Does my ideal monitor exist? (IPS, 1-2ms, 120hz, 2560x1440, 27-ish inch, low input lag)

aFatFish · Jan 6, 2014

Hey all,

Looking for the best gaming monitor for first person shooters, so low input lag + low response times (1-2ms) and high refresh (120hz) are a must. I believe the BenQ XL2720T (27 inch 1920x1080, 1ms, 120Hz Refresh Rate) fits this bill. I've tried looking for input lag for this monitor but couldn't find anything...anyone know anything?

My quest seems to come to a halt when trying to up the resolution whilst maintaining 120hz. Are these two traits mutually exclusive?

Thirdly and finally, does anyone know of a monitor that is an IPS, 1-2ms, 120hz, 2560x1440, 27-ish inch and that has low input lag, or is the BenQ the best compromise/monitor for my needs, seeing as I'd choose performance over a minor(?) improved picture for first person shooters?

Kind regards,

Tom.

BenQ monitor: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BN1PNY8/
Asus monitor I also like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009668YPM

l1ghtm4st3r · Jan 6, 2014

Hey Tom,

Are you limited to UK monitors? You can pick up a Crossover one from eBay which has pretty much exactly what you're looking for: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CROSSOVER-BLACK-TUNE-2755AMG-IPS-LED-Perfect-Pixel-27-AH-IPS-HDMI-DVI-Monitor-/121152027420?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item1c35393b1c

This answers Q3.

Not too confident in asking Q1 but for Q2 I'd say they're independent seen as the monitor is available.

Hope this helps,

Erkin

aFatFish · Jan 6, 2014

l1ghtm4st3r :

Thank you. I'm happy to order worldwide so long as it arrives undamaged!

I've not heard of this monitor - is it reputable?

Also, wouldn't the 6.5ms response time affect first person shooters such as BF2/3/4?

KR,

Tom.

PS I've just recalled reading somewhere on toms hardware that 2560x1440 can look a little pixellated (you can actually see the squares) when combined with either a 27 inch or 30 inch monitor...does anyone know what size screen this refers too?

PPS (to everyone): I'm happy to spend up to £600 on the RIGHT monitor.

l1ghtm4st3r · Jan 6, 2014

I'll be honest, there is a lot of positive and negative talk when it comes down to buying monitors from South Korea; generally they're okay. It's unlikely to arrive damaged. In terms of is it reputable, it's not really where people go before they go to benq or asus. Occassionally it's said they arrive with dead pixels so you may want to be wary.

In answer to your P.S. that's true with 1920x1080 res, not 2560x1440.
In answer to your P.S. As it seems money isn't much of an issue, then I would also advise looking into the Dell monitors, e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-UltraSharp-U2713H-Widescreen-DisplayPort/dp/B00B1QTZOE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1389011643&sr=8-3&keywords=dell+27+inch

which are said to be pretty damn excellent.

aFatFish · Jan 6, 2014

Hmmm....so still no 'ultimate' monitor then?

The "CROSSOVER BLACK TUNE 2755AMG" linked to me above still appears to be the closest match...just a little slow with the 6.5ms response time and no info on input lag. Ticks all the other criteria though:

- less than 5ms response time
- 120 hz refresh rate
- 2560 x 1440 resolution
- little to none input lag
- IPS panel
- 27-30inch ideal size range
- £600ish

The Asus and BenQ only fill part of the above criteria and I cant seem to find anything on ebay/Amazon...where else can I look?

Kind regards,

Tom.

l1ghtm4st3r · Jan 6, 2014

From previous knowledge, which is a bit rusty, it is due to the fact that the panel - using IPS, results in a much slowed response time which is why hardcore gamers sometimes prefer to use a TN panel as response times are down to a millisecond, even at the cost of some brightness and vividity in the colours of an IPS.

I don't believe the speed of 1-2ms has been developed for IPS due to the way it switches between frames and as such is difficult to minimise the time elapsed.

I also believe I read somewhere that although panels have been cut down to 1ms, the eye can only notice speeds down to 2ms.

Good luck on your searches though Tom.

thanks,

Erkin

aFatFish · Jan 6, 2014

l1ghtm4st3r :

Thank you so much for your help Erkin.

I'm seriously thinking about the Crossfire. Would 6.5ms vs 1ms even be noticeable in competitive FPS games? We're talking of a 5.5ms difference = 0.0055 seconds which can't make THAT much difference...can it?! (I'm trying to convince myself the Crossfire is the one haha!)

