1. #1
    Deleted

    Buying a new gamer monitor, please advise!

    Greetings

    I am looking for a new monitor.

    I am playing these games:
    Diablo 3
    Dota 2
    WoW (20+ man raiding)
    Witcher 3
    EOS
    Skyrim
    Far cry 4


    My setup looks like this:
    GFX: ASUS GeForce GTX 970 TurboOC 4GB GDDR5
    Processor: Intel Core i5-4690K
    Memory: HyperX Fury DDR3 1600MHz 16GB Black
    PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2, 750W PSU
    MB: MSI B85-G43 GAMING, Socket-1150
    HD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD


    I just bought BenQ 24" 3D LED XL2411Z, previously owning a Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ, I thought TN panels were ok. The colors on the BenQ are complete trash and I have spent ours making it barely watchable. I have returned this monitor now. I thus fear buying another TN panel monitor, and have investigated a lot of IPS monitors.

    So...
    I wish to have a monitor that:
    - great colors
    - does not bottle neck the system
    - has no ghosting or tearing
    - overall serves my setup (neither under/over-budgeted)

    I wish to play the above-mentioned games at max settings with maximum possible fludity. I can spend around 300-500 USD on this monitor. I can accept a TN panel, if it has proven very good colors. I appreciate a resolution of 2560x1440 and at least 24". I am very confused about refresh rate: most people say that these games require no more than 60 fps and thus 60 Hz, others say that 120-144 Hz is a vast improvement no matter what. Yet again, others say that going from 1980x1080 to 2560x1440 and prioritizing color depths is the major thing gained by the right monitor.
    So what to believe?

    What are you experiences on monitors, fps, hz and these games in particular.

    My own best idea atm is:
    Dell UltraSharp 25 Monitor - U2515H

    It is supposed to have no ghosting.

    Sorry for a long post, hope you can help me out

    Thank you

  2. #2
    I bought this:



    If you had a little more money, that would solve ALL your problems/wishes. It has absolutely everything.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Yes get ips. TN is basically shit. Qft.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    I appreciate your comment mate

    However, just a simple video like this confuses me yet again:
    on the utube watch?v=r8Y26Uq07Kw

    What is your arguement based on?


    #1

    Yea, it's a sweet, sweet thing indeed

  5. #5
    As for TN vs IPS: I had for the longest time, like the huge majority of lcd monitor users, a TN panel. Colors were tweaked as best as it could, and for years I was "happy". I kept reading about how IPS colors ("full color gamut") was so much better, but you never could really tell by looking at youtube videos. Well, as I stated above, I bought that IPS display, and OH MY GOD the colors are SO great! No more too red, too purple or too yellow skin color! Every color is represented perfectly.

    It makes the experience of games and videos so much better, really. Sure you could skip IPS and go cheaper with super faster TN displays, but IPS getting better and better nowadays... it's almost a sacrilege not to buy one.

  6. #6
    U2515H is a good monitor. Be wary you need to turn down a few settings with a 1440p monitor and spend extra on the gpu. Get IPS for the games you play. Only competitive fps players really need the fast response TN panels. If you wanted a 1080p monitor, I was gona recommend U2414H though.

  7. #7
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DiGG View Post
    As for TN vs IPS: I had for the longest time, like the huge majority of lcd monitor users, a TN panel. Colors were tweaked as best as it could, and for years I was "happy". I kept reading about how IPS colors ("full color gamut") was so much better, but you never could really tell by looking at youtube videos. Well, as I stated above, I bought that IPS display, and OH MY GOD the colors are SO great! No more too red, too purple or too yellow skin color! Every color is represented perfectly.

    It makes the experience of games and videos so much better, really. Sure you could skip IPS and go cheaper with super faster TN displays, but IPS getting better and better nowadays... it's almost a sacrilege not to buy one.
    Uhhh...
    Well, going to link this again.
    Quote Originally Posted by Remilia View Post
    I guess I should note something for color coverage, accuracy, and reasons why they're avoided or used by professionals.

    All panel types will look a bit different due to how the sub pixels are set up. Which is why some people prefer one type to another despite it technically showing the same thing if they were all 100% calibrated the same.

