A rather worrying trend over the past year has been the rise of affordable LCD monitors that place more emphasis on physical size rather than screen resolution. A full HD (1,920 x 1,080) desktop LCD monitor has been the standard for many who have moved away from a 4:3 aspect ratio to a 16:9 one. But while 1,920 x 1,080 pixels spread across a 21.5in LCD panel yields a sharp and crisp picture, the same number of pixels spread across a 27in panel won't offer quite the same finesse. In effect, you have fewer pixels per unit area.

For instance, a typical 21.5in full HD monitor has a pixel-pitch of 0.248mm and a pixel density of 102.46ppi. However, a full HD 27in monitor such as this one, which has a 0.3114mm pixel-pitch, will have a lower pixel density of 81.59ppi. This difference is more noticeable on a bigger screen, especially when you’re sitting only a couple of feet away from it, as I'll highlight later on in this review. So in a nutshell, bigger is not always better. 

Nonetheless, with the e2752Vq's price tag hovering around the £200 mark (we found it for £200.84 including delivery from Dabs.com), we've decided it's worth a closer look. 

Design

The e2752Vq is unspectacular from the outside and sports a rather bland look with an all-black colour scheme and a 22mm matte bezel. 

However, it's not always about looks, especially when you consider the connectivity options on offer.

There’s a four-port USB 2.0 hub with two ports on the side and two at the back. Sadly, the ports are not USB 3.0 ones nor are they compatible with DisplayLink.

The ports are not the only bits hidden away. The control buttons are also concealed on the bottom right of the chassis, with a blue bottom-facing LED indicating that the display is on.

Perhaps its main weakness is its stand, which you can only tilt three degrees forward and around 17 degrees back - there is no swivel feature. There’s also no height adjustment, so the bottom of the monitor is only about 80mm above the surface that supports it and therefore might be too low for some users.

All the connections around the back - the aforementioned USB ports, DisplayPort, DVI, D-Sub, the power outlet, an HDMI with HDCP compatibility, and an audio out - are all rear-facing rather than downward-pointing, which is so much better for troubleshooting, plus there’s a VESA mount and two 2.5W speakers should you want to use the monitor's audio capabilities, although these are typically on the weak side and lack any kind of bass.

Even though the panel is a 27in one, this monitor doesn’t feel that wieldy due to its relatively svelte chassis measuring less than 60mm thick. Speaking of the panel, AOC went for an LED back-lit TN panel rather than an IPS one.

Performance

The e2752Vq produces pictures with excellent brightness and contrast, thanks largely to a native contrast ratio of 1,200:1. Colours were also faithfully reproduced, especially in photos, and were in general surprisingly accurate for a sub-£200 monitor of this size. We were also impressed by the viewing angles - only a slight drop in contrast and colour saturation was noticeable when we viewed the screen from the sides at about 80 degrees from straight on.

However, we were left quite disappointed by the quality of text as it appeared aliased and jagged upon closer inspection. One might argue that at normal viewing distances this wouldn't be noticeable, but there was still a discernible lack of crispness when sitting normally at our test bench. The larger pixel pitch and thus lower PPI, as mentioned before, is to blame and since it's a physical property of the monitor it cannot be changed. Indeed, the same could be said of many other 27in monitors with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, so it's not necessarily an issue restricted to this monitor.

Options in the on-screen display (OSD) were satisfactory with all the basic functionalities present, but navigation was far from intuitive. It takes a fair number of button presses to get to a setting, and then it was all too easy to exit that setting by pressing the wrong button - frustrating.

Average response time is quoted at 2ms - not uncommon for a TN panel - and, subjectively, there was no trace of motion blur or ghosting on any of the sample videos we viewed.

Verdict

We’re not totally convinced by 27in+ displays with full HD resolutions, so take that into account before considering this and other monitors with similar panel specifications. However, the AOC e2752Vq's decent colour and contrast performance along with good connectivity options for only £200 does give it appeal - if you don't mind the awkward OSD and limited stand, of course.

Specifications