BenQ EX3203R - ghosting / motion blur problem

Hello my friends!

I just recently bought BenQ EX3203R monitor. I thought that I am buying a good piece of hardware for that price. Nothing extra cheap I would say. What was my surprise when I tried few, not even fast-paced games.

The screen is getting really blurry and the black color is ghosting a lot, even in small movements. This is really ugly and annoying. I was playing on two TV before, and one old monitor. I never saw anything like that.

I was looking for the cause, and it looks like this is common problem of all VA panels. Is that even possible? Almost all gaming monitors has VA panel. Are all of them this bad? Most of games I tried are unplayable for me, and I am going to return the monitor, if I won't find any solution.

I am also adding some examples of artifacts I am getting in games:



Tested on 144Hz with G-Sync turned on and off, using HDMI and USB-C cable.

I really like this monitor. I will be glad for any hint, tip, or just comments on this topic.

EDIT: Do you think this could be just this one piece problem? Could I have better luck returning this one and ordering another one?

My old Samsung TV was VA and had similar trailing issues. The newer Samsung TV I got is also VA but the blur is almost completely gone, so I guess the technology has improved.

That looks like a nice monitor, but I agree that amount of blurring is not acceptable from looking at the video.

Check the settings on the monitor. There is an option under Picture called AMA. See if you can set it to High or Premium and if it makes a difference.

cybereality said:

My old Samsung TV was VA and had similar trailing issues. The newer Samsung TV I got is also VA but the blur is almost completely gone, so I guess the technology has improved.

That looks like a nice monitor, but I agree that amount of blurring is not acceptable from looking at the video.

Check the settings on the monitor. There is an option under Picture called AMA. See if you can set it to High or Premium and if it makes a difference.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will definitely try that again, but I think it didn't help.

So, I made a test using the AMA option and multiple refresh rates from 60hz to 144hz. The result is still pretty much the same.

Test result: https://imgur.com/UPUIMpu

The second picture actually looks better to me, especially on the white background, but still not perfect obviously.

Tuxilero said:

I was looking for the cause, and it looks like this is common problem of all VA panels. Is that even possible? Almost all gaming monitors has VA panel.

Click to expand...

This exactly is why I cringe every time I see VA and gaming mentioned for a product. I tried a few VA-s and while black levels are nice, ghosting is much more noticeable on them than even 15 year old IPS screens. I have the Benq Q3277PQY (this is arguably a better VA as far as ghosting) and the LG 32UD59-B and both have visible ghosting in gaming. The LG being so bad it also shows on web pages while scrolling. Kept the monitors since I work on them, but for gaming both are no good even though both have good reviews online. So there may be some low performing odd balls (that I ended up with) or other people just don't see/care about ghosting at all... Anyway for my home do it all monitor VA is off the list for good after these...

It's all VA panels. Not sure why they are so popular with manufacturers and 32" screens. I bought a Asus one and it was absolutely horrendous with ghosting issues. The colors were even and beautiful but the ghosting just kills the monitor for gaming.

VA panels can vary greatly, even among those from the same manufacturer and series. For example, I have two monitors - Samsung C32HG70 and Viotek GN32LD - that use essentially the same Samsung curved VA panel, but the Samsung monitor has nearly imperceptible blur and ghosting at stock settings, and absolutely none with the response setting at Fast or Fastest.

Then there's the Viotek: a horrendous, horrible, headache-inducing nightmare of motion blur and ghosting with trails that look to be stretching back 10 frames. It's fugly no matter the setting and in my opinion completely unusable for any sort of gaming.

I used to think IPS was the only panel type I'd ever use, but I took a chance with the Samsung VA and I'm glad I did. The massive bump in contrast ratio is nice, but it's the response time, lack of blur and ghosting, and least input lag of any LCD I've ever had that has prevented me from looking for another IPS monitor. If only I hadn't been burned by taking a second chance on the Viotek.