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Trouble deciding which monitor!

Post Date: 2016-02-27
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MajorMez View Drop Down
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Posts: 4 		  Quote MajorMez Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Trouble deciding which monitor!
    Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 3:54pm
Hey everyone! New member here. So I just purchased a rig off DS which is practically everything I've ever wanted, especially with it's GTX 980 ti -6gb- EVGA Hybrid (yes the liquid cooled one).

So i already am prepared for a wonderful picture and have been browsing the market for a good 1440p G-Sync monitor, preferably a 27-inch and up. Now here is my dilemma: after some browsing around I happened to come across the ASUS ROG Swift as well as the Acer Predator XB271HU and the Acer XB270HU and as nice as they all seem (with 27 inch displays, 1440p, and g-sync) I have read up so many mixed reviews and opinions on the 3 monitors, such as how they have terrible QC and a lot of defects and light bleeding/dead pixels which results in having to send back numerous times for a replacement more than once, but then I read on how amazing they are and how they are "the best 1440p g-sync diplay of 2015". i was hoping some of you could shed some light and feedback on this, especially anyone that owns any of the three. I know Digital Storm sells the Asus ROG Swift 27-inch 1440p and was curious to know if they inspect their monitors as well before shipping them off.

Final question: is G-sync all it is cracked up to be and would someone who was reduced to always playing 1600x900 notice a picture difference? Because I know BenQ has some amazing non-gsync monitors that are still 1400p.

Sorry for the amateur hour questions, just really excited for my new investment.
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db188 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 4:30pm
first off, which ROG Swift are you talking about?  because there's the first (older) version that is a TN-panel model, which although a nice TN model won't stack up to an IPS (Acer models you listed) in true color/image quality.  the 2016 model is, i believe, an IPS. 

as for QC/build quality, Asus is better.  that doesn't mean you won't get a bad luck of the draw with ANY monitor.  ALL IPS screens have a problem with contrast and a phenomena known as "IPS glow", which can be confused (especially by the uninformed) as "Back Light Bleed".  if you want true color and the overall better viewing angles/image quality of an IPS, but you can't stand its poor blacks, i'd suggest looking into monitors that use a similar tech, called "VA".  VA panels generally offer better contrast ratios/deeper blacks, while still retaining the better viewing angles and color of IPS panels.  i think their major drawback is speed-they aren't as fast as IPS in general. 

regardless, i think you'll be very happy with one of those Predators.  they're good products.

G-sync must be paired with Nvidia cards, while FreeSync is the AMD equivalent.  G-sync actually involves a hardware module incorporated into the monitor.  is it worth it?  i think so.  by syncing the gpu to the monitor's refresh rate you eliminate image tearing and stutter.  read up on it if you want more in depth and technical explanation.  tft central is a good place for reviews and explanations of technical terms and testing methodologies. 

in general, TN panels are fast, but their image quality sucks.  of course, like anything, until you taste something of higher quality you don't know what you're missing out on.  your palette hasn't evolved if you've been stuck on TN's your whole life.  the higher the resolution the more pixels are displayed at one time on your screen, so yeah, with higher resolution you will notice a change in image quality.  you've gotta have the hardware capable of displaying those images well. 

G-Sync and FreeSync just do a better job of cleaning up the tearing w/o the stuttering associated with the old V-Sync.  these technologies don't improve any other aspect of the total image quality.  color, viewing angles, contrast ratios, pixel density, refresh rate and overall speed, etc. are other factors outside of G-Sync/FreeSync tech. 
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eeekman View Drop Down
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Posts: 95 		  Quote eeekman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 4:32pm
I have the XB270HU and couldn't be happier. I read all those same criticisms and decided to take the chance anyway because TFT Central had such good praise for it. Again, this monitor is awesome.

Alot of complaints of backlight bleed are really IPS glow. In a dark room, especially when there are dark colors displayed, you will notice light coming from the outside edges (In my case, the bottom right). This does not bother me at all and doesn't effect the awesome picture. You may feel differently though.

Edited by eeekman - 27 Feb 2016 at 4:33pm
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db188 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 4:41pm
as for dead pixel policies for returns they all vary.  i'm pretty sure Apple is the best with a zero dead pixel policy. 

Dell requires 6 or more dead, dark or bright sub pixel combinations to accept a replacement. 

HP has a zero dead pixel, up to five dark or bright sub pixel issues. 

most vendors stick to the ISO standard.  Apple and HP are probably the most forgiving/tolerant.  Asus and Acer and Samsung are average tbh.  depends if you catch them on a good day. 


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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 4:51pm
her's my mantra:  if you're going to invest $600 or more bucks into graphics then sink that much into the monitor, otherwise, what's the point of wasted graphics muscle? 
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MajorMez View Drop Down
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Posts: 4 		  Quote MajorMez Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 4:58pm
The ROG Swift I was mentioning was the PG279Q.

There are so many monitors out there and I am trying to find the best choice for my setup. I know for a fact I want G-Sync monitor 27+ inches. As for 1080-1440p, I am not set in stone on that yet since I do not know exactly how much picture quality I will notice when sitting 4 feet from my screen. Really all I am hoping to find is a reliable gsync monitor with high resolution, amazing colors, especially with darker colors, as I have experienced them washed out before on previous monitors.
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Posts: 4 		  Quote MajorMez Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 5:04pm
Originally posted by db188

as for dead pixel policies for returns they all vary.  i'm pretty sure Apple is the best with a zero dead pixel policy.  Dell requires 6 or more dead, dark or bright sub pixel combinations to accept a replacement.  HP has a zero dead pixel, up to five dark or bright sub pixel issues.  most vendors stick to the ISO standard.  Apple and HP are probably the most forgiving/tolerant.  Asus and Acer and Samsung are average tbh.  depends if you catch them on a good day. 

