[PCM2]

Pay no attention to manufacturer specified response times and don’t try to overcomplicate things. 10 – 90% (or 90% – 10%) is usually what manufacturers will measure and also the measurement that many reviewers who assess response time will measure. The main issue here is that the manufacturers can use the strongest overdrive setting available and can cherry pick a very specific transition which is performed well. Whilst some pixel transitions may occur at 4ms, some will occur closer to 10 times that on your typical VA panel. Cherry-picked values and even averages are very misleading.

Your question regarding input lag is actually addressed in the review(s): “Note that the input lag measured here is influenced by both the element you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay).” The method we use is only influenced to a small degree by the pixel response element, it mainly reflects the signal delay which is low in the case of the 328E1CA.

[shake]

@ DCSAddict If clarity of motion is important to you, you may want something more responsive than the S3221QS. I did some more reading based on my experience with monitor. According to Rtings, the total response time is 17.5ms (doesn’t matter that much because the most noticeable parts of the transition take place much more quickly). This number does, however, tell us that in the worst case scenario, pixel response is actually slower than frame rate (1s / 60Hz = ~16.7ms/Hz), meaning that a pixel may not finish transitioning to a color before it begins its next transition. What matters more is the “Dark Rise/Fall Time” (apparently time to transition from dark color to dark color), which is 11.4ms. That it’s under the frame duration isn’t enough because it won’t “rest” at that color for very long–the pixel will only be >90% “correct” for 5ms before the next frame transition. Even worse, the “Dark Total Response Time” is 19.2ms. Now, I’m not an expert and these are a bunch out-of-context numbers with zero intuitive connection to how we experience sight but….

This bears out my experience. I noticed very bad motion blurring between moderately dark colors. This could impact your experience with DCS because I imagine Track IR enables some rapid camera panning which could result in noticeable blurring of flight instruments or between the cockpit and the wild blue yonder.

You may not notice or care about this sort of blurring that much, but because I was caught off guard by it, I figured I share my thoughts.

The monitor has brilliant color and contrast. 4k at 32″ is awesome. But for me, at least, the response time ended up being a deal breaker.

[asim]

My LG 32UD59 is starting to show banding (especially visible in grey backgrounds) and i’m not sure how long it will work, so i’m looking for something that would be at least somewhat of an upgrade. I thought i would try a 2k ultrawide, so after reading many reviews i tried out the Gigabyte G34WQC… I hated it, i don’t know if it was the ghosting, the lower resolution or smearing, but it looked and performed (not counting the 144hz, which was the only nice thing about it) much worse than my current monitor. I also did not especially like the curve, the terrible backlight bleed (compared to my monitor) or the reduced vertical space. I sold it at a good loss (the retailer i bought it from does not do returns) and am now looking for a safe upgrade, because it seems that reading or watching any amount of reviews is basically meaningless if they do not compare your monitor with something that you want to buy. I don’t want to mess around with ultrawides, or high refresh monitors anymore, so i’d like something “safe”: 32inch 4k 60hz, tilt/pivot/height adjustable (swivel would also be nice) freesync monitor that is at least as good as my LG 32UD59 for gaming and development. What would be my choices?

[PCM2]

My recommendations are clearly covered in the dedicated section and in this thread and I’ve got nothing to add to that. With your uses in mind this thread would also be worth a read. They include models with VESA holes for alternative mounting. Various alternatives with superior ergonomics are discussed in this thread and the others I’ve linked to. And comparisons are drawn with your old LG 27UD59 and the 27UD60 which is simply a very minor refresh of that model. I’d advise typing either model (especially the 27UD60) into the forum search bar in the footer to help locate said comparisons.

P.S. – Please avoid using the term ‘2K’ on this forum as it’s a pet hate of mine. Especially when comparing to ‘4K’ (UHD) models as is appropriate in the context of this thread. 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) is not half of that, as ‘2K’ would inaccurately imply. And when you’re talking about a 3440 x 1440 UltraWide or any UltraWide for that matter the use of ‘K’ to describe the resolution is extremely misleading and should be avoided like the plague. I don’t blame you for using this term, but I like people to use more accurate and appropriate terminology here. 🙂

[DCSaddict]

@ Shake,

Thank you for your input. And yes potential blur for my applications would be mostly when moving the head quite fast when using track IR. But I always compare it to reality IF you you you try to turn your head 180 degrees in 1 sec you see everything blurry too.
I was wondering if you had done anything abnormal to get such significant blur like adaptive sync with low framerates, HDR or using any Overdrive mode other then “normal” with this monitor since all others induce heavy overshoot.

