Hey Shawnsum,
I have been on the market for a new monitor myself. I'm so exhausted of that endless and fruitless search. It's a bit of a long story but I'll share it to let some steam off.
Last July my journey for finding a new monitor begun. As I've been using a 120Hz monitor for around 5years now I just couldn't go back to "normal" 60Hz monitors. As mine was a 24" 1920x1080 TN display I naturally wanted something bigger and better but it had to tick a few boxes.
My requirements were as follows:
Size - at least 27"
Resolution - at least 2560x1440
Refresh Rate - at least 100Hz
Optional - G-Sync
So in July 2016 I ordered Acer XF270HU 27" WQHD IPS Monitor with FreeSync (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Monitors/Acer-XF270HU-Gaming-FreeSync-Display-Height-adjustable/B017STCKU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486050593&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+XF270HU+27). As soon as I turned the thing on and I saw a big cluster of stuck/dead pixels in the lower right quarter of the screen and also another "smudge" in the upper right. I requested a return and the company I bought it from sent me a replacement.
The second Acer XF270HU 27" WQHD IPS Monitor with FreeSync arrived a couple of days later and it didn't have any dead/stuck pixel but the IPS glow was horrendous. It almost felt like there is radiation coming from that thing. I got the feeling as if pins and needles were being stuck into my eyeballs. And all this while I had reduced the brightness to 25-30. I played with all settings but it didn't help. So I returend this monitor for a refund.
I then though to myself - I've had enough of IPS panels so decided to go back to TN and so ordered an AOC AGON AG271QX 27" QHD LED 144Hz monitor (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/bc7/AOC-Monitor-Response-Display-Speakers-Adaptive-AG271QX/B01G4AUGR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486050563&sr=8-1&keywords=AOC+AGON+AG271QX+27%22). At first look it was pretty good but within a couple of hours I discovered another horrible (for me at least) issue with it. It suffered from something that I later found out was referred to as "pixel inversion" - to try and describe it shortly - you can see vertical lines when there are moving objects on the screen - it happens while watching videos, scrolling pages, playing games - basically everywhere. It is especially off-putting when playing games and there is smoke/fog effects on the screen. It was unbearable. So I returned this monitor too.
I thought the problem was with the brand - AOC or something so went on and purchased a different TN display monitor. This time - Acer PREDATOR XB271HUAbmiprz (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Predator-XB271HUAbmiprz-27-Inch-ZeroFrame/dp/B01EN5JN5K). Sadly as soon as I turned it on I found out it suffered from the same "pixel inversion" problem.
This whole thing made me do a little more research and I found out that pretty much all high refresh rate monitors on the market both TN and IPS source their displays from AU optronics - a Chinese displays manufacturer. So it doesn't matter if you buy Benq, AOC, Acer, Asus, Dell or whatever (apart from Samsung and LG, to this later) - the plastic on the outside is different with different logos and different manufacturer but the most vital part - the display itself is manufactured by the same company - AU Optronics. And thus all high refresh rate TN displays suffer from pixel inversion, and high refresh rate IPS monitors suffer from IPS glow.
Apparently Samsung have developed and been using their own VA technology which is supposed to be middle ground - not as good as IPS when comes to colour reproduction and viewing angles, but not as bad as TN. The problem with VA panels in general is that have slower response time and suffer from "ghosting". But Samsung announced and finally brought out on the market a new 34" 100 Hz display that was supposed to be the "bestest" ever when comes to gaming - both delivering 100Hz refresh rate and also having all the bells and whistles like Quantum dot technology supporting sRGB 125% and what not. It is the Samsung LC34F791WQUXEN (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LC34F791WQUXEN-Curved-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B01L98A326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486051244&sr=8-1&keywords=34%22+CF791)
This monitor was over my budget. From the initial £400 to doubling it to £800, but as I thought this will be the ultimate solution of all my problems I bit the bullet and ordered it.
Well.... what can I say - after 2 weeks trying to "get used to it" I also returned the Samsung. No, it didn't have dead pixels, and no, it didn't have that pixel inversion problem as TN displays, and despite the fact that it was a VA panel it still had IPS glow, although to a much lower level. Sadly, due to its curvature (1600R, the most curved display in the world, as they advertise it) and the IPS glow it made me feel cross-eyed. Also, the ghosting VA panels are infamous with was there too. I made a short video (sorry for the quality) when I was opening a dispute for my return. You can see the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjFgiiVhwQ&feature=youtu.be
So... I got a refund for the Samsung too and just when I was about to give up I found out that there was an updated version of the ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278Q - the new model has a letter "R" at the end - I presume meaning - Revised. I had little hopes of the pixel inversion being fixed but still wanted to see for myself as there wasn't any info about it I could find online. So I ordered the updated ASUS ROG SWIFT PG278QR (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LWQGIUR/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It arrived yesterday and ...yes - you guessed it - nothing has been fixed it still suffers from pixel inversion as the previous model.
So... to sum it all up - I bought and returned 6 monitors from different brands and different types of displays, spent almost 8 months in the process - personally for me it has proved impossible to find a monitor which doesn't suffer from IPS glow, Ghosting, or pixel inversion and which is at least 27" in size, at least 2560x1440 in resolution, and with at least 100Hz refresh rate.
People say the IPS glow and the pixel inversion are subjective and not everyone finds it annoying. Sadly I don't just find them annoying - I find both issues unbearable.
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