[Cromwel]

I was hoping some people could guide me towards a KSF free monitor.
For the past 3 weeks I have been trying out AOC 24g4x and it has been absolutely killing my eyes and giving me a massive headache. I talked to some people and they said it might be the KSF Phosphor. I had the same issue a few years ago when I tried a monitor with PWM and also had to return that.

I’ve been recommended the AOC Q24G2A which PCMonitors has confirmed has no KSF phosphor or PWM.
However this is a 1440p monitor and I have a feeling it might get too small as I’m used to 24″ 1080p monitor and would like to stick with this.
I assume the 1440p monitor will look like s**t if I simply put it to 1080p so I reckon it’s probably better looking for a native 1080p monitor.

Is there anyone who has any recommendations for a good monitor of 144hz+ that fits these requirements? Price range should be around 150-200 euros.

Thanks a lot

[PCM2]

Hi Cromwel,

An LCD monitor these days is pretty much always going to be using KSF phosphors unless it uses a QD backlight solution or has a standard colour gamut (~100-110% sRGB or below). The manufacturer will sometimes market ‘Quantum Dot’ because it sounds cool and MSI includes “QD” in their model codes, but It can be tricky to work out whether QD LED backlighting is used in some cases. Although it’s rare and in the price range you’re considering unheard of (certainly for IPS models).

How well QHD models handles FHD varies between different models and depends on the interpolation process used. The Q24G2A is very poor in that respect. Either way, if you’re happy to stick with the FHD resolution (and this suits your budget well) then there are quite a few standard gamut options. The best of which with is, in my opinion, the BenQ EX240. You might enjoy its well-configured Low Blue Light (LBL) settings as well. This doesn’t all guarantee you’ll find the monitor comfortable as there are many factors to consider. Hopefully the main issue for you is a spectral sensitivity to KSF, though, which will be resolved.

[Cromwel]

Thanks a lot for the answer PCM. A few people did mention that monitor to me.
Sadly the EX240 monitor doesn’t appear to be available in my region. Only the EX240N has availability, and from what I can tell it’s not at all the same monitor.

I also appreciate your input that it could be many factors, and that is very true. For now I just want to try a monitor without KSF to see if that is actually what’s causing it. I just don’t see it getting any better now that it has only gotten marginally better after 3 weeks.

Could you perhaps elaborate what I should be looking for in a monitor to make sure it isn’t KSF?
Is it just sRGB color gamut under 100%? Or if they specifically mention QD backlight?

[PCM2]

KSF phosphors are used to give a wide colour gamut on an LCD monitor, with QD LED backlights being an alternative method to achieve a wide colour gamut. So you avoid them with a QD LED backlight or if the monitor doesn’t have a wide gamut in the first place (sRGB gamut <110% sRGB should be standard WLED without any KSF enhancement).

[EsaT]

KSF phosphors are used to give a wide colour gamut on an LCD monitor…

More like semi-wide.
KSF backlight panels like those from LG struggle to meet DCI-P3 in greens and fall clearly short of AdobeRGB in green and cyan.
Such ironical that LG has devolved from panels they made 10-15 years ago…

KSF phosphors of LG also had at least earlier different decay/fade speed for different colours, which causes artefacts with black frame insertion.
Hence most LG panel using monitors not using BFI.

[PCM2]

Yes. Wide(rthansrgb) gamut and red fringe cringe. A winning combination. 😉

[mkultra]

Ive tested a lot of displays and many of the advertised 99% sRGB displays are still having backlights that seem to be KSF or something like that. As i dont own an SPD device, i have to look up the info as good as i can. KSF, some of them “work” for 2-3 hours but my eyes start to burn a lot, sRGB mode helps a bit if you can clamp the display to that.

So my question is: What is available without KSF, more like older displays, true 8bits, as high HZ as possible and optimally 1440p? Coating should not be super matte as this is a problem for me too. More like as glossy as possible, or semi matte. If i look up infos with LLMs, most of the info is not accurate at all.

Im looking forward to your info.

[PCM2]

Hi mkultra – I’ve merged your thread with an existing one on the topic. Would be good to get some updated information here as the thread is slightly dated.

You’re correct that standard gamut models sometimes have a KSF phosphor backlight despite the gamut not technically requiring it due to being close to sRGB. You haven’t stated your budget or uses – have you used or considered OLEDs? There are plenty of options in that respect which would satisfy your coating requirements and sometimes people find them more comfortable than LCDs, although the reverse can also be true. Viewing comfort is ultimately a very individual thing.

