ASUS SWIFT PG27UQ

[xorbe]

Quick footnote: TFT Central said this was delayed until now because they are getting this monitor with the newest/latest firmware update.

Wondering if firmware is the reason Acer X27 is also out of stock for weeks.

 

[Armenius]

Newegg just got a bunch of new stock yesterday.

 

[fenixv]

TFT Central review is up: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg27uq.htm

 

[Armenius]

Information on the updated firmware. Says it just adds an option to use sRGB gamma behavior for YUV color spaces.
https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1036750/

 

[bigbluefe]

TFT Central review is up: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg27uq.htm

Pretty shitty review. Doesn't even mention or address the enormous problem that 4k is kind of a waste at 27". Feels like it was bought and paid for.

It also brushes off the 4:2:2 issue even though it blatantly fucks up text quality.

 

[Drags]

Good one.

They do talk about the 27” size at 4K “issue”

4K too high a resolution for a 27" screen like this? That's another common question we see asked, and a lot of people would prefer it if the screen was a little bigger in size. AU Optronics who produce the panel used here are also now planning a 32" equivalent. Panel production was originally expected around Q3 2018 but our most recent information suggests this has slipped back to Q1 2019, presumably because of the delays and challenges with the 27" versions. It will not be until probably middle of 2019 at best before any monitors featuring those panels we expect right now. Given how many times the 27" panel slipped, we wouldn't be surprised to see the same with the larger 32" version.

At 27" in size, the Ultra HD resolution can't really be used for desktop / general use without scaling in place, as the fonts and text are just too small. For gaming and multimedia you do get an improvement in the image sharpness and clarity thanks to the smaller pixel pitch and higher PPI. Depending on your viewing distance, eye sight and game settings you may or may not notice the difference in running at 4K resolution on a 27" screen compared with a more common 1440p display. However, there are plenty of people out there who do notice the difference and have invested in 4K resolution screens of various sizes, many in this kind of range, and love that extra level of detail and clarity they get.

 

[Sancus]

Feels like it was bought and paid for.

It also brushes off the 4:2:2 issue even though it blatantly fucks up text quality.

This is an odd criticism. TFTCentral has never been a highly critical reviewer. They present the data in detail. This is why they're one of the best in the business. They have a whole section on the text quality issue, with photos, and explicitly say it may or may not be an issue depending on the content you're viewing. What do you expect them to say? "This monitor is shit because it should use a DP spec that doesn't even exist to magically allow 4:4:4 4k 144hz"? Their presentation of the facts is excellent as usual, it's up to you to decide what to do with the facts.

 

[Armenius]

Good one.

They do talk about the 27” size at 4K “issue”

Funny point:
I often complained about the adherence to Windows DPI scaling with a high PPI screen like this. So far everything I have used works fine with scaling except motherfucking Origin... Of course it had to be EA messing up the works.

This is an odd criticism. TFTCentral has never been a highly critical reviewer. They present the data in detail. This is why they're one of the best in the business. They have a whole section on the text quality issue, with photos, and explicitly say it may or may not be an issue depending on the content you're viewing. What do you expect them to say? "This monitor is shit because it should use a DP spec that doesn't even exist to magically allow 4:4:4 4k 144hz"? Their presentation of the facts is excellent as usual, it's up to you to decide what to do with the facts.

bigbluefe is just trolling the threads about this panel. Don't worry about it.

 

[Drags]

I won’t. Like you say clearly just trolling

 

[Q-BZ]

So if an owner wanted to update the firmware on this... can they do it?

 

[Comixbooks]

 

[Comixbooks]

Personally would have to see it in person and not mind buying top end cards every two years for older games since 144 fps is hard to achieve with any modern AAA release.

 

[Armenius]

So if an owner wanted to update the firmware on this... can they do it?

The FAQ for the firmware was updated to say a downloadable tool will be available for end users later this year. You can send the monitor to ASUS if you want it now.

 

[Armenius]

Shared some thoughts of a PM conversation that I felt would be good to share with everyone after a couple months of living with this monitor:

Good:
HDR: in content that supports HDR10 that is properly mastered
Brightness: can be extremely bright without being washed out or overwhelming
Contrast: high for IPS without FALD, even better with
G-Sync: seems smoother than the PG278Q
Feels bigger than 27" even though I know it's the same size as the PG278Q having put them side-by-side.

Bad:
Some anomalies I am starting to notice with the FALD in SDR content (color saturation falls off near the edges of zones). Moving the mouse over the area corrects it for a time.
Uniformity hasn't evened out as much as I had hoped. There is noticeable splotchiness on the right side of the screen, mostly near the upper corner. Very noticeable with the FALD turned off.
The ROG AURA logo on the back of the monitor won't turn off even though I turned all the lighting options off in the OSD. Might just be an issue with this sample.
Mine also will not overclock to 144 Hz for some reason. Not much of an issue as 98 Hz has been fine for everything I've done with it.
It runs very warm in SDR content with the FALD enabled. You will feel warmer while sitting at your PC.

Ugly:
The stand is god awful. I'm thinking about getting a VESA mount just to get rid of it.

After a couple months with it and the hype has died down, I honestly think it is worth more in the $1500 area than $2000. I'd still buy it again, though.

