[PCM2]

That’s an apples to oranges comparison and it depends on your own preferences. I’d recommend reading some of the threads linked to in my earlier post on this thread and also the summary provided in our panels type article. The XG27WQ may offer low input lag (signal delay), but that’s not a particularly impressive achievement for a modern VA model. It still suffers from sluggish pixel responses that cause clear ‘smeary’ trailing and ‘heavy powdery’ trailing in places just like we describe in our reviews of similar models. I wouldn’t recommend it for competitive gaming. Its main strength is contrast. The VG27AQ on the other hand offers significantly weaker contrast but offers stronger colour consistency and gamma consistency plus significantly stronger pixel responsiveness. It also has a narrower colour gamut, so in many respects offers a less vibrant and saturated representation of shades. It’s more suitable for competitive gaming.

I’d also recommend considering a model that’s some way between those two such as the BenQ EX2780Q, a model I suggested earlier in this thread. It offers marginally stronger contrast than the ASUS (and according to some accounts a nicer screen surface) whilst offering a wider gamut and more vibrant colour output. Pixel responsive isn’t as strong, but it’s not bad either in that respect and significantly better than the VA option. It’s also mentioned in many threads on this forum including in the context of the Dell S2719DGF and ASUS VG27AQ. For your VA option I’d stick with the AOC CQ27G2 instead as the XG27WQ doesn’t really offer anything on top of that and just costs more for the branding. A few threads I’d recommend having a browse through with all of this in mind:

27″ VA options.
Wide gamut high refresh IPS options.
Thread focusing on the S2721DGF, with some comparisons drawn.

[Jsnip]

Thank you very much.

[CellarDarko]

Hey, thanks for this website.

I want a 32”, 4k, 60Hz, VRR monitor. I’d love HDR but still not sure if it’s good enough to be worth it on monitors and I’m still on the fence over VA or IPS.
I’ve been reading the forum for a couple of days and obviously your recommendations are:

– Philips 326M6VJRMB or ASUS CG32UQ for HDR
– Philips 328E1CA or Dell S3221QS for non-HDR, VA
– EW3280U for IPS

For HDR, Acer ET322QK also seemed an option. The monitors are priced quite differently. Can you tell me why?

Also there were multiple displays mentioned but not reviewed, since you didn’t have access to the monitors. I’ve made a list, below. Can you tell me if any of these could be better than the recommended ones, so that I search for reviews elsewhere, or which ones are a waste of time? For example, you say F32TU870VU is too expensive, I’ve found it for 700$. Is that still too expensive? You also state that Innolux’s VA displays are worse than the curved VA displays. And that the upcoming VA non-curved displays, found on for example the S32R750U, would be equally as good as or better than the curved displays. Is there a definite answer here? All this ties up to the initial question, are the below monitors worthwhile to research more or are the recommended monitors still firmly top?

Acer PE320QK
LG 32UK950
LG 32UN650
LG 32UD99
LG 32BL95U
LG 32UD89
LG 32MU99
LG 32UD60
Asus PA329Q
Lenovo P32U-10
BenQ PD3200U
BenQ PD3220U
SAMSUNG UR59C (mode edit: that is just the series name for the below)
Samsung U32R590
Samsung S32R750U
F32TU870VU
U32E2N
BenQ EW3270U
LG 32UN500

Thank you!

P.S. Sorry if some of these have already been decided on the forum, I’m already getting migraines over this.

[PCM2]

You’re spot on about my recommendations and I am more comfortable recommending models I have my own good experiences with or have received good user feedback on. I’m not going to go through all of those models you’ve listed because quite a few of them are mentioned already on the forum – please use the search facility if you’re curious, otherwise just understand that the recommendations that are in place are robust and other models (including many you list) have already been considered. Or haven’t because too little is known about their performance, in which case they aren’t going to be recommended or discussed in any real detail. There are only a finite number of panels that are used between all of them so there is plenty of crossover in their image characteristics and capability.

Tip: Quite a few of the models you’ve just listed are mentioned here and I justify why I prefer the EW3280U. Many of the VA models you list use “the Innolux panel” (CELL) and you’ve already read my justifications for why I prefer alternatives. You also singled out the Acer ET322QK so I’ll link you to a forum search for that. Can’t add any more colour to that one – it’s a potential candidate to try out. It uses the same panel/CELL but whether it’s put to use as well as the Philips and what other potential compromises are made elsewhere in the monitor I couldn’t say. It might be that those compromises aren’t made.

“You also state that Innolux’s VA displays are worse than the curved VA displays. And that the upcoming VA non-curved displays, found on for example the S32R750U, would be equally as good as or better than the curved displays.”

