Do you prefer glossy monitors or monitors with AR film applied?

Do you prefer glossy monitors or monitors with AR film applied?

  • Prefer Glossy

    Votes: 74 44.8%
  • Prefer Anti-Reflection Film Applied

    Votes: 91 55.2%

  • Total voters
    165
I don't have the time anymore for crazy PC/display builds. I just run a fairly plain setup of a 55" 4K OLED (C7) and one Titan-Xp these days. :)
 
Doesn't the Spectre have a higher pixel density than the 55" and therefor look sharper? 4K @ 55" is around 80 PPI, the same as a 27" 1080p. 32" is 140 PPI. Quite a difference. I find 32" is a good balance between the smaller 27" and the bigger 40"+ displays. Just wish they made more glossy 2K-4K IPS monitors. 98% of high-end professional and gaming monitors are matte. I wonder why they won't just sell both a glossy and matte? or perhaps AR treated glass like the Dell UP2715K. I've used a ROG Swift and the AG is terrible, sent it back within days and bought an old QNIX 2710 with the PWM free glossy panel for $350. I have both a dedicated gaming and general use monitor.

We've been trying to spread the word. Its better to try this than nothing at all. http://community.acer.com/t5/Acer-Ideas-X/Glossy-panel-G-sync-monitors/idc-p/350982
 
Yes, of course you sit further back with the 55" versus the 32".
 
I bought a 170$ dell monitor to watch twitch on.. nothing crazy just a 1080p 60hz IPS.

My other monitor was 800$ when it came out. Acer 144hz 1440p gsync.. the 170$ one is way more sharp because its glossy. Considering removing the film on the Acer now.
 
Hello all. I am new on this forum.

So i have experience on Glossy Monitors. They are by far better than matt monitors. Maybe most of you think that there is no big difference but if you put side by side matt with glossy monitors you will see the HUGE difference.
colors are much more vivid. actually matt seems to be like old....

This is my story:
before 2 years i bought an 1080p Samsung monitor that it supposed to be good. One day a Friend show me an old Dell S2340L.i said :"damn this seems amazing monitor". I put it side by side with my new samsung and i couldnt beleve how better was than mine.

So i thought that the reason is that DELL was just better monitor than samsung . So i decided to buy another monitor and upgrade to 1440p. After the DELL i saw i couldnt search other brand than DELL. So in my search i saw that "S" model from DELL is the "cheap" model. As i was searching i found that the U (ultrasharp) series are DELL's best in terms of quallity. So i bought the DELL U2715H after unpacking and hooking to my pc i couldnt beleve in my eyes. In the first second i realised that it is worst than the S serie Dell. How this could happen? i put them side by side and the "U" was .....bad! why??why???

after a lot searching on internet i found that the reason is the glossy...something that i didnt put on my mind.

so glossy all the way. I know reflections are some problem but i prefer to stay in dark room and enjoy the amazing colors




too bad that there are not 4K/glossy monitors anymore. and this is why i bought DELL UP2715K. it is 5K monitor and the only glossy i have found
 
Matte for me all the way. If you work under fluorescent lights at work and don't have a way of positioning or changing anything, you'll be happy.
 
Not sure what that has to do with using a gaming PC.
 
This may sound strange but glossy feels more refreshing to use while matte has a gloomy lifeless feel to it. It's really noticeable after you remove the matte film and compare side to side.
 
strange why they stopped making glossy screen monitors i have owned three in the past years all HP monitors, now i have a 34 inch wide screen monitor, wish it was glossy.
 
Glossy. I hate the anti-glare on my current monitor as it looks like oil was spilled on the screen. But what choice do I have? No one makes 144hz+ Glossy displays.
 
This is why i bought dell UP2715K.
only 60hz. No sync. 8ms response Time.

I have chosen to losing these specs to gain the quallity of glossy. The colors are much more vivid.

And yes i am playing playing 4k/60fps pc Games with that. And with that response Time i have never saw any ghosting. Just amazing monitor.

But the future is HDR
 
As a monitor freak, bought many over the years, incl 3 glossies, a few mattes and a PDC (plasma deposition coating). Almost every person who walked into my room commented on my glossy displays with "Wow! Where did you get that? I need to get one!" Nobody commented or noticed my matte displays. Although I do like one matte display (a Qnix with Samsung PLS panel) where the AR coating is the best of any other mattes I've seen. I would love to see more decent PDC monitors (they are just as impressive as glossies to me), but they do not have the deepest blacks unfortunately.
 
