IPS glow

[amenx]

What you can gather from this thread is that IPS glow is not the same in all IPS monitors, it can vary from one to the other. With some it is not noticeable (even if it may exist), while for others it may be bad or annoying enough to do a radical (senseless to me) switch to TN, on the weird assumption that all IPS glow is bad and equal in all IPS monitors. It isnt.

It seems that some monitors are more prone to it than others, ie, the XB270HU (big thread on it @ overclockers.net) and possibly Dell S2415 as Headfoot seems to suggest. In my case I have no issues with very dark or black scenes on the PLS and IPS (Qnix and Catleap) and a little on a Yamakasi DS270 (Ah-IPS). In fact, the PLS/IPS units I own - to me- are superior in black levels vs a high end TN I used to own (Samsung S27A950D), no IPS glow affected any part of the screen in the slightest from head on and only very slight at awkward angles. In fact the TN seemed more washed out on blacks.

Best thing may be is to find some store with a reasonable return policy and try out a couple units before finalizing a deal. Also bear in mind not to confuse blacklight bleed with IPS glow. The latter usually off angles while BLB at all angles and more acute/localized, esp in corners or bezel edges.

 

[Thinker_145]

One thing people are not aware about IPS glow is that it is very much dependant on the viewing distance from the screen. There is zero glow when looking at the screen head on from a far distance. Unfortunately at normal computer monitor distance you are going to get glow head-on as well.

But this is not a problem for movies unless you sit just as close to your screen while watching them as you do when using the computer which hardly anyone does I believe.

IPS glow is also varied with angle and in my experience can be greatly reduced by tilting the monitor. If you like to have a 90° screen then that is a problem.

With my monitor "leaning back" reduces glow as well. There is no doubt that it sucks for gaming but there is no issue of movies with it.

Backlight bleed is something entirely different and TN panels are just as likely to have it. TN panels have the same horrible contrast as IPS so not sure just the lack of glow makes them the champion of low light performance. If you really want something good for playing games in the dark then the only option is VA.

Btw I play games with a controller and keyboard/mouse with quite a different posture and sitting angle. TN panels can't even keep a consistent picture for such a slight adjustment. And then a slightly different angle for movies as well. So TN panel once again fails to be the all purpose savior that it is trying to be portrayed here.

I mean I hate IPS glow as much as anyone and eventually want to rid myself of this monstrosity. And I guess after all these years I have gotten quite used to it. It's like when you just learn to accept and enjoy mediocrity.

However some people are saying that it has an impact on their "ability" to play darker games? Seriously? I guess maybe tilt your screen a bit but really it looks terrible but does not hamper your performance in a game. IPS might have terrible contrast but they actually have some of the best shadow detail superior to even many VA screens.

Sent from my HTC One M9

 

[Headfoot]

Yeah I have to clarify, my montiors have low glow for IPS monitors. The fact is that IPS panels have IPS glow to one degree or another as long as they are edge-lit (e.g. all computer monitors). Even Vizio's new 2016 P Series with 126-point array backlights (much more advanced than edge lit) still glow with IPS though its much better (Vizio 2016 P Series 55" uses IPS and all sizes above that use VA so you can compare it head to head with the same array backlight, very instructive experience I had recently). I'm not comparing to TN per-se, I havent used a TN in long enough to know how bad the glow is. In my experience its the same or maybe a little less. The only monitor type with noticeably better contrast and lower glow is VA-type. Once we get OLEDs we will have perfect blacks with zero glow, which is what I'm holding out for

 

[Thinker_145]

The sad part is that we already had almost perfect blacks and no glow 10 years ago with CRT monitors. It is sad that there weren't more advancements made in that tech maybe they could have overcome its shortcomings. But I never understood the "size" problem for gamers, I mean PC gaming is not a freaking handheld that you want to care about the size of your monitor. If your desk is not getting enough space in your room then clearly you are not really a serious gamer.

