1440p and High Refresh Rate

[redsquirrel0249]

What are your favorite 1440p monitors over 60Hz refresh rate? Have you had good experiences with backlighting, color, contrast, value for size, etc? What about ease of use (cable accessibility and other features)?

 

I recently bought a 27" MSI Optix MAG27CQ curved 144Hz 1440p LED monitor, and I got it for a great price (about $380, free shipping). However, the backlight bleeds a bit at an angle. The panel is VA, though, and looks great. 3000:1 static contrast is decent, as well. The monitor has limited options, though, and some gimmicky red LEDs on the back.

I considered getting a Massdrop Vast (35" UWQHD, 100Hz), but $650 was a bit much for a 1440p monitor that would swallow my desk whole.

 

What do you think? Did I get a good deal? What could have been better for this feature set? Should I have focused more on QLED and other display quality features? Let me know below.

[Streetguru]

20 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

 

That's how much the korean monitors cost, but ya I'd only buy the IPS 1440p 144hz displays despite it's short comings.

 

Pixio/Nixeus are normally at $399

[cyph0rg]

Hello,

 

I am currently using an ASUS VA32AQ 31.5” as my main display, it has a gorgeous IPS  panel, yes it is not *the best* monitor for gaming, but the color reproduction on it is bar none the better than any *gaming* oriented monitor I have ever used and gave me no issues what so ever, other than the power brick dying, but that was easily fixable with a $20 replacement from Amazon.

 

I found it on Amazon and a refurbished model was selling at a local store for about 45% of retail price on Amazon at the time. Basically I just drove to the store and bought it the same day. Enjoying every minute on it.

 

I am however thinking about getting a more *gaming* oriented monitor, I would love to get a 144 Hz display with G-SYNC but budget wise that's not in the cards for me, plus I stream games on twitch so I believe that opting to go with a more "twitch friendly" 1080p would be best, so I'm currently debating on purchasing the ASUS VA326H 31.5".

One you go beyond the 30" mark it is NOT possible to drop back down..

 

Best regards,

cyph0rg.

 

https://www.twitch.tv/cyph0rg

[redsquirrel0249]

@Streetguru I'd seen the Pixio and Nixeus monitors. I just got this to save a buck. What do you mean: 

4 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

I'd only buy the IPS 1440p 144hz displays despite it's short comings

What are you comparing it to?

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

@Streetguru I'd seen the Pixio and Nixeus monitors. I just got this to save a buck. What do you mean: 

What are you comparing it to?

All of the TN 144hz displays

[redsquirrel0249]

@cyph0rg I definitely thought about the 75Hz eye care monitors, but I wanted something to grow into as far as performance. Do you get 75Hz out of everything (i.e. the OS, games, video, etc.)? I remember reading reviews that seemed to indicate odd things about similar products, can't remember specifics, though.

 

I think G-Sync with 144Hz is an oxymoron. Syncing refresh rates were only intended under 100Hz anyway from what I understand (really close to 40-60Hz), and I doubt the benefit would be too great if you were already running 120+Hz comfortably (like CS:GO with an 8700K). A drop from 140 to 120 would be less noticeable than 70 to 60, and that seems solvable with a framerate cap. I'm curious to see more information about the combination of the technologies, though.

 

There's a slot in my desk about 29" wide for my monitor, so that's why I chose my size. I do think a 35" ultrawide is a bit much in the FOV department. I'd say 30-32" is a sweet spot as far as 16:9 monitors go. It's immersive enough without sacrificing awareness and the ability to view the entire scene at once. And I think the same can be said about the 100Hz threshold. I swear, the moment I loaded Windows 10 and saw the 120Hz windows sliding around I couldn't stop shouting WHOOOOAAAAAAA with my mouse flailing around.

 

Glad you got lucky with the refurb, btw, those can be tricky sometimes with warranty and what not.

 

@Streetguru What shortcomings of the IPS monitors are you referring to? Price? TN is hardly worth the money imo when you consider you're buying a product based on visual appearance that looks like crap. They're for performance, not entertainment, I'd say.

[Streetguru]

Just now, redsquirrel0249 said:

 

IPS has light bleed issues potentially and some ghosting issues

[TwoKillaBytes]

Recently got my monitor. It's an Acer XZ1 XZ321QU 31.5" 144Hz FreeSync (Apparently only sold in China and Taiwan). It has a VA panel with FreeSync support. The colour reproduction is not the best. The only issue i have with it is that the screen flickers sometimes, I really don't know whats causing that issue.

[redsquirrel0249]

@Streetguru That's why I made this post, just trying to gather opinions of others regarding those things. Some do, some don't. For example, Apple displays use IPS panels but have tremendous backlights and no ghosting that I've ever seen. However, my MSI has backlight bleed, but it's VA.

[redsquirrel0249]

@TwoKillaBytes That's odd to have a flicker issue with such a high refresh rate, though that's more an issue with backlight than pixels. Any reviews reporting the same thing? I had looked at a similar US model from Acer, but changed based on price. Did you compare much when you bought?

 

I wish there was a clearer way to measure color reproduction. Contrast is part of it, but obviously not all of it.

[Mick Naughty]

Really like the one in my sig. looks amazing especially compared to my old 120hz panels. I don’t use it for much though, isn’t much use to me gaming wise but good for watching high res YouTube. 

[redsquirrel0249]

@Mick Naughty You're talking about the 5760x1080? That's a crazy wide resolution. I've never even heard of that... Seems like you'd only be able to watch 1080p on it anyway, right? Seems like gaming would be the perfect application. Or multitasking. You've got the RAM for that, and the GPU for gaming.

 

So what's special about your new panel?