I prefer glossy. However, if enough innovative features exist that, in combination, become important enough to me, I'll sacrifice glossy (with condition that the matte implementation in question is not god awful).

Ideally, I want the holy grail of display technology (within a reasonable price) - unfortunately, such a thing does not exist (yet). And the way things are trending, such a product may not exist for years.
 
Ugh, i hate that the monitor industry is so bad they dont understand that their customers want a CLEAN, NON-DISTORTED image only a glossy screen can give. Its astounding to me that some people dont even consider the coating of a display to affect image quality. Matte/ glossy = NIGHT/ DAY difference in IQ. Its such a big difference to me, that matte displays are an unusable to me. You like matte? GOOD FOR YOU, CAN I AT LEAST HAVE A FEW MONITORS THAT ARE GLOSSY WITHOUT YOU BITCHING ABOUT THEM BEING GLOSSY IN SOME REVIEW? THANK YOU! YOU HAVE HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF MONITORS TO CHOOSE FROM THAT ARE MATTE, SO STOP YOUR WHINING ON GLOSSY MONITORS!

Im really pissed off. My glossy Acer monitor just got ruined with some interlaced lines and shit so i have to get a new monitor. Guess ill go for one of the glossy Dell monitors with low haze coating (not good, but better than light matte) like the Dell S2218H.
 
Ugh, i hate that the monitor industry is so bad they dont understand that their customers want a CLEAN, NON-DISTORTED image only a glossy screen can give. Its astounding to me that some people dont even consider the coating of a display to affect image quality. Matte/ glossy = NIGHT/ DAY difference in IQ. Its such a big difference to me, that matte displays are an unusable to me. You like matte? GOOD FOR YOU, CAN I AT LEAST HAVE A FEW MONITORS THAT ARE GLOSSY WITHOUT YOU BITCHING ABOUT THEM BEING GLOSSY IN SOME REVIEW? THANK YOU! YOU HAVE HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF MONITORS TO CHOOSE FROM THAT ARE MATTE, SO STOP YOUR WHINING ON GLOSSY MONITORS!

Im really pissed off. My glossy Acer monitor just got ruined with some interlaced lines and shit so i have to get a new monitor. Guess ill go for one of the glossy Dell monitors with low haze coating (not good, but better than light matte) like the Dell S2218H.
I am with you. You are 100% correct.

If you Want a quallity high resolution glossy search for DELL UP2715K. But it Will Hard To Find one..
 
Also, you're wrong about humans perceiving "brighter and louder as better"...

Google ABX Blind testing and read up on the psychology behind it.

As to the rest I am preparing some comparisons.

Never have I said in the thread that aggressive matte finishes don't affect IQ negatively. Everyone seems to be hellbent on matte vs glossy when there is an in between that I am talking about. Also never said TVs have matte, I said non-glossy.
 
Matte for me all the way. If you work under fluorescent lights at work and don't have a way of positioning or changing anything, you'll be happy.

This. AG is for office environments - and it's a requirement usually. No way I'd use gloss.

Home, I prefer a semi-gloss..
 
This. AG is for office environments - and it's a requirement usually. No way I'd use gloss.
Home, I prefer a semi-gloss..
Why would it be a requirement?
Glare with a matte coating is worse than reflections with a glossy display.
I can tolerate minor reflections with a glossy display since they are in a different plane of focus, but have to spend a lot more effort trying to control the lighting or position the monitor to avoid reflections with a matte coating.

If there is ever a glossy alternative, I will sell my PG348Q for it in an instant.
If 2018's OLED TVs support 4K120 VRR when using NVIDIA GPUs, there's a good chance I'll be replacing it with one of them - even though I prefer the smaller 3440x1440 display and 24:10 aspect ratio.

Since it was a few pages back now, I'll post this comparison again:
MMJTFSu.jpg


Even on an overcast day, reflections from the window are a major problem for the matte coating on the PG348Q, while they are only a minor annoyance for the Sony TV with its laminated AR-coated glass panel.
Both displays are calibrated to 100 nits.
 
^^ And I can make a picture and aim them to prove the opposite.
There's a real any professional enterprise monitor has AG. The monitor makers aren't dummies.
 
^^ And I can make a picture and aim them to prove the opposite.
I'd like to see it - though you have to be careful to keep the displays properly aligned.
It's easy to make one screen look perfect when only one of them is pointing at the light source.

