Korean PLS Matte+Glossy 2560x1440 Overclockable(?) Club: Qnix & X-Star

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NCX

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Video Review

Written Review

This post is the victim of continuous updating by moi:

Qnix 96hz profile for 6500k color temperature and 2.2 gamma

1000


These use PLS panels from Samsung=Samsung's version of IPS=wide viewing angles, no horizontal/vertical gamma shift and the same glow problems.

The matte version has the same semi-glossy (lightest matte coating) as the other 2560x1440 PLS panels!

This is a compilation of macro pictures of monitors pixels to show the effect of different kinds of coatings (glossy, glass and the various matte coatings). The Dell U2711 uses the most aggressive (thickest) matte/anti-glare (AG) coating while the 27Q LED-P is glossy which is why the pixels look so much clearer. Aggressive AG is the most common type of coating, especially on IPS.

http://www.overclockers.ru/images/lab/2013/05/02/1/23_kristaleffect_big.jpg

The following AH-IPS and PLS have semi-glossy coating (lightest matte coating) Q2710, EA244WMi, U2713H, U2413H, U2713HM, VP2770, PB278Q, S27A850D and S24A850D

To remove the stand the display must be taken apart, TFT Central's DGM IPS Review has a guide (they use the same casing)

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dgm_ips-2701wph.htm


Overclock.net Club Thread

Reviews
=DEAD='s Review from Overclock.ru (in Russian)

User Impressions
Read Godmachines's QX2710 Evolution 2 impressions here
rune3400's review
HyperMatrix (at 120Hz.net) review

wntrsnowg from Overclock.net said:

The Korean PLS Monitor Club​

IPS Korean monitors have been around for awhile now, but with increasing popularity their prices have risen. Overclocking variants cost even more.
Out of this comes new Korean variants using the Samsung PLS screen, specifically the Qnix and the X-star, which offer the same (if not better) image quality and have varying amounts of overclock-ability up to 120 Hz.

This thread is here to show appreciation, facilitate discussion and offer a support database for these monitors. Please be helpful to others, and give rep when its due

-----------------------------
Monitor Information
----------------------------
Q: Does the monitor overclock?
A: Yes. Every monitor that has been tested to OC has been able to over 60 Hz. However, there are varying amounts of overclock-ability, with the current reported max being around 135 Hz.

Q: Can I buy a monitor that will OC to 120 Hz, guaranteed?
A: No, not as far as I know. There are theories that monitors sold by certain sellers have a better chance to OC higher, but it is random.

Q: Should I buy an X-star or Qnix (Which one OC better?
A: Short answer: Choose whichever one you want.
Long answer: They have the same screen, (both samsung PLS), and look almost identical other than their logo. Neither one has been proven to be clearly better, at this time. There are some reports of the X-star having different processing boards (but same screen) and thus having lower OC-ability. There are exceptions to this, however, which lead the general consensus to believe that they have the same OC-ability, and that is random.

Q: Can i remove the stock stand (base and stem) and mount the monitor?
A: Yes. Both the qnix and x-star have 100mm vesa mount pattern, so mounting is possible. Removing the base is easy (unscrew the thumb screw on the bottom), but removing the clear stem requires opening the monitor casing and unscrewing it. There are multiple videos and pictures below in the "Monitor fixes, support, help" area describing how to open the monitor casing. Once the monitor casing is opened, it is easy to see how to unscrew the screws holding in the base stem.

Q: How much will I have to pay in shipping fees, VAT, etc.?
A: Look at the expandable section below titled "VAT, Fees, Taxes by Country"

This section is a work in progress
1000

*It should be noted that the listed Response time of the Qnix is 6ms, where it is reported to actually be 8ms*
Comes come with a DVI-DL cable. It's not very long. Also comes with plug, so find an old PC PSU cable.


