD).
The Philips 272G5DYEB is another good G-Sync screen that delivers a great gaming experience, although it doesn't have outstanding colour or image reproduction. However, while it’s a better monitor than option than the BenQ XL2420G for roughly the same price, the 27in diagonal also reduces the pixel density - the image just isn't as sharp or detailed as with the Asus ROG Swift.
Also, £100 is a lot to pay for an extra three inches of screen real estate and some USB 3 ports, which is all the Philips really offers over the AOC panel. If you can't afford a 2,560 x 1,440 panel, we'd save some cash and buy the AOC instead.
A good size, and 144Hz G-Sync is excellent, but it isn't quite worth the extra £100 over the AOC.
SPECIFICATIONS
Native resolution 1,920 x 1,080
Screen size 27in
Panel type TN
Refresh rate G-Sync 30Hz-144Hz
Display inputs Dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort
Extras On-screen crosshair, 4 x USB 3