Iiyama G-Master GB2760QSU-B1 Review

Item: Iiyama G-Master GB2760QSU-B1 Review
Author: Matthew Lambert

Written by Matthew Lambert

July 5, 2017 | 16:00

Tags: #freesync #monitor

Companies: #amd #iiyama

Manufacturer: Iiyama
UK price (as reviewed): £389.99 (inc. VAT)
US price (as reviewed): Currently unavailable

If you, like pretty much anyone else with an interest in hardware, have been patiently waiting for AMD to launch its Vega graphics cards, you may also have your eye on a high resolution display with FreeSync capabilities to replace your ageing 1080p monitor. FreeSync monitors outnumber those suppoting Nvidia G-Sync by a large margin, and adding its name to the ever-growing list is this new model from Iiyama, the GB2760QSU – also referred to as Red Eagle (among other Iiyama screens), presumably in reference to its speed and association with AMD – which sports a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, and a claimed 1ms response time. At almost £400, calling it cheap would be a stretch, but it’s among the least expensive of monitors that can match these impressive specifications.

The GB2760QSU uses a TN panel, which isn’t surprising given the high refresh rate, low response time, and price. This monitor unashamedly goes after gamers rather than professionals or content creators, and TN panels typically sacrifice viewing angles and colour accuracy in favour of speed.

With its plastic stand, base, and frame, the GB2760QSU lacks the sleekness of metal monitors, but it’s still got something going for it in the looks department thanks to slim bezels up top and to the sides. True, the edges of the screen don’t extend quite as far as they appear to, as there are in-plane bezels, but these too are pretty small, as you can see below. The faux brushed metal effect along the bottom is also a nice touch.

Assembling this product is easy; the stand is pre-attached to the screen and just needs attaching to the base with a trio of thumbscrews.

Once you’ve got it built, you’ll have the full suite of adjustments at your fingertips, so getting a comfortable position and a good viewing angle should be simple. Height, swivel, and tilt are all generous, and you can pivot the screen into portrait mode as well. The screen also locks when you push it to its lowest height – handy if you ever need to transport it.

Around back we have mostly down-facing ports. Flanking the power input is a pair of 3.5mm audio jacks – one input, one output – while on the other side of the screen we have a DVI-D connection, one HDMI, and a DisplayPort, with FreeSync supported by the latter two. There’s also a USB 3.0 hub that nets you two side-facing Type-A ports on the left. Audio and DVI cables are not supplied, but cables for the other connections all come as standard. The monitor’s speakers are the usual affair i.e. no good for anything beyond basic system sounds.

FreeSync is supported between 48Hz (DisplayPort) or 50Hz (HDMI) and 144Hz, which means that AMD’s Low Framerate Compensation (LFC) is enabled, allowing the monitor to keep things synchronised even if the frame rate falls below the minimum refresh rate, which is great news.

There are six buttons along the underside of the panel use for power and menu control. They have front-facing labels to aid navigations, but it’s not a very intuitive navigation system. The Exit button, for example, also acts as a quick-access button for the i-Style colour menu when pressed, while Enter is used for the main menu and for selecting objects.

The i-Style menu has a number of options like Standard, FPS, Sport, and so on designed to make the image output more suitable to the described task or genre of game, but they are mostly overdone and excessive with oversaturated colours or completely blown shadows. There are at least three user modes you can alter and save. Iiyama also offers a black tuner for improving the detail in dark and shadowy areas, a blue light reducer, overdrive control as a means of countering the effects of ghosting, gamma control with three settings – 1.8, 2.2 (default), and 2.6 – and colour adjustment with Warm, Normal, and Cool options as well as a User mode with independent RGB channel control.