I was trying to compare the Dell and the the Philips 32″ 4K curved the problem is there is no page that lists them both so hard to compare apples with apples since everybody seems to measure slightly different. RTINGs review of Dell S3221QS and PRAD review of Philips 328E1CA.

Like I mentioned I had the Philips here for a week and it’s response time was totally acceptable when flying in DCS and the occasional shootout in Devision2.

If the Dell is anywhere close I would prefer its’ design and ergonomics (i.e. height adjustment and usb ports) but if it turns out that it’s significantly worse in regards to input lag an response time, I would go for the Philips327E1CA + a 90$ Vesa mount + USB hub….

@ PCM2 I am sorry that I referred to a review in German but I couldn’t find another in depth one in English other then yours. What I wonder is how do they come up with 25.6 ms Input lag +6.5 avg rise fall. Also when trying to find the same review on their page input lag sits around 26 ms for 60Hz monitors where as RTINGs lists 8-10 ms.
Well hopefully I can make a decision by the end of this month. Thank you in advance for all your help.

[PCM2]

I’ve recently commented on PRAD’s bizarre input lag results on some models here. I enjoy reading their reviews in general and they have some nice data in them. But their results for input lag on the Philips 328E1A (assuming they tested at its native resolution) are categorically incorrect. No two ways about it. The same for certain other models. They don’t give a sufficient number of data points for response times to give a good idea of what to expect in terms of ‘real-world’ performance, either. There are 255 grey levels and VA models show massive variation between different grey levels, so only focusing on a small number of these and averaging just isn’t good enough. It’s why I much prefer visual and subjective analysis – or response time measurement over a much broader range of transitions than typically done. Hardware Unboxed is particularly good for measuring a broad range of pixel transitions, giving a nice insight in that respect. I don’t agree with their heavy focus on “refresh rate windows”, but the data itself and is nice if you’re willing to interpret it yourself. Plus their colour-coding system is helpful as it highlights strengths that go beyond the misleading cut-off point of the “refresh rate window”. I share some further thoughts on that here.

[Loveless]

Hello…I’ve been watching this thread closely, since I’m planning to replace my old 27″ 1080p VA monitor with something newer. One of alternatives I have in mind is a 32″ 4K because I think I would benefit a lot from the screen real estate and text sharpness (I’m shortsighted). My computes use is roughly 30% browsing, 30% of watching YuuTube and anime and 30% of gaming. Since majority of games I play are older (sometimes very old) titles which either don’t support high refresh numbers or would act weird at more than 60fps, as well as more modern but slower paced games, I think I’d get by with 60fps and I would enjoy all that space on screen and easily readable text. That would be my reasoning for 32″ 4K.

Anyway, monitors I’ve been eyeing are BenQ 3270U, Dell S3221qs, Philips 326M6VJRMB and Iiyama XB3288UHSU-B1. There are pros and cons for each of them…

BenQ 3270U :
Pros – arguably the best pixel response out of the bunch, good for gaming. All of the comments and reviews I’ve seen state exceptional text clarity. All round, very good image quality.
Cons – poor ergonomics, potential issues with flat VA screen at 32″, wide gamut with flaky sRGB support (something most of these have in common – I prefer good sRGB over extended gamut and oversaturation), no PnP/PiP (need 3rd party tools)

Dell S3221qs:
Pros – light 1800R curve which may help with gamma shift, ok ergonomic (no joystick, though), better sRGB support than others(?), PnP/PiP out of the box, good image quality, potentially somewhat less oversaturated than rest
Cons – no gamma setting, from recent comments it seems pixel response is poor with lot of blur which is a no-no for games, all white plastic (heh)

Philips 326M6VJRMB:
Pros – decent ergonomics, solid image quality, VESA HDR600 (though, it’s not important to me, I don’t consume HDR content)
Cons – oversaturated, poor RGB suport, more grainy screen and text than others(?), somewhat higher price than rest of these

Iiyama XB3288UHSU-B1:
Pros – from what I’ve seen in PRAD and nl.hardware.info reviews, image quality is pretty much on par with BenQ, very similar pixel response too. Good ergonomics, decent selection of ports.
Cons – same as others, oversaturated and poor sRGB clamp…IIRC, there was something else but I can’t remember right now – lack of some image setting? Strong contender, still.

