[PCM2]

ASUS has apparently resolved the flickering issues on the ASUS CG32UQ that occured when connecting the monitor up to games consoles. The latest firmware is intended to resolve this and it should be included on new units. Alternatively it can be installed by ASUS service centres. There are also instructions on how to do this yourself on their Taiwanese support forum (article now removed). It’s unusual to see them advising users how to do this themselves, by entering the service menu. And I’m not personally recommending users do this themselves, but I’m including these instructions for those who wish to do so at their own risk.

I’m also not clear that this will solve all ‘flickering’ issues (I doubt it), but it will hopefully get rid of the most annoying ones including screen blanks when using the monitor with a games console.

[PCM2]

On the monitor side, we’ve had a few people asking for recommendations for the PS5 or Xbox Series X. We’ve updated our console monitors article to reflect some notable capabilities afforded to the PS5 and Xbox Series X due to their increased graphical power and inclusion of HDMI 2.1. In particular, high refresh rates will be more widely supported and there’s the potential to use both a high resolution and refresh rate at the same time. I’m not confident many games will actually be able to run above 60fps at the ‘4K’ UHD resolution on these consoles, but the support is there via HDMI 2.1. 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) @120Hz may become a more popular middle ground for the Xbox Series X as well due to its ability to bump out reasonable frame rates at this resolution. How and if games will support this combination remains to be seen. Either way, having a monitor that supports 3840 x 2160 @120Hz, even if you’re using only one of those capabilities at a time, could be attractive to some as well. And HDMI 2.1 unlocks VRR support for the PS5 as well.

Monitors with HDMI 2.1 will be coming out starting early 2021. With the power of Google you can keep tabs on some of the models that support this. The Philips 328M1R is a prime example, whilst ViewSonic also has their XG320U due for release Q1 2021. We’re still awaiting a product page for that model – even the panel type has yet to be confirmed, but based on specs it looks pretty similar to the Philips so could be another VA model. Obviously it will be easier to focus the recommendations down a bit once the games consoles have launched and it’s clear what sort of resolution and refresh rate combinations are possible and what is supported by both the system and the games.

[bababooey]

Hi! First of all thank you very much Adam for all your hard work. You are really helping people all over the world choose a monitor. And damn, your reviews are so detailed!

I am looking for a 1080p 60Hz monitor mainly for gaming on ps4 and would occasionally be watching movies as well. Since most new recommendations have moved on to 144hz or 4k displays, I’d like to know what is the best monitor I can buy in 2020 for ps4.
Going through old recommendations and checking what’s available in my country, I shortlisted these models:

AOC G2590PX
Philips 276E8VJSB
PHILIPS 246E9QJAB
PHILIPS 221V8/94
BenQ EW277HDR
Samsung C27F591FD
Dell S2419H
Samsung R350/356
Samsung R390
Benq EL2870U
AOC C24G1

(There are also a lot of lg monitors available here but going through their reviews, I was turned off by the panel bleed/glow)

My first choice would be a 24″ monitor but if a smaller variant isn’t available, I will get a 27″. I don’t mind a 144hz panel if it’ll be good too for the console. Can’t go for a 4k, since I’m on a budget.

Thank you!

[PCM2]

Hi bababooey and welcome,

I appreciate the kind words about the website and I’m glad you appreciate this resource.

Assuming you’re talking about the regular PS4 (not PS4 Pro), it’s restricted to 1920 x 1080 @60Hz. So you won’t benefit from a higher resolution than that or a high refresh rate. A model like the C24G1 actually works nicely at 60Hz as well and given pricing it’s not like you’re paying a huge premium for a feature you won’t use. I’d generally recommend it for a mixture of PC and console gaming rather than pure console gaming, but I know people have used it with the PS4 (and newer consoles) and are quite happy with it.

It depends what you’re after as well. Whether you prefer the strong contrast of a VA panel over the superior colour consistency and tighter pixel responsiveness of an IPS-type panel. You might also have some preferences with respect to colour gamut – a vibrant look with some oversaturation (wide gamut) or a ‘rich and natural’ appearance (~sRGB).

[Dodi]

Hello Adam,

I have stumbled across this page looking for monitor recommendations for the ps5 and would first like to say that your reviews are in-depth and to an exceptional standard. I am simply looking for a monitor to perform one specific task which is to play fps games at a somewhat competitive level (my initial research suggested to get a TN panel, 1080p, 144Hz monitor as I am after higher frame rates and lower input lag more than other qualities, which is at least what my research suggests).

