Performance: 33 out of 40.
On the one hand, assuming you have the video card horsepower, 280 frames per second is astounding. While not that big a difference over 240hz, phrases such as ‘buttery smooth graphics’ barely begin to cover the immersion and gaming enjoyment it offers. On the other, for those who cannot hit 280Hz, ELMB-Sync does indeed work better than most ULMB implementations. Sadly, on the gripping hand is the fact that ELMB-Sync in its current-gen 1.0 form (or at least this monitor’s implementation) is not perfect. Right now, ELMB-Sync is gear more towards AMD than NVIDIA cards. Right now, this monitor is overly aggressive in improving clarity and can actually overshoot its goal – resulting in ‘pre-image’ artifacts in front of the actual moving object. Mix in a low DPI, and IPS or no IPS, the VG279QM is not perfect. Sometimes darn near close, but not always.
Technological Innovation: 20 out of 20
There are no ifs, not buts and certainly no coconuts about it, this monitor is choke-full of innovation. Innovation that will push the monitor industry forward towards a better tomorrow. So, while it may not be perfect in the implementation of its new and radical technology combination it does prove why ASUS is the 800lb gorilla of multiple markets.
Build Quality & Warranty: 18 out of 20
Good stand with great abilities? Check. An amazing list of abilities baked right into the monitor? Check. 8-bit IPS screen capable of 280Hz? Double-check! For the most part, this monitor is not just built to a higher standard than most… it is over-built. The only major issues are a default color profile that it less than optimal to say the least, and some light leakage / ‘IPS glow’ that can take away gaming immersion in dark environments. When you mix in ASUS famous warranty, few will complain about the build quality or warranty of this monitor.
Value: 17 out of 20
Considering this is a gaming monitor the overall value of the ASUS TUF VG279QM is outstanding. Potential ‘game-changing’ abilities mixed with above-average ‘daily driver’ abilities is a winning one. The only two issues which reduced the overall value of this monitor is its 1080P instead of 1440P resolution, and the fact that its VRR abilities are at best considered average these days. A bit more effort on lowering FreeSync/Adaptive Sync to the 30 range from the high 40s would have done wonders here. The same is true of making ELMB-Sync play nice(r) with NVIDIA’s G-Sync, which would have eliminated these nits to pick.
Final Thoughts
The ASUS TUF VG279QM really does set an awfully high bar for 27-inch 1080P class monitors. Buttery smooth 280Hz combined with Extreme Low Motion Blur – Sync technology is a winning one. Mix in the fact that it only costs about 20 percent more than the typical 1080P gaming monitor and we can see a lot of people picking one of these up for their systems. By the same token, it is not perfect and caveats such as less than perfect performance will keep it from being the slam dunk success it could have otherwise been. It still is one heck of an impressive piece of engineer though.
