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How to choose a monitor: What information to know, and where to find it.

SolarNova
  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/12/2020 at 1:19 PM, SolarNova said:

As mentioned, reviewers. However, you will need to find those who test objectively, display the results, and ideally also inform you of their testing methodology so you can compare displays across different reviewers.

This is a good reason why I take a month or two for before purchasing some new products. This method should be used for many other products and can help prevent buyers remorse.👍  

Gaming With a 4:3 CRT

System specs below

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X with a Noctua NH-U9S cooler 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 Aorus M (Because it was cheap)
RAM: 32GB (4 x 8GB) Corsair Vengance LPX 3200Mhz CL16
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 Ti SC Blower Card
HDD: 7200RPM TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 1TB, External HDD: 5400RPM 2TB WD My Passport
SSD: 1tb Samsung 970 evo m.2 nvme
PSU: Corsair CX650M
Displays: ViewSonic VA2012WB LCD 1680x1050p @ 75Hz
Gateway VX920 CRT: 1920x1440@65Hz, 1600x1200@75Hz, 1200x900@100Hz, 960x720@125Hz
Gateway VX900 CRT: 1920x1440@64Hz, 1600x1200@75Hz, 1200x900@100Hz, 960x720@120Hz (Can be pushed to 175Hz)
 
Keyboard: Thermaltake eSPORTS MEKA PRO with Cherry MX Red switches
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  • 1 month later...
question i want to buy a monitor that has 1440p and 144hz i was thing AOC Q27G2U/BK is this a good monitor i dont want to spend to much. also is the Phillips E-line 276E8VJSB a good 4k monitor.
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5 minutes ago, Assasingreed said:
question i want to buy a monitor that has 1440p and 144hz i was thing AOC Q27G2U/BK is this a good monitor i dont want to spend to much. also is the Phillips E-line 276E8VJSB a good 4k monitor.

You best course of action is to follow the guide above, once u have found a few options ,that have reviews available ,that ur ok with, make a new thread and ask for opinions on the options u have found.

 

Remember, without a review of the monitors you choose, any choice made will be on specs alone, which inst the best course of action as explained above.

 

Make sure to link the reviews ur using to pick the options so people can help compare them.

 

I cant comment on the AOC display of the top of my head and I see no thorough reviews at a quick glance. If u have found one make sure to link it in ur thread.

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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  • 1 month later...

This makes monitor purchase almost impossible with out seeing it in person.  What I have found so far is most sites like Amazon lack the needed info for picking good displays. Plus reviewers tend to lean either on the high end  144hz 1440 50inch 1ms ips Gsync RGB bla bla bl pannels or they go for bang for the buck $200 dollar options.  Also I notice that everything seems to be centered around FPS gaming and Usually never accounts for the people that play MMO's or people that don't care if there may be a slight delay if that means that the picture and panel looks amazing.  I would gladly make that trade any day. 

 

Monitors and TV seem to be one of the hardest decisions to make when it comes to buying peripherals and the manufacturers dont make it any easier with there naming like PC218jklmnop-lc Gaming. Because you can do all the do diligence you want by going to a review site but when it comes time to purchase and you go to type in the one you seen on the review you may not get the model you are looking for because it has a P, W, Q at the end and now you got an out dated version or your shown the more expensive option. 

 

So if any there any manufactures reading this please can you just name your panels something normal. 

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58 minutes ago, ELSknutson said:

and Usually never accounts for the people that play MMO's or people that don't care if there may be a slight delay if that means that the picture and panel looks amazing.  I would gladly make that trade any day.

Rtings has pretty decent selection of different kind of monitors and they have an amazing table tool to search for monitors. It does take some time to learn how to use it, mostly to learn the names of the filters you want to use. Thankfully you can find them pretty easily from any of the reviews they have on the site.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table

 

They also have a lots of articles where they recommend monitors.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sooo from what I've figured now my dream of an 1440p/144hz Monitor with propper HDR is pretty much dead and I should rather buy one Monitor with a high refresh rate and one Monitor(or TV) With greate colors/HDR?