Now…I sorta eliminated Philips because of graininess and oversaturation. I was tied between Dell and BenQ but recent comments about Dell turned me off. BenQ remains my 1st choice as a well rounded one with best gaming performance, save for ergonomics (luckily, VESA mounts exist). And Iiyama kind of creeped in here and it might be worth considering.
You notice I ruled out the Philips 328E1CA and it’s due to 1500R curve, which I don’t like.
I’m very much interested in your opinions about Iiyama…

Oh, one more thing. Looking at side-by-side comparison of BenQ and Dell at RTINGS, there’s something that caught my eye, namely these comparisons of text clarity and subpixels:

BenQ 3270U text:

Dell S3221qs text:

BenQ 3270U subpixels:

Dell Q3210qs subpixels:

Is it me or text on BenQ is noticeably sharper and subpixels way less blurry, at least on their examples? In fact, BenQ might top all of the others from this list, judging on similar images I’ve seen on other sites’ reviews…

[PCM2]

Hi Loveless,

To be honest it looks like the whole picture is just softer in those examples for the Dell vs. BenQ. It’s less saturated and the internal subpixel structure is less well-defined. So I’d blame the photography for a lot of this – it’s tricky to photograph macros of subpixels, especially for curved screens, so I don’t blame the author for settling for the photos as they are. Samsung SVA panels also have squat subpixels compared to the Innolux VA panel in question, as you can see here. It’s the same for the Philips 328E1CA, but as noted in the review it had no negative implications here. Not for text clarity – and importantly, split subpixel rendering isn’t used – nor for ‘static interlace pattern artifacts’.

I also note that you said you ruled out the Philips 326M6VJRMB because of the grainy screen surface? Well I’m afraid that rules out everything but the Dell, because all of those models use the same CELL (panel minus backlight) or use a panel family with the same screen surface. Manufacturers can sometimes specify subvariants that might differ in that respect, for example ASUS technically does this with the CG32UQ which uses the ‘C1’ variant of the panel. But whether they’re using one of these subvariants or using a CELL and putting in their own backlight (as per the Philips Momentum model), the same somewhat grainy screen surface is used in all cases. The Dell is better in that respect, although it still isn’t the smoothest or lightest screen surface out there – it is, however, as good as you’ll find on the VA models as far as I’m aware and better than the models based around that flat Innolux panel.

[Loveless]

Yes, I agree that the impression I got might be attributed to differences in capturing those images…it just seemed like a pretty obvious one when I look at it.

Anyway, while Dell does seem really appealing (any comments on its handling of sRGB, by the way?), I did get turned off by comments about its motion blur and gaming performance which is still important to me, even if I’m already used to a slow 60Hz VA panel. It’s also a large part of why I would consider the BenQ to begin with, it’s touted as probably the fastest of the bunch.

Also, Iiyama seems to be pretty much up there, have you sen any reviews of the XB3288UHSU-B1? So far, I’ve found PRAD’s and nl.hardware.info to have the only comprehensive ones and it looks like a decent representative of the flat Innolux bunch.

I wish I could find more about the Samsung F32TU87 but reviews and comments are very scarce and it does have a higher price than most of what I mentioned before (all are in the 500-550€ range where I live). I don’t have much reference on cheaper LG models with AUO panels either…a number of comments on Amazon are mixed.

Oh! I forgot about the Asus CG32UQ that you mentioned…it does seem like a slightly better alternative for Philips 326M6VJRMB, very similar characteristics?

I’m still torn about monitor choice in general…I am very curious about 4K for reasons I mentioned in my initial post, but I’m still very much open for high refresh 1440p variants (1080Ti owner here). I’m interested in switching from 27″ to 32″ because of that vertical estate but I’m not a fan of curves so in that category I’d most likely go with LG’s 32GK650 as a cheap and decent one. If I stick to 27″, it would have to be a flat panel which leaves me with AOC’s models, either the cheap Q27G2U or (a lot) more expensive Agon AG273QX.

Ultrawides are interesting too but I can’t think of a proper way to fully utilize that width with what I’m doing and it’s not easy to choose one, lots of “copycat” models with Samsung’s 1500R panels lately (again, not a fan of steep curve even if it’s justified on ultrawides). All in all, what draws me away from high refresh monitors are frequent flicker issues with adaptive sync, which are quite a lottery, and lack of vertical space on 27/34″…
All of that is a subject for some other threads, though.