I have been trying to decide whether I should buy a gaming monitor right now (using HDMI 1.4 ports) with a refresh rate of 144Hz or wait for new gaming monitors to be released with HDMI 2.1 ports. I find quite a lot of the information on the internet quite confusing relating to ps5 compatibility. My main concern is as follows:

Ps5 has been mentioned to use it’s own VRR system using HDMI 2.1, will there be any 1080p 144Hz monitors be released with HDMI 2.1 ports to make use of this adaptive refresh rate technology and how soon would one be expected to see the release of such monitors? I was initially planning on getting one of the recommended monitors but I am unsure if a monitor such as the SonicView XG240R with freesync would work on the ps5 (the CPU of the ps5 is an AMD derivative I believe so in theory it could work?).

I am aware that HDMI 1.4 would be enough to display 120fps but I am unsure if any adaptive refresh rate features such as freesync would work on the ps5. I am also curious as to why the ps5 is limited to output only 120Hz as with HDMI 2.1 technology you could be able to achieve 4k 120Hz, which makes me question why the ps5 would not be able to display a higher frame rate on a lower resolution monitor e.g. 1080p 240Hz.

Thanks in advance for taking your time to read this.

[PCM2]

Hi Dodi,

It’s the graphics processor that would need to support FreeSync to allow Adaptive-Sync to be used. So as I understand it the PS5 does not support Adaptive-Sync and FreeSync can’t be used. It does support HDMI 2.1 VRR as you identified. Currently there are no monitors that support HDMI 2.1, but the first of these will be coming out Q1 2021. Possibly some token releases at the very end of this year. The focus here, at least initially, is on models which combine high resolutions and refresh rates. Overkill for the PS5, naturally. I don’t know how long it would take before we see this filter down to more basic models, 144Hz Full HD for example. Unless you know you’re sensitive to tearing or stuttering (have you noticed it when gaming and does it bother you?) then it might be that you’d enjoy the experience even with a static refresh rate. With the ViewSonic XG240R, for example, you’d have excellent pixel responsiveness and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz – but you wouldn’t have any usable VRR solution for the PS5.

[bababooey]

It depends what you’re after as well. Whether you prefer the strong contrast of a VA panel over the superior colour consistency and tighter pixel responsiveness of an IPS-type panel. You might also have some preferences with respect to colour gamut – a vibrant look with some oversaturation (wide gamut) or a ‘rich and natural’ appearance (~sRGB).

C24G1 is definitely a great one. I do like having deep blacks. That said, I have heard it has issues with ghosting, text not appearing sharp and uniformity issues. Is this true for all or some guy just lost the panel lottery?

There’s also the Dell P2419H available in my country which you’ve suggested as a matte alternative of S2419H, but then there’s also the SE2419HR which I guess is the official matte version by Dell.

If I go for an IPS, which one would you recommend? Dell or other brand. And are the poor blacks on an IPS really felt during gaming/content watching?
Another advantage for IPS which I only realized after posting is they are super good for reading/writing text office work. Sorry for so many questions.

[PCM2]

The C24G1 suffers some weaknesses in pixel responsiveness – these are explored in detail in the review. The pixel overdrive tuning and overall pixel responsiveness is decent for the panel type, however. The weaknesses bother some users but not others, it’s entirely subjective. I’ve recommended this monitor to many gamers (some of whom are quite competitive) and generally it’s well-received. It has issues related to partial subpixel rendering (also covered in the review) which cause text clarity issues. Again, subjective. They actually only bother a minority of users, the most common reaction is that it’s something they notice at first but get used to. They certainly have the potential to be bothersome.

As for IPS-type alternatives, you’re again looking at different weaknesses which are entirely subjective. If you’re gaming in a dim room then yes, the relative weaknesses in contrast (including ‘IPS glow’) are quite apparent. In brighter conditions, not so much. In moderate lighting (like the evening, with some indoor lights on) the VA contrast advantages can be appreciated. I do recommend the Dell models you’ve already highlighted, but it rather depends on your own preferences for matte or glossy screens. I cover these models and my thoughts on them quite extensively in this thread.

[bababooey]

They certainly have the potential to be bothersome.

Thanks! I do want a monitor which is easy on my eyes and something that I can work easily on, so I would skip the C24G1.

I will surely check out the budget monitor thread for feedback on Dell models.

Apart from Dell, are there any other IPS monitor you recommend?

[PCM2]

You’ll find out in that thread! 😉 I’d recommend page 10 onwards if you want to skip some of the less relevant stuff regarding older (and some now discontinued) models. As noted there a lot of these modern 60-75Hz Full HD models are really very similar with little to differentiate them in terms of core performance. There are many I have no direct experience with and not much user feedback – and with such models the feedback is usual along the lines of “it’s decent for the price” rather than anything particularly detailed.

