Anyone stating that a TN is competitive in terms of color quality, accuracy and viewing angles as compared to an IPS panel is either blind or just dealing with wishful thinking. Or maybe they used the worst cheap korean panel possible.
These aren't subjective, it is an objective fact that IPS panels are superior in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles. One look at the Asus VG248QE makes this abundantly clear; the colors are completely dull and washed out - honestly I got sick of looking at it REAL fast. One can state that their cheap TN panel is "good enough" for them and that's great.
And yes, lightboost is neat and all but only if you game and do nothing but gaming on your PC. For those who occasionally do other stuff, which is probably most of us, I think those folks will find lightboost panels to be far less attractive. Unless they want their eyes to bleed while staring at the desktop.
I like how you used one of the
worst looking 120-144Hz/LightBoost panels to prove your point, especially after saying, "Or maybe they used the worst cheap Korean panel possible." Double standard much? The VG248QE just does not have great image quality, period, and no one pretends otherwise. It's simply one of the cheapest ways to get into 2D LightBoost. That is the ONLY real upside to the monitor. And you have to understand that for some people, motion clarity and smoothness is the most important aspect of a monitor. It is an objective fact that a TN panel with 2D LightBoost even at a matched 100Hz/100fps will make every IPS panel, even if OCed to 120Hz, look like a disgusting smear fest in motion. Anyone stating otherwise is either blind or dealing with wishful thinking (see what I did there?).
Now, objectively prove to me that picture quality is more important than motion clarity and smoothness (because, after all, the OP did mention this was for gaming). You can't, right? Because what one finds most important in a monitor is entirely subjective.
In one room, I have 5 monitors. 4 are Asus...1 120Hz, 1 144Hz with LightBoost, and 2 60Hz. I also have the 27" Qnix, which has a nice Samsung PLS panel in it (I have it calibrated as well...if you think this is a crappy panel, read NCX's review for it). One of the 60Hz Asus panels actually looks quite nice...fairly good color accuracy out of the box and surprisingly good contrast (even next to the Qnix). It's a good looking TN panel. The other 60Hz is not so great, but the 120Hz isn't bad. The 144Hz VG248QE, as mentioned, has laughable picture quality compared to the others, especially when you enable 2D LightBoost. I've also got a calibrated Panasonic plasma in the room over. And yes, I am aware that Asus monitors are meant for gaming and not picture quality...as you can see, only one of the 4 I have I was actually pretty happy with in terms of picture quality compared to something nicer. I was using them to emphasize the point that, yes, some TN panels simply don't compete with IPS in terms of picture quality. But that does not mean ALL TN panels can't compete (and note that compete =/= equal or beat). And in this situation, I DO have displays which would be considered closer to reference-grade that I can directly compare the TN panels to.
If you're going to compare a good IPS to a bad TN, you're being plain silly (and vice versa). There are 120Hz TN panels with quite good picture quality, enough to the point where many would much rather game on those and sacrifice a tiny bit of image quality compared to an IPS or plasma (assuming 60Hz). There are good LightBoost panels as well...the VG248QE is NOT one of them. TN viewing angles are only an issue if you are either forced into a sub-optimal viewing position or are a moron that has no clue how to properly set up a monitor for viewing purposes. If you fall into either of those two categories, then, yes, you should probably not get a TN panel.
This is why I went with a good IPS/PLS that I could OC to 120Hz. I literally get the best of both worlds while everyone else is arguing about having one or the other. (I do love LightBoost, but it's hard pushing every new game to a constant 100fps+ to make it worthwhile)