Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response, Lag And FreeSync
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.
The NX-VUE24A’s TN panel is one of the main reasons for its low price. We know this technology is weak in the viewing angle department. Like nearly every similar display we’ve photographed, there is significant light falloff and a red shift to the sides. When viewing from the top, detail is nearly obliterated and you can clearly see a blue tint. From head-on and at a typical seating distance of 24-36 inches, the screen looks uniform with no detail crush or color shifts present. We look forward to the day when all monitors are IPS or VA and cost as little as this one.
Screen Uniformity: Luminance
Our sample screen actually looks better than the test result indicates. The high number is solely due to a center hotspot. The surrounding zones are very close to one another with no visible light bleed or blotching. The center zone is only noticeable when all the room lights are turned off.
Here’s the white field measurement.
The center zone affects the white field test in the same way. All surrounding areas are just a tad dimmer but you have to look close to see the issue. This is far from becoming a deal-breaker and we’ve seen worse results in both field tests.
Screen Uniformity: Color
Color uniformity is right in line with the other gaming screens here. There are no visible color shifts anywhere on the screen.
Pixel Response And Input Lag
Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
We can only speculate that the extra millisecond difference between the NX-VUE24A and the top three screens is due to how overdrive is implemented. We always turn the setting on maximum for this test. Perhaps Nixeus’ version is a little less-aggressive. Regardless, motion blur is minimal even with overdrive off thanks to the 144Hz refresh rate.
Here are the lag results.
The NX-VUE24A competes well with other 144Hz screens with its 29ms result. Control inputs are responsive enough for even the twitchiest player and we certainly had no issues when we fragged in our favorite titles. FreeSync was enabled during this test and it obviously has no effect on lag.
FreeSync
When we test a G-Sync or FreeSync monitor, we always play the same games, Far Cry 4, Tomb Raider and Battlefield 4. By covering familiar territory, it’s easy to see if there are any issues in frame-matching implementation, overdrive or any other aspect of motion processing.
Since the NX-VUE24A enables FreeSync up to its maximum 144Hz refresh, we were able to enjoy tear-free video in every situation regardless of the frame rate. We still recommend turning V-Sync on to prevent speeds from exceeding 144; which is easy to do at 1920x1080 resolution. Even with an average graphics board like our R9-285, we saw rates in the 160s during Battlefield 4. Without V-Sync, the monitor drops the extra frames causing visible stutter.
We like to see what happens when rates drop below the FreeSync minimum, 30fps in this case. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) we couldn’t do this even with Far Cry 4 set on Ultra detail. 40fps was the lowest we could achieve and even though things were getting a bit choppy, there was no blur, no stuttering and of course, no tearing.
In experimenting with the different overdrive settings, we ultimately preferred to leave it off. It works just fine in FreeSync mode but the Strong setting adds visible ghosting and detail loss in the fastest gameplay. Ultimately we thought clarity was best with the overdrive turned off. The differences are subtle and your mileage may vary. We suggest trying all three options before deciding.
In the face of QHD and UHD displays hitting the market with FreeSync, one might dismiss the NX-VUE24A from consideration based on its resolution but remember what you’ll have to spend on a video card to maintain decent speeds at those higher pixel counts. This value-priced screen might be the best match for an average gaming rig.