    Panels' color coverage or gamut is largely dependent on what is used for back light. Earlier were using CCFLs which aren't as harsh / bright as LEDs but allowed a different variety of color gamut. Nowadays it's LEDs with W-LEDs giving a rough coverage of the sRGB gamut (72%~ NTSC). GB-r / GB / RB LED LEDs giving a rough coverage of Adobe RGB (104%~ NTSC), and RGB LED or Crystal LED (CLED -rip-) covering more than 114% NTSC comparable to OLED and Plasma gamut.
    Factory calibration is also to play part with the coverage.

    Now, TN, VA and IPS (including AHVA, PLS and IGZO) can have that color coverage provided it's using the proper back light and calibration.

    Color accuracy like gamut is independent from panel type. Color accuracy is largely dependent on calibration / factory set up. Some can have issues calibrating, doesn't matter if it's TN, VA or IPS. PA248Q comes to mind with having issues calibrating with user settings.

    Now why IPS is used over TNs and VAs.

    TN's viewing angle causes issue when doing professional artwork. The contrast shift and color shifts even when you're not looking directly straight.
    VA's is similar but most notable is off center contrast shifts, where dark materials you look at straight on may appear just completely black.
    Now most IPS (exception like Eizo EV2736W) also have something called IPS glow, where it's more prominent if you're looking at one at an angle you'll notice a silver/yellow (depends) 'glow'. It's possible to remove it as shown by the one mentioned before or with an inclusion of an A-TW Polarizer. This can also cause potential issues when working with more color critical dark content but it's not as prominent or of an issue than the other two.
    "Full color gamut" means nothing without context. IPS doesn't mean it inherently has better colors for the most part. Nowadays it's entirely up to factory calibration and set up. Exceptions are wide gamut and true 10bit atm.

    1920x1080@60Hz, I'd go with Dell U2414H.
    1920x1080@120Hz, I'd go with Eizo FG2421
    1920x1080@144Hz, BenQ XL2430T
    2560x1440@60Hz, BenQ GW2765HT or Dell U2515H.
    2560x1440@144Hz, none cause the ones producing the current ones have crap QA. Waiting on Eizo FS2735 personally.
    Last edited by Remilia; 2015-12-04 at 03:55 AM.

  8. #8
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    Always been a major fan of the Dell Ultrasharps, no matter what I'm doing.

  9. #9
    As a professional in the printing industry... who only skimmed what remilla wrote... I have to agree with him based on my 5 second interpretation of what he wrote.

    Did you try calibrating it professionally with an actual calibration device? I'd recommend calibrating it at 5500K (simulating natural light). If that's what you meant when you "spent hours", then yes, your monitor is crap. If you just spent hours turning nobs (pushing buttons now-a-days) then it's on you. Even using Windows baked in crap. Even Adobe's baked in crap. You need a device to properly do it.

    I have no idea how well the $30 dollar calibration devices work. I borrowed a very expensive calibration device from my work... but I will say that we spend hundreds of dollars on fancy monitors and scoff at spending $30 more for what I believe is the most important thing. Accurate color representation.

    A pantone huey at $30 or better yet an xrite at $60 should probably both be ok. Those two names have been industry standard for longer than any of us have been alive. (they're the same now though).

    Time for my story. My point is done, you don't need to read this.

    I bought a second monitor at home (I love it btw, and dual monitor is amazing). It drove me ape-shit that my monitors were different colors. Like I said, I'm a pro, and these things were night and day. After stealing the color calibration thing from work, my two monitors are almost identical (both calibrated at 5500K). I can drag a window half way between the two monitors, and I can barely tell the color difference on the same window split between two monitors.

    If I can get two random monitors to look identical, you may be able to get yours looking right. Hell, it's worth a whole $30 to try and possibly save hundreds, isn't it?

    Quick warning: When I first finished, I thought my games looked like crap. Even dealing with color 8 hours a day, my eyes were tricked. I was used to looking at crap... or at least at something different. Now I love it and think it's fine. So it's entirely possible your new monitor is just different, and you think it's crap. It's also likely to look like "crap" to you when you first finish calibrating. It takes a few days for your brain to re-wire itself.

    And again, I don't know how well the 30 dollar jobs work. I've heard horror stories.... but I tend to trust pantone and (moreso) xrite so it's entirely possible that these people posted their horror stories before letting their brain adjust to the above "quick warning".

