[PCM2]

Yeah, it just seems both models are calibrated with a certain maximum luminance in mind. If a unit surpasses that then it will just go to maximum brightness instead of having the brightness mapped precisely to the intended output.

[Degrader]

Remarkable, yesterday I’ve bought the full version of the Shadow of the Tomb Raider and with local dimming Mode 2 there’s (almost) no haloing visible in the rainy scene (only in Mode 1), while there was certainly haloing in the demo with Mode 2. Maybe they’ve tuned it better for FALD monitors?

No haloing Mode 2 XG321UG in full version SOTTR

[PCM2]

Interesting… I doubt they’d specifically change the game with that in mind (certainly under SDR), but they may well have tweaked graphics settings and effects such that the monitor isn’t displaying quite the same shades as it does in the demo.

[sblantipodi]

Interesting thread.
I was very undecided between the Acer and the higher end ViewSonic and Asus models with 1152 zones.

At the end I opted for the Acer because slow response time is a big deal breaker to me.
Hardware unboxed compared the PG32UQX to 2018 panels in terms of response time.

I think that I’m going to buy a ViewSonic just to compare it with my eyes but knowing myself, I know that I will take the Acer.

I really can’t tolerate the ghosting produced by such a slow panel, fast response time was the things that made me WoW on the Acer.

I really hope to see an higher end model like the ViewSonic or Asus with a faster panel soon.

@ degrader, what do you use to measure such a big brightness on your monitor?

As far as I can tell most colorimeters should not measure more than 1000 nits, I don’t remember exactly but my i1 display pro should be able to measure up to 600 nits more or less.

[PCM2]

The original X-Rite i1DisplayPro was limited, but they released the i1DisplayPro Plus (used in our reviews – now branded as Calibrite ColorChecker Display Plus) which has a higher brightness reading capability accurate up to 2000 nits. OEM (i.e. ‘rebranded’) versions of this released a bit later than the original, including the ColorMunki Display also use this enhanced sensor – one of these devices is used by Degrader. The Datacolor SpyderX can also ‘read’ very high luminance levels, depending on software, but it loses accuracy at ~1000 nits so is not as reliable for that as the other devices.

[sblantipodi]

I’m not really interested in measuring max brightness on the monitor since there are reviewers that can tell me that kind of measurements but…

Do you know if the new sensor is better in terms of accuracy during the calibration process?

[PCM2]

Not for a normal calibration within its supported luminance range, no – not worth upgrading the sensor for that. 🙂

[sblantipodi]

Does the ViewSonic has a fan?
Fans in monitors is a big no no for me.

After the Acer X27 I decided to never get a monitor with a fan again.

Come on, a fan in a monitor is something that creates problems now or later

[PCM2]

Yes, same as the PG32UQX and all models with G-SYNC Ultimate modules.

[sblantipodi]

Am I the only one who doesn’t like fans inside monitors? xD

[PCM2]

Definitely not, some will understandably want to avoid them if possible as it’s just something else to worry about. I personally wish manufacturers would make more use of effective passive cooling (as ASUS does with some of their OLED models, for example). But at least as far as the G-SYNC Ultimate module goes, Nvidia includes an active cooling solution which the manufacturers aren’t able to get rid of.

[Degrader]

The fan of my XG321UG is completely silent even after displaying HDR context for a few hours. It also stays cool, fortunately. Another user of the ViewSonic monitor on Hardforum has the same experience.

I’m using indeed the ColorChecker Plus for measuring peak brightness as my SpyderX Elite can only measure up to 950 nits. But I find the SpyderX definitely more accurate for calibration than the ColorChecker Plus (I had also the non-Plus version for a while and gave me comparable results like the SpyderX.) So I use the SpyderX for calibration.

The XG321UG in Mode 2 handles the rainy scene of the full version of the Tomb Raider quite well without any noticeable flickering. Mode 1 however is comparable with the Average mode of the X32 FP.
Having twice the zones with the ViewSonic increases its contrast by a factor two to three compared to the Acer measured in the checkerboard test of the DisplayHDR Test app.

[sblantipodi]

More zones does not increase contrast. More zones improves contrast in very small area but does not increase contrast in general.

Am I wrong?

I have seen a post on hardforum of a user that owns both the X32 and the XG321UG that says that haloing on X32 is way better than XG321UG.