The Innocn GA27T1M I’ve reviewed and currently recommend (as a gaming monitor, but it’s very versatile) uses a QD LED backlight solution and has a light to very light matte anti-glare screen surface. Regional availability is patchy, although there are some similar models from other manufacturers like Titan Army and KTC with European availability. MSI used to have quite a range of QD LED models available (they kindly put “QD” in the titles of the monitors) but they seem to have been largely discontinued. If you’re happy with VA options, the MSI MAG 274QPF X30MV might be worth considering. Or indeed the AOC Q27G3XMN.

[mkultra]

Hey there,

thanks for being so quick. Yes a lot of the modern sRGB displays seem to use KSF, i could confirm this when the display had MPRT/Strobing. And sometimes the KSF is worse than others it seems for some reason that i dont know, it may be how the backlight is implemented?

Budget is well up to 600€ and uses is coding and gaming as well as reading. I casually play shooters on a higher level (naturally) and high hz has always been great for me. I also thought about glasses to counter the effect of KSF but i have no idea if that even works. Another monitor i thought about is the Pulsar from Acer, i tested the Asus but the coating was not for me sadly, the minimum brightness was also a bit on the high side.

Ive tesed one QD backlight once, it was an MSI 210hz model and it was also very harsh on the eyes. Having tested only one QD display yet but for me it was worse than KSF. I have no idea if it would be better with a different model. VA is nice to look at but the smearing often bothers me and i havent found a model that feels good on the eyes yet. When im sensitive to high DCI P3, maybe more is not better and that might be the case with QD backlights. Ive thought about these options in the past but i personally dont see how it would improve my situation despite it being a different backlight type. Maybe i have to order one and test it.

I thought about Zowie 240hz TN, although the picture might be kinda meh, it might be good for my eyes.

[PCM2]

I’m pretty sure you’ll find the TN models to be ‘too matte’ (and grainy) for your liking. The Acer Predator XB273U F5 (or one of the G-SYNC Pulsar models that isn’t the ASUS due to the screen surface differences) could be a good option. I also find KSF phosphors very annoying during strobe backlight operation, but the G-SYNC Pulsar models are fine in that respect (as you will have seen from the ASUS you tried).

[mkultra]

Yes, that might be the case. However if there is zero eye strain at least i had something to use upon hours for no end until i find something suitable. I find it hard to use 144hz displays these days, 180hz+ is the minimum for me.

Is the Pulsar using some kind of enhanced YAG? I found the Asus to also strain the eyes quite a bit (even with pulsar off), so im unsure if its due to the coating or the inplementation of the backlight. Ive heared others saying the same on reddit.

Do you generally have anything else in mind despite the VA QD that you mentioned for users with sensitive eyes? I also found the GIGABYTE GS27QA and the LG 27G610A-B, i did not find any SPD graph for either of them. The Displays you mentioned all look pretty neat but im pretty unsure because high DCI P3 never really worked for me so far however there might be an exception to the rule.

And I’ve tried OLEDs in the past, QD OLED was where my problem started. WOLED was a bit better but also taxing my eyes. As you can guess i got pretty good at adjusting displays, so i used sRGB mode, lowered brightness / contrast but the settings didnt seem to matter much. It might be the brightness dip with OLEDs that is PWM like. I dont know if modern OLEDs have improved. I always prefered normal LCDs anyway, despite the hype.

[PCM2]

I think the Pulsar models use KSF phosphors, it’s just that they’ve carefully optimised the strobe to mask the usual artifacts related to that. I don’t have any other specific suggestions for models to try.

[mkultra]

But the SPD Graph does not look like KSF at all. It seems to be an altered YAG thats what i think.

[PCM2]

Sorry yes, you’re right – I hadn’t actually looked at the spectral distribution for the backlight used on the Pulsar models until now. It doesn’t have the typical KSF phosphor red wavelength distribution at all and appears to have a higher green peak with the usual tight peak of blue energy for the diode. So modified YAG phosphor makes complete sense and so does the reason for Pulsar models being entirely free from the usual KSF phosphor strobe artifact issues. 😉

[mkultra]

For me its not so much about the strobe artifact but more about the general sharp red wavelength, that seems to cause the burning sensation for me. At least this is what me and other users with a similar experience think right now, its the best we can come up with. However there is an advantage to KSF, the blue is less strong so you can sleep better at night from my experience.

AOC Q27G4SL/WS – what do you think about this model? Its not on the market yet (although amazon sells it as an import) but seems to combat eye strain via a new technology.

[PCM2]

Spectral sensitivities and viewing comfort in general can be very individual and difficult to pinpoint, but I’ve known quite a few people to have specific sensitivity to KSF phosphors over the years. I have no thoughts or experience with that AOC model, but it could be worth a try when you can get hold of it. In the meantime, have you played around much with ‘Low Blue Light’ settings or similar and reducing brightness as much as is practical? If you reduce the blue peak and also reduce general light output from the monitor, provided you’re not straining to see it, that could partially offset any spectral sensitivities you may have.

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