ASUS VG248QE In Depth Reveiw

[Osmium]

Preface

 

"Eww TN panels are so 2010" says the person who I do not want responding to this thread. I am well aware of the many cons of TN panels and I do not need someone else telling me facts I already know. 

 

As a preface to my review and to possibly help those who don't know a ton on monitors I will quickly run through the important factors of monitors.

 

Color Reproduction - A monitor's ability to show color. The better the color reproduction the closer to the actual color the image appears on your screen. 

 

Resolution - The amount of pixels on a screen.

 

Refresh Rate - The amount of frames the screen can display. Higher refresh rate = smoother motion since your brain has less "blanks" to fill in and more actual frames visible.

 

Response Time - An arbitrary number that means nothing to you the consumer.

 

Panel Types - Different panel types have different attributes commonly associated with them.

 

Viewing Angles - The range of angles that you can see the screen without any visual anomalies like discoloration.

 

     TN panels are generally regarded as worse than IPS because of the inferior color reproduction and lesser veiwing angles. However because of their rapid response times (a number that means nothing to you but not the monitor makers) they can achieve higher refresh rates without the frames bleeding into each other and looking awful. The ASUS VG248QE is one of several monitors on the market that boasts a mighty 144hz refresh rate, but of course that very fast refresh rate could not be done with an IPS panel so we are stuck with poor color reproduction as a result. But that is the same with all the monitors with high refresh rates on the market and it appears we will not have high refresh rate IPS anytime soon.

     I received the monitor myself at the beginning of the month and in 25 days I feel I have been able to evaluate it properly so without further ado here are my thoughts on the display I will be gaming on for years to come.

 

 

My experience with the VG248(QE)

 

 

     When the box arrived I was deeply frightened. I had specifically purchased the VG248QE and yet a box labeled "VG248" showed up at my front door. Immediately I fled to my computer room and conducted a quick series of google searches and I discovered there was no "VG248" monitor sold by ASUS and the VG248QE is shipped in a box identical to the one I received so I was sufficiently calmed. After tearing open the box and promptly placing the monitor on my desk (ignoring the instruction manual) I went ahead and unplugged my HDMI from my old display and plugged it into the new one. I was confused when I saw no difference in smoothness in mouse movement. Then after a quick check of my refresh rate, a look at the instruction manual, a drop in self respect, a quick HDMI to DVI cable swap, and I was ready to go.

     

     The change was immediate and huge for me. Dragging windows around, moving the mouse, and just plain operating my PC just feels good. But lets be honest, nobody who is not a gamer should be looking into buying this monitor. 

 

     Going from console(30fps) to PC(@60hz) was a life changer, and flinging my mouse across my screen in glee was just as monumental for me. I loaded up Counter Strike and proceeded to play a game and I was not at all disappointed. The only way I can explain it is it looks like the smoothness of Max Payne bullet time except it is happening in real time. I am hesitant to say anything will make you a player in a game but I believe a high refresh rate monitor can enable someone to improve past the point where they could at a mere 60hz. But the competitive aspect of gaming aside I feel that any gamer who either needs to upgrade monitors or can drop money on a monitor should go for a high refresh rate and not an IPS. My old display was a fine IPS panel with very good color reproduction. But after gaming with the smoothness of the VG248 I am willing to put my old display in the closet and stick with the smoothness of the 144hz.

 

My Impressions aside, the monitor itself

 

     Most if not all of the words said in the above passage could probably be said about all of the 144hz monitors on the market currently but what makes ASUS's display unique? And my honest answer would be not a lot. Out of the admittedly fine packaging comes an almost completely glossy hunk of plastic. Some like the aesthetic of the glossy finish but I see it and I picture fingerprints and dust all over it in a few months. The stand for the monitor is surprisingly elegant, it allows me to easily adjust the display vertically and it allows for easy rotation, both of which are exceedingly useful on account of the limited viewing angles. Instead of shifting posture sometimes I will simply shift the orientation of the display. The stand also allows you to spin the display but why anyone would want to look at their gaming monitor at a 90 degree angle is beyond me.

