Only 2 24'' 120hz gaming monitors on the market?

[AVP]

I don't get it.

All I hear is how smooth and amazing 120hz is for gaming and even desktop usage. 3d adoption may not be great but I am assuming more than half the purchases of these monitors are from users who don't care about 3d.

It seems like my only choices are:

BenQ XL2420T - $390, more than I want to spend

ASUS VG248QE - $280, and has crappy colors

Are there new products coming out this summer? How far off until 120hz is standard?

I'm just surprised I don't have more choices for something as simple as 24'' 2ms 120hz in the summer of 2013.

 

[tweakboy]

120hz means nothing when you have 7ms to 12ms latency. In FPS games it will not be smooth and will have shadowing and ghosting...

 

[AVP]

Yeah kept on looking for the last 20m very very annoyed.

There are tons of good 24'' 60hz monitors from $120-180.

For an extra $100 they can't add a panel that does 120hz? They don't need to license 3d technology. They don't need speakers, USB, colors, glasses or any other junk.

Oh well.

Debating whether to just get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824236175 for $120 and waiting god knows how long for something acceptable to come along.

 

[Bateluer]

Simple, 120Hz is for techies and enthusiasts that claim it matters. For the other 99.999% of people 60Hz is perfectly suitable. Even most of the people claiming 120/240Hz or its crap can only tell the different when places side by side.

 

[BrightCandle]

The Benq is really good for motion blur reduction. Its more than you want to spend but its well worth it for the discerning gamer. It kind of irritated me for a long time that I couldn't get a 16:10 (1920x1200) 24" but in the end I got this screen for its motion blur and it does what it says on the tin well. The colour quality is terrible but the 120hz works really well.

I think these monitors aren't popular because the trade offs in price and performance aren't often chosen, only a few gamers can really tell the difference well enough to benefit.

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'd say both panels already have crappy color by merit of being TN panels, so you might as well just go with the Asus.

 

[AVP]

Simple, 120Hz is for techies and enthusiasts that claim it matters. For the other 99.999% of people 60Hz is perfectly suitable. Even most of the people claiming 120/240Hz or its crap can only tell the different when places side by side.

I don't know I keep hearing that its hard to go back to 60hz after 120hz. Like it is THAT big of an upgrade. But that's mostly from competitive gaming people.

Also I didn't even realize that the $120 Asus was P-IPS at first. It has a 2ms reponse time but I am wondering if the input lag on it is higher than on Asus' VH series.

I don't want to turn this into a thread about my buying decision though.

Mostly I want to know whether if anyone knows if there are more 120hz monitors coming out this summer.

 

[bystander36]

I don't know I keep hearing that its hard to go back to 60hz after 120hz. Like it is THAT big of an upgrade. But that's mostly from competitive gaming people.

For me, it solved my simulator sickness, assuming I got my FPS up to 80+ as well. It doesn't seem to make things look much better, but I definitely feel a big difference in responsiveness.

 

[blackened23]

I'd say both panels already have crappy color by merit of being TN panels, so you might as well just go with the Asus.

This is what kills the deal for me. I usually stare at some pretty high quality IPS monitors all day, and while I *really like* the smoothness offered by the BenQ XL2420T - the poor picture quality and bad colors really is quite a turn-off. As things are I've preferred gaming at 2560 resolution.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

Do not forget that LightBoost strobe backlights (CRT clarity motion on LCD) changes the whole ballgame completely.

So I finally got the VG248QE hooked up last night and was able to play around with it for a couple hours. The other monitor that I have is a HP ZR30W which is a 30" 2560x1600 IPS monitor so I will be comparing the VG248QE to that a lot in this review.

Right off the bat, I noticed the color quality seems to be a lot worse than the ZR30W. Everything looks to be washed out, dull and not to mention the monitor suffers from poor viewing angles. On the ZR30W, there is next to no color shifting when I move my head around unlike the VG248QE, but that's a common problem with all TN monitors. I tried calibrating the monitor a little bit using some of the values posted online, but it still doesn't compare to the HP.

Moving on, the first thing I tried was 144 Hz gaming. I loaded up Borderlands 2 just to see how it is and I can definitely say it felt smoother. There is no screen tearing at all on the ASUS, unlike how it is on the HP if i don't turn on Vsync. Although the game felt smoother at 144 Hz and there was less blurring, I found that having to play on a lower res (1920x1080 vs 2560x1600) and poorer color reproduction made the overall gaming experience WORSE. Granted this isn't a competitive, online FPS game so I might have benefited more from having a faster refresh rate, but I would have probably stuck with playing this game on the 30" IPS monitor rather than a 24" TN.