[PCM2]

The S3221QS does have an sRGB emulation mode (using the ‘Color Space’ preset and setting it to ‘sRGB’). I believe it locks off colour channels as usual, because you need to specifically use the ‘Custom Color’ preset to access those. And there are no gamma controls on that monitor anyway. I’m not sure about the brightness control and whether that’s adjustable using the sRGB emulation setting. Maybe a user who has tested it will confirm? I don’t actively gather feedback on Iiyama models nor do I have any experience with their recent models. They aren’t available locally in North America and that’s where most of our users are based. The CG32UQ and Philips 326M6VJRMB certainly are similar, hopefully this is clear from the reviews. The conclusion of the ASUS review draws the key points of comparison together. You may have read this at some point anyway or skimmed through it, but either way it might be worth (re)visiting if deciding between those two models. 🙂

At this point I think you just need to go for something and see how you find it. Maybe a few slightly different models and return the one you don’t like. This may not be practical, but either way you’ve got quite a few apples to oranges comparisons going on there with distinct strengths and weaknesses. The high refresh rate VA models certainly are prone to flickering issues using Adaptive-Sync, due to VA panel sensitivity to voltage regulation. If you refer to our reviews of those VESA DisplayHDR 600 capable ‘4K’ models, they aren’t entirely immune to such issues either. But it’s usually in more specific situations, such as when close to or when passing the LFC boundary. The voltage changes are more pronounced when the refresh rate changes are more dramatic, which is why the high refresh rate VA models are generally more prone to this sort of thing.

[DCSaddict]

Hello Loveless.

It looks like in a few aspects we are going through the same process to settle on a 32 4k screen here.

I had a LG 38 Ultrawide (3840×1600) and the Philips 328E1CA at home and eventually concluded (I am also nearsighted) that the 32″ 4k with its better pixel density is the way to go. I returned the Philips (due to unluckily having a patch of stuck pixels – was an amazon warehouse deal though yet described with some cosmetic deficiencies) and sold the older secondhand Ultrawide for the same price I bought it.

Now for me its between the Dell S3221QS and the Philips 328E1CA.
a) Curvature 1800 vs 1500…. I also thought I want definitively the more gentle curve but then I drew it out in scale 1:10 on paper and over 7cm (70cm in reality) width the most outer corners come less then half a mm (would be around 5mm in reality) towards you on the R1500 compared to the R1800. So I think that aspect is off the table.

b) Ergonomic to reach the benefits of the S3221QS I would need to buy the 328E1CA with a desk mount and potentially a usb hub. Nothing that couldn’t be compensated with the lower price. Here in Canada the S3221QS is 738CAD and the 328E1CA 440 CAD.

c) Warranty 4 Years on the Philips which is outstanding. vs 1 Year from Dell here in Canada

d) Pixel response. When I tested the 328E1CA I was quite content with its performance. The Dell S3221QS I don’t know would be nice to compare it side by side… availability is poor though otherwise you could order them both from i.e. Amazon and return the one you don’t like.

[DCSaddict]

@PCM2

Based on the RTINGs Review of the Dell S3221QS (since it’s the only one out there with measurements) looking at the Table and also the charts I am wondering how much better the Philips 328E1CA can be. (i.e. 0-20% having it’s longest response time by far)

If you had to have a ‘wild’ guess to compare these two with the data available to you. How much of a gap would there be in Image quality and Response time (which could affect ghosting and responsiveness)?

(I wanted to add this to the previous post but didn’t find the edit function.)

[PCM2]

I’ll try to add some colour to what I’ve said previously in that respect. Remember that there are 255 grey levels – RTINGS looks at a subset of these and even if you looked at the same specific transitions for the Philips I’m not sure how much of a difference that alone would highlight. You’d still see some differences on their chart, with less red and dark orange overall. But it wouldn’t give the whole picture. There’s quite a gap between a grey level of 0% (0, black) and 20% (51), for example, as you can see on Lagom which shows both ‘0’ and ’40’ before jumping up to ‘255’. I’d expect a fair bit of orange to red colour-coded response times on the Dell between ‘0’ and ’51’ that wouldn’t be there there on the Philips. And a bit less for some of the other gaps that aren’t covered on the chart, such as between 20% (51) to 40% (102). Also remember the term ‘grey level’ is not specific to just grey as a shade, it simply refers to a depth of shade – so this will apply to more saturated and colourful elements as well.

