Triple monitor Korean setup?

Here's what I'm currently running: Video card: GTX 690: DVI x2, mini DPx1 (I have the 2 dual link DVI NEC cables & I would need a mini DVI to DVI cable if that would actually work.)


I use my monitors for: gaming, productivity*, video watching

*I do not need wide gamut since I don't do any professional color correction related to video/photos.


I currently am using a single NEC LCD3090wqxi (the 2nd one died; goodnight, sweet prince). I need a better set up & these Korean models look to be ideal. My NECs were 143w each, so anything would be an upgrade from that. My office felt like an oven!


I'm struggling w/ downgrading to 1440p from 1600p. It seems that no korean panels run over 60hz. I was having stuttering w/ 24fps video on my NECs for their entire life. I'd rather run 72/96/120hz.

I've read over a bunch of threads on korean panels, NCX's reviews & his Best 2560x1440 Monitors thread. The more I read, the more I get confused w/ the options.

Would PLS be fine for viewing angles/colors or should I be stick with IPS? If I go IPS, should I go S-IPS or AH-IPS? Am I just splitting hairs or will I notice the quality difference coming from a high end NEC IPS panel, even though mine was not calibrated?

I was thinking of these as options:
IPS: S-IPS vs AH-IPS
1. Perfect Pixel* YAMAKASI Catleap Q270 "2B Extreme OC" 120Hz IPS 2560x1440 Monitor
2. YAMAKASI QH2711 Black Label HDMI AH-IPS 2560x1440 DVI HDMI 27" PC Monitor

PLS
1.Perfect Pixel 27" Slim Qnix QX2710 Evolution II LED PLS 2560x1440 QHD Monitor


I'm really not sure what to get for my needs? Using the NEC as a benchmark, what's a good choice guys?

I didn't bother paying for extra for perfect pixel option but I ended up getting perfect pixel 27" X-Star DP2710LED. I specifically bought single input for gaming but...I no longer play any games. I wish I got the multi instead of single input option.

Regardless, I am happy with what I have. AFAIK, it does overclock up to 120Hz but not guaranteed.

1. only single input dvi models can overclock.
2. these new panels are 100% better than your nec, i believe. i didn't look too hard but that's my impression.
3. since you're going to have two to your sides that you aren't looking at directly, you might want to go for a s-ips/ah-ips as pls panels have something called pls glow when viewing dark scenes at an angle.
4. pls is basically samsung's variation on ips.
5. i'm pretty sure dp -> dvi works with these but i'm not completely sure you can overclock if you do that.

you really can't go wrong with any of the monitors you listed other than the qh2711; that one is fairly new and i can't find any confirmed reports of successful overclocks.

i'm not going to guarantee it but i would be extremely surprised if even one of the monitors you buy doesn't overclock to 72 Hz. more than likely all of them will be able to hit at least 96. i recommend going with either dreamseller or green-sum if you want to buy from ebay. ncx has recommend ipsledmonitors.com before as they're based in the us, but i haven't heard about them from anyone else. there's overlord which is based in the us as well. their monitors come with proper stands.

if you have any further questions i'd be happy to do my best to answer them.

Thanks guys.

I had a discussion with a friend of mine & he said his catleap's blacks are basically grey. It's an S-IPS panel I believe. Really turned me off as the blacks on my NEC are BLACK.

I noticed NEC has an eco friendly version of the 27", the EA274WMI-BK. Basically looks like there's no color gamut; it's not designed for color accurate work like photoshop & profesional video editing, but that's not something I do anyways.

NEC only says it's an IPS panel. I have no clue which version. The PWM frequency is 20Khz, so that's a massive plus.

There's a thread on it here from last November: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1791918

I've seen a lot of people on OCN discuss dead monitors between 6 months & 2 years. Lots of blow power bricks as well. That scares me a fair bit. That's why I'm so on the fence, plus I can't go into a store & see these panels. I've thought about dropping into bestbuy, but I'm not sure the imacs will do the panel justice w/ the glass front.

Synthetickiller said:

The more I read, the more I get confused w/ the options.