At this point I felt like I may have wasted $300 bucks on a monitor that is full of compromises. The next thing I tried of course was using the Lightboost hack. This was the main reason why I bought the monitor in the first place since there are plenty of other 120 Hz monitors that I could have gotten that I'm sure had better color reproduction.

So I downloaded the hacked INF file and followed Mark's instructions. After turning on Lightboost, I noticed the monitor became a little bit brighter so I loaded up PixPerAn just to verify everything is working. The first thing I noticed was that I can actually read "I need more socks" at full speed! This was cool since I've never been able to read it going so fast before on any LCD monitor.

I then proceeded to load up Borderlands 2 again not having much expectations. The first thing that happened was I noticed the FPS drop down to around 1-2 fps, but then I remembered to hold down "Ctrl-T" for a few seconds to turn off the 3D effect which fixed the FPS problem. So I loaded up a game and the first thing that came to my mind was...

SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!

Am I seeing this correctly? The last time I gamed on a CRT monitor was back in 2006 before I got my first LCD and this ASUS monitor is EXACTLY like how I remembered gaming on a CRT monitor. I was absolutely shocked and amazed at how clear everything was when moving around. After seeing Lightboost in action, I would have gladly paid twice the amount for something that can reproduce the feeling I got when playing on a CRT. Now I really can't see myself going back to my 30" 2560x1600 IPS monitor when gaming. Everything looks so much clearer on the ASUS with Lightboost turned on.

If you do any kind of gaming, you should definitely get this monitor. For everything else however, an IPS monitor would probably be better.

Thankfully I am lucky enough to have both

60 Hz LCD

120 Hz LCD : 50% less motion blur

120 Hz LightBoost : ~90% less motion blur

(From PHOTOS: 60Hz vs 120Hz vs LightBoost)

For more information
-- see the coverage by ASUS/NewEgg/TFTcentral/ArsTechnica
-- see the LightBoost HOWTO (if you already have supported 120Hz monitor)
-- see the LightBoost FAQ (e.g. how does it work, etc).

 

[Eureka]

There are others if you are willing to look outside the 24" package. There are a few 23" 1080p 120 Hz monitors and a few 27" monitors.

I love my S27A950D. It's a bit bigger but it's fine.

And yes, I would say, after switching over, I will never switch back for gaming. See, you have to figure out what is your priority. Do you care about image quality or do you care about motion quality? A 120Hz TN panel will never match the image quality of a good IPS or PVA screen (I came from an Ultrasharp 2407WFP). However, I play a lot of fast paced games (BF3, CS, etc), and yes, if you play those games at all, it is a night and day difference.

However, if you are not playing fast-paced, you will not fully appreciate it. I played a lot of single player games on my Ultrasharp and it was wonderful too. However, the input lag and motion blur from the Ultrasharp was too much for competitive gameplay.

Also realize it does affect the motion in videos too. All your movies and TV shows will start to have that "soap opera" feel to it because of the motion. But for me, this computer is 90% gaming and so it was a worthwhile tradeoff.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

BenQ XL2420T - $390, more than I want to spend
ASUS VG248QE - $280, and has crappy colors

The list of supported monitors, listed within the LightBoost HOWTO and Samsung Zero Motion Blur HOWTO are as follows:

24" 120Hz with LightBoost
ASUS VG248QE
BENQ XL2411T
BENQ XL2420T
BENQ XL2420TX
AOC g2460Pqu (soon)

27" 120Hz with LightBoost
ASUS VG278H
ASUS VG278HE
BENQ XL2720T
Acer HN274HBbmiiid (Double "B")

Samsung 120Hz Monitors with strobe feature
All SA700D, SA750D, and SA950D have a LightBoost-style strobe backlight:
S23A700D
S23A750D
S23A950D
S27A750D
S27A950D

Other known 120Hz monitors (no motion blur eliminating backlight)
Acer GD235hz
Samsung 2233rz
Iiyama Prolite G2773HS
Acer HN274Hbmiiid (single "B")
(bunch of others)

Also read up on TFTCentral: Motion Blur Reduction Backlights (Including LightBoost).
They said LightBoost outperformed all scanning backlights that they have ever tested.
In other words; do not buy a 120Hz monitor that does not contain this feature.

 

[bystander36]

The problem is many of those are very difficult if not impossible to find now. The Samsung's in particular, which are the only ones that support HD3D as far as I know. This is pretty disappointing for those with AMD cards that want to check out 3D.

