Although it’s a part of the identical product household because the Samsung CHG90 49-Inch Curved Ultrawide Monitor we just lately reviewed, the Samsung CHG70 27-Inch Curved Monitor is a way more typical monitor than that supersize behemoth. Its decision and facet ratio are commonplace amongst 27-inch gaming screens, and its look—aside from the novel design of its base—is unassuming. The $499.99 CHG70 does stand out, nevertheless, for a profitable combination of options and efficiency at its worth. It does a pleasant job displaying each video games and video in customary definition and HDR (the latter with the anticipated vivid colour and glorious distinction). It incorporates a extensive colour gamut and a super-high native refresh price of 144Hz, and it helps AMD’s newest iteration of its adaptive sync expertise, FreeSync 2, for Radeon-card loyalists. It’s sufficient to make it our newest Editors’ Choice gaming monitor.
For Starters, a Sturdy Stand
First, a notice: Samsung sells a 32-inch model of this monitor, additionally beneath the mannequin identify CHG70, which PC Labs hasn’t had an opportunity to check. For the sake of readability, all references I make to the CHG70 on this assessment aside from within the earlier sentence are to the 27-inch mannequin.
The CHG70 is a matte-black monitor that measures 15.4 by 24.6 by 21.9 inches (HWD) and weighs 15 kilos. On high and to the edges, its bezel is a skinny strip, half an inch extensive, whereas a 0.7-inch border runs alongside the underside of the display. The stand, consisting of a shaft and a jointed arm extending from a large V-shaped base, is ergonomically pleasant, offering a fearsome foursome of adjustability: top, swivel, tilt, and pivot. The panel feels sturdy and is straightforward to regulate, however the stand’s general footprint, 20 inches throughout by 11.5 inches entrance to again, is a bit on the big facet.
The native decision of the CHG70 is WQHD, or 2,560 by 1,440 pixels. The 27-inch panel is a vertical alignment (VA) show that makes use of Samsung’s model of Quantum Dot (QLED) expertise. (See this primer for extra on QLED.) It has an ordinary widescreen facet ratio of 16:9.
At that display measurement and determination, its pixel density is 109 pixels per inch (ppi). That ought to present a sharper picture than the Samsung CHG90 and its pixel density of 81ppi, or the Asus ROG Strix XG32VQ (91ppi), when seen on the identical distance from the display. Another just lately reviewed Editors’ Choice, the deluxe Acer Predator X27, with 4K decision, has a a lot higher pixel density (163ppi), but it surely sells at a a lot increased worth than the CHG70, and it requires a extra highly effective graphics card to run at cheap body charges at its native decision. (See our information to the perfect graphics playing cards for 4K gaming.)
The panel is extremely curved, with an 1800R curvature ranking, which signifies that sufficient CHG70 27-inch screens positioned facet by facet to type a full circle would yield one with a radius of simply 1,800mm, or 1.8 meters. This is identical curvature because the Samsung CHG90 and among the many tightest curvatures we have seen. Among screens we have examined, solely the Samsung 34-Inch CF791 Curved Widescreen Monitor boasts a tighter (1500R) curvature ranking. The excessive curvature makes for a extra immersive gaming expertise than you’d get with a flat panel.
The CHG70 is rated at a local luminance of 350 nits, and it examined barely higher than that. I measured 372.1 nits in sRGB mode in our quantitative testing utilizing a Klein Ok10-A colorimeter and SpectraCal CalMAN 5 software program. I measured its distinction ratio at 2432:1, in need of its 3000:1 rated distinction ratio however nonetheless a decent determine.
Controls, Menus, and Ports
The bodily controls on the monitor physique comprise 4 tiny buttons situated on the underside proper edge. The on/off button, which doubles as a miniature directional joystick, is in again and located properly to the precise of the opposite three, that are downward-facing and allow you to entry the onscreen show (OSD) settings. From these buttons, you’ll be able to management brightness, distinction, and sharpness, in addition to change the show mode (sRGB, Cinema, Custom, and High Brightness, in extra to FPS, AOS, RPG, and RTS gaming modes). It can also be potential to customise quite a few settings inside a mode.
The CHG70’s enter port choice contains two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4 connector, one upstream and two downstream USB 3.0 ports, and separate audio-in and microphone jacks.
Samsung covers the CHG70 with a three-year guarantee for each elements and labor.
A Wide Color Gamut
Color accuracy for the CHG70 proved to be superb in our testing.