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59 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

Sooo from what I've figured now my dream of an 1440p/144hz Monitor with propper HDR is pretty much dead and I should rather buy one Monitor with a high refresh rate and one Monitor(or TV) With greate colors/HDR?

Bluntly..... Yes.

 

The closest u can get at present is LG CX 48" OLED, which runs 120hz 4k, VRR, BFI, and HDR.

For many though its still too big at 48" and most are unwilling to make the small habitual changes necessary to look after a OLED.

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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52 minutes ago, SolarNova said:

Bluntly..... Yes.

 

The closest u can get at present is LG CX 48" OLED, which runs 120hz 4k, VRR, BFI, and HDR.

For many though its still too big at 48" and most are unwilling to make the small habitual changes necessary to look after a OLED.

Thanks for your response :).
Okay since 48" is way to big for me as Monitor I guess I gonna stick with 2 Sepperate Monitors or a Monitor and a TV, I gonna look into that with the information you kindly provided in this tutorial.
Last question if I may.
If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

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5 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

Indeed, there are many threads in here where people give tips on how to minimize the chance of a burn-in.

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16 minutes ago, alovarosa said:

If you talk about "Habitual changes necessarry to look after an OLED" doesn't that basically just mean I have to prepare for screen burn in? So basically I'd make "Habitual changes" by installing a sort of screen saver (uhh, oldschool) or just simply turning my Monitor/TV Off while not using it?

Pritty much.

 

OLEDs pixel degradation is cumulative, so its more a case of reducing the amount of total time the same image is displayed over and over again.

Like for example a game UI, or a fully expanded Browser window, or Icons on ur desktop and the windows taskbar and desktop background image.

 

You can work around this with some simple changes.

Hide taskbar, screensaver, animated or changing desktop background, hiding icons or adding transparency. ('Wallpaper Engine' does most of this) and for browser windows, just dont open them up in fullscreen , manually expand them and shift them around each time u open it.

 

For games u just try to limit static UI's, especially high contrast ones, hide them, change their size often, and ideally just don't play the same game for 6+ hours a day every day for years (like streamers do). So long as ur games are varied pixel degradation should be relatively uniform so ull avoid 'screen burn'.

 

I still use a Plasma so i do all this myself, and its become second nature, its my habitual use now , i dont notice im doing it most of the time.

 

OLED 'burn-in' isnt like 'real' burn in from the CRT and Plasma days, u can play fortnight, for example, for 24 hours straight, so long as u leave the OLED to go through its pixel refresh cycle, u wont find any burn in the next day. But if u keep doing that every day, it will degrade over time fro the cumulative degradation rather than immediate permanent damage.

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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I want to buy a second monitor. My main has 240hz and Gsync. What specs do I need on the other one to not have issues with stuttering/downregulate refreshers etc?

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  • 3 weeks later...

What about RGB vs BGR subpixel layout? Does this matter as much as some people on reddit seem to think? OS's are macOS and Ubuntu, we are a Windows free household. GPUs are AMD for Ubuntu and Intel for the macs. Seems like everything over 40 inches is BGR. Will this make for blurry or jagged text on the macs in particular? It looks like I can set the Ubuntu to BGR in conf, but will this actually correct the issue?

 

The monitor in question is the LG 43UN700-B 42.5-inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor

 

 

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11 hours ago, ReganCACS said:

What about RGB vs BGR subpixel layout? Does this matter as much as some people on reddit seem to think? OS's are macOS and Ubuntu, we are a Windows free household. GPUs are AMD for Ubuntu and Intel for the macs. Seems like everything over 40 inches is BGR. Will this make for blurry or jagged text on the macs in particular? It looks like I can set the Ubuntu to BGR in conf, but will this actually correct the issue?

 

The monitor in question is the LG 43UN700-B 42.5-inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor

 

 

Text clarity on displays with 'odd' subpixel layouts is somewhat a OS issue. In windows for example it is designed to work with RGB layouts and as such BGR and WBGR layouts result in text being less clear at smaller text sizes that heavily rely on 2 pixel width font.

For example the Lg 48" OLED uses WBGR and Windows font at 100% native scaling doesnt look to great, however at larger font sizes resulting from scaling at 150% and 300% text is much more legible as its able to utilize more pixels (3 - 4) to make a solid black line for a letter.