No, I didn’t ever state they would be “better” than the curved displays. Aside from possibly a slightly lower chance of clouding, but that’s anecdotal. I don’t see why they would be better for most unless they are really allergic to curved displays and have actually sat down at a desk and used them so can justify such a position. I’m confident the performance would be very similar, actually, if not just slightly worse in terms of colour consistency if sitting relatively close. The curve itself and the attributes related to that are the difference, the underlying panel technology (Samsung SVA) is exactly the same aside from the curve. You can see similar behaviour with the curved 144Hz+ VA models vs. flat alternatives, again Samsung SVA panels in both cases. I’ve used those side by side before so could see how similar they are to one another aside from the physical curve of the screen.

[PCM2]

It’s been brought to my attention that the Xbox Series X might not be able to use the 120Hz capability of some monitors. A user posted on our YouTube channel that the Xbox Series X doesn’t seem to let them run their Acer XB253Q GP at 120Hz. It definitely supports 120Hz via HDMI, but I noticed when I reviewed it that this is listed as a ‘PC’ resolution in Nvidia Control Panel. I wasn’t aware that this would make a difference as any PC hooked up via HDMI (or DP) will see that 1920 x 1080 @120Hz is supported and it could be selected in the graphics driver or Windows. But it’s possible the Xbox One X is ‘blind’ to this resolution list and only pays attention to those that, in Nvidia Control Panel, would be listed as “Ultra HD, HD, SD”.

Most of the time I’ve seen 120Hz listed in this first list for the 1920 x 1080 (Full HD/ 1080p) resolution, but sometimes it makes its way to that second list. The 2560 x 1440 resolution and any accompanying refresh rates on WQHD models are usually listed in the ‘PC’ list as well, but it seems (at least based on the Xbox One X) they’re visible and useable by the console. I realise this is rather technical and confusing, but if anybody has experience with this feel free to chime in here or on this Twitter thread I created.

Edit: Turns out the user had the XB253Q GX (240Hz model), but I’m not sure this would change anything with respect to its 120Hz support. With the help of a knowledgeable Twitter user and a bit of digging I’ve managed to get to the bottom of this issue. The user now has the monitor working at 120Hz with their Xbox Series X. See post below as this will apply to other monitors as well.

[CellarDarko]

Thank you for the help.
I’ve decided to go for the ASUS CG32UQ because HDR seems to be an important feature for Microsoft (auto-HDR for old games, etc.) and this one out of the 3 HDR monitors because of the good speakers.
I’ve made a small donation for your invaluable work here. Thanks again.

[PCM2]

I appreciate the support and I hope it offers the sort of experience you’re after.

[PCM2]

The following has been added to the appropriate section of the ‘Monitors for Console Gaming’ article. Apologies if some of the wording is incorrect or instructions aren’t clear, it’s very difficult to write instructions for a system you don’t actually own and have in front of you! 😉

If you’ve hooked up your high refresh rate monitor to your Xbox Series X or Series S and you’re limited to 60Hz, even though the monitor supports 120Hz via HDMI, there is a small tweak that may help you. This isn’t required on all models and may disable FreeSync capability.

– Press the Xbox button on your controller and navigate to ‘Profile & System‘ (tab on far right).
– Select ‘Settings‘ – ‘General‘ – ‘TV & display options‘.
– Select ‘Video fidelity & overscan‘.
– Press the ‘Connection‘ drop-down and change this from ‘Auto-detect (Recommended)‘ to ‘HDMI‘.
– The 120Hz refresh rate should now be selectable back in ‘TV & display options‘.

[Jaraghan]

Hey. Just wanted to say first you’re awesome for helping people out like this. Super informative and concise advice here.

So I bought a Dell S2719DGF earlier this year for my PC. I used the DP to achieve 144hz/1440p on my PC. The manual also tells me the HDMI 2 port can also achieve this.

I sold my PC months ago and got a Series X today. Unfortunately the HDMI port doesn’t support 1440p/120HZ on the Series X. I had someone on Reddit tell me it had to do with VESA +/- or something or other.

I am looking to get a new monitor now that will allow me to game on my Series X at 1440p/120hz. Right now it’s either 1080/120 or 1440/60.

I’m not sure if a monitor exists where I can run 4k/120, and if there is I would like to lean towards that. But 1440p/120 is where I am aiming at. I did a bit of research through Google (which is how I found this place) but whenever I find something I might be interested in, there is always some review(s) that mention something off about the monitor.

A low response time and a good HDR implementation would be nice as well. Obviously this sounds like a dream monitor, and I highly doubt anything like that exists though haha. Price isn’t much of an object because I can just save up for it, and I don’t need to be getting this monitor immediately.

Thank you.

[PCM2]

Hi Jaraghan,

There’s no point overcomplicating things, it’s simply that the Dell S2719DGF doesn’t have 120Hz as a listed refresh rate. This is mentioned in the review:

“Note that we aren’t testing other refresh rates such as 120Hz as the monitor does not include intermediate refresh rates such as this as listed resolutions.”