Kind regards,

Tom.

l1ghtm4st3r · Jan 6, 2014

I've played games before and I can't tell the difference between 2ms and 5ms on my old TN panel but I could see one between 5ms and 7ms. I'd advise you do some reading up on the horror stories surrounding the Crossover panels though and also the comparisons between them and the current market ones.

To avoid buyer's remorse you may also want to look into their PP models (perfect pixel) which means when you get your panel, it's guaranteed that every pixel is working. They're a considerable increase in price though over the regulars.

As always, happy to help out where I can. Was sort of hoping another forum user would come in and add their thoughts to this too.

But good luck

Regards,
Erkin

tmacg55 · Jan 6, 2014

Wait for G-Sync, it is coming out in Q2 this year and will give the IPS/1440p monitors the edge for gamers. Don't buy one of those Korean overclocked monitors, unless someone gives you proof they own one and it is actually functioning.

Or if you cannot wait just buy the ASUS 144Hz monitor with 1ms response time which is the top of the line monitor for gaming needs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236313 . Hope this explains more and hepls you on your future monitor purchase.

aFatFish · Jan 7, 2014

tmacg55 :

Thank you for commenting.

So, if I hold my horses for a few months until April-ish, is there a monitor with G-Sync coming out that can run at 120hz, 2ms, with low input lag and at 2560x1440 resolution (optional: also is an IPS panel)? BTW i'm looking at for a monitor 24-30" with 27" being ideal.

Kind regards,

Tom.

tmacg55 · Jan 7, 2014

KevinAr18 :

aFatFish :

"Rumor has it" said best by Adele- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1p6Xbqrbx0

Trimax · Jan 7, 2014

The BenQ XL2720T is what you need! It's amazing and has all the features you listed above and you can order it from the UK!

http://benq.co.uk/product/monitor/xl2720t
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-XL2720T-Widescreen-1920x1080-3D-Ready/dp/B00BN1PNY8

27"
120Hz
1ms
FPS mode
Loads more really good features for gaming!

Only bad point is it's only 1920x1080 not 2560x1440 but It's cheaper then most 1440p Monitor.

aFatFish · Jan 7, 2014

Trimax :

I mentioned this monitor as one of two monitors (the other being the Asus PB278Q which I believe is inferior for gaming?) that I liked as a compromise in my OP.

I may wait a couple of months, see if something comes out with Gsync (I so think nvidia should have called it Nsync haha!) which combines a high resolution without compromising refresh & response rates, and get a second smaller IPS monitor for the occasional image editing.

Anyone know of any firm announcements for a high res Gsync enabled monitor?

Kind regards,

Tom.

tmacg55 · Jan 7, 2014

aFatFish :

Nvidia is announcing loads of new information throughout CES 2014 about G-Sync, just keep looking out for it on their site. Here is something I just recently scraped up from recent news, a new monitor with G-Sync from ASUS.

http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/CES-2014-ASUS-ROG-SWIFT-PG278Q-120-Hz-G-Sync

aFatFish · Jan 7, 2014

tmacg55 :

aFatFish :

Nvidia is announcing loads of new information throughout CES 2014 about G-Sync, just keep looking out for it on their site. Here is something I just recently scraped up from recent news, a new monitor with G-Sync from ASUS.

http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/CES-2014-ASUS-ROG-SWIFT-PG278Q-120-Hz-G-Sync

That's a lovely looking monitor and well worth waiting for!

So I think I've found the solution: don't buy anything just yet and wait for some of these announcements/monitors to land; especially as 120hz IPS panels are being hinted at...but if I get bored waiting there's always the temptation of a Gaming Projector!!!

Kind regards,

Tom.

tmacg55 · Jan 7, 2014

KevinAr18 :

aFatFish :

If you are going to get both a TN and an IPS, you could get a TN with lightboost now and an IPS. lightboost is what will eliminate the motion blur in games and give you motion tracking like CRTs do. Of course, the new version will make lightboost more "official" instead of a hack, so if you want to wait for that reason you can.

G-sync and lightboost are two separate features:
lightboost: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost/
g-sync: http://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/preview/

About the new g-sync:
With the new g-sync that tmacg55 mentioned, Nvidia will be including both lightboost and g-sync together. Lightboost will no longer be a "hack" for 2D mode, but an official feature. The overall technology will be called "g-sync" and it will have two modes: "g-sync mode" or "strobe mode" (aka lightboost). However, you will still only be able to choose one or the other, but not both!

source: http://www.blurbusters.com/confirmed-nvidia-g-sync-includes-a-strobe-backlight-upgrade/

About lightboost:
Here is what lighboost does:
http://www.blurbusters.com/faq/60vs120vsLB/
To see how LCDs blur images, look at this on your LCD: http://www.testufo.com/#test=eyetracking Try to follow the objects as they move left to right. This is not a response time problem, but core to the way all LCDs work.
Here are the lightboost monitors:
http://www.blurbusters.com/faq/120hz-monitors/#lightboost
Note: you will want to run at 120hz (and not 60hz) so you don't get the sickening effect from flicker like CRTs had at 60Hz (remember how you had to turn CRTs above 70-80Hz to make them usable for long periods?