They included a USA adapter.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnVkA6ZcoQv5piavGXZDJv3Wj2E4MT_iE
Qnix Manufacturer website
Korean Qnix discussion on OCN
Korean PLS overclocking results
Discussion over on 120Hz.net
------------------------------------
Monitor Fixes, Support, Help
-----------------------------------
This was copied from the Yamakasi Catleap Monitor Club thread. Big thanks to their OP ScribbyDaGreat for compiling such a great list!​

Australia/NZ: from evangelionstar
I am from Australia but also familiar with New Zealand's limits too.
There is no tax or duties payable in Australia for an item via post or courier so long as the total cost is below $1000. Its very straight forward. Value under $1000 and your all set.
For Nz its around $400 or so (from memory). Basically if the charges of Duty + GST is less than $60NZD then nothing is payable.

Canada: from keveinsbane
In Canada, there is no Customs or duties for complete LCD colour monitors.
There is no tax on "gifts" valued at <$60, and no tax on any items < $20 value. Tax in Canada varies depending on your province.
My monitor was marked as a $30 value, and I paid no taxes or duties on my purchase.

Estonia: from skypc
Ordered Catleap to Estonia from Green-sum. Green-sum stated on invoice the worth of te monitor as 30$ and the shipping price was about 110$. Tax was calculated from worth stated on invoice + shipping price and I had to pay 25% from this sum, $140.

France: from charlesk
So I'm from France and I paid for a 311&#8364; ($406) monitor :
customs duty : 43 &#8364;
VAT : 69&#8364; (19.6%)
filing fees : 21&#8364;
total : 133&#8364;

So here is what happened :
- the parcel got stuck in customs, reason : no invoice
- 1 week after I received a letter from the customs. They asked for an invoice and the paypal receipt
- I asked dreamseller for the invoice, he said that he could make one with the value I wanted, but I didn't want to fake the paypal receipt so I declared the real price.

What I just did for a new order (dreamseller) :
- I asked him to join an invoice with a credible value in the parcel ($200), so that the parcel can go trough customs without them contacting me.
- with this, VAT should be lower, but I don't know about the other two taxes, I'll see.

Japan: from mumbles37
No customs or import fees to Japan

Netherlands: from djankie
Custom fees with green sum : 35.81 euro.
Custom fees with samsungDC or something; 43,41

Sweden: from slaktfarfar
After my Catleap got stuck in customs i had to pay 25% of what i paid for the screen ($394) which was $98.
I bought mine from Green-sum.
And i know another one ordering from green-sum also had to pay taxes.
But another guy ordering from dcsamsungmall didnt have to.
green-sum used EMS and dcsamsungmall used fedex maybe thats was because.

U.K.: From whybother
Marked at £30 the customs fee will simply be VAT or £6. The shipping company also charges a fee tho.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/
Monitors imported to the UK:
Value <£135 = 20%
Value >£135 = 14% (Duty) + 20% of Value + Duty
Plus shipping company fee.
http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_...any-extra-charges-from-the-shipping-provider/
If the monitor was marked with a value of £250 and shipped via Royal Mail, your total customs fee would be £100. Gotta love this country...
If marked as a gift and less than £36 there should be no customs charge tho.

Nvidia card owners don't need any driver patch to overlock.
AMD card owners need to patch their driver. Download and follow the instructions here

Nvidia and AMD:
Then download and create some profiles, use this utility:
http://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-Custom-Resolution-Utility-CRU

To use the utility above, copy the stock 60Hz profile, then make a new profile and paste, then just editing the refresh rate number at the bottom. Once that's done and you reboot you can go into AMD Catalyst Control Center (CCC) change the refresh rate.
If none of the below work out for you, you can try and experiment with using the color calibration profiles found here at tft central. Some of the stock PLS monitor profiles might work out for you, like the Samsung S27B970D
Some wise words about choosing the 'right' color calibration profile:
This is a solution I found to stop the screen from being able to move inside the monitor casing, aka "Panel Play." It also solves the screen image from being cut off on the bottom by having the screen sit higher inside the monitor casing. It is a simple fix only requiring a flat-edged tool (screw driver), some patience and some electrical tape.
Click to expand...
 
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Nice :)

Good idea as well , help centralize all the information on these monitors.
 
I triggered on the glossy one 2 days ago.
Maybe I'll get the semi-gloss one too just to compare.
any pics side by side posted yet? Don't think I came across any on OCN;
or did I miss it?
 