     The viewing angles are pretty abysmal. Horizontally they are actually decent but vertically you need your eyes pretty much level with the top third of the display for optimal viewing. If your eyes are more than 15% above or below that (keeping the screen perpendicular to the ground) area you will start to see discoloration.

     The color reproduction is also pretty spotty coming from an IPS. I could have sworn I saw a green tint on the default settings. After messing around for a while (15 minutes...) in the Nvidia control panel I adjusted everything to my liking but I still cannot say it is in the ballpark of what I was used to.

     On the topic of default settings the default brightness looks like a supernova on your desk. I personally like brightness but at the same time it was a little too much for me and I ended up toning it down.

 

     Finally is a "feature" that I rarely see talked about by anyone outside the circle of people who own these monitors so I would like to spread the word of this kind of hack. Nvidia lightboost is a feature exclusive to their 3D vision technology that nobody likes. Lightboost is meant to remove motion blur in 3D games, it uses a strobing backlight to only illuminate itself when a new fresh frame is ready to view instead of just remaining on. However the high refresh rate community has found a way to enable lightboost while in 2-D. And the strobing backlight does a better job of removing blur in 2-D mode than in 3-D mode. The difference between lightboost 120hz and 144hz (lightboost only works up to 120hz) is not extremely noticeable to me but I might just be special since lots of others claim it is night and day. It is optimal to use it if you keep framerates above the refresh rate so it comes down to if you actually consistently stay above the target refresh rate or not.

In Conclusion

 

      Unless you are a gamer this monitor is not for you. The poor color reproduction, viewing angles, and hefty price tag are all cons and the refresh rate is not a saving grace for anyone but a gamer. But if you are a gamer, no matter how competitive or casual you are, I would recommend this over an IPS. The smoothness is a bit of eye candy you can appreciate no matter how low your settings are. Not only that but you can simply do things people on 60hz can't(in first person shooters anyway). But we come to the same dilemma I have faced before writing this review: almost all of this can be said about other 144hz monitors.

 

  But in my opinion the biggest thing that sets this monitor apart from the crowd is G-Sync support. Yeah other monitors will have it available Q1 next year but if you want to be ahead of the curve, you are impatient, or you just want to say you were one of the first this is your only option (although I do not recommend buying this monitor strictly for G-Sync). I personally bought it because I wanted the refresh rate but I did not want to have to buy another monitor for a long time, so this seemed like the rational choice.

 

     In conclusion I am happy with my purchase, the display is far from perfect but it has it where it counts for me. This is my first review so if anyone has any criticisms by all means do tell.

[TheRetiredSlave]

I bought this same monitor a few weeks ago and completely agree with what you've said.. In terms of color reproduction and viewing angle it's a very 'blah' TN panel, but I have to say that the refresh rate does make a night-and day difference. Like you said, even moving the cursor around on the desktop looks smoother and more fluid.. I don't know if it's placebo-effect or reality, but I definitely feel like I play fast-paced games better with the higher refresh rate..

 

And then there's G-sync..... Extremely excited about that one..

[ManOfDisguise]

I have a BenQ XL2411T which I think uses the same panel and I mean, yea the smoothness! So good, so good!

[Gomenasai]

I did buy my monitor for the G-Sync upgrade, but it might worth a note that you do lose some of your investment by buying the kit since you lose the speakers/additional outputs (which were nice to plug in things like a Blu-Ray player or Chromecast). The G-Sync "upgrade kit" doesn't just upgrade the panel, you are changing the entire PCB. Not to mention its quite hard not to scratch your panel.

 

Otherwise, I'm seriously torn between better color quality and the 144Hz refresh rate. I love the experience of the better panel when playing my graphically demanding games, but for online play, I'm so into the fluidity of the VG248QE.

 

The struggle >.<

[Lachrymal]

Great, now I am back at undecided. :sigh:

[silentanarchy]

Great, now I am back at undecided. :sigh:

I agree I have no idea what to buy because I want great colors. But smoothness.