 

[rolodomo]

Mark, I'm pretty sure the Acer HN274HBbmiiid is the one with light boost, not the HN274HBmiiid. Interesting post, thanks for passing along the info.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

Mark, I'm pretty sure the Acer HN274HBbmiiid is the one with light boost, not the HN274HBmiiid. Interesting post, thanks for passing along the info.

Good catch. Subtle difference. Fixed.

 

[UaVaj]

mark rejhon

thanks for the clarification.

so it was never the FPS. it was the panel technology itself (motion blur). FPS just ended up being the bandage.

this is my first set of LCD (Asus IPS) and it is piss poor in comparison to the CRT (Hi End 21" Sony Trinitron ) i downgraded from.

may have to consider these 120hz with lightboost.

 

[bystander36]

FPS also plays a big part in latency. FPS decreases latency, which makes things feel more responsive.

 

[Stuka87]

FPS also plays a big part in latency. FPS decreases latency, which makes things feel more responsive.

You could be playing the game at 1000fps and you will still get motion blur on a 60Hz panel. Period. Having a 120Hz display isnt about feeling more responsive, its about having a more crisp image when objects are moving.

I LOVE the image quality on my IPS display, but HATE the motion blur. I have been holding off on a 120Hz display simply because I am hoping better ones come out.

 

[xeledon20005]

Why not just get the asus 144hz monitor 24" + you can downclock to 120hz if interested in lightboost.

 

[bystander36]

You could be playing the game at 1000fps and you will still get motion blur on a 60Hz panel. Period. Having a 120Hz display isnt about feeling more responsive, its about having a more crisp image when objects are moving.

I LOVE the image quality on my IPS display, but HATE the motion blur. I have been holding off on a 120Hz display simply because I am hoping better ones come out.

I have a 120hz monitor, and there is a big difference between 60 FPS and 80+ FPS. The increase response from higher FPS is also important. I actually get nauseated at lower than 80 FPS if I play more than an hour in 1st person view. It gets me sick faster the lower the FPS go from there.

I also did not say that motion blur doesn't help at all. I just was saying FPS also matters.

 

[Remobz]

I have a 120hz monitor, and there is a big difference between 60 FPS and 80+ FPS. The increase response from higher FPS is also important. I actually get nauseated at lower than 80 FPS if I play more than an hour in 1st person view. It gets me sick faster the lower the FPS go from there.

I also did not say that motion blur doesn't help at all. I just was saying FPS also matters.

I value my eyes more than a game. I am more than happy with my IPS panel

However, I have a 23 inch IPS panel so I imagine my choice of graphic cards would be limited considering I can only play at 1080p with 60hz.

 

[bystander36]

I value my eyes more than a game. I am more than happy with my IPS panel

However, I have a 23 inch IPS panel so I imagine my choice of graphic cards would be limited considering I can only play at 1080p with 60hz.

How does using a 120hz monitor affect your eyes?

 

[imaheadcase]

I don't know I keep hearing that its hard to go back to 60hz after 120hz. Like it is THAT big of an upgrade. But that's mostly from competitive gaming people.

Also I didn't even realize that the $120 Asus was P-IPS at first. It has a 2ms reponse time but I am wondering if the input lag on it is higher than on Asus' VH series.

I don't want to turn this into a thread about my buying decision though.

Mostly I want to know whether if anyone knows if there are more 120hz monitors coming out this summer.

Most gamers what higher res and don't care about it is for one. Most have been jumping on the 1440p bandwagon as of late. Fyi, i returned my 120hz monitor because it was washed out and could not tell any difference between my high quality Dell U2410.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

Simple, 120Hz is for techies and enthusiasts that claim it matters. For the other 99.999% of people 60Hz is perfectly suitable. Even most of the people claiming 120/240Hz or its crap can only tell the different when places side by side.

This isn't the case for very fast motion -- e.g. first person shooters gaming -- and when your GPU's are powerful enough for frame rates matching hertz (120fps@120Hz). Most gamers are able to tell, once presented with this -- e.g. every single person who has come to my 120Hz monitors have noticed the difference immediately without side-by-side. The differences are biggest when framerate matches Hz. Also, USE PROPER TESTING CONDITIONS. Running at 80fps@120Hz can feel less smooth than running 60fps@60Hz. So you MUST run 120fps@120Hz to really massively outperform 60fps@60Hz. fps=Hz is important for motion fluidity.

That said, if you're running at less than 100fps, or if you have LOTS of microstutters, the difference is much, much, much smaller, or invisible.

Not saying there are people who can't tell, but pulling out random numbers (99.999), makes no sense.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

Also I didn't even realize that the $120 Asus was P-IPS at first. It has a 2ms reponse time

To clarify,
VS238H is a TN panel from the specs I've read. But it isn't a 120Hz monitor.