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Only the single input monitors overclock and glossy vs. matte comes down to personal preference which is why I categorized them separately. The good 27" 1440p monitors are far better than any 30", especially grainy CCFL back-lit 30" which are lucky to have >700:1 contrast.

PLS panels glow less than IPS, but both can suffer from white corner glow. It is possible to get a glow free matte Qnix/X-Star, or you can buy an Eizo EV2736W which only uses glow free PLS panels.

Only the mult-input Crossovers are guaranteed to have proper brightness controls, so buy a Crossover 27QW HDMI if you want a multi-input monitor with Plasma Deposition Coating (read about it before buying) which is used by all of the new 1440p Korean AH-IPS panel. The multi-input Qnix/X-Star's suck, only the single input and glossy, multi-input (Crossovers) Korean monitors are worth buying.

Synthetickiller said:

I had a discussion with a friend of mine & he said his catleap's blacks are basically grey. It's an S-IPS panel I believe. Really turned me off as the blacks on my NEC are BLACK.

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The 3090 has typical (mediocre) contrast according to PRAD's review and it also lacks proper brightness controls since the the contrast drops when the brightness is set below 200cdm/2 to a pathetic 480:1. The 3090 is only capable of displaying deep blacks in very bright rooms.

The good Korean monitors quality control tends to be better than the name brand monitors, especially Dells. The EA274WMI-BK is overpriced (an extra 50-100$ buys a glow free EV2736W...) and doesn't offer any advantages over the AOC Q2770QPU and BenQ BL2710PT which sell for around 550$. You can buy a 3 year Squaretrade Warranty for the Korean monitors for around 50$. Many people have used Squaretrade and received full refunds aside from the cost to ship their monitor to Squaretrade.

are the single input glossy koreans and multi input crossovers using pwm for backlight control? which one of these is pwm free? i was considering the 2B catleap mainly.

catleap has the pwm issue. backlight refreshes at 142 hz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUqziCBQY4

NCX said:

Only the single input monitors overclock and glossy vs. matte comes down to personal preference which is why I categorized them separately. The good 27" 1440p monitors are far better than any 30", especially grainy CCFL back-lit 30" which are lucky to have >700:1 contrast.

PLS panels glow less than IPS, but both can suffer from white corner glow. It is possible to get a glow free matte Qnix/X-Star, or you can buy an Eizo EV2736W which only uses glow free PLS panels.

Only the mult-input Crossovers are guaranteed to have proper brightness controls, so buy a Crossover 27QW HDMI if you want a multi-input monitor with Plasma Deposition Coating (read about it before buying) which is used by all of the new 1440p Korean AH-IPS panel. The multi-input Qnix/X-Star's suck, only the single input and glossy, multi-input (Crossovers) Korean monitors are worth buying.



The 3090 has typical (mediocre) contrast according to PRAD's review and it also lacks proper brightness controls since the the contrast drops when the brightness is set below 200cdm/2 to a pathetic 480:1. The 3090 is only capable of displaying deep blacks in very bright rooms.

The good Korean monitors quality control tends to be better than the name brand monitors, especially Dells. The EA274WMI-BK is overpriced (an extra 50-100$ buys a glow free EV2736W...) and doesn't offer any advantages over the AOC Q2770QPU and BenQ BL2710PT which sell for around 550$. You can buy a 3 year Squaretrade Warranty for the Korean monitors for around 50$. Many people have used Squaretrade and received full refunds aside from the cost to ship their monitor to Squaretrade.

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Ok, this is what I gather from days of reading:

1. Most brand name monitors are below or only on par w/ the much cheap Korean counterparts.

2. The NEC is very overpriced, yet the BenQ & AOC are also extremely overrated from a price POV when compared to the better Korean panels. That goes for Dell, Samsung, Asus & all of these monitors sporting the same panels. All in all, unless you need color correction for video/photo editing, there's no reason to look at $1700+ monitors for that use. That's what I'm gathering from all of these reviews.