I’ll comment on this as soon as I receive my XG321UG for comparison.

On Monday I’ll receive two X32FP, on Tuesday I’ll receive another 2 X32FP, then I’ll check the XG321UG.

[PCM2]

Semantics really, but increased zone count will increase contrast (depending on how you measure it). An extreme example would be to look at an edge-lit dimming solution and compare to Mini LED with any reasonable and appropriate contrast measurement methodology. An OLED achieves its exceptional contrast due to it’s excellent dimming precision, too. The Acer strongly dark-biases whereas the ViewSonic will achieve superior brightness for many elements, which could indeed reduce ‘halos’ on the Acer in comparison.

But there are some shade mixtures (such as the Tomb Raider example here) where the dark-biasing isn’t so strong on the Acer, just due to the tuning differences with the local dimming algorithms. There are some elements where the increased zone count of the ViewSonic will also work in its favour, but that’s again why the Acer leans heavily towards dark-biasing to help maintain good shade depth.

[Degrader]

Just to let you know: I’ve sent my XG321UG to the repair centre of ViewSonic to let the firmware be updated as I’ve discovered a bug that the OD setting won’t be saved after turning off the monitor. The issue only happens via DisplayPort. Besides the fix for the OD setting issue they say that the new firmware has a focus on performance improvements. I’m curious what that means as it can be related to response times, FALD and or even color accuracy. They couldn’t specify it unfortunately.

As far as I know monitors with a G-Sync module cannot be updated by the end user, so that should be the reason why I need to send it to ViewSonic. I’ll let you know what my findings are when I have the monitor back from the repair centre.

[PCM2]

I look forward to your feedback with the new firmware. It’s true that most models with G-SYNC module can’t be upgraded to new firmware by the user, although I’ve noticed the PG27AQN and XB273U F have just received a firmware update (ASUS example that includes “ULMB 2”. That’s an exception as it looks to use an Nvidia firmware updater tool so is something Nvidia have actively worked on rather than being for firmware fixes the manufacturer themselves implement.

[Degrader]

After almost four weeks I’ve received my XG321UG finally back from ViewSonic. I can confirm that the OD setting bug is fixed, so the set OD setting is now saved after turning off the monitor while connected to the DisplayPort. As ViewSonic said that besides this fix performance improvements were made in the firmware update I’ve looked for changes in the FALD tuning and did some measurements for peak brightness, contrast, EOTF and color accuracy. I saw no differences in the results. While I can’t be entirely sure it seems to me that the FALD tuning is changed a bit in Mode 1 and/or Mode 2. Very small highlights are a little more dimmed now and slightly less detailed compared to Mode 2 and dark tones look a bit darker. So it looks like that the two modes differ more to each other than before. The halo behavior against lighter backgrounds is still there which can be somewhat distracting in Mode 1. I saw no new or changed settings/options in OSD with the new firmware.

I’ve asked ViewSonic again for a changelog of the new firmware, they try to get it from their technicians. I’m curious, I’ll let you know once I’ve received it.

[PCM2]

Interesting. Well it’s good that the OD bug was fixed – look forward to anything else ViewSonic can confirm or that you discover. It sounds like it could just be some minor tweaking that was made there to the FALD algorithm. I don’t envy the job of the technicians involved in tuning such things. Whilst testing the X32 FP I was often telling myself “if only the algorithm did this for this element… But reacted this way for that element…” Thinking about the diversity of scenes and how the FALD solution reacted with various different shade combinations, I can see that it’s very difficult to strike a suitable balance in all cases. It’s even more difficult with the Acer due to the more limited zone count. But it sounds like ‘Mode 2’ on the ViewSonic is still the least compromised option as a ‘set and forget’ setting that works well or at least reasonably well across a wide range of scenes. Without annoying standout ‘flickering’ which could ruin the experience.

[sblantipodi]

but why you have sent the monitor for just a firmware upgrade? isn’t there a way to do it yourself?

[PCM2]

It’s a common restriction with models with G-SYNC modules unfortunately – no user upgradable firmware. Unless it’s something Nvidia rather than the monitor manufacturer is involved with (like when ULMB 2 was added to some of their 360Hz models recently via a firmware upgrade). 🙂

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