You can see from my photo that the reflection of the window is hitting both displays.
Both displays need to be calibrated to the same brightness too.
And the better your camera is, the more true-to-life the photo will be, since reflections are out of the plane of focus with a glossy display, which a small camera sensor/lens won't show.

There's a real any professional enterprise monitor has AG. The monitor makers aren't dummies.
The reason they use matte coatings is because it's cheap.
It is expensive to have Gorilla Glass or similar laminated to the display, with a good anti-reflective coating applied.

It's cheap to apply a plastic film to the surface of the monitor, or have a pane in front of the LCD panel with an air gap between them.
That's why you mainly see it on premium displays: Apple products, high-end televisions, and professional video monitors or medical displays that cost five figures.
 
Glossy monitors are stunning. If you can manage to cut down on reflections, they're the way to go. I would prefer to have matte on a laptop and glossy on my desktop, but in reality what I have is the other way around.
 
Glossy monitors are stunning. If you can manage to cut down on reflections, they're the way to go. I would prefer to have matte on a laptop and glossy on my desktop, but in reality what I have is the other way around.
I thought that, and had been using a matte film on my phone since I got it.
Well the film was recently damaged and had to be replaced. Removing it and replacing that with a glass screen protector made such a difference.
The image is so much higher contrast now, and it almost feels like the resolution doubled the image is so much sharper.
Reflections have not been an issue at all. Again: glare was a much bigger problem with the matte film than reflections have been with the glossy display - and that was with a phone where you can easily reposition it.

That looks like an IPS problem not a coating one. Besides, what matters is how it looks from the front and that TV looks like a mirror.
It's nothing to do with IPS.
I'm not even sure what you think the problem could be, since IPS has the best viewing angles of any LCD panel type.

A high-end display like that TV is not like a mirror, since it uses AR-coated glass which is laminated to the LCD panel.
Additionally, any reflections that are there, are out of the plane of focus from the surface of the display, while a matte coating diffuses the reflections on the surface of the display, interfering with any text that you are trying to read.

This post covers it, comparing a matte display, untreated glass with an air gap, and laminated glass with an AR coating.
High-end displays avoid matte coatings for a reason.
 
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There is no Matt monitor can compared with my glossy DELL UP2715K. i have Tried many side by side. All seems like old...
 
It's nothing to do with IPS.
I'm not even sure what you think the problem could be, since IPS has the best viewing angles of any LCD panel type.
That's only half true, since IPS glow (which looks similar to the picture above) often ruins the viewing angle advantage.
 
I thought that, and had been using a matte film on my phone since I got it.

I don't think I've ever used a phone with matte screen. A phone and a laptop are both prone to be in uncontrolled environs, but a phone can be instantly tilted, is smaller, and is less likely to pick up an undesired highlight.

There is no Matt monitor can compared with my glossy DELL...

I'ts matte, not Matt. It's a French word for "not shiny" not someone's name.
 
That's only half true, since IPS glow (which looks similar to the picture above) often ruins the viewing angle advantage.
Only if you're looking at a pure black screen.
IPS displays only get slightly dimmer at an angle and lose a small amount of contrast.
Here's an example I shot on my phone to compare IPS (PG348Q) against VA (Omen X35, taken from this review)

ips-viewing-angle-3vvod0.jpg
va-viewing-angle-3hvpbg.jpg


"IPS Glow" is a total non-issue 99% of the time, and never an issue if you don't view the display in pitch darkness.
VA and TN panels have far worse issues with viewing angle.
Even LG's OLED displays have far worse color shifting than IPS displays - but no change in contrast.


I don't think I've ever used a phone with matte screen. A phone and a laptop are both prone to be in uncontrolled environs, but a phone can be instantly tilted, is smaller, and is less likely to pick up an undesired highlight.
If you're trying to read something you can do that, but you don't have the option if you're trying to take a photograph for example. That's why I put the matte film on it.
As I said though, I regret having done that. A glass screen protector is so much sharper and higher contrast, and reflections are less bothersome to me than glare on a matte display.
Matte films for phones/tablets are very inexpensive and easy to apply (you can often get a 6 pack for $10), so that might be an option for anyone looking to compare matte vs glossy - assuming that your phone has a decent screen.
 
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Only if you're looking at a pure black screen.
IPS displays only get slightly dimmer at an angle and lose a small amount of contrast.

