PG27UQ Problem (grey bars/banding)

[xiejiaxuan008]

I was so excited when I received this monitor today but I immediately found a problem of my monitor. (all settings are default, 98Hz, 10bit, 1080Ti, DP port)

No matter HDR is turned on or off, there're some grey bars (banding?) when pure white image displayed.
It's annoying especially pure white scenarios like google search pages.

(photo taken from iphone, running DisplayHDR Test)

I found the only way to remove them is to turn Variable Backlight off under SDR mode.

I'm completely satisfied it's HDR performance and I understand this monitor uses local dimming zones/arrays.
But I don't know these obvious grey bars:
1. Is just the limitation of local dimming, or
2. The monitor I received has some problems

[kozmik]

I started having this problem today. I've had this monitor since June with zero issues, both SDR and HDR function was superb -- until today I've been on a 1080 ti. Today I installed a 2080 ti, and it functions wonderfully -- for several hours I benchmarked a lot of games just testing it out. Then I closed out (iirc) The Evil Within 2, and I suddenly have significant "Variable Backlight" issues in SDR or HDR.

Huge black blotches across the screen, and banding especially with contrast changes. Whatever this is, it is completely unacceptable - and I hope it's a driver bug, otherwise this $2,000 monitor is now broken.

I recorded a video trying to demonstrate the problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBLbYYO_sh4


(Currently: EVGA 2080 ti XC Ultra @ 411.70 driver)

Is this what you have xiejiaxuan008 ?? If so, I can assure you it is NOT normal. What video card and driver are you currently using?

[ELIESEH]

kozmik wrote:
I started having this problem today. I've had this monitor since June with zero issues, both SDR and HDR function was superb -- until today I've been on a 1080 ti. Today I installed a 2080 ti, and it functions wonderfully -- for several hours I benchmarked a lot of games just testing it out. Then I closed out (iirc) The Evil Within 2, and I suddenly have significant "Variable Backlight" issues in SDR or HDR.

Huge black blotches across the screen, and banding especially with contrast changes. Whatever this is, it is completely unacceptable - and I hope it's a driver bug, otherwise this $2,000 monitor is now broken.

I recorded a video trying to demonstrate the problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBLbYYO_sh4


(Currently: EVGA 2080 ti XC Ultra @ 411.70 driver)

Is this what you have xiejiaxuan008 ?? If so, I can assure you it is NOT normal. What video card and driver are you currently using?

Did you tried to switch back to your old graphics card with old drivers? If the issue persist, means it is a monitor issue!!*

[Chewiie]

xiejiaxuan008 wrote:
I was so excited when I received this monitor today but I immediately found a problem of my monitor. (all settings are default, 98Hz, 10bit, 1080Ti, DP port)

No matter HDR is turned on or off, there're some grey bars (banding?) when pure white image displayed.
It's annoying especially pure white scenarios like google search pages.

(photo taken from iphone, running DisplayHDR Test)

I found the only way to remove them is to turn Variable Backlight off under SDR mode.

I'm completely satisfied it's HDR performance and I understand this monitor uses local dimming zones/arrays.
But I don't know these obvious grey bars:
1. Is just the limitation of local dimming, or
2. The monitor I received has some problems

The banding is a limitation of the FALD backlight local dimming. I have it too and noticed it since I first got the monitor. Totally disappears when FALD is set to off. There's just not enough local dimming zones to really mask it and the algorithm that controls local dimming might be a little too aggressive.

Also, blue light minimizing programs like f.lux can make screen darkening/banding really stand out. Local dimming can be especially bad with certain desktop backgrounds too where there's sudden shifts in light and dark depending on the picture/background. For example, I have a particular background that will cause browser windows that are white or light grey to have a crazy blue shift or darkening to them depending on where the window is in relation to the desktop background image. Switching to a more uniform desktop background, turning down the variable backlight from Fast to gradual, or just turning FALD/VBL off completely does alleviate the issue.

That "might" be what's going on in the youtube video of the above poster but it's hard to tell if the algorithm that controls local dimming is just sucking based on his desktop background or if some of the FALD zones on his screen are actually burned out requiring a replacement.

[Psycrow]

Git my pg27uq and looks like urs...

[oDi73]

Hi! It's been a long time i wanted to post here since it is the first result in google when you hit pg27uq banding... I own the x27 version and i have the exact same banding in a white background as yours. It is more noticeable off angle and less so when you look at it directly. But i would like to ask if you guys in your monitors see this thing that i will upload. When you have a grey - dark grey image with fald on , i also see horizontal lines - stripes in the middle of the screen . If i go full screen they go away , but as soon something appears on screen like the taskbar , paint's toolbar etc the grey lines appear again. It is also noticeable in games where grey uniformity matters esp. in panning horizontal shots and when for example there is h azy foggy background. It is more noticeable im hdr due to the increased brightness i suppose. I would appreciate it if you can check it and recreate it in your monitors and see if it happens to you also.

[Psycrow]

I had several pg27uq due to RMA cases and all of em had these bars but 2 of em was worse than the others..You could try and file a RMA but
if you do that then you get a refurbished monitor aka "a frankenstein" monitor in return, and it can have other other or worse problems..you have been warned.
I am in a nightmare of RMA cases atm

[oDi73]

Psycrow wrote:
I had several pg27uq due to RMA cases and all of em had these bars but 2 of em was worse than the others..You could try and file a RMA but
if you do that then you get a refurbished monitor aka "a frankenstein" monitor in return, and it can have other other or worse problems..you have been warned.
I am in a nightmare of RMA cases atm

I am towards this opinion also about the rma . It is just so weird about this problem . I think that it is a local dimming algorithm problem rather than just a panel uniformity thing . When you have something bright - white on top or bottom of the screen just like the toolbars in paint , the lines appear or they are always there but get to be more apparent . Anyway ... I would really appreciate it if you could post a picture recreating the same conditions as i described in my previous post where these middle grey lines become noticeable in a dark grey image . . I know that phones camera usually cannot capture the problem but if you play with the iso it could , just like my photo even if it is exaggerated . Just out of curiosity i would like to see how a similar monitor looks .

[oDi73]

Ok . Got a second x27 from amazon today to compare it side by side with my old x27 for it's fald uniformity . One is manufactured in June 2018 and the other one in April 2019 . To my surprise the second one is WORSE. The middle horizontal stripes are improved but not eliminated . But now the vertical grid is visible on the entire panel even when sitting dead on . When i have panning shots for example when a blue sky in a game the dirty screen effect is horrible. If i would receive this monitor from the beginning i would never have kept it or bother to buy another one . Considering my self lucky with the first one i am returning the new one back. Blooming was identical to the two panels. But the second one had a more natural color temperature without the yellow tint that my first one has .Also it seems to have a little better contrast natively without the fald . Ips glow the same in both panels with fald closed . Fan noise and speed also the same . So it seems that there is a lot of panel lottery fald - uniformity - dse wise in these monitors.