[Mick Naughty]

7 hours ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

@Mick Naughty You're talking about the 5760x1080? That's a crazy wide resolution. I've never even heard of that... Seems like you'd only be able to watch 1080p on it anyway, right? Seems like gaming would be the perfect application. Or multitasking. You've got the RAM for that, and the GPU for gaming.

 

So what's special about your new panel?

Not the three 1080 monitors. The 1440 monitor. Nothing special about it. But you can check the specs on it. 

[redsquirrel0249]

@Mick Naughty You still can't watch 4K youtube, and youtube doesn't do in between resolutions, does it? And it only does 60Hz, right? And I looked at the specs of your Acer 1440p monitor, and I still ask, what's so special about it? It's like mine with a straight panel, less static contrast, and a TN panel with the same resolution and refresh rate. It's not much cheaper, either. It does have built in speakers and has a super thin bezel, but those are hardly necessary or impactful.

[Mick Naughty]

11 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

@Mick Naughty You still can't watch 4K youtube, and youtube doesn't do in between resolutions, does it? And it only does 60Hz, right? And I looked at the specs of your Acer 1440p monitor, and I still ask, what's so special about it? It's like mine with a straight panel, less static contrast, and a TN panel with the same resolution and refresh rate. It's not much cheaper, either. It does have built in speakers and has a super thin bezel, but those are hardly necessary or impactful.

I could watch 4K technically, I wouldn’t know about in between, I just click 1440 when the creator actually uploads it. I don’t know the refresh rate of YouTube, it being windows it would be 60, idk. It’s a 144hz monitor though. 

 

I didn’t say anything was special about it. You asked what my favorite monitor is at 1440, that would be it. 

[redsquirrel0249]

Oh, they do have 1440p on youtube. Didn't know. And you can't watch 4K video on a 1440p monitor...

 

Windows can do 120Hz, youtube does 30Hz, 60Hz for certain high quality videos.

 

Right, but I'm curious why it's your favorite other than just being one you own. You must have bought it over other monitors, right? So there must be some distinguishing advantage over others, right? Otherwise, you would've bought a different one. But mostly, the purpose of this post was to get the opinions of people who have used/owned more than one monitor before in the range I'm talking about. However, I myself have gained a lot of experience just checking specs trying do decide on my first real gaming monitor.

[Mick Naughty]

27 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Oh, they do have 1440p on youtube. Didn't know. And you can't watch 4K video on a 1440p monitor...

 

Windows can do 120Hz, youtube does 30Hz, 60Hz for certain high quality videos.

 

Right, but I'm curious why it's your favorite other than just being one you own. You must have bought it over other monitors, right? So there must be some distinguishing advantage over others, right? Otherwise, you would've bought a different one. But mostly, the purpose of this post was to get the opinions of people who have used/owned more than one monitor before in the range I'm talking about. However, I myself have gained a lot of experience just checking specs trying do decide on my first real gaming monitor.

You can watch what ever res you want on any res, that what up and down scaling is.

 

I bought it because it was the best one in the store for a decent price. Just wanted to try out 1440 to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Ive never seen windows go over 60hz unless if some fancy version of an os, not like it would need to go higher really.

[redsquirrel0249]

Watching a 3840 pixel by 2160 pixel video input on a 2560 pixel by 1440 pixel display does not mean you're watching a 4K video any more than watching a 720p video labeled 4K on a 720p monitor, yet has no resolution connection to the associated with 4K, is watching 4K, downscaling or otherwise. A 4K movie isn't 4K, if it's not displayed in 4K. I understand that you can watch 4K on any resolution monitor, but 4K literally can't display on 1440p setups by definition. It transforms itself into something else. You're getting hung up on my semantics. Yes, that's what I "said," but that's not what I said.

 

Where did you buy from? Sometimes stores have special deals, so it's good to keep an eye out. I got mine from monoprice during a spring sale, that's how I got mine cheaper.

 

And windows has no need to run higher than 60Hz just like a game doesn't need to, but it's kinda fun flinging windows around with a buttery frame rate. Windows ran 120Hz natively when I loaded it on my computer. Not sure if drivers just clicked, or what, but I know it's an option you can adjust. I don't think it does 144Hz specifically, though, and your display probably has to support 120Hz and native resolution in combination.

[porina]

I have an Acer Predator XB241YU - 1440p 144 Hz TN G-sync. Paid under £300 at the time which was good for the spec where I am. It is my main monitor for now. It has the typical TN "features", like colour variations and dynamics just feel wrong compared to IPS, but it is one of the better TN panels I've used. Why didn't I go IPS? It was over double the price at the time (don't know if it has improved since) and choice was rather limited then.

 

One mistake I made with this monitor is that at 24", it is a bit tight at 100% on the desktop. I don't like using scaling. Should have got the next size up, but once again, the price goes up a LOT if I were to do that.

[Mick Naughty]

Got it from microcenter. I tend to go up there and buy stuff when I’m bored. The monitor is was one of those times. It was 100 bucks off, so I figured it was worth the buy. Using for my laptop now to watch tv in bed, has some uses I guess. 

[redsquirrel0249]

@porina TN is definitely a good value if you find the right one, like the one @Mick Naughty got at microcenter. And I agree: I'm writing this on a 20" all-in-one I use for office stuff, and it's definitely a size that makes me lean forward a lot. 27" was the perfect size for me because it was enough of an upgrade to play games on but small enough to fit in a slot in my desk.

[Army165]

I snagged a Dell S2716DG up on CL for $300. Works well and I like it. 

[redsquirrel0249]

@Army165 That's a good deal. You really have to pay when it comes to MSRP on G-Sync stuff.