"IPS Glow" is a total non-issue 99% of the time, and never an issue if you don't view the display in pitch darkness.
VA and TN panels have far worse issues with viewing angle.
Even LG's OLED displays have far worse color shifting than IPS displays - but no change in contrast.

From my experience, IPS glow is an issue 90% of the time on 27" and larger monitors. So much so that I gladly gave up 144Hz and went with 60Hz VA. There are better and worse models, but I've had two 27" ones, one glossy and one matte, and the glow was irritating even when viewing head on. The abysmal contrast even on the non-glow-washed sections was a deal breaker as well.

The glow is noticeable even on brighter pictures, though much less so, but any darker content is very bad.
 
From my experience, IPS glow is an issue 90% of the time on 27" and larger monitors. So much so that I gladly gave up 144Hz and went with 60Hz VA. There are better and worse models, but I've had two 27" ones, one glossy and one matte, and the glow was irritating even when viewing head on. The abysmal contrast even on the non-glow-washed sections was a deal breaker as well.

The glow is noticeable even on brighter pictures, though much less so, but any darker content is very bad.
Do you see any "glow" in those photos?
Here I've tried to correct the perspective as much as possible so you can make a better comparison:
ips-viewing-angle-glod9o0o.jpg


Not the best quality since they were taken with my phone. The right edge gets a bit noisy and soft.
Top is the photo taken straight-on, bottom is the photo taken at a sharp angle after perspective correction.
The main thing I'm seeing is a loss of brightness on the right side of the image.

TFT Central's results are similar:If IPS glow looked anything like the photo I posted with glare caused by light from a window hitting a matte panel, no-one would ever buy them.
 
It's not something easily captured with a camera.

I agree with the latter, though it's still better to compare AG coatings head on.
 
Do you see any "glow" in those photos?
Here I've tried to correct the perspective as much as possible so you can make a better comparison:
ips-viewing-angle-glod9o0o.jpg


Not the best quality since they were taken with my phone. The right edge gets a bit noisy and soft.
Top is the photo taken straight-on, bottom is the photo taken at a sharp angle after perspective correction.
The main thing I'm seeing is a loss of brightness on the right side of the image.

TFT Central's results are similar:
If IPS glow looked anything like the photo I posted with glare caused by light from a window hitting a matte panel, no-one would ever buy them.
mate i'm not sure how someone so invested in knowing shit about display tech doesn't know what IPS glow is. it looks like this:

FHIP0bd.jpg


monitor in the back is IPS with an A-TW polarizer which eliminates IPS glow, monitor in front represents your typical IPS display. this is why people that know what they're doing don't like IPS. you can see the effect in the corners of 27" screens from normal desk viewing distances head-on.

the IPS circlejerk is out of control. if you don't need a monitor for professional color critical work, you're only hurting yourself by using IPS. TN and/or VA are superior for literally every other application.
 
mate i'm not sure how someone so invested in knowing shit about display tech doesn't know what IPS glow is. it looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/FHIP0bd.jpg
I'm very aware of what IPS glow looks like, and what VA panels are like.
You are the one that suggested this image looks like IPS glow rather than glare from the matte finish, and that's a 5000:1 native VA panel in the back.
It got an audible laugh from me until I realized you weren't joking. I'm still not convinced that you've actually owned an IPS display with a comment like that.

Sorry, attributed to the wrong poster.

monitor in the back is IPS with an A-TW polarizer which eliminates IPS glow, monitor in front represents your typical IPS display. this is why people that know what they're doing don't like IPS. you can see the effect in the corners of 27" screens from normal desk viewing distances head-on.
If you think that's bad, check out a VA panel. The corners aren't slightly lower contrast, they're a different color from the rest of the screen.
I'm not claiming that IPS is perfect, but it's laughable to claim that viewing angles are better on any other LCD panel type, or to say that anything other than very dark images are affected by IPS glow when you are viewing it from a reasonable angle.

the IPS circlejerk is out of control. if you don't need a monitor for professional color critical work, you're only hurting yourself by using IPS. TN and/or VA are superior for literally every other application.
IPS panels:
+ Very uniform and relatively low response times
+ No gamma shift with angle
+ Minimal color shift at angles
+ Excellent subpixel layout
− Average contrast (the panels we get in gaming displays anyway)
− IPS glow with dark content viewed in a dark room