Does DS inspect their monitors before being shipped out as well?
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 5:17pm
Last I heard, DS sends out the monitor unopened, just as they received them from manufacturer or distributor.    
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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 27 Feb 2016 at 6:02pm
i have a feeling you aren't going to enjoy IPS monitors simply because of the that "washed out" look that seems to be the most important priority of yours.  i would look into a VA panel make/model, with the Phillips BDM40" as being possibly the best of the bunch for this panel tech.  it is fast (in the 8ms range) for VA panels and provides the best contrast ratio (around 4-5k:1) you can get. 

here's a summary from tftcentral:

The first thing which strikes you about this screen is of course its size! It's truly a massive screen and some might argue that it's too big for every day desktop use. However, being so big does mean that the 3840 x 2160 quad HD resolution works very comfortably and you don't need to worry about OS and application scaling which is nice. The size and resolution make multi-tasking very easy, and the wide range of MultiView PiP/PbP options make split screening very practical. For gaming and movies the screen is excellent, offering a size equivalent to most TV's and something which you can comfortably use from a couple of metres away and still feel big, or from up close giving you impressive immersion.

The VA panel performed very well overall, and we were impressed particularly by a couple of areas, The contrast ratio was excellent and clearly dark content and shadow detail is a strong point of this screen. The response times were also impressive for this panel technology, offering a decent gaming and movie experience for a VA panel. Default setup was decent enough and it's not hard to tweak some settings to correct the colour temperature. Unfortunately while the sRGB factory calibrated mode offered even more accurate setup, the preset was locked at 100% brightness making it unusable in practice. The uniformity correction mode worked well also which was pleasing, but the setup of gamma and white point need correcting in that mode through calibration. The VA panel offered pretty decent viewing angles as well, not as good as IPS but the freedom from the pale glow on dark content that you get from IPS was more beneficial on a screen this size. That lack of glow, the 4k resolution and the high contrast ratio made it very enjoyable for movie viewing.

There were a couple of areas which were disappointing. The lack of any ergonomic adjustments from the stand was disappointing, but we suppose very comparable to modern TV's. The use of PWM for backlight dimming was a shame as well. All in all we thought we would never get used to a screen this size, but actually after a week or two of use it's very useable. The screen is a very interesting choice for that all in one display, which can be happily used as a decent desktop monitor and offer some very nice LCD TV-style gaming and movie experience. The price is very attractive as well, currently retailing in the UK at ~£689.99 (GBP). For a 4k screen so big, it's a very nice option.
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Posts: 4 		  Quote MajorMez Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Feb 2016 at 3:21am
I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this post! All your feedback was highly considered and it seems I decided to go with a Dell Gaming S2716DG. I found one on sale from Amazon for a really good price considering it is 1440p, 144hz, and G-Sync compatible. Sure it is a TN monitor, but like I've mentioned in previous posts, I have only gamed on 1600x900 TN 60hz monitors, so anything more is an improvement regardless. Cheers :)
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Feb 2016 at 3:34am
Nice.

Being very happy with my 4-5 year old Dell u2311h IPS 1080p , I haven't done much research on monitors.    I wouldn't hesitate getting another Dell.

Enjoy.
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Posts: 2115 		  Quote db188 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 29 Feb 2016 at 3:45pm
Originally posted by MajorMez

I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this post! All your feedback was highly considered and it seems I decided to go with a Dell Gaming S2716DG. I found one on sale from Amazon for a really good price considering it is 1440p, 144hz, and G-Sync compatible. Sure it is a TN monitor, but like I've mentioned in previous posts, I have only gamed on 1600x900 TN 60hz monitors, so anything more is an improvement regardless. Cheers :)
i think you'll be happy with that monitor.  it's very fast and comes with blur reduction support for a good price.  just remember you can't run g-sync while blur reduction mode is being used at the same time.  you'll have to decide which offers the best image quality for you.
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Brad_W77 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 04 Mar 2016 at 9:37pm
I have the Acer XB270HU and I was going from 1080p to 1440. I definitely noticed a quality difference and I cant ever see myself going back to 1080.

G-Sync is harder to tell since I have a Titan X and can play everything on Ultra at 1440p without much frame variations.

I read the mixed reviews about the ROG Swift and the XB270HU as well and was nervous about pulling the trigger on an $800 monitor. I chose the Acer XB270HU because of the IPS panel and the TFT review.

My display looks fine to me, I dont notice any light bleed. I can notice a bit of IPS "glow" when its dark at night and a scene changes to a darker setting but not enough to bother me.

The first thing I did when I plugged it in was inspect it for dead pixels. I couldnt find any. AFter a few hours of play I notice some tiny specks on my screen so I wiped them off with a microfiber cloth.

There is one tiny speck in my bottom right corner that I honestly cant tell if its a dead pixel or something trapped in there, it doesnt wipe off and I can only see it on a pure white screen so I disregard it.

Other than that I'm happy with the Acer XB270HU.
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