[bababooey]

Hey, I went through that entire thread from page 1. And in the end I feel the dell would be a great choice. But I’m confused between the P2419H and the relatively newer SE2419HR.
I eliminated the s2419h because of the glossy display (still not 100% because I read in some reviews that isn’t intended for long hours). Ease on the eyes is important to me.

Now the SE2419HR has got anti glare finish and freesync but no ability for adjustment and just 2 ports (vga and hdmi).
The P2419H has lots of ports, antiglare and adjustability but no freesync.

I know the freesync on dell se2419hr is no use for my usecase but since it being a relatively newer model and having a gaming feature, is it a better choice for gaming?

Sorry for kinda over thinking this but any insight from you would be helpful. I do realize that the se2419hr hasn’t been covered or even mentioned here.

[PCM2]

The SE2419HR indeed hasn’t been covered as I have no experience with it or user feedback to share. Just in general Dell’s ~60Hz S series models (certainly applies to S2419H) are less well calibrated and no more responsive than the P series. The model year is the same as the P2419H, so there’s no point in focusing on which is ‘newer’ – they’re both a similar age in the grand scheme of things and that’s not going to make any difference to such monitors or their performance characteristics anyway.

[PCM2]

I’ve now created an offshoot to this thread that focuses specifically on the monitors for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. I felt this was better than having things buried in this thread and mixed in with discussions related to older games consoles.

[fun145]

Hi PCM,
Long time no see, but i am back. I was able to get hands on Philips 326M6VJRMB for a better price at local seller, so i ‘pulled a trigger’ on it. I have it for 3-4 days so far (weekend + few hours for last 2 days, when not at work) so here are my observations and personal attitudes and impressions for such tiny amount of time i have with it, in hope it will help someone to decide to go for/against it. (I still have timeframe for around 10 days of warranty to return no question ask, so i will try it some more, to definitely decide whether i keep it or return it. 14 days warranty toreturn no question asked total).

Most of these were already stated in review of the 326M6VJRMB, so they just repeats here themselves again, but some are heavily unit dependent.

Unit dependent characteristics:

• Backlight bleed=> very little and really subtle at the top left and bottom right corner (does not disappear/shift with a head movement)
• Backlight Uniformity=> small uniformity issue – not evenly uniformly lit- i.e. dark grey clouding on black background, but not extreme and definitely something you have to focus on heavily to spot it.
• Dead pixel=> none, i was not able to see any and i look really close, maybe some stuck pixel, but again while using it, i was not able to spot any.
• Gamma tracking=> out of box without any corrections to colour channels or contrast or smart uniformity setting with native tone mode and gamma2.2 selected and drivers from included cd installed, using lagom.nl gamma test, i see 2.2 for 10%,2.3 for 25% and 2.45-2.5 for 48%, so it seems gamma is a bit off out of box, but i think it could be fixed with reducing colour channels and tweaking contrast
• VA Glow=> very little, slightly visible, definitely different in comparison to my old ips – seems almost nonexistent on this VA, mostly visible when viewing indirectly at angle( influenced by viewing angles and gamma shift)

Panel based characteristics:

• Black crush=> noticeable more on pcm webpage header black-patterned banner, seems less so at lagom.nl black box test, overall seems very little crushing amount.
• Contrast=> nice feel of improved picture quality with higher contrast compared to my old ips
• Matte 25% Haze screen reflection handling=> seems more reflective than my old ips, along with higher contrast and increased pixel density, text look much sharper and easier to read, even when it is smaller.
• Vesa HDR 600=> with wide colour gamut, high contrast, 16 dimming zones ( in hdr only) and 600 cd/m^2 peak brightness, bright scenes look unbelievably beautiful ( maybe fald + higher luminance peak make it much better). Huge jump in picture quality compared to old ips. Darker/dimmer hdr scenes has 4 corner spotlight effect with light flood depending on scene( count and intensity dependent on scene, sometimes 2 other 1, 3 or even 0) and although sometimes it draws out of immersion, because i was informed about this issue from the review, i could kind of live with it (no monitor is perfect) and sometimes i do not register it at all or i do get used to it. Overall it is still nice even on flawed dark scene hdr which i am ok with, but it is gorgeous on the bright scene (and within that budget, i would not be able to find better alternative for hdr. and monitor in 1 device and i realise that.).
• Viewing Angles=> colour shifts at the edges of the screen visible in single colour image, much less visible and harder to notice, but noticeable, in more colourful image, but most of time i do not mind that much if any or notice at all, although in some cases it can be bothersome.
• Pixel responsiveness=> (ghosting and overshoot), there is ghosting with smart response fast mode, it can be seen on faster paced content in certain situation (bright/dark background with dark/bright object), yet i see fast mode as recommended, faster introduces overshoot while cutting off ghosting slightly and fastest is a clear mess of long trail of overshoot while still small amount of ghosting. I knew this, because i handmade my own pursuit photograph of fast->fastest mode and I saw fast seems the best option even though there is still a ghosting. (i made pursuit photograph with my phone and my hands only, no rails for camera or better camera used, although i followed the guide and am sure, i made it right.)