The weaknesses are simply more widespread on the Dell and the slowest transitions somewhat slower. But they both have distinct weaknesses in places which could bother some people. I know you’re asking this because you were fine with the Philips and want to know if you’d find the Dell acceptable, but that’s something only you could answer. I do recall seeing some pursuit photographs from Test UFO that highlighted the weaker pixel overdrive performance of the S3221QS compared to what I recorded on the 328E1CA. But I can’t remember where, it was some obscure Asian forum I believe. Using the optimal setting on the Dell (‘Normal’ – as ‘Fast’ or above gives far too much overshoot) appeared some way between ‘Off’ and ‘Fast’ on the Philips for those transitions. So it’s simply not as well-tuned as the ‘Faster’ setting I recommend on the Philips.

[shake]

@ DCSAddict

> I was wondering if you had done anything abnormal to get such significant blur like adaptive sync with low framerates, HDR or using any Overdrive mode other then “normal” with this monitor since all others induce heavy overshoot.

I first noticed the blur while playing Red Dead Redemption 2. I wasn’t doing anything crazy when I noticed it. I was simply walking the character around a town at dusk (so lots of of dark-ish color). The game uses a 3rd-person perspective so while it isn’t that fast-paced, it’s possible to introduce a lot of motion by moving the camera. This hits on my big gripe with S3221QS reviews in some publications–a few mention refresh rate and how that may affect competitive players and fans of fast-paced games–but strategy games, role-playing games, even management sims can produce a lot of “motion” without being “fast-paced”!

As far as settings, I was using G-Sync (it’s unofficially compatible with the monitor’s adaptive sync and seems to work perfectly well). I used Nvidia Control Panel to cap frame rate to 56 (I get 70 uncapped–I’ve read that max fps should be below max monitor refresh rate to get the best performance with adaptive sync). No HDR. Overdrive on normal. After I noticed the blur, I dropped the settings, resolution, disabled G-Sync, etc. but none of that affected the blur. It wasn’t noticeable with brighter colors, or between bright and dark colors, so I think I may have lucked into booting the game into the monitor’s worst case.

[DCSaddict]

@PCM2 Thank you for your explanation.

I have one more question about the Panel’s color depth for both. On the Manufacturing Website they both simply list “Color support 1.07 billion colors”

In your in-depth review it is described that the 328E1CA reaches this by (8-bits per subpixel plus dithering).

For S3221QS I couldn’t find if it’s a native 10 Bit panel or also (8-bits per subpixel plus dithering). RTINGs simply says 10 Bit but the also say “Note: we consider 8-bit with dithering to be equivalent to 10-bit, as long as the 10-bit gradient looks smooth”

Wondering if there is a difference between those two panels and if this potentially could be visible in some flickering for some sensitive eyes?

[PCM2]

shake,

As covered in the review of the Philips 328E1CA: “We didn’t observe any particular issues with more noticeable overshoot as frame rate dropped towards the floor of operation, which is an issue that commonly affects FreeSync models. More so if the variable refresh rate range is broader, though.” It only has a 48 – 60Hz VRR range and it’s not really enough to reveal signficant overshoot even using its ‘Faster’ setting. This isn’t as aggressive as any setting beyond ‘Normal’ on the Dell, though. And I agree that it’s annoying when reviewers or other people try to brush aside slow pixel responses as an issue for fast paced games only. Not true at all – weaknesses can apply if you’re scrolling around on an RTS gaming, slowly turning in an RPG game or even just scrolling through text or moving windows around on the desktop. They can be noticed and have the potential to be bothersome in many scenarios beyond frantic FPS gameplay.

DCSaddict,

All Samsung VA panels that offer 10-bit colour support, as far as I’m aware, use dithering to get there. The dithering is very finely handled so most users and reviewers would not be able to distinguish the two anyway (8-bit + 2 bit FRC vs. 10-bit native). So that’s how little difference it makes either way, but it’s almost certainly handled in the same way on the S3221QS as it is the Philips 328E1CA.

[Moritz]

Hey folks,

first I appreciate all the helpful information on this website – Thanks !

I am looking for a 32″ 4K monitor for daily Home Office and time to time hobby photo editing, maybe video cutting (no high demands just hobby level). No gaming at all. Therefore I had already decided for pcmonitors.info´s recommendation of the Philips 328E1CA which costs around EUR 370 in Germany.

Shortly before ordering that one in an online shop I got my attention on the LG 32BN67U-B which has an IPS panel @ 32″ 4K instead of VA and costs around 100 EUR more (EUR 470).
According to the specs I draw the assumption that it has the same panel like the LG 32UN880 which has a high rating at several test/reviews like prad.de but costs 200 EUR less. Looks like good value for 32″ 4K IPS. Maybe a drawback vs. the Philips is that it is flat not curved.