Windows cleartype however I htink it looks worse.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/48-cx-oled

 

I have no experience with MacOS or Ubunto so i have no idea how it would handle such displays.

 

Without a review testing the specifc model ur looking to use, I have no more information on it than you.

 

That said rtings do have a review up of a BGR display, namely the Phillips Momentum. It shows some crosshatching, but its not as bad a Lgs WBGR layout.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/philips/momentum-436m6vbpab

 

In the end ull just have to see it in person to make ur decision.

 

 

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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  • 1 month later...

Hello

 

I am in need of a new but budget monitor for 2D/3D animation, graphic design and coding.

My budget is around 250-350€

It needs to have IPS panel, some type of HDR, ideally 4K and adjustable stand is a must. Pivot would be nice too.

 

Please, help me find the right one.

 

Thank you.

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I am in Canada first of all and I got to ask is there any affordable option for 4k monitors in the $350 to $400 + tax range?  Is there anything anyone would recommend?  Only places I would buy from right now are Newegg.ca, BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca as I actually want to get my monitor and these places have delivered things on time when I have ordered from them in the past few months.  Btw I don't care about 144 FPS as I want picture quality more.  Also the video card that would be driving my pc is an RX 5700 XT so I guess Free-Sync matters?  All I know is I have done some shopping and haven't been able to decide on anything.  I did look at the following monitor but can't figure out what kind of panel it has ...

 https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16824236825?Item=N82E16824236825

I assume this is a TN panel and I want to avoid this at all costs if possible.

Oh and one other thing is when trying to pick out a monitor I am trying to avoid what I got with this LG tv I am using for a monitor and that is 1080p likes like garbage on it.  I had a previous tv that did not have this issue but that was then and this is now. : S   As for purchasing a new tv I looked into it but don't like the idea of getting locked in to pay for something for awhile.

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10 hours ago, idontlikephysx said:

I am in Canada first of all and I got to ask is there any affordable option for 4k monitors in the $350 to $400 + tax range?  Is there anything anyone would recommend?  Only places I would buy from right now are Newegg.ca, BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca as I actually want to get my monitor and these places have delivered things on time when I have ordered from them in the past few months.  Btw I don't care about 144 FPS as I want picture quality more.  Also the video card that would be driving my pc is an RX 5700 XT so I guess Free-Sync matters?  All I know is I have done some shopping and haven't been able to decide on anything.  I did look at the following monitor but can't figure out what kind of panel it has ...

 https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16824236825?Item=N82E16824236825

I assume this is a TN panel and I want to avoid this at all costs if possible.

Oh and one other thing is when trying to pick out a monitor I am trying to avoid what I got with this LG tv I am using for a monitor and that is 1080p likes like garbage on it.  I had a previous tv that did not have this issue but that was then and this is now. : S   As for purchasing a new tv I looked into it but don't like the idea of getting locked in to pay for something for awhile.

IMO you shouldnt be looking at 4k with a 5700XT driving it.

 

1440p would be a better suite and give you more options to look at.

 

Here is a link to my ratings profile on rtings. See what catches your eye.

 

https://www.rtings.com/user/ratings/ABkArd5QEMduIA

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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Monitor is a personal preference.  I have yet to find a TN panel I like and some people refuse to use VA for smearing or IPS for "IPS glow". See and test if if you can just know the showroom floor is a different experience than in the home.  I let my guard down with TN thinking they improved enough looking at it in store and regretted it when I used it at home.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm glad you link this for everyone, but it's a very confusing way of portraying the monitors. The average person does not need to know all about which budgets contain which monitors (everyone knows that more expensive=better and that 500$ is the best balance) and most people know what pixel response time and input lag is, and you link this post to people who are just looking for a recommendation, not a wikipedia article about monitors.

I recommend just updating this with recommendations in each budget and resolution+refresh rate.

 

For example 450$ = Dell s2721DGF (Nano-ips) (165Hz)

Alternative 400$ = LG 27GN750 (Nano-ips (144Hz) (sRgb mode)

etc.