3. Other than the EIZO, the Qnix QX2710 seems to be the best for my situation:

1. 3 way surround, only gaming on the middle monitor.
2. Good enough contrast for long term reading on each monitor.
3. Good quality for gaming (OCing is a plus, even to just 72hz, 96 or 120 is icing on the cake.) Ghosting & other factors are within standards that make it a very good/excellent monitor for gaming.
4. Good quality for watching movies (again, 72hz or 96hz)
5. Overall quality should beat every aspect of my NEC 3090 & I'm sold.

I've watched a lot of your videos, read most of your reviews (that were relevant) & I can't come up with a point where improvements in quality hit a wall. What is the threshold/wall of diminishing returns?

The Crossover 27QW (along w/ the catleap 270 OC extreme 120hz) is out because I can't stand blacks that look grey. That would be a big step down. I'm entirely ignoring the bezel comparison. These monitors are so large, I don't have that issue & I'm never looking at the bezel anyways. I understand it matters to many people, but I've had these monitors 4+ years & the bezel hasn't been much of an issue, even when looking monitor to monitor.

Even if the EIZO is better, is it $500+ better per monitor? If you're not comparing the EIZO & the Qnix side by side, is anyone going to actually care about the quality differences? The EIZO seems to be one of the best monitors for having no IPS/PLS glow.

I'm sold on the QX2710 since it has the 2nd best whites, period. It seems to be good enough for gaming, has great color & the viewing angle is great. Along with that, they are $300 to $350 & the warranty is cheap. I basically can get a 3 monitor set up for a little over $1000.

I'm also asking these questions as there's a lot of people out there who read/research on their PCs who need 2 or 3 monitor set ups, game & watch movies. An overall quality monitor is ideal where the monitor may not be the best at any one thing, but is the overall best monitor if you need something multifaceted.


TLDR: For a monitor that does it all (reading, watching movies & gaming),is the QX2710 the best monitor for my needs?

(I can't seem to get a concrete answer to my question after reading, so that's why I'm asking. Btw, I asked you a question on the forum you post on, but it seems the question is up for review, so it hasn't been posted yet. Don't think I'm being pushy, lol. I figured that other forum was a better way to get a hold of you. I can just post your responce there as a follow up or you can just post which monitor I end up ordering & why so there's can use it as a basis. I do appreciate you answering questions here.)


Also, am I going to need an active converter ($$$, $100-$150) From mini DP to DP/DVI-D or use a second video card to run a side monitor in 2D?

Thanks again!

can confirm this monitor is good for gaming, coming from a long time competitive fps player. the ghosting is a non issue. once it's lower than a certain threshold (probably around... 16 ms or so) it won't affect play anymore. i regularly hit 40% lg and 55%~ rg in quake live, same as i did on my vg236. only downside is the gamma gradient when overclocked which is noticeable when displaying a scene where large parts of the screen are one color; looks like this.

Synthetickiller said:

The BenQ & AOC are also extremely overrated from a price POV when compared to the better Korean panels.

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There are no quality, PWM free, semi-glossy, multi-input Korean monitors, so I don't think the AOC and BenQ are overpriced, especially since they can be easily returned and exchanged.

Synthetickiller said:

Even if the EIZO is better, is it $500+ better per monitor?

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The EV2736W is overpriced, but the lack of glow makes a huge difference...but 30" suffer from far more pronounced glow when viewed from less than 30cm/3ft away and the 3090 has poor black levels anyway...

Synthetickiller said:

What is the threshold/wall of diminishing returns?

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The single-input glossy Yamakasi and semi-glossy Qnix/X-Star's are as good as consumer monitors get for PC gaming and the Crossover 2720MDP/2730MD and Eizo EV2736W are the best glossy and semi-glossy multi-input 1440p monitors. One could spend more on the NEC PA series which can be hardware calibrated and have slightly better colors, uniformity and less-to-no banding, but wide gamut monitors glow more, are a waste of money unless calibrated and have slightly worse black levels.

Synthetickiller said:

The Crossover 27QW (along w/ the catleap 270 OC extreme 120hz) is out because I can't stand blacks that look grey.