No monitor is perfect so you’ll always find various issues with monitors. What I’d recommend depends on your budget and size preferences as well. And how you actually found the S2719DGF in various ways such as contrast and colour reproduction. And responsiveness, when using it on your PC. If you go back to my earlier posts on this thread you’ll see I’ve made several suggestions already. And all the suggestions I’ve given have 120Hz as a listed refresh rate.

[Jaraghan]

Thoughts on the LG 27GL850? It seems pretty good. Decent price, 1440p/120hz for my Xbox, nice design, IPS. But there is a version that is nano and one that isn’t and im not sure what that means.

[PCM2]

The 27GL850 (or very similar 27GN850) is potentially a good choice. It’s widely discussed already on the forum, which is why I suggested you go back and check some of the earlier posts and threads linked to there. The forum also has a search function which can be used if you have particular models in mind. This thread is particularly useful as it draws comparisons between both LG models you mentioned as well as other competing models. Having said all that, I appreciate there’s a lot of information to digest here, so to summarise:

– The 27GL850 and 27GN850 offers vibrant colour output because of the ‘Nano IPS’ component (= wide gamut due to enhanced phosphors), strong responsiveness but amongst the weakest contrast you’ll see from a modern IPS-type panel.

– As above for the 27GL83A (and similar 27GN800) except that it lacks the ‘Nano IPS’ component. The colour gamut is significantly narrower (~sRGB vs. 98% DCI-P3 coverage) which means things look less vibrant and less saturated. More similar to your Dell, but with superior colour consistency and therefore richness and saturation better maintained throughout the screen.

– The HDR capability of these models is extremely limited and frankly quite poorly implemented, most users would not use that aspect.

– The 27GL850 is limited to 100Hz via HDMI at its native resolution with FreeSync enabled. So the Xbox Series X would only be able to use it at 60Hz, or if you disable FreeSync you can use 120Hz at the native resolution. This applies to the 27GL83A as well and I assume the newer ‘GN’ variant of each model.

[Jaraghan]

This is honestly extremely difficult for me. I know you highly recommend the BenQ but people report there is backlight bleed. There is just so much to unpack in just this thread, not to mention your other threads. There isn’t a single clear cut choice since everything seems to have negatives attached to it. I honestly have no idea what to go for. Just gotta keep researching I guess.

[PCM2]

I can appreciate it isn’t a simple choice, but the comparisons drawn in that thread are well worth taking time to absorb. There are many choices but only a relatively slim number of panels are used. There are certain characteristics which all models using a particular panel share and understanding those characteristics, as that thread will aid you with, is important. You won’t find a perfect monitor and you certainly shouldn’t draw a strong connection between one particular model and backlight bleed. Backlight bleed and other uniformity issues vary between individual units and aren’t specific to one model or the other. You certainly aren’t guaranteed bad backlight uniformity on the EX2780Q and neither are you guaranteed good backlight uniformity on the LG models. You are guaranteed certain things related to the panel characteristics, however – such as lower contrast on the LG models.

[Jaraghan]

Ahh whatever. I’ll pull the trigger on the BenQ. I used to have one back in the day for my 360/early days of X1 lol. Time to go full circle. It does suit all my 1440p/120hz needs so I can’t complain lol.

I can’t find a manual for this monitor online, so does this monitor support 1440p/120hz on the Series X? I don’t want to end up in a situation like with my current monitor.

[Jaraghan]

I can’t find a manual for this monitor online, so does this monitor support 1440p/120hz on the Series X? I don’t want to end up in a situation like with my current monitor.

[PCM2]

I’ve already addressed this in my first reply to you, in the last sentence: “all the suggestions I’ve given have 120Hz as a listed refresh rate.”

Furthermore, I specifically go through the listed refresh rates in the review (end of that section), 120Hz is definitely listed at the native resolution using HDMI. FreeSync works on top, the LG models are really odd in that FreeSync restricts the refresh rate over HDMI. 😉

[Jaraghan]

ok I ordered it and it will be arriving Friday. ill let you know how it turns out. thanks for all the help brother

[Jaraghan]

ok I got it set up and working. 1440p/120hz. variable refresh rate, etc.

I tested out the hdr and honestly wasnt impressed that much in the end. im going regular non hdr on user settings with some tweaked stuff and it looks great to me.

i read your review on it as well and it didnt seem like you were that pleased with the hdr either. its ok cause i didnt get it for only the hdr lol. this monitor will hopefully serve me for years until i can afford a 4k 144hz hdr super monitor lol. thanks for everything brother

[PCM2]

Glad it’s working out for you, you’re correct that I rate the SDR experience a lot more highly than HDR. The latter is simply compromised in many ways rather than a ‘true’ HDR experience so most people will prefer disabling it. Can be nice to enable from time to time for a bit of variety in games as it makes them look different, but that’s about all.

[Author]

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