Asus PA279Q - Dire IPS glow, need an alternative

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Mangonz

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Sooo I picked up an Asus PA279Q yesterday to replace my Samsung S27A950D. I was looking forward to a good quality IPS to replace the old TN seeing as I haven't played an input latency sensitive game in years.

10 minutes after powering it on I had instead received an education in black levels and IPS glow.

My first thought was this was backlight bleed but the calibration report included with the monitor shows 100% brightness uniformity across the panel apart from the bottom left which was still only 101%. A quick experiment in moving off centre eliminated the glow in the direction I moved and made it worse on the other side so it is simply viewing angles. This is a shame as colours are amazing regardless of backlight brightness level and blow the TN panel out of the water in that regard.

Unfortunately a lot of my games are fairly dark and most movies tend to throw in a night scene or two. When faced with this the PA279Q has far worse horizontal viewing angles than the Samsung TN ever did, even straight in front of the screen the corners still glow.

Given my intended use for the screen I am going to return it. I guess I have two questions:

1. Should IPS Glow be this bad or is there something wrong with this particular unit?

2. If this is normal... any recommendations on an IPS 2560x1440 or 4k screen that can handle dark scenes? I am still hoping to keep response times reasonable ... the PA279Q seemed a bit squishy after using a 120Hz panel but was still tolerable. If not I will look at another TN.


Skyrim at 30% brightness in a dim room:

7DyWnrI.jpg


Even in a brightly lit room at 30% brightness you can still see the same pattern (don't mind my reflection in the middle):

7H7Lvdj.jpg


Black screen in a dark room for reference, again 30%:

op17FWz.jpg
 
If you're not concerned about input lag and you want deep blacks, have you considered a VA panel? The BenQ BL3200PT is a 32" 1440p VA panel that is around the same price as that ASUS. VA panels have the worst pixel response times, but have the best black levels and contrast ratio (3000:1 in practice) with colour quality close to IPS. This particular monitor has a 4ms GTG response time, and I've seen input lag tests put latency around 23ms. VA panels have viewing angles that are slightly better than TN, but not as good as IPS. The only quirk with this type of panel is off-centre contrast shift due to the orientation and shape of the pixels.

While colour reproduction on IPS panels is great, they have always suffered from the glow and contrast levels comparable to a TN panel (~1000:1). You can compensate for the glow by using a light source around your monitor, but I know this is a compromise if you like to be in a dark room.
 
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I'd return that monitor. Looks defective. I have a bit of back light bleed in the bottom left of one of my monitors but its not anywhere close to that. And I believe you have a way more expensive IPS monitor. I wouldn't put up with it.
 
You COULD try to get an older model IPS monitor that features an A-TW polarizer, which significantly reduces purple/white off angle glow when looking at dark images with dark ambient lighting. I have one 1st gen NEC 2490WUXi and two 1st gen NEC 2090UXi's (all three monitors have A-TW polarizers). It really does work. Below is a picture of what a dark image looks like at an off angle in a dark room.

uKUj3Ap.jpg
 
powruser said:
You COULD try to get an older model IPS monitor that features an A-TW polarizer, which significantly reduces purple/white off angle glow when looking at dark images with dark ambient lighting. I have one 1st gen NEC 2490WUXi and two 1st gen NEC 2090UXi's (all three monitors have A-TW polarizers). It really does work. Below is a picture of what a dark image looks like at an off angle in a dark room.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't really suggest he hunt down an old 2490 (or 2690), as besides the fact they are rather elderly and unlikely he'll find one with low hours, their black levels sort of stink. They are great as far as IPS glow, but expect gray-ish blacks with a contrast of 800:1 or less. Probably 100-200 or so less.

A better alternative is probably the Eizo 2736, which is 1440p, has a lighter coating and many state that it doesn't have any IPS glow. They evidently are using the same polarizer or something similar on that model.

I think he'd be better going that route, or going for VA. If he's okay with 23.5", Eizo does have that Foris VA that is good for gaming.
 
Wide gamut, GB-R LED back-lit monitors glow more than the standard gamut monitors and the PA279Q is a waste of money and mediocre anyway, so return it. It suffers from the same obvious overshoot ghosting as the Dell U2713H and the sRGB mode has locked color controls and is not up to par with the best 27" 1440p AHVA/IPS/PLS monitors, some of which cost half as much. It over-saturates colors and disrespects art design when not using the sRGB mode.

The Eizo EV2736W is glow free, but expensive. Thread with information and review links.

The matte (semi-glossy) Qnix QX2710/X-Star DP2710 can overclock to 96hz+ and are much better than the PA279Q, as are the overclock-able glossy MOTV M2700 and Yamakasi Catleap. The MOTV M2700 and Yamakasi Catleap (same monitor, different casing) are good 950D upgrades.
 
Mangonz said:
1. Should IPS Glow be this bad or is there something wrong with this particular unit?
Click to expand...

Given that it's the Asus "professional line" I certainly wouldn't accept it. I can also add that my Asus VG23AH doesn't have corner glow that bad.

This begs the question why polarizers aren't used more often on IPS panels if it would address the corner glow problem.
 
Cool this is good information, that screen shot with the polarizer does look appealing. :)

I noticed the Eizo EV2736W is available at another store nearby, it's a bit more than the Asus but could be worth while. Looks like local stores don't stock the BenQ but I could probably order one in.

Once I get home tonight I will do some more research on these and the other suggestions.
 
I'd probably go with the BenQ BL3200PT over Eizo EV2736W (unless there's a large price difference), but both should be good regardless. The BenQ AMVA+ panel will give deeper blacks, which is nice in games like Skyrim. The Eizo might not have glow but IPS black depth is still far inferior to AMVA+. Otherwise it might have slightly better colors and gaming performance, but I doubt it's a meaningful difference.
 
Heh turns out the only dealer for Eizo monitors here is a photography chain and they seem to be charging $1962 ($1678USD) for a EV2736W on a 1-2 month back order. This is a tough pill to swallow given the price and availability of them in other countries - I get the feeling it would be quicker and cheaper to just wait for another brand to launch something similar, like the Samsung S27D850T, than go for this.

The Qnix, X-Star, MOTV and Yamakasi I would have to import, something I'm not keen on warranty wise.

The BenQ is a bit bigger than what I originally had in mind but on the other hand it's only $999 ($855USD) and stock is due in next week. I had originally not looked at VA panels because of assumed black crush and latency issues but looking at reviews that doesn't to be as much of an issue with the BL3200PT. This also has a handy HDMI input for consoles etc, so could be a winner.
 
That price is sort of crazy. I think in the US it goes for about $900ish, which is still expensive... just not insane like where you are.

If okay with a smaller size, the FG2421 may suit what you want. But it's another Eizo, so who knows what it'd cost you there. Deep blacks and supposedly CRT-like motion.
 
The FG2421 specs are great and 1080p is a good resolution for that size. I think the drop in size would be too off putting though after using a 27" for the last couple of years.

Perhaps if they release a larger size in the future I will get one with free international shipping off Amazon.
 
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