Monitor accurate color, not washed out/banding/dithering, 1440+, 110-120PPI, 75Hz+

[EliteRetard]

I'm curious if there are any monitors that combine good image quality/uniformity with high resolution and refresh rate. Essentially, the modern high end CRT.

Not interested in a garbage overclocked 200Hz TN panel with M0aR gsnyc/freesync! Especially at their ludicrous $800+ prices. $800+ is only tolerable IF it has a quality image with decent resolution/PPI and a refresh closer to the old 85Hz CRTs. I think 75Hz would be OK if that's the best they can do with a quality display.

I did a quick search on PCPartPicker, sorted by IPS 75Hz+ with all resolutions above 1440. Unfortunately they didn't have other options like VA, and there could be other issues...so I don't know if this list includes everything. Interestingly, it seems all the choices are 27"+, have 110PPI, and most have a very high refresh (did a quick search and copied what I found, let me know if anything is incorrect).

Pixio PX277 2560 x 1440 27" 144Hz $390

Asus MG279Q 2560 x 1440 27" 144Hz $538

Acer XF270HU 2560 x 1440 27" 144Hz $600

AOC AG271QG 2560 x 1440 27" 165Hz $690

ViewSonic XG2703-GS 2560 x 1440 27" 165Hz $700

Asus PG279Q ROG Swift 2560 x 1440 27" 165Hz $728

Acer XB271HU bmiprz 2560 x 1440 27" 144Hz/165Hz (OC) $750

Acer XB270HU bprz 2560 x 1440 27" 144Hz $776

Acer Predator XR341CK 3440 x 1440 34" 75Hz $836

NEC PA272W 2560 x 1440 27" 85Hz $974

Acer Predator X34 3440 x 1440 34" 100Hz (OC) $1,100

NEC PA272W-BK-SV 2560 x 1440 27" 85Hz $1,149

Asus ROG SWIFT PG348Q 3440 x 1440 34" 100Hz $1,183

NEC PA272W-SV 2560 x 1440 27" 85Hz $1,549

So, do you know of any other monitors that would meet the criteria that are not currently in the list? Of all of these, are there any that stand out as having better image quality? Any that stand out as a particular value, some of these brands have a very wide price range?

What are the thoughts on the utlra wide 3440x1440 models? How would they handle standard 16:9 content and/or 4:3? If I had a game that could only run at 800x600, how would that display on any of these (even the 16:9)? I want to be able to run these kinds of things, and am willing to accept black borders. I'd prefer if it could stretch/scale to fit as much space as possible though, and not stick to a 1:1 window (though that would be acceptable if it were the only option).

 

[Bacon1]

What are the thoughts on the utlra wide 3440x1440 models?

They are amazing

How would they handle standard 16:9 content and/or 4:3? If I had a game that could only run at 800x600, how would that display on any of these (even the 16:9)?

You have a few options. You can keep the aspect ratio (so it will "upscale/zoom" 800x600 content), you can keep 1:1 pixel mapping (800x600 would be tiny in the center of the monitor), or you can stretch. The first two options would be basically the same with 2560x1440p content, while the 3rd would stretch it to the sides of the monitor and distort the image.

I want to be able to run these kinds of things, and am willing to accept black borders. I'd prefer if it could stretch/scale to fit as much space as possible though, and not stick to a 1:1 window (though that would be acceptable if it were the only option).

It might depend on the monitor / GPU settings, my Acer XR341CK lets me pick any of those 3 options so you can have the resolution either fit to its aspect ratio (so either height or width will fill with black bars on the other), 1:1 pixel map (empty space on top/bottom and sides possible) or stretch and fill (no bars anywhere)

 

[EliteRetard]

It might depend on the monitor / GPU settings, my Acer XR341CK lets me pick any of those 3 options so you can have the resolution either fit to its aspect ratio (so either height or width will fill with black bars on the other), 1:1 pixel map (empty space on top/bottom and sides possible) or stretch and fill (no bars anywhere)

So if I had the desktop running at the native 3440x1440, and decided to run a game in full screen mode at 1920x1440 (or 2560x1440) the monitor wouldn't crap out and would just place that game in the center with black bars on the sides?