other observations:

• included sRGB setting has very high luminance level, can be used for a short period of time, but harder to use at evening or longer time at day. (brightness is locked when RGB mode selected)
• speakers are kind of good quality, with really high volume level (2x5watt) and good sound for higher pitch, although quite weak for basses, but they are still useable, and quiet good for most of situation (although when basses are needed, the sound they produces kind of reminds a sound from a can), so no perfect but quite good.
• ambiglow is a nice addition and i can find some other uses to that as alternative to ‘enhancing screen’ effect it should provide – ambient lightning (A.L.), e.g. A.L. it provides might be useful for lightning items under monitor and giving better access to them when in dark(even pitch black) room with lights off.
• included cables are high quality quite long (2 meters approx.) hdmi 2.0 and displayport (at least 1.2) high speed cables allowing to use monitor out of box with suitable device outputting 4k60hz to full potential. No need to buy new cables if (i was afraid i would have to buy new cables as i expected manufacturer to include simple cheap cables for basic 1080p60hz use, that is not the case) amount, type and length of included cables is enough for you, no new cables has to be bought.
• power brick get warm even in light use of monitor. It gets hotter when using hdr 600 mode. Also both sides of monitor (left and right) get warmer/hotter when using hdr, but i consider that normal, because of outputting brightness levels.
• usb outputs is nice feature (at least for charging ps4 controllers :D)
• control joystick at the back of monitor is harder to get to, and was confusing to use at start, but once i get used to it, it is much better controlling the monitor with joystick, than with pressable 4-5 buttons. (although remote might be useful for some, i am most of time sitting at an arms length from the monitor, so getting to joystick is no problem to me)
• Bright or white colours looks grainy=> even i have damaged eyes or i am not so sensitive to it, but it is really hard for me to see graininess on bright/white colours on this model – maybe slight hints, but so slight, that it is almost invisible. It does not bother me at all.
• Excellent immersion thanks to big 31.5 inch (81cm diagonally) size screen. It really does draw one in.

unable to test:

• freesync => currently have nvidia gtx 970 which does not support freesync nor it supports gsync compatible (gsc)

hopes for future include more powerful amd card, so i could take advantage of freesync and ‘display custom color’ toggle for better RGB emulation on Radeon software setting for amd card (with brightness change enabled).

Definitely not a monitor for hardcore gamers that wants high frame rates, even too because of its slower response time and 60hz and 4k gpu-powerhog. I used it with pc and console, while hdr so far was only used on my ps4pro. Watching movies was nicer experience to compared to my old ips lg flatron 22ea53vq. So overall, i think it is really nice balanced monitor for multipurpose usage (work – except colour critical-like video or photo editing, reading/writing text, video watching, light/leisure/immersion gaming, …) Vesa HDR 600 level and the image quality it produces it with this specification (luminosity, diming zone, wide color gamut, strong contrast, ….), is what draws me slowly to decide to keep it (best price/performance/image quality big 4k screen with good text reading capablility (RGB layout, high pixel density, …) i could find around that price.). I will definitely let you know how i decided in a one of next 10 days (within warranty with free return).
best regards,
fun145

[PCM2]

Hi again fun145,

Pay no attention to Lagom’s gamma test, especially on anything that isn’t an IPS-type panel. It is far too viewing angle and distance dependent on VA models to give accurate results. Aside from that, I appreciate you sharing your extensive impressions on the Philips 326M6VJRMB. It sounds to me like you’re enjoying it overall and have very sensibly set yourself realistic expectations based on the review. You’re enjoying some elements such as the bright scene HDR performance, immersion and overall contrast performance. But knew to expect poor dark scene HDR performance and prepared yourself for uniformity imperfections and some pixel response time weaknesses.

I assume this is purely PC-based usage? Of course, still useful for console gamers, but probably best I move this to another thread if so.