I ordered a pixel perfect model form hulustar and regretted it...luckily could not find any pixel perfect models so they are sending me a matte one now.
 
=DEAD='s Qnix review which revealed that the matte version has semi-glossy coating came out a day after I ordered the glossy version. I regretted it because I already have a glossy monitor and like having 1 of each.
 
xoleras said:
Troll? It's not a failed technology. It's identical to IPS.
Click to expand...

Well then, that's awfully nice of LG then to not litigate over patent violations.
You must be new to the scene here. While similar, the whole point of Samsung's PLS technology was to improve on IPS weaknesses and cut cost. It did neither, so the term failure is justifiable (to me at least)
 
PLS panels have less quality control issues

-no nasty tinting: each side tinted either white/green/pink or yellow
-no burn in/IR except on the Qnix (see the overclock thread linked in 1st post)
-no dark, horizontal brightness strips near the bottom of the display (LED back-lit 27" S-IPS issue)
-no grainy matte coatings
-no semi-glossy cross-hatching
 
Got mine today and I'm happy. No dead pixels, minimal bleeding.

Did you guys have to fix your color settings? Mine seems pretty good out of the box
 
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alienate said:
Well then, that's awfully nice of LG then to not litigate over patent violations.
You must be new to the scene here. While similar, the whole point of Samsung's PLS technology was to improve on IPS weaknesses and cut cost. It did neither, so the term failure is justifiable (to me at least)
Click to expand...

Point me to an IPS panel that can do 1440p and 120hz as my Qnix does at $317 price point with excellent contrast and color and I'll believe you otherwise in this case PLS has surpassed IPS.
 
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+1 rec'd the glossy qnix today. It's immaculate @120hz.
Thinking of getting a matte also. decision.hmmm.
 
Cheetoz said:
Got mine today and I'm happy. No dead pixels, minimal bleeding.

Did you guys have to fix your color settings? Mine seems pretty good out of the box
Click to expand...

Actually once you try one or three calibrated ICCs you will realize it wasn't so great. I mean, no, it's not bad at "stock" but can be more vibrant and less washed-out as you will see.

There are files for various refresh rates in the OP of the PLS monitor club at OCN in the Color Calibration section. And linked below is one I made yesterday with a ColorMunki (96Hz but you don't absolutely have to be running that refresh to try it; higher Hz darkens more though on these displays so this might be too bright for 60Hz).

http://sdrv.ms/12ci0Xq
 
Qnix 96hz profile for 6500k color temperature and 2.2 gamma

Use whatever brightness you want with my profile.

Default settings are amazing, mine accepts 96hz-120hz. I purchased a matte pixel perfect version form hulstar and it seems to be pixel perfect. Have to do a bleed check still. The panel does not sit perfectly in the bezel.
 
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Just got my two Mattes from Hulustar -- don't have much time to test but threw up a black ground to check for bleeding and dead pixels -- both are pretty much perfect with slight black light bleed. Monitor doesn't seat well in the frame but you can't tell if you're not moving it I'll try your 96hz profile in a bit. I went thru three LG 29EA93 21:9s before giving up and trying this. Glad I did, I do miss that wide resolution though :(

Just wanted to update. All of the panels run fine at 96hz. Panel 1 will run up to 100hz~ before it starts to show issues. Panel 2 I took all the way up to 139hz before it start waving. For the time being, I'm just keeping them at 96hz and picking up SquareTrade.
 
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So I got me a glossy Qnix. No dead or stuck pixels, I think. At 120 Hz, I did get some wavy lines with a green color during ColorMunki calibration, so I backed down to 96 Hz.

With my monitor, gamma is even higher than NCX measured, starting at around 2.2 at 60 Hz, reaching around 2.8 at 96 Hz and going over 3 at 120 Hz. Without a colour profile, 96 Hz is already too dark for me. I think there are some differences between individual units (?). So this does put a kind of a potential crimp on using this as a gaming monitor, since games don't really follow colour profiles without hacks and workarounds like CPKeeper (which may or may not work for you - in multimonitor environment I could not get it to make a difference at least in the couple of games I tried).