 

[Bacon1]

So if I had the desktop running at the native 3440x1440, and decided to run a game in full screen mode at 1920x1440 (or 2560x1440) the monitor wouldn't crap out and would just place that game in the center with black bars on the sides?

Yeah it depends on how you tell your monitor (and / or GPU scaling) to handle it. So you can do any of those three ways depending on what you want it to do. I've played games @ 2560x1440 on it because running @ 3440x1440 caused the menus to break (hardcoded to 16:9 resolution). You might have to create a custom resolution in windows though depending on how the game(s) detect available resolutions and which monitor you buy. You can set them with CRU or update the registry (DALNonStandardModesBCD1 for AMD)

 

[EliteRetard]

I was looking at reviews of the cheapest recognizable brand (Asus MG279Q) and along with the Acer you just mentioned, one thing seems to be common...horrific back light bleed/quality control problems. Is there anywhere I can go look at these in person and/or be able to easily exchange bad units?

This looks like about what I would tolerate:

How is the quality otherwise, is there any banding in colors or black to white (in test patterns or images)? That's one thing I can't stand.

 

[nurturedhate]

I own an Asus MG279Q and on my unit the backlight bleed is far, far closer to the second image than the first. Overall I'm satisfied with the monitor but after having it for two months I wish I went with a 32in 4k option instead but the price and gpu power options just weren't there.

 

[Piroko]

So, do you know of any other monitors that would meet the criteria that are not currently in the list? Of all of these, are there any that stand out as having better image quality? Any that stand out as a particular value, some of these brands have a very wide price range?

I think you miss LG as a brand, here are some more that may or may not be available in the US:
https://geizhals.eu/?cat=monlcd19wide&xf=2063_110~3855_1440~6492_75#gh_filterbox

What are the thoughts on the utlra wide 3440x1440 models? How would they handle standard 16:9 content and/or 4:3? If I had a game that could only run at 800x600, how would that display on any of these (even the 16:9)? I want to be able to run these kinds of things, and am willing to accept black borders. I'd prefer if it could stretch/scale to fit as much space as possible though, and not stick to a 1:1 window (though that would be acceptable if it were the only option).

stretching/scaling should be no issue for any current LCD. There's also the option to do scaling through the GPU drivers afaik, never used it myself though.

 

[Headfoot]

How is the quality otherwise, is there any banding in colors or black to white (in test patterns or images)? That's one thing I can't stand.

Given your list of requirements, I'd just go to TFT Central and only pick a monitor they'd already thoroughly vetted. It's really tough to find reliable objective data for many monitors, TFT being the only place that really does it and they dont hit everything.

They always tell you the bit depth so you can avoid banding, as well as testing basically anything else you could ever want to know.

This seems pretty relevant if you still are looking to go ultrawide + high PPI: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_38uc99.htm

 

[richaron]

Yeah IPS bleed is something you can't escape on bigger IPS screens, of course it's one of the properties you have to prioritize and/or compromise vs other panel types.

With regards to the stretching/scaling stuff, another thing to consider is that monitors play differently at non-native resolutions. I recently preordered what I would consider a "premium" monitor running 3440x1440 at 100Hz. I was hoping to hold out until Vega using my old GPU at lower resolutions until I checked out the modes supported by this monitor. I don't know if this is common or not, but check out the lack of lower ultrawide resolutions, and much lower refresh rates of everything else:

^Excerpt from Asus MX34VQ manual.

 

[CP5670]

Are any of these glossy? I've thought about getting a new monitor and moving away from my old Samsung S27A750D (especially for G-sync) but everything seems to either have a matte coating and/or is too small. The larger ones tend to be 4K and are too taxing on the video card.

For the refresh rate issue, the Nvidia drivers let you specify custom resolutions that I believe are converted to the monitor's native resolution, with the software doing the scaling/cropping. I have things like 640x480 at 120hz set up on mine even though the display doesn't support it.

 

[EliteRetard]

Thanks for all the input so far. I'm still considering my options and watching prices.