I’m in the market for a new monitor. It’ll be used for gaming and browsing, but also light graphic design/video editing and lots of email- and document-writing, some spreadsheets, etc. My graphics work is not very color sensitive, and I have a “normal” $100 IPS monitor on the side to compare.
The two options that caught my eye so far:
BenQ Mobiuz EX3410R - 34” 21:9 1440p 144hz VA with 1000R curve (450 USD)
BenQ Mobiuz EX270QM - 27” 16:9 1440p 240hz IPS (570 USD)
I’m upgrading from a 24” Acer Predator XB253Q GX 1080p 240hz IPS, which I chose because I had a 90’s desk with a hutch that limited monitor size. I’ve been fairly happy with it despite a few quirks and low PPI, but that desk is going to the curb soon so it’s time for something bigger.
My PC is Ryzen 5800X3D, 32G RAM, RTX 4700 Ti. I predict my usual games will hover around 180-200 fps in QHD, and 120-140 in UWQHD.
I know I’d be happy with what would be a direct upgrade to a 27” 1440p version of my current monitor, but I’m feeling the pull toward the novelty of UW and curved. I've only had 16:9 and a few 16:10 flat monitors.
Here are my concerns about going UW curved:
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Since I’m doing some WFH text and graphics, I want to make sure I won’t regret the leap. I think I’d get used to the curve, but I’ve heard that some VA panels can get a bit wonky with text.
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While my graphics work is not very color sensitive, it sometimes is a little bit… I can’t be giving people jaundice, I mean. The Acer isn’t exactly perfect either, but it’s good enough. And I always check photos on my side monitor and my phone.
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Whatever I choose will be my daily driver for probably 7+ years. I’m concerned that there will always be adjustments and compromises if I go curved. Meanwhile, flat 16:9 is fool-proof, but I’ll always suffer from grass-is-greener syndrome.
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I know both of these options run the risk of backlight bleed - the VA because it’s large and curved, and the IPS because it’s IPS. The “IPS glow” doesn’t really bother me too much, but edge bleed would. I got lucky with my Acer - it’s pretty much solid black. I don’t know which would be more risky for developing backlight bleed.
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The EX270QM is brighter and has much better color - bother a wider gamut and more accurate. I’m not sure if the curve and extra width will be a worthy trade-off, even if I love 21:9 curved. So, again, a different grass is greener problem.
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I really enjoyed 240hz G-Sync smoothness, but I don’t play serious competitive stuff and I could downgrade to 144hz, as long as the other benefits are worth the trade-off. I also think QHD will hover around 180fps in my current games, and UWQHD around 140 maybe. I’d probably only get the full benefit of 240hz QHD in older games.
Do any of you own either of these or similar monitors? And even if not, please alleviate any of my concerns or try to sway me one way or another. If you have other recommendations in the $450-600 range, I’d welcome them too.
Edit - TL;DR: I’m torn and indecisive between 21:9 1440p curved VA and 16:9 1440p flat IPS. Color and quality are important, but so is gaming immersion. I yearn for something new from my 16:9 past, but I’m afraid I’ll fight with regret. I seek to learn from wisdom and experience. Please help.
VA is good for high framerate, not colour or picture quality. It's your choice, I will always suggest something between IPS and OLED, never VA. If you can't do a 21:9 nano IPS, get the highest IPS with Adobe colour rating that you can afford.
VA has historically been terrible for high framerate, decent for colour accuracy and great for image quality (contrast is so much better on VAs compared to IPS).
VA panels with decent rise/fall times and not too much overshoot are far and few between. You really have to do your research and even then it'll be close or even slightly over the refresh cycle target. Only Samsung's more recent panels are actually good for high refresh; incredibly good actually.
Thanks for the reply. My understanding is that Nano IPS is LG’s term for IPS with enhanced color gamut, correct? It looks to me like the EX270QM probably uses similar tech - maybe even one of the same panels, not sure - with its 10-bit 1.07 billion color “98%” DCI-P3 coverage.
I’m not sure I’m interested in a 21:9 flat panel - if I go UW I’d prefer curved. So I’ll look out for 10-bit curved UW IPS options to compete against the 270QM.
Unfortunately, since I can’t commit to a dedicated gaming-only monitor, I’m avoiding OLED for now. Too worried about burn-in when I go AFK and the screensaver fails to work (Windows…), or when I work with a window in the same place for hours day to day. If I had the space and budget for two dedicated large monitors, I’d go for one OLED in a heartbeat.
it doesn't burn in that fast. also some OLEDs have mitigation by moving the whole picture unnoticably slow by 1px at a time for a dozen pixels or so in each direction. on some displays this can clip scrollbars off sometimes.
You got solid reasoning in all that you say.
Burn-in is not such an issue due to pixels auto adjusting/moving, so te same pixels are not always on.
I don't have experience with ultrawide but it seems that some enjoy a curved ultrawide to bring the sides in more.
I'm not sure of the connect between nano IPS branding and LG, but I will always say IPS over VA. TN and VA are low grade compared to how much the price for IPS has dropped, that's why I believe anything lower than IPS technology is not an option for buying, but do what works for you since it's your money being spent.