Review – BEZEL 27MD845 V4 Gaming Monitor

BEZEL is becoming a popular local brand for display monitors. Their recent entry into the ultrawide market marks their success in this industry. Fortunately, we have another BEZEL monitor to look at in this article.

One of the first models that the brand offered the market is the MB845 display series. The MD845 series is the brand’s current lineup that focuses on offering the public the best performance to value ratio. For the year 2021, the MD845 had a rehaul and overall upgrade. So with that in mind, we are taking a look at the 4th generation/version 4 of the MD845 gaming monitor with 27-inch display size.

BEZEL 27MD845 V4 Gaming Monitor

The BEZEL 27MD845 V4 is a 4th version or generation of the brand’s MD845 series of monitors. It features a 27-inch 10-bit IPS panel display, a refresh rate of up to 165Hz, a native resolution of 1440p, a peak brightness of 350 nits, HDR400, 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, 1 DisplayPort 1.4, a USB port, and a single 3.5mm audio port.

Specification:

• Model name: BEZEL 27MD845 V4
• Display type: Wide
• Aspect ratio: 16:9
• Native resolution: 2560 by 1440
• Response time: <5ms
• VESA: 100mm by 100mm
• Interface: HSMI 2.0, DP1.4, USB, Audio 3.5mm, and power port
• Display panel: 27-inch IPS panel

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Unboxing – BEZEL 27MD845 V4 Gaming Monitor

Going straight to the packaging, the 27MD845 V4 comes packed inside a plain carton box that highlights the brand’s name.

On the side, you will find the product label that mostly contains all the juicy info you would want to know about this monitor.

The most noticeable change that the V4 had compared to the earlier versions of MD845 is the use of an IPS panel with a higher level of color gamut, bit per pixel, and support for a higher refresh rate of 165Hz.

Other than that, there;’s nothing much else worth mentioning about the packaging.

Taking the content out of the box, you’ll be presented with a cushioning foam molded to fit the monitor in place as well as its accessories.

The BEZEL 27MD845 V4 surprisingly comes with a hefty amount of accessories. Inside the box, you will get an aluminum center stand, a manual in the Chinese language, the power brick, a cover for the back attachment panel, a UGREEN branded HDMI cable, a Vention branded HDMI cable, and a default OEM non-branded DisplayPort cable. From these accessories alone, you already get an additional value of offer PHP1,000 pesos which is nice.

Lastly, removing the accessories and the top portion of the cushioning foam reveals the monitor. The monitor comes with a plastic cover which prevents it from trivial scratch damage during travel. Other than that, let’s go ahead and take a closer look.

Closer Look – BEZEL 27MD845 V4 Gaming Monitor

Looking at the back portion of the monitor reveals the location of the I/O, the support for 100mm by 100mm VESA wall mount, the product label, and the button controls underneath the monitor. The new design of the MD845 from its usual slim aesthetics now comes with an RGB LED effect that resembles Iron-man’s arc reactor.

Another upgrade that’s worth mentioning is the I/O of the monitor. The monitor now comes with 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, a single DisplayPort 1.4, a USB port, a 3.5mm audio port, and a power port. The backside also reveals that the portion where you attach the neck stand needs to be removed first since the part where you screw both pieces together is oriented inwards.

Removing the attachment latch was not easy. You have to take out 12 pieces of screws. We also find that a bit overkill for a monitor of this size and weight. Once you attached the latch to the neck stand, you then have to screw the 12 screws back again. I hope the brand is reading this because removing 12 pieces of screws then putting them back in place is not cool. I personally prefer the screwless attachment stand as seen on some of their monitors.

Now looking at the bottom of the feet of the stand reveals that the feet don’t have any form of rubber or foam piece. These pieces should have been there in the circles shown in the image above. So the monitor, once assembled, will not easily slip. I guess this is a cost-cutting technique to place the monitor at a competitive price.

Now once assembled, the monitor looks pretty nice. It is dozed off with gamery feeling as seen in its overall aesthetics.

Performance – BEZEL 27MD845 V4 Gaming Monitor

In this section, we simply rate the monitor’s performance out of the box. Unfortunately, yours truly doesn’t have any color measuring tool such as Datacolor SpyderX PRO Colorimeter to accurately measure the color accuracy reproduction in terms of sRGB and AdobeRGB color space.

Out of the Box Dead Pixel Test

Out of the box, we tested the monitor for pixel issues such as stuck or dead pixels. By performing a single color scale test of the primary color, we easily find out if there are any pixel issues. When looking for dead pixels, it’s best practice to simply make the monitor display a single color from the basic red, green, and blue colors. By doing so, we can find dead pixels quickly as well as determine any form of latency issues or stuck pixel issues. In this test, the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 performed outstandingly well. There were no pixel issues of some sort.

Banding/Clouding/Gradient

Next on our test is a gradient test where we make the display show 255 steps of different color shade transmigrating from black to white. In this test, the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 performs outstandingly well. The new IPS panel is truly an upgrade for this monitor from its VA panel seen on older versions. However, there was some noticeable banding when the refresh rate is set to 165Hz from 144Hz. We suspect that the limitation of DisplayPort 1.4 has something to do with this. To further investigate, we check the response of the system from changing its refresh rate from 144Hz natively to 165Hz. We found out that due to the limation of DisplayPort 1.4, the bit depth rate for each pixel is being downgraded to 8 bit from 10 bit if set to 165Hz. If that’s the case and the cause of the minor banding at 165Hz, then the banding is a natural occurrence.