 

[Rifter]

I just went from a BenQ 24" 1080P TN panel to a 25" Dell U2515H 1440P IPS panel. The colors are so much better on the dell its like night and day. I will never purchase another TN panel i just cant do it after seeing what all the colors in my pictures are supposed to look like(i do alot of photo work on my PC). I Still have the BenQ hooked up as second display and looking at the same picture on both side by side should be enough to make anyone never seriously consider a TN panel again for anything that requires accurate colors.

There is minimal backlight bleed and IPS glow but its very very minimal, also have one stuck pixel but its very hard to see unless looking for it specifically.

 

[Gryz]

You know what really makes a difference ?

Proper color calibration.

I don't believe you can do it with your eyes. Not even close. I know there are websites that help you go through a routine and adjust sliders and try to calibrate your monitor. I think that hardly helps.

I bought a hardware calibration device for 100 euros. I think if you buy the cheapest one (e.g. from Spyder) it has the features you want. The extra features are in the software, not in the hardware. If you want more features, you can use free software to combine with your hardware.

I bought my calibration device when I bought a Acer XB270HU. The glow on the XB270HU was so bad in the corners (yellow glow that ruined any and all dark games I played). So I sent it back before I received my calibration device.

I still kept my calibration device. I used it to calibrate my old TN panel. That already made a big difference. Colors are sometimes a bit subjective. Especially what you call white. But the colors were definitely better once my old monitor was calibrated. But the big difference was the greys and blacks. With the calibration I did by hand, all my blacks and dark greys were squased into the same ultra-black. The result: everything that was dark was pitch black. After calibration I could suddenly see details in the dark. Very faint, but they were there. Just as it should be. Even for someone like me, who doesn't care too much about colors, but cares about dark games, the calibration was worth it.

Last January I finally bought a new monitor. The Acer Predator Z35. Because it is the only G-Sync monitor currently that has a VA-panel. Right out of the box, the monitor was nice. I used the color-profile from TFTCentral. I didn't have time to do my own calibraiton.

I played The Witness, a very colorful game. Looked nice. But the game was very bright. I used ReShade+SweetFX to adjust the gamma and adjust the colors. Looked a bit better. But the colors were still a bit washed out. After 3 weeks, I took out my calibration device, and gave my monitor a proper calibration. Jezus, what a difference !! The colors were not washed out any more. And the blacks and shadows are amazing. I've played the Dark Souls games since then (1 and 3). And now I'm playing No Man's Sky. I must say, I love my Z35. And I am 100% sure that if I hadn't calibrated it properly, I would have been disappointed.

So if you really care about colors, or maybe care more about blacks, greys and shadows, you should consider buying a hardware calibration device. Well worth the money. That 100 euros is better spend than if you'd buy a $600 monitor over a $500 monitor, without proper calibration.

 

[Headfoot]

Gryz I've actually been meaning to buy a device after I read your first post on calibration - totally sold me. But I'm trying to hunt down a device I could also use on a TV I just bought too, hooking my computer up to it during the calibration process but a lot of the devices dont appear like they'll fit on a TV sized display (55"). Did you use yours on a TV at all?

EDIT: also making a new thread on this since its not related to this thread at this point

 

[Gryz]

No, I didn't use it on my TV. I got a DataColor Spyder Pro4. I think in theory you can use it to calibrate your TV, but I haven't looked into it on how to do it exactly. I guess if the Spyder software doesn't allow you to do it, the opensource software maybe would. (Argyll and dispCalcGUI and others). Since January I've hardly watched TV, so I haven't been motivated to figure it out. Sorry.

 

[Piroko]

So if you really care about colors, or maybe care more about blacks, greys and shadows, you should consider buying a hardware calibration device. Well worth the money. That 100 euros is better spend than if you'd buy a $600 monitor over a $500 monitor, without proper calibration.

That is true to an extend only. There are panels that will struggle with colors regardless of calibration. This Benq model for example can only cover 84% of the color depth that the sRGB color format expects. It will always look dull in comparison to other screens.

Additionally, many older TN panels rely on dithering to get 8 Bits of color depth per channel. Those can display vibrant colors, but the colors themselves will be a bit funky upon closer inspection.

Also, there's a decent amount of factory calibrated screens on the market already. My Dell U2713HM for example came precalibrated despite being one of the cheaper 1440p screens at the time.