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The Yamakasi OC's contrast is the same as the Qnix/X-Stars (+/-1000:1), and it is glossy, so the blacks will only look gray in a dark room. Monitors which use edge-to-edge glass (Apple) and Plasma Deposition Coating (1440p Korean AH-IPS) have grayish blacks, even in bright rooms

Green-Sum's current pixel perfect Yamakasi price is the lowest the prices have ever been (I bought one for 420$ 2 weeks ago ). The Yamaksi is as good as glossy IPS panels can get for PC gaming, while the single-input Qnix/X-Star's pixel response times are not as fast as the name brand, multi-input PLS panels, but they can't overclock and have +/- 20ms delays.

Synthetickiller said:

If you're not comparing the EIZO & the Qnix side by side, is anyone going to actually care about the quality differences?

Click to expand...

Is ignorance is bliss? Always.

Synthetickiller said:

For a monitor that does it all (reading, watching movies & gaming),is the QX2710 the best monitor for my needs?

Click to expand...

The Qnix/X-Star's are the best monitors for those who want a high hz, non-TN, matte (semi-glossy) monitor for PC gaming.

I recommend getting a glossy Yamaksi and matte (semi-glossy) Qnix/X-Star and a EV2736W or Sony 32-40" Series 6+ TV for tv shows and movies. I use a Yamakasi (thought 420$ was an epic price 2 weeks ago and bought one to replace my slightly slower, but less glowy, glossy X-Star) and glow free Qnix for PC gaming and a glossy Crossover 2720MDP with my consoles. I pretty much only use my glossy monitors for PC games since I prefer the extra vibrancy and clarity glossy coatings offer. I keep the Qnix around for certain dark movies and games like Amnesia and Metro 2033.

The 2720MDP is kind of a wasted on consoles, but I didn't want to spend 700$ the Sony KDL32W600 or 700 (only PWM free 32" TV I know of), though they do have much better black levels since they use VA panels.

Synthetickiller said:

Also, am I going to need an active converter ($$$, $100-$150) From mini DP to DP/DVI-D or use a second video card to run a side monitor in 2D?

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Yes.

NCX said:

There are no quality, PWM free, semi-glossy, multi-input Korean monitors, so I don't think the AOC and BenQ are overpriced, especially since they can be easily returned and exchanged.



The EV2736W is overpriced, but the lack of glow makes a huge difference...but 30" suffer from far more pronounced glow when viewed from less than 30cm/3ft away and the 3090 has poor black levels anyway...



The single-input glossy Yamakasi and semi-glossy Qnix/X-Star's are as good as consumer monitors get for PC gaming...

The Yamakasi OC's contrast is the same as the Qnix/X-Stars (+/-1000:1), and it is glossy, so the blacks will only look gray in a dark room. Monitors which use edge-to-edge glass (Apple) and Plasma Deposition Coating (1440p Korean AH-IPS) have grayish blacks, even in bright rooms


The Qnix/X-Star's are the best monitors for those who want a high hz, non-TN, matte (semi-glossy) monitor for PC gaming.

I recommend getting a glossy Yamaksi and matte (semi-glossy) Qnix/X-Star and a EV2736W or Sony 32-40" Series 6+ TV for tv shows and movies. I use a Yamakasi (thought 420$ was an epic price 2 weeks ago and bought one to replace my slightly slower, but less glowy, glossy X-Star) and glow free Qnix for PC gaming and a glossy Crossover 2720MDP with my consoles. I pretty much only use my glossy monitors for PC games since I prefer the extra vibrancy and clarity glossy coatings offer. I keep the Qnix around for certain dark movies and games like Amnesia and Metro 2033.

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As I've never been a fan of glossy screens, I guess I'm stuck w/ the Qnix/X-Star as I won't run 3 different monitors for a single setup. Considering a matte (semi-gloss) finish hasn't bothered me, I should be fine with it.

Considering you have ICC profiles available for Qnix, that seems like the best all around choice. I'll have to just assume reading articles on it won't be a problem (I don't see why it would be).

Thanks!

Now I just need a monitor & a cheap GT 610/620.

Ordered The Qnix QX2710 x3.

Sound be fun.