- last edited on by
ROGBot
I want to make a small honest writeup about this. While there are many valid concerns, not everything is completely FUBAR as often portrayed here.
There are two main issues:
Backlight bleed and IPS glow.
Backlight bleed issues:
These days a lot of this is ironed out. Meaning that it is probably fairly rare that you get a monitor where the backlight bleed is going to cover half the screen if the build date is recent.
However the panel itself is an imperfect solution. Perhaps it is possible to cherry pick a monitor that has no backlight bleed at all if you have 20+ panels to choose from, but usually they all have a little bit.
Here is a picture of my monitor, which I picked out of 3 panels at the store (yes, we dimmed the lights and I tested each one):
It is taken at 30 brightness in normal ambient lighting conditions. Note also, that I adjusted the ISO and the shutter on my camera to make it as similar as possible to actually viewing the monitor.
If you look at this picture first - it is almost impossible to notice any backlight bleed. Because I am using a rational brightness setting in a lit room.
Note that my walls are nearly white, so what you see here is not any kind of bleed but simply a reflection of the coating on the screen and my silhouette.
Now the same monitor at the same brightness with the lights out. Again the camera had it's shutter and ISO adjusted to make it look lifelike. A lot of the pictures on this site are overexposed and show things invisible to the naked eye. Even this attempt is a little worse in the photo than in real life.
Using this picture as a reference you can watch the first picture again, and you should make out a tiny bit of the backlight bleed on the picture with the room lit.
Now, while 30 brightness will burn your retinas with the lights out - even if you set the brightness at 10, which is a bit dim even for a dark room, you will still notice the bleed.
What this means is - IF you like to play in the dark with the lights out, DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR. You will hate it, and you will just complain how terrible the bleed is.
However, if you play in normal lighting conditions, and you get a panel with some bleed in the corners only with the center being bleed free (like the majority of them are these days), then I do not see a problem. You will not really notice it. Even on loading screens.
Most of these monitors have three places with BLB:
1) Worst one is by the buttons
2) One opposite the buttons in the bottom left corner.
3) One in the top right corner
All three monitors that I viewed at the store had very similar amounts of bleed in exactly the same places. On one the bleed in the upper right was much stronger than on the other two. I can see it being distracting.
IPS glow/viewing angles:
Aside from the BLB, because of the size of the monitor there is also an issue with IPS glow.
The IPS glow means that the minimum viewing distance where this stops being an issue is about 55cm, otherwise the sides will look washed out - grayish. Some people have reported this, and most likely they are sitting closer than 55cm to the screen.
65cm is the spot where glow is no longer discernible on a black background and the panel appears uniform.
Overall - the other features of the monitor are nice.
The color reproduction is good.
The response is good enough for twitch FPS.
G-Sync is awesome for killing input lag and stutter. If you are sensitive to it then there will be a huge difference in responsiveness and feel.
If your eyesight is good then 1440p is a huge step-up in visual quality from 1080p, but you need a card to drive it. GTX980Ti minimum for AAA titles.
Closure:
There is no perfect 1440p G-Sync monitor on the market.
The TN panels suffer from dithering artifacts which at least for me was more annoying than the BLB which is almost unnoticeable in a lit room.
However, if you enjoy playing in a dark room DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR, get the PG278Q - the colors are nearly as good, but you will have to live with the dithering during movement. No bleed issues though.
Also, make sure that:
a) You have the option to return it
OR
b) If you buy from a physical store in a country where the physical store does not offer returns (my case for example) - make sure you get the room properly dimmed, set the brightness at around 20-30 and see how bad it is. Compare multiple screens - you will get a reference point after that. If the store does not want to accommodate you on this, find another store to give your money to.
If you do not have either of the two options above DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR. Or you may find yourself in a nightmare situation of arguing about what constitutes an "acceptable level" of backlight bleed with the warranty department of the place you bought it from.
Is this OK for a monitor that costs over 800 EUR? I can just say that right now there is no other panel that does 1440p, 144hz and has G-Sync without quirks. So either live with it, or wait until something else (better) comes up.