Sharpness/Gamma/Brightness

For the brightness test, we simply used a simple tool the measures the brightness luminance of the monitor if the brightness settings are set to maximum. According to its specification, the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 can perform up to 350 cd/m2 of brightness rating. What we do find, however, that’s very odd is that, also according to its specification, the monitor supports HDR mode at HDR400. Meaning, it should have a peak brightness of 400 nits.

According to our test after setting the brightness to max and displaying a single color of white, we got a total peak measurement of 386 nits which is above the rating of 350 nits. This is actually a good sign in terms of performance but it’s still far from having decent and enjoyable HDR content.

For the sharpness test, the monitor performed well without causing any sort of background shadow for each text. Our test is done by changing the text display from small to large font and from white to black to black to white scheme.

For our Gamma test, the monitor has a built-in gamma adjustment which is nice to have. Out of the box, depending on your purpose, you need to make a certain adjustment to achieve optimal performance. By default, the monitor’s built-in gamma setting is set to 2.2. As a rule of thumb, low gamma is ideal and is more appropriate for bright rooms and non-movie content. On the other hand, higher gamma is typically better for movies and darker rooms.

Viewing Angle

IPS panels come with a viewing angle of up to 178 degrees without any form of discoloration or saturation. For BEZEL 27MD845 V4, there were no issues when viewing from side to side, eagle’s eye view, and worm’s eye view.

Refresh Rate/Input Lag

Out of the box, the refresh rate is automatically set to 60Hz. You need to change it via advance display options.

According to the specs of the monitor, the refresh rate is stated as 144Hz (165Hz Max). Now, it’s actually not ideal to market a monitor refresh rate that way. For a casual commoner who has no idea about it, all they see is 165Hz. Now, depending on the limitations. The BEZEL 27MD845 V4’s refresh rate is stated this way because the bit color depth of the pixel is affected by both refresh rate settings. Furthermore, as we have seen on its little brother, the 24MD845, the functionality of FreeSync is eliminated when the refresh rate is set to 165Hz. Fortunately, that’s not the case for this monitor.

When we say gaming monitor, all the important features and aspects that greatly affect the gaming experience of a monitor should be at the highest possible performance. Such as the refresh rate, response time, and input lag. The response time of the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 is rated at <5ms and this is pretty standard. Anything above 10ms is considered bad for gaming. Especially if it’s competitive gaming. Its input lag, on the other hand, is excellent. As you can see in the image above, the input lag is roughly within microseconds.

Overclocking

When it comes to overclocking the monitor’s refresh rate, the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 is not an overclocking-friendly monitor. At its native settings, we couldn’t even push a single 1Hz increment to the refresh rate. It’s not stable and it causes drastic frame skipping at 166Hz. We tinkered with the settings a little more and unfortunately, it just won’t let us overlock the monitor. Even at a smaller resolution of 720p and 4-bit color pixel depth, it still causes frame skipping at 166Hz.

Built-in Options Menu

The BEZEL 27MD845 V4 gaming monitor comes with a built-in configurable menu functionality. The menu offers pretty much the basic stuff where you can configure the monitor via hardware. The menu includes a number of settings such as brightness, color adjustment, HDR mode, Gamma settings, MPRT, volume, FreeSync, Overdrive, Blue light, aspect, LED switch, and more.

To be able to navigate through the options, you need to use the buttons located underneath the monitor. Each button also has its own function other than navigation. There’s a button to enable built-in crosshair, change brightness, change input source, toggle the menu settings, and the power switch.

Other than that, there’s nothing much else to check on. Configuring the monitor to achieve optimal performance and best picture quality will usually go down to personal preference.

RGB LED Effect

This monitor also comes with some RGB goodness which is located at the back of the display. The circle design that surrounds that latch attachment for the stand is the LED RGB effect area. It automatically lights up when the monitor is powered on and it can be turned off through the menu settings of the monitor.

Unfortunately, the luminance of the LED is kind of weak and you can’t choose any color, light effects, or such at all. You’re only given a single LED light effect of a rainbow and if you want to enjoy the LED, you have to be in a dark room. Otherwise, its light is not strong enough to illuminate RGB color in any room you placed it to.

Our Final Thoughts…

After using the monitor for almost 2 weeks, it’s by far a satisfying experience and an eye-pleasing monitor to have. The BEZEL 27MD845 V4 is considerably the cheapest 27-inch monitor on the market so far that features a 165Hz refresh rate and a native resolution of 1440p. You can get all of that under PHP11,500. Furthermore, its overall performance is excellent. You’ll rarely find an affordable monitor with this set of features that comes with the latest HDMI 2.0 ports and an included accessories of over PHP1,000 of worth.

If you’re looking for a monitor that gives more value for your money, then we highly recommend checking out the BEZEL 27MD845 V4 gaming monitor. However, as long as you can live with its flaws. Its packaging is pretty basic, attaching the V stand is definitely a nuisance, the lack of rubber feet or Teflon feet for the base could be a cause for concern for some, and the RGB LED is kind of a disappointment. Other than those, the monitor is excellent in the majority of different departments.

Considering its price and all the things you can get from this monitor, the pros definitely outshines its flaws. With that in mind, we give the monitor a Back2Gaming Silver award.

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