[fun145]

Hi PCM,
to answer your question, i had a little time to extensive testing (basically only through weekend), but i tested in on both PC (Win7, i di not jump to win 10 yet) and PS4 Pro (which i bought 2-3months ago). Hdr wise, i was able to test it only on ps4 pro and that is in game ( the last guardian), watching youtube hdr and nonhdr videos and i even try to browse the web (googling) all on PS4 Pro. On pc i can not test hdr yet, so there was basic usage (video/movie/youtube watching, listening to music (Spotify), browsing web, and a work with text (reading/writing in text editor, software development -basically work with text editor, …). Along with that, i had like half an hour maximum to test not-so-demanding games on pc (mostly tomb raider 2013 and old Counter strike) to see if i will notice the ghosting in game or not so much (sometimes clearly noticeable, most of times harder to notice, yet fast paced shooter game are not my main pc gaming target, when suddenly free time emerges itself from those very few 24hours per day. )

So overall i think my first impression falls within both pc and console usage, as so far i did not see much difference in monitor behavior when connected to pc or PS4Pro, except hdr of course.
Feel free to ask for more information, if you want to know something specific, or if you think some information might be useful for others who are in process of decision to buy new monitor.

[PCM2]

Excellent, thanks for confirming. I was in a bit of a rush so didn’t read your post carefully enough the first time. I missed that you’d specifically mentioned console usage as well. Sorry for making you repeat yourself. In that case I’m happy to leave the post here as it’s very useful and direct feedback that’s relevant to this thread. 🙂

[fun145]

hi, PCM,

I started to be concerned about ghosting and flickering on the Philips 326M6VJRMB ( based on playing -testing of more games on ps4, like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted4, Bloodborne, and a short-timed gaming on pc), so the only idea i got, was to do a cross test and connect it along with my old ips to mirror output on pc and test them both at the same time.

And i was able to find 2 surprises ( of which 1 actually should not be surprising, when think about thoroughly). Firstly, i found by accident, that when displayport was plugged in, i ran philips in a limited RGB range ( I had issues with correct connection of a monitor to a pc at first day, so i connect the monitor to pc with both displayport and hdmi included cables at the same time to get the image to monitor from pc. That was probably the issue which set and keep limited RGB range through displayport even after i solved the connection issues to do it right.) Once i found that and fixed it to full range , monitor started to behave more like within description in you review, the gamma at lagom.nl was magically fixed, white pattern test was clearly correctly visible, black test showed more black crush as stated in the review, though i think viewing angles and pixel responsiveness were untouched ( and i think, should not be touched by rgb range limit).

Secondly, which should not be very surprising, is that this 326M6VJRMB perform almost the same or very similarly to my old IPS Lg Flatron 22ea53vq in terms of level and amount of ghosting and flickering under 60hz ( lg has similar amount of ghosting, slight amount of overshoot here and there, and similar amount of flickering compared to philips at the same scene with many common sources/objects of this perceived blur and artifact issues in the scene), so basically as far as i see it, they are on par and up until now, i did not mind that on my old lg.

As of now, i did became more sensitive to ghosting/overshoot/flickering, because i specifically looked for it on philips, to see if it would bother me ( ignorance is a bliss i think, as now i could even see ghosting on my oled samsung s7 edge display when scrolling pcm white page black text forum pages on moving text ).
Anyway, still around week remains for me, but compared to when i was like 55/45 to keep it, before, now i am more like 90/10 decided to keep it, because it has similar pixel performance, much better features ( included height adjustable stand, which i need for having my monitor at highest height set for ergonomic seating and viewing comfort, as i have lower height desk and higher height chair ( when expecting correct ergonomic seating at chair)) wider colour gamut, stronger contrast and bigger UHD higher pixel density screen, for better and sharper text rendering and immersion. I am ( even with its weaknesses) now starting to be heavily excited and enthusiastic about Philips 326M6VJRMB.

Keep going on, you are helping a lot of people out there…
fun145

[PCM2]

Thanks for the further impressions, fun145.

The colour signal issue is often a nice surprise to people when they work it out. If you were using a Limited Range RGB signal then switch it to Full Range RGB after a bit, it’s like having a new monitor. 😉 It’s good that you’ve done these comparisons between the 326M6VJRMB and a reference display during your testing and ‘deciding whether to keep’ phase. Often people are overly critical and scrutinise too heavily. Looking at things in a way they normally wouldn’t and paying attention to small details they wouldn’t usually notice. Or simply setting themselves unrealistic expectations during that phase of testing. By accepting weaknesses as things you found ‘fine’ before (so why change that now?), you can move onto enjoying the strengths of the experience instead. Very happy for one’s enjoyment of a monitor.

[frog7162]

I’m new to monitors and all and I was wondering before I make the purchase to this Thomson FHD monitor, would it be compatible with my PlayStation 4? It will come with a HDMI and VGA port so is that all I require in order for the monitor to start up?

[Author]

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