For desktop use, the Qnix is quite excellent. However, for gaming, I'm sticking with BenQ XL2411T, because of 2D Lightboost de-blurring, but also because in games it is preferable for me for gamma to be too low than quite a lot too high.

I did notice a mention in the overclock.ru review that the PWM frequency is 160 Hz (if I understood the Google Translated content correctly), so I created a little bit different kind of color profile for experimenting with possible eye tiredness differences with and without PWM.

With the profile, the backlight is supposed to be set to maximum (to minimise the effect of PWM), but the profile limits the maximum luminance to 120 cd/m^2 (from the native about 270 cd/m^2). It also fixes up the gamma. Of course, the contrast is lowered by the same amount as luminance is restricted (black level is around 0.30 instead of 0.12 at 120 cd/m^2), but the contrast is still quite usable for desktop work. Just a note: with this profile, I did a registry hack related to setting mouse pointer trails to -1 to get the mouse cursor to follow the colour profile - otherwise the mouse cursor was quite bright, and it seems this registry hack caused an issue with Civilization V mouse cursor becoming invisible on the setup page. Not really a problem for me, since I'm gaming on my other monitor.

If someone is interested in the profile, I uploaded it to
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28778054/QNIX 96 Hz 120 cd_D65.icm

Note: to get best contrast and therefore best PQ, you should of course use NCX or some others' posted colour profiles and then set the backlight to your preferred setting.
 
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I went ahead and ordered a third Matte. For 300~, this is a steal. My desk had a 5'' lip so it's becoming hard to find an arm that would clamp to 5'' or above. Looks like I'll have to suck it up and wall arm it. :(
 
preyed said:
I went ahead and ordered a third Matte. For 300~, this is a steal. My desk had a 5'' lip so it's becoming hard to find an arm that would clamp to 5'' or above. Looks like I'll have to suck it up and wall arm it. :(
Click to expand...

Nice, make sure to post some photo's once you do :)
 
preyed said:
I went ahead and ordered a third Matte. For 300~, this is a steal. My desk had a 5'' lip so it's becoming hard to find an arm that would clamp to 5'' or above. Looks like I'll have to suck it up and wall arm it. :(
Click to expand...

Sounds like that should be fun ;).... I can't imagine how much GPU horsepower you'd need to power 120hz (or 4320x2560) :D.
 
GoldenTiger said:
Sounds like that should be fun ;).... I can't imagine how much GPU horsepower you'd need to power 120hz (or 4320x2560) :D.
Click to expand...

yeah I won't be using three with a single computer. I really don't have a need or want for that. It would be pretty amazing though.

I'm only gaming on one with the other as just an extension while I stream.
 
preyed said:
yeah I won't be using three with a single computer. I really don't have a need or want for that. It would be pretty amazing though.

I'm only gaming on one with the other as just an extension while I stream.
Click to expand...

Nice :D...
 
yup, very good profile NCX! I had been using an Asus one that was very vivd in BF3, but this one seems better overall.
 
I just received my QX2710 and I have to say that a dead pixel would be paradise compared to the Back Light Bleed that I have. I ordered mine from Green Sum and had to pay $57 Canadian for duty because they didn't mark the package a gift. I'll post photos this evening.
 
Are there any reports of PWM-flicker other than in that overclockers.ru review (reported 160hz PWM on a matte Qnix)? Any subjective reports of eye-strain?

To circumvent PWM, I could try to apply this fix: http://www.overclock.net/t/1374065/...n-ll-27-2560x1440-matte-samsung-pls-panel/150 - but I can't be certain it would work with the Qnix.

Also: To what extent can we improve the backlight bleeding issues by fixing panel play and applying tape mods?: http://www.overclock.net/t/1384767/official-the-korean-pls-monitor-club-qnix-x-star - mods can be found under "Monitor Fixes, Support, Help"

The Qnix's light matte seems ideal, but I'll go gloss if there is less chance of PWM.

I'll have to investigate this backlight bleeding issue further...
 
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