    Also, pros calibrate every 30 or 60 days as their monitors get older because of drift. I haven't calibrated again at home for like 8mo now. My monitors are still almost identical, so it's more likely they are still fine, then it is that they both drifted exactly the same amount.
    Last edited by Aurimas; 2015-12-04 at 07:24 AM.

  10. #10
    Deleted
    Wow, well guys, thanks a lot for all the positive feedback!
    I never calibrated the monitor with a professional calibration tool, nope Just scoured the net, and tried 8 different icc profiles, while tweaking settings as different people had recommended it...for hours. Nothing really came up nicely.
    I am pretty set on IPS for now, but I really agree with you on your points saying that it is actually not entirely dependent on the panel itself, so TN can be nice. But how will I ever know? I can't test all monitors myself before buying them, and I can't keep returning them. Likewise, reviews on the net are in the east and in the west...

    I have read A LOT about problems with tearing on 60 hz monitors now, and incredible amounts of dead pixels and bad backlight bleeding. So I have to ask, how relevant is this?

    Sorry for all the questions... this is getting more and more frustrating, because I feel like I will buy a product that is "shit" in some regard, however good in other departments, no matter what I do, unless I spent near a 800 USD...
    Did people's expectations just suddenly rise exponentially since we have to buy such an expensive monitor? I payed less than 800USD for my computer...
    However, it's of course important, because you spent a lot of money on your rig, and if you buy a shitty monitor, what does it all matter then...

  11. #11
    When buying a monitor ask yourself this?

    What kind of gaming resolution am I going to want to play at?
    Am I aiming for 4k or normal 1080p?

    Cause thats the main thing to figure out when buying monitors, if you have an insane computer and its more then capable of running games in 4k and you have 1080p monitors you're out of luck.. Same thing vise versa. :P

  12. #12
    Deleted
    I've had the joy of gaming with more or less all of the mainstream 120hz+ monitors. I also have more or less your exact specs, different brand on the GPU though.

    Hands down the BenQ GW2765HT monitor has been the best experience I've had by far. Taking the 27" inch over the standard 24" makes SUCH a nice difference in games like Diablo and WoW, everything just looks beautiful on it. In terms of noticing the 144hz games like Diablo 3 shine, where as WoW there's hardly any difference with the improved frame rate, that's all based on what my eyes see of course Also this is all running 1080p

    Honestly, I returned my 4k monitor after 2 weeks. Gaming-wise I had mixed feelings. On one hand games looked BEAUTIFUL, playing Guild Wars 2 or Diablo 3 with maxed out graphics just looks insanely nice. Sadly you do trade off performance, even with a top end PC with 2+ GPUs you're going to struggle with certain games getting over 60fps. The point that made me sell the 4k monitor in the end (next to performance issues), was the Windows experience.. Windows looks TERRIBLE in 4k, first of the text is terrible, it hurts your eyes, even after giving them time to adjust. On top of that you need to scale everything in windows to about 150-200%, which makes everything easier on the eyes, except for the fact 50% of everything in a browser doesn't scale correctly to 4k. Either it's an insanely small video player interface to a overblown advertisement, it's just horrid to use

    All in all the BenQ 27" 144hz monitor is just amazing, I can guarantee you will love it and approve of the quality

  13. #13
    I am Murloc! Mister K's Avatar
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    Asus, Acer (stepped up their game), AOC and Benq are decent ones to go with.

    Dell Ultrasharp range is more for content creation then gaming. I love my AOC however.
    -K

  14. #14
    Deleted
    Great! Thanks for the reply
    I never intend to game 4k atm. Only 2k, as in 2560x1440, and I see that GW2765HT supports this.

    How is the colour though? This is super crucial as well The BenQ 2411 was complete trash... so I am paranoid!

    And again, for IPS, backlight bleeding and tearing examples all over the internet, is that true for all of them and U2515H in particular?

    - - - Updated - - -

    And how is GW2765HT compared to U2515H, if you tried both of them?

    - - - Updated - - -

  15. #15
    The Lightbringer Artorius's Avatar
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    Just like Remilia said, for colors the panels can display the same thing as long as they're decently calibrated, from comparable quality and you're not looking off-angle at it. IPS doesn't have better color reproduction than TN, it has better off-angle color reproduction. Which is less color shifting if you're looking at it from strange angles.

    IPS and TN are both crop when it comes to black levels, they both have a shit contrast ratio of 1000:1 that is the same of 10 years ago. If you want some image quality I'd go VA.

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