VA panels:
+ Higher contrast than other LCD panel types
− Contrast loss at very slight angle changes; i.e. corners of the display from typical viewing distances
− Black crush in the center of the display
− Gamma shift at very slight angle changes
− Color shift at very slight angle changes
− Response time can be an order of magnitude worse for dark colors, or reds.
− Typically bad subpixel layouts
− Prone to mura/clouding
− Very sensitive to temperature
− Sensitive to pressure (unsuitable for touchscreens, sensitive to panel mounting method)

Those new 200Hz HDR ultrawides sound amazing, except for the fact that they're using VA panels.
Despite owning one of the best VA displays there is, I'd never buy another VA display again.
I think I've used that TV twice since getting the PG348Q. Contrast doesn't matter when the image changes on a VA panel if you move your head slightly - and the higher contrast the panel, the narrower the viewing angle gets.

And I here I was thinking that you were supposed to raise the height of the monitor when you were using a "standing desk".
Apparently you're supposed to use it from an 80° angle, and stand off to the side.

I'm not denying that there is a slight glow from the corners with very dark images when viewed in a dark room, but it's blown way out of proportion when you consider the issues that other LCD panel types have compared to IPS.
Doesn't hurt that the ultrawide panels are curved too, instead of flat.
 
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I'm very aware of what IPS glow looks like, and what VA panels are like.
You are the one that suggested this image looks like IPS glow rather than glare from the matte finish, and that's a 5000:1 native VA panel in the back.
It got an audible laugh from me until I realized you weren't joking. I'm still not convinced that you've actually owned an IPS display with a comment like that.
uhh no i didn't, you have me confused with someone else. i own a QNIX QX2710 which uses a PLS panel. it is a perfect monitor other than the fucking disgusting IPS glow that ruins literally anything dimmer than directly lit scenes. trying to play The Witcher 3, STALKER, ANY game that ever has any darkness in it whatsoever is awful because all you can see is glow in the corners. my dad's U2715 has the same bullshit.
If you think that's bad, check out a VA panel. The corners aren't slightly lower contrast, they're a different color from the rest of the screen.
I'm not claiming that IPS is perfect, but it's laughable to claim that viewing angles are better on any other LCD panel type, or to say that anything other than very dark images are affected by IPS glow when you are viewing it from a reasonable angle.
i have no idea what you're talking about. i've never used a VA where the corners were a different color from the rest of the screen. i literally right above you said IPS glow affects only dark content. if you agree then why did you try and prove that IPS glow isn't a big deal with the same exact kind of picture as igluk posted? kind of disingenuous.
IPS panels:
+ Very uniform and relatively low response times
+ No gamma shift with angle
+ Minimal color shift at angles
+ Excellent subpixel layout
− Average contrast (the panels we get in gaming displays anyway)
− IPS glow with dark content viewed in a dark room

VA panels:
+ Higher contrast than other LCD panel types
− Contrast loss at very slight angle changes; i.e. corners of the display from typical viewing distances
− Black crush in the center of the display
− Gamma shift at very slight angle changes
− Color shift at very slight angle changes
− Response time can be an order of magnitude worse for dark colors, or reds.
− Typically bad subpixel layouts
− Prone to mura/clouding
− Very sensitive to temperature
− Sensitive to pressure (unsuitable for touchscreens, sensitive to panel mounting method)
ok, let's reduce/fix this to points that actually matter and/or are true.

IPS panels:
+ Very uniform and relatively low response times
+ No gamma shift with angle
+ Minimal color shift at angles
− Average (terrible i think you mean) contrast (the panels we get in gaming displays anyway)
− IPS glow with dark content viewed in a dark room

VA panels:
+ Much higher contrast than other LCD panel types
− Contrast loss at very slight angle changes; i.e. corners of the display from typical viewing distances
− Black crush in the center of the display
− Gamma shift at very slight angle changes
− Color shift at very slight angle changes
− Response time can be an order of magnitude worse for dark colors, or reds. (samsung SVA monitors don't have this problem)

black crush is the only meaningful drawback listed here, and it's still a minor issue at worst. the insanely lower black level VA provides outweighs everything. there's a reason the vast majority of televisions and especially higher end ones are all VA. its multimedia image quality is unparalleled within LCD tech. IPS and TN black performance is a joke, especially in monitors because there aren't any consumer IPS monitors with A-TW polarizers, and black performance, all else being equal, is the single greatest factor of image quality in a display. it doesn't matter if you can move around and see the same thing if the thing you're seeing looks awful. i'll take ideal picture quality with slightly restrictive viewing requirements over a lesser picture any day.
 
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