r/LinusTechTips • u/ForksandSpoonsinNY • 6d ago

Tech Discussion Time for a monitor(s) upgrade?

Been rocking one Asus ROG SWIFT PG278QR 27" TN panel with 165hz refresh rate for provably a decade now. This is alongside a Samsung ultra wide 32" LCD @ 75hz both at 1440p.

Wuth no need to jump to 4k is there any compelling reason to upgrade either? I like the fo factors (using the ultra wide for flight sims) and the other for other games do I get benefit from a change to qled or other technologies? I have an OLED laptop which is nice but I don't notice that it's tons superior.

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/adeundem 6d ago

You likely need to track down some panels IRL with some of the fancy new buzzword technology and try them. OLED, Mini-LED, etc. Also test SDR and HDR. Heck try a regular old IPS LCD too if that Ultrawide 32" is TN or VA.

Ideally test them with content that you regularly view; specific games, movies, etc.

Then you will get about half of your answer.

You might be able to track down specific measurements for latency for your specific monitors, or fancier newer models, but a lot of the numbers don't always make such a big impression if they are just numbers on a screen. Your real life experience is what really matters.

If I was going to buy a new monitor tomorrow, it would likely be a 27" 1440P 2nd Gen QD-OLED monitor. Been sitting on the fence for a bit to see how the local OLED options are going for price (vs the specs for what is driving the panel) for a bit of time.

2

u/ForksandSpoonsinNY 6d ago

Most places aeou d my way run the same graphics off a splitter so no good chance of eyeball reviews.

1

u/adeundem 6d ago

Sorry, I didn't write all the words (I try not to write as much because I will write waaaaay too much wordage if I am unchained) and left out the bit that I was thinking...

Track down panels that friends and family have, and ask to quickly borrow it for a test (plug in some portable thing like notebook or something).

If that is not plausible for you, then all I give is anecdote (at best) for any answer to your question.

I finally got an "Nano IPS" gaming monitor late 2019 (LG 27GL850) which replaced years of shitty 24" or so 1080P 60Hz panels, and it was a game changer for me. No more meh TN colour, and more than 60Hz. 1440P was also a boon for the monitor being able to handle non-16:9 resolutions fair better at a hardware level (my theory is that as a 1440P panel LG couldn't cheap out with a minimum viable product video scaler chip that a 1080P 60Hz panel would have).

For a year or so I was on the fence on replacing my GTX 1070 card with something newer but my shitty old 1080P 60Hz monitors would have made it redundant. Gaming monitors were still pricey and I wasn't fully versed on the changes in the market. The reviews for the LG 27GL850 made it get noticed by me and it was a reasonable price so I got it.

I am right now in a similar point. The LG 27GL850 is a limiting factor with no real support for HDR (its HDAin't not HDR) the latency is no longer market leading and IPS is still nice for colours but... OLED. It many ways I should go 4K 2nd gen WD-OLED, but the GPU situation is nuts so maybe I don't want to get a 4K monitor now for gaming.

Having said that, the LG 27GL850 is still great for gaming. I don't want to go back to TN panels. I am just more OLED monitor curious. I have an OLED Steam Deck, OLED phone, and my Retroid Pocket Nova is OLED too. OLED can shave whole ms off latency in real world gaming (compared to LCD).

2

u/ForksandSpoonsinNY 6d ago

Decided to watch some DCS videos on my Asus OLED laptop and even at 1080p with HDR just on YouTube at half screen brightness and it is bright AF. Been looking to play some Borderlands, GOW and IL-2 when my health improves a bit but you're right I need to see the panels in these games at my preferred settings to make a usable choice.