As illustrated on the chromaticity chart under, with the CHG70 examined in sRGB mode, the crimson, yellow, inexperienced, aqua, and purple colour measurements (represented by the coloured dots), although pretty evenly spaced, are all properly outdoors the triangle depicting the traditional bounds of the CIE RGB colour area (represented by the containers)…
The space bounded by the triangle represents all the colours that may be displayed by mixing the three main colours, so any factors outdoors of the triangle characterize an enlargement of the traditional RGB colour gamut. When I switched the CHG70 to first-person shooter mode, I generated a chromaticity chart that was similar to the sRGB chart, though the colour gamut was nonetheless wider but (albeit barely so).
See How We Test Monitors
I seen quite a few movies on the CHG70, largely supporting HDR (chosen from the YouTube HDR channel). The monitor did properly in rendering particularly vibrant scenes, whereas preserving shading in each very vibrant and really darkish areas.
The CHG70’s widescreen format is a lot better than the CHG90’s ultra-wide facet ratio for displaying typical motion pictures. That’s as a result of you do not have to cope with the black pillars, stretching, or vertical cutoff eventualities that the exceptionally extensive CHG90 typically offered when taking part in again movies that weren’t fitted for that atypical panel form. Note that the CHG70’s off-center viewing-angle vary shouldn’t be nice; I seen some dimming and discoloration at excessive angles, although with a curved display, you are much less more likely to be offsides to begin with.
How About Its Gaming Chops?
The CHG70’s 144Hz native refresh price, achievable solely over a DisplayPort connection, may be restricted to 120Hz or 60Hz through the onscreen menus. If you’d desire variable refresh versus a tough cap, the CHG70 additionally helps an adaptive sync system, AMD’s FreeSync 2, to attenuate tearing in gameplay.
This just lately launched improve to FreeSync is designed to raised deal with HDR content material than the unique. FreeSync 2 permits for variable refresh-rate help between 48Hz and 144Hz over DisplayPort, and 48Hz to 100Hz over HDMI. The CHG70 additionally helps AMD’s Low Framerate Compensation expertise, which is designed to offer a clean gaming expertise even under 48Hz. Note that the FreeSync 2 connectivity can solely be deployed on PCs with appropriate AMD graphics playing cards. Given the comparatively modest market share that AMD’s FreeSync-capable Radeon playing cards maintain out there as of late, this help will probably be of curiosity to solely a comparatively small subset of consumers.
The rated gray-to-gray pixel response time for this panel is 1 millisecond, and the enter lag—as measured with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester—got here in at a powerful 11.7 milliseconds, not an excessive amount of longer than the BenQ SW2700PT, which stays our chief with a 9.5-millisecond input-lag measurement.
I put the CHG70 by means of its paces in taking part in by means of numerous scenes and benchmark classes within the video games Hitman (2016), Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Far Cry 5, all with HDR enabled. The monitor supplies a really nice gaming expertise. Colors had been vivid, distinction was good (even in darker areas), motion was clean, and I seen no vital artifacts.
An Immersive Gaming Experience
At a look, the Samsung CHG70 27-Inch Curved Monitor might not present a lot that stands out from the pack. It does not shine with the intense brightness ranges or 4K UHD decision of the Editors’ Choice Acer Predator X27. Nor does it help Nvidia’s G-Sync adaptive-sync expertise, which reduces picture tearing and different artifacts with Nvidia’s far more fashionable late-model GeForce playing cards. The CHG70 is available in at a a lot lower cost, although, than the Acer mannequin and most G-Sync panels. The distinction in worth may fetch you a spiffy AMD Radeon RX or Radeon RX Vega card to make the most of the FreeSync 2 help and its enhanced HDR compatibility.
Speaking of HDR, even with out the advantage of FreeSync 2 or a Radeon card, the CHG70 did very properly in displaying each HDR movies and video games in our testing. There are some fairly succesful latest gaming screens that don’t help HDR, together with the Dell 27 Gaming Monitor (S2719DGF) reviewed simply earlier than this mannequin. But with HDR compatibility changing into extra frequent in AAA video games, it is changing into a function value searching for on gaming shows as a future-looking merchandise, and its inclusion serves to a monitor’s benefit.
Between its balanced decision, HDR capabilities, FreeSync 2, excessive curvature, extensive colour gamut, and superb picture high quality, the Samsung CHG70 27-Inch Curved Monitor has rather a lot to advocate as a gaming monitor—sufficient to earn it our Editors’ Choice. Even higher, it may possibly double as a really ready monitor for video watching.