)
Here's more info: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost-faq/
http://pcmonitors.info/forum/topic/new-development-lightboost-strobe-backlights-completely-eliminate-motion-blur

About g-sync:
G-sync helps deal with low frame rates (see here: http://www.blurbusters.com/gsync/preview/) and makes motion a little more smooth. (For me, personally, if I had to choose, I would much rather have lightboost than this feature. For me, getting rid of the blur is important for stuff like scrolling and strategy games. Another way to look at it is, framerates can just be fixed by getting a better video card, whereas there is no alternative solution to blurring if you don't have lightboost-like tech).

Questions to tmacg55:
1. Do you know if the new g-sync will only let you choose between lightboost or g-sync (not both at the same time)? Last I saw, it would still be that way.

http://www.blurbusters.com/confirmed-nvidia-g-sync-includes-a-strobe-backlight-upgrade/
2. Take a look at this G-sync IPS. I think it doesn't have lightboost though; is this right?

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=113&cp_id=11307&cs_id=1130703&p_id=10509&seq=1&format=2
3. Apart from becoming an "official" features, do you know if there will be any changes to lightboost in the new g-sync that is worth waiting for? (unless aFatFish wants the g-sync feature instead of lightboost)

BTW, I gotta say thanks tmacg55 for bringing up the whole lightboost topic. I didn't know we were finally at a point where we could eliminate the blur properly without the 60hz eyestrain flicker or other methods that were not so good. It's great to finally know about this.

I took a look at that IPS monitor you posted from monoprice and did not find anything on the page referring to G-Sync. Am I missing something?, if so please make me aware of it. Also, I am not not sure as G-Sync is still in alpha if you have a switch between light boost or G-sync. Eliminating blur to a complete 0% is impossible with any monitor that uses LCD because of the nature of the technology, but newer tech like lightboost is helping to reduce it. OLED displays supposedly have no blur which I'd imagine would be amazing for gaming, hope OLED is implemented in 23"-27" screen sizes this year.

tmacg55 · Jan 10, 2014

KevinAr18 :

Thanks Kevin,

Not sure why they are not marketing this new monitor as a 144Hz, because the ASUS reps in all of the CES interviews say it can natively achieve 144Hz. Anyways... IPS does not seem likely on a G-Sync gaming monitor because of the reliability issue and PRICE! The monitor is already $800 using TN, so imagine having to pay close to over $1K if it had an IPS inside. They have to wait for the technology to mature so they can minimize the pricing options before they can offer IPS G-Sync monitors to the average consumers. In the mean time I will be buying the new ASUS G-Sync monitors regardless of their TN, but will be going with the 1080p model as I won't want to brag to people that I paid over $500 for a TN monitor, haha

. Going to be selling my 1440p Yamakasi Q270 close to next month.

aFatFish · Jan 13, 2014

KevinAr18 :

Cheers dude,

tmacg55 did also post about this monitor in one of his earlier replies in this thread - but I appreciate you double checking that I knew about it

I'm going to wait for this monitor to come out as it seems it'll be as good as anything else that may or may not possibly come out in the next year or two...at least until fast refresh/response/g-sync IPS panels drop in price.

It'll be used 50% for work - of which 90% is word processing and spread sheets, 10% image editing - and 50% for gaming - where I want to be able to blame only myself and not my gear; so gaming performance is more important than the occasional image performance.

Thanks again for ensuing I knew though.

KR,

Tom.

James Payter · May 15, 2014

Firstly, sorry for resurrecting this thread, but I just want to give a word of warning..

I personally would avoid that Black Tune monitor. If it is multi-input I pretty much guarantee that it won't do 120hz. I bought a multi-input monitor from eBay - the Qnix True10 model - and even though it said it was doing 120hz, it was skipping every other frame. Avoid these multi-input monitors like the plague if you want overclocking. ONLY the DVI dual link ones will overclock to 120hz...

Also, they have noticeable input lag.

Does my ideal monitor exist? (IPS, 1-2ms, 120hz, 2560x1440, 27-ish inch, low input lag)

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