So I am asking for your opinion: Would the LG 32BN67U-B IPS panel provide the better picture quality / viewing angles and better value compared to the Philips 328E1CA VA panel and therefor be worth the 100EUR additional plus the fact it´s flat which might be a drawback because not be as comfortable as the curved panel in 328E1CA?

Hope I hope I was able to express my thoughts well enough to be understood and you can give me a short advice.

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Moritz

[PCM2]

Hi Moritz,

We don’t specifically recommend the Philips 328E1CA for colour-critical work and that’s due to the gamma and saturation shifts associated with the VA panel type. Whilst it’s good as far as VA panels go, it doesn’t offer the same level of consistency as IPS-type panels do. I haven’t used the 32BN67U, specifically, but I believe it uses a ‘lower grade’ BOE panel. Based on my testing of other panels of this sort it will offer better colour consistency than the Philips, but it likely isn’t up to the levels of superior IPS-type panels. Tough to say without testing this specific panel, but ~32″ BOE panels often show often a dimming or fading or certain shades towards the edges. This wouldn’t be there on higher quality IPS-type panels of this sort of size. These weaknesses aren’t usually particularly noticeable on smaller models which use the technology, but ~32″ screens are much less forgiving. There are reasons most ~32″ ‘4K’ IPS-type models (such as the BenQ EW3280U we recommend) cost significantly more than that LG!

I suppose you need to weigh up how much of your time you will spend on the photo editing and similar tasks and how important you feel absolute colour accuracy is for that. Another concern I have with that LG, based on my experience with similar BOE panels, is that the screen surface might be rather grainy. Now I’m not saying the screen surface of the Philips is perfect by any means, but it doesn’t have the level of clear graininess I’ve seen on some BOE IPS-ADS panels in the past. This is something I’m personally very sensitive to, not everybody is and I can’t guarantee the LG has this particular issue. Either way, comparing it to the Philips 328E1CA is pretty apples to oranges really. You need to decide which is better suited based on your own preferences as well as usage.

[Moritz]

Hi PC Monitors 🙂

thanks for your feedback!

I would not spend the extra costs for the higher quality IPS-type panels you mention because I feel it would not be important enough. So these are no question.
I was wondering if the cheaper 32BN67U IPS panel is the sweet spot of value for money compared to the Philips 328E1CA with a moderate price increase.

I notice the assessment of the LG IPS panel here might be a bit more strict especially regarding graineness issue than from other reviewers and I have not fully understood the reason for the difference yet. Is it more a personal preference or are other reviews maybe to much based on meassured data instead real word use/tests.

For me absolute colour accuracy is not required however colors should be good which seems to be given with the Philips.
Regarding viewing angles on the 328E1CA there are some user complains. This may be better on the LG ‘lower grade’ BOE panel. What is your opinion?

So for my preferences and usage the pros and cons would come down to:

LG
Pros
+ better color accuracy than VA panel (although not as good as higher quality IPS-type panels)
+ better viewing angles
Cons
– more graniness
– more expensive
– no testing / reviews (pig in a poke ?)
– flat/ not curved (maybe a con)

Philips
Pros
+ good colors as far as VA panels go
+ less graininess
+ cheaper price
+ curved
Cons
– limited range of viewing angle
– color consistency not as good as even LG´s lower grade IPS (but not so important)

[PCM2]

You may understand this, but I think it’s worthy clarifying anyway. Colour consistency is important if you want accurate colour output. Weaknesses here stem from weaknesses in viewing angle performance, but apply even when you’re sitting directly in front of the screen from a normal distance. Even a TN model can show perfectly accurate colours in the centre of a screen. But if colour consistency is weak (as it is on a TN model, vertically) then that same shade displayed closer to the edge of the screen will appear completely different. This is reinforced in our reviews and also our panel types article which I linked to in my previous post. It’s a very important concept to grasp and understand, but is something very poorly covered in most other reviews which just focus on device readings from a colorimeter or similar device touching the screen. Your eyes don’t view monitors in the same way.

So with this said, I wouldn’t list this as “not so important” as it’s a key differentiator for the LG and ultimately shapes the exoerience. And yes, although it may not be as strong as on some IPS-type models it’s still superior to any VA model. Including the Philips. Another noteworthy differentiator and pro for the Philips that you didn’t list is far superior contrast. And a pro for the LG would be superior pixel responsiveness. With your focus more on colour performance, which I understand, it tends to weight things more heavily towards the LG. 🙂

[Author]

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