There are two main issues:
Backlight bleed and IPS glow.
Backlight bleed issues:
These days a lot of this is ironed out. Meaning that it is probably fairly rare that you get a monitor where the backlight bleed is going to cover half the screen if the build date is recent.
However the panel itself is an imperfect solution. Perhaps it is possible to cherry pick a monitor that has no backlight bleed at all if you have 20+ panels to choose from, but usually they all have a little bit.
Here is a picture of my monitor, which I picked out of 3 panels at the store (yes, we dimmed the lights and I tested each one):
It is taken at 30 brightness in normal ambient lighting conditions. Note also, that I adjusted the ISO and the shutter on my camera to make it as similar as possible to actually viewing the monitor.
If you look at this picture first - it is almost impossible to notice any backlight bleed. Because I am using a rational brightness setting in a lit room.
Note that my walls are nearly white, so what you see here is not any kind of bleed but simply a reflection of the coating on the screen and my silhouette.
Now the same monitor at the same brightness with the lights out. Again the camera had it's shutter and ISO adjusted to make it look lifelike. A lot of the pictures on this site are overexposed and show things invisible to the naked eye. Even this attempt is a little worse in the photo than in real life.
Using this picture as a reference you can watch the first picture again, and you should make out a tiny bit of the backlight bleed on the picture with the room lit.
Now, while 30 brightness will burn your retinas with the lights out - even if you set the brightness at 10, which is a bit dim even for a dark room, you will still notice the bleed.
What this means is - IF you like to play in the dark with the lights out, DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR. You will hate it, and you will just complain how terrible the bleed is.
However, if you play in normal lighting conditions, and you get a panel with some bleed in the corners only with the center being bleed free (like the majority of them are these days), then I do not see a problem. You will not really notice it. Even on loading screens.
Most of these monitors have three places with BLB:
1) Worst one is by the buttons
2) One opposite the buttons in the bottom left corner.
3) One in the top right corner
All three monitors that I viewed at the store had very similar amounts of bleed in exactly the same places. On one the bleed in the upper right was much stronger than on the other two. I can see it being distracting.
IPS glow/viewing angles:
Aside from the BLB, because of the size of the monitor there is also an issue with IPS glow.
The IPS glow means that the minimum viewing distance where this stops being an issue is about 55cm, otherwise the sides will look washed out - grayish. Some people have reported this, and most likely they are sitting closer than 55cm to the screen.
65cm is the spot where glow is no longer discernible on a black background and the panel appears uniform.
Overall - the other features of the monitor are nice.
The color reproduction is good.
The response is good enough for twitch FPS.
G-Sync is awesome for killing input lag and stutter. If you are sensitive to it then there will be a huge difference in responsiveness and feel.
If your eyesight is good then 1440p is a huge step-up in visual quality from 1080p, but you need a card to drive it. GTX980Ti minimum for AAA titles.
Closure:
There is no perfect 1440p G-Sync monitor on the market.
The TN panels suffer from dithering artifacts which at least for me was more annoying than the BLB which is almost unnoticeable in a lit room.
However, if you enjoy playing in a dark room DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR, get the PG278Q - the colors are nearly as good, but you will have to live with the dithering during movement. No bleed issues though.
Also, make sure that:
a) You have the option to return it
OR
b) If you buy from a physical store in a country where the physical store does not offer returns (my case for example) - make sure you get the room properly dimmed, set the brightness at around 20-30 and see how bad it is. Compare multiple screens - you will get a reference point after that. If the store does not want to accommodate you on this, find another store to give your money to.
If you do not have either of the two options above DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR. Or you may find yourself in a nightmare situation of arguing about what constitutes an "acceptable level" of backlight bleed with the warranty department of the place you bought it from.
Is this OK for a monitor that costs over 800 EUR? I can just say that right now there is no other panel that does 1440p, 144hz and has G-Sync without quirks. So either live with it, or wait until something else (better) comes up.