 

As it now stands, this post is useless for the 70% of people finding this after you link it in their recommendation post.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/2/2020 at 2:36 AM, SolarNova said:

You best course of action is to follow the guide above, once u have found a few options ,that have reviews available ,that ur ok with, make a new thread and ask for opinions on the options u have found.

 

Remember, without a review of the monitors you choose, any choice made will be on specs alone, which inst the best course of action as explained above.

 

Make sure to link the reviews ur using to pick the options so people can help compare them.

 

I cant comment on the AOC display of the top of my head and I see no thorough reviews at a quick glance. If u have found one make sure to link it in ur thread.

Any luck with aoc, cus i am thinking to get the aoc 24g2. is it any good and or is there any minor drawback of the display?

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10 hours ago, Sumadiana said:

Any luck with aoc, cus i am thinking to get the aoc 24g2. is it any good and or is there any minor drawback of the display?

https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-24g2u-24g2/

 

Uniformity could be a sticking point, that will be down to panel lottery for the most part. The above review showed some issues, however another linked below mentioned no issue however i have cannot comment on their accuracy as i dont use their site. Their uniformity test (backlight bleed) seemed to be limited.

https://www.techporn.ph/review-aoc-24g2-gaming-monitor/

 

Another reviewer noticed color uniformity issues.

https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/james-morris/aoc-24g2u-24in-144hz-gaming-monitor-review/4/

 

However all noted good color accuracy.

 

You'll also likely want to avoid using its 'Motion Blur Reduction' , its BFI, as its not well synchronized causing noticeable crosstalk ( moving image duplication).

Since ull likely want to use freesync anyway it doesnt matter as MRB isnt available with freesync at the same time.

 

For the price i'd say its good.

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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On 2/5/2021 at 11:59 PM, SolarNova said:

https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-24g2u-24g2/

 

Uniformity could be a sticking point, that will be down to panel lottery for the most part. The above review showed some issues, however another linked below mentioned no issue however i have cannot comment on their accuracy as i dont use their site. Their uniformity test (backlight bleed) seemed to be limited.

https://www.techporn.ph/review-aoc-24g2-gaming-monitor/

 

Another reviewer noticed color uniformity issues.

https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/james-morris/aoc-24g2u-24in-144hz-gaming-monitor-review/4/

 

However all noted good color accuracy.

 

You'll also likely want to avoid using its 'Motion Blur Reduction' , its BFI, as its not well synchronized causing noticeable crosstalk ( moving image duplication).

Since ull likely want to use freesync anyway it doesnt matter as MRB isnt available with freesync at the same time.

 

For the price i'd say its good.

Aight, i'll check on it. thanks for the info

btw, should i get the msi g241 or the aoc 24g2

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  • 4 months later...
2 hours ago, Apparate said:

Without a proper review i cant be certain, however even the overviews available indicate its only got a 5 MS response time on its 'faster' OD preset which tend to be dedicated to getting the fastest response time irrelevant of overshoot, which tells me its likely very slow IPS panel under normal usable settings.

its price along with its other specs put this in the "get the cheapest display you can find" or " increase your budget" zone of displays imo.

 

But again without a dedicated tested review i cant be certain.

 

This thread explains all u need to know to find and decide on a display yourself, linking to a retailers advertisement asking if its good isnt going to help.

 

If u cant find and link a review then ur guess on the product is as good as anyone else. This goes for any1 reading.

CPU: Intel i7 3930k w/OC & EK Supremacy EVO Block | Motherboard: Asus P9x79 Pro  | RAM: G.Skill 4x4 1866 CL9 | PSU: Seasonic Platinum 1000w Corsair RM 750w Gold (2021)|

VDU: Panasonic 42" Plasma | GPU: Gigabyte 1080ti Gaming OC & Barrow Block (RIP)...GTX 980ti | Sound: Asus Xonar D2X - Z5500 -FiiO X3K DAP/DAC - ATH-M50S | Case: Phantek Enthoo Primo White |

Storage: Samsung 850 Pro 1TB SSD + WD Blue 1TB SSD | Cooling: XSPC D5 Photon 270 Res & Pump | 2x XSPC AX240 White Rads | NexXxos Monsta 80x240 Rad P/P | NF-A12x25 fans |

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