 

[elvn]

I went with the (non HDR, non-FALD) 32" 16:9 LG 32GK850G VA g-sync 144hz/165hz on sale for $600 free ship no tax at egg instead. It will probably arrive tomorrow. If I have to I'll wait into 2019 or whenever LG OLED 4k HDR with hdmi 2.1 120hz, VRR (variable refresh rate standardized in the hdmi spec), QFT (quick frame transport for low lag gaming) are out and there are eventually gpus with hdmi 2.1 + VRR support .. even if I have to change camps to AMD if NVIDIA drags their feet on VRR support in future gpu lines and I end up waiting until 2020 for such gpus. As it is the 32" 21:9 and BFG HDR FALD models I had initially expressed some interest in (especially the BFG) are delayed at least to mid 2019 anyway. 27" is ok, I've been using one for years.. but I decided to drop $600 and sell my pg278Q for $300 +/- if I can get it locally for a ~$300+/- display upgrade with 3x the contrast and black depth as ips and tns, and a 4.5" diagonal size upgrade which is considerable while still staying at 2560x1440 gaming where I can dial in settings to have 100fps+ average (70 - 100 - 130+ band) or more to get more out of the high hz capability, where 4k would require me to turn the graphics down a lot more to achieve that even with powerful gpus.

I would have loved these a few years ago but with the roadmap I'm looking at going forward, this $300 32" VA upgrade will hold me over until I'm willing to drop thousands on a hdmi 2.1 4k HDR 120hz VRR oled and new gpus that will support it. Also by that time there should be a lot more HDR content hopefully.

Glad a lot of people are happy with these FALD models though. I have a FALD VA tv and love it even with a fraction of the zones. I wouldn't buy another non OLED and non hdmi 2.1 ~ 120hz native + VRR tv going forward either though considering what I already have for now and what I know is coming. I'm not dropping $2k + on a monitor (and more on a 70" tv) every 1 to 2 years when I can be smart and pick my battles. HDMI 2.1 120hz 4k + VRR on HDR OLEDTVs and GPUS is the holding point for me now.

 

[exlink]

I'm holding off until the 32" 16:9 or 35" 21:9 versions come out. Hoping that'll be sometime early next year. By then some of the initial hiccups with this new tech will hopefully be sorted out.

 

[kasakka]

I'm holding off until the 32" 16:9 or 35" 21:9 versions come out. Hoping that'll be sometime early next year. By then some of the initial hiccups with this new tech will hopefully be sorted out.

Same here. I doubt they will be available until around this time next year, I think the panel production should start early next year. Will be interesting to see if there is any competition from the TV side if we start getting HDMI 2.1 and VRR.

 

[Armenius]

The BFGD will be out before the 32" and 35" versions. We should hear more about the BFGD and their impending release sometime soon. Last I heard they are supposed to be available starting October-November.

 

[Armenius]

Well today I accidentally got into debug mode and I don't know how I did it. A telemetry screen came up on the left side with additional options that I didn't want to play around with. But it showed some interesting things like fan speed and module temperature. The fan for the "module," which I assume is G-Sync, was operating at 45C with its fan spinning at 2500 RPM. The "system" fan was room temperature (21C) and spinning at 580 RPM. It showed various other information like the firmware versions for every piece of hardware in this thing. I was an idiot and didn't take a picture of it before closing the menu...

EDIT: Well, it looks like it opens every time I press the joystick now. Exiting this menu takes me back to the factory menu. My phone is a potato, so I apologize for the quality. I turned the brightness all the way down for these pics so you can read the text. The Die Temp got cut off, but it was up to 49C when I took these pics.

 

[Lastan010]

Gsync is great but if I was given a choice between a 4k 120Hz FALD VA LCD with gsync or a 4k 120Hz OLED without gsync, I would pick the OLED.

have you ever tried gaming with Gsync? I doubt it that you did.

I could never go back without the gsync, for me it was the biggest game changer in the last 20 years.

 

[exlink]

have you ever tried gaming with Gsync? I doubt it that you did.

I could never go back without the gsync, for me it was the biggest game changer in the last 20 years.

I've been gaming with G-Sync since the first G-Sync module that was introduced that I had to buy and install separately into my 24" Asus 120Hz monitor. For me - it's overrated. Does it make a difference? Sure, but the biggest game changer in 20 years? That's hyperbole.

 

[MistaSparkul]

have you ever tried gaming with Gsync? I doubt it that you did.

I could never go back without the gsync, for me it was the biggest game changer in the last 20 years.

I've owned 5 Gsync monitors. I could give it up IF what I was getting in return is good enough. In fact I do a lot of my gaming on an OLED TV which not only lacks Gsync, but even lacks 120Hz and I can deal with it as long as I am able to maintain a locked 60fps.

 

[bigbluefe]

I've been gaming with G-Sync since the first G-Sync module that was introduced that I had to buy and install separately into my 24" Asus 120Hz monitor. For me - it's overrated. Does it make a difference? Sure, but the biggest game changer in 20 years? That's hyperbole.

For emulation, it's the biggest game changer in PC history basically.

 

[CommandoSnake]

For emulation, it's the biggest game changer in PC history basically.

How come?

 

[xorbe]

How come?

I am going to guess it can precisely match the emulator's frame rate, for those that are really anal about the original experience. Plus 8K screens for emulating blank scan lines ...

 

[XoR_]

Pretty shitty review. Doesn't even mention or address the enormous problem that 4k is kind of a waste at 27". Feels like it was bought and paid for.

I can read this site with 100% scaling on my 27" UHD monitor from 1m away. Similarly sized fonts but black on white I can read from almost 1.5m. My normal viewing distance is 0.5-0.6m and if I get any closer I start to see screen door effect so I rather keep my distance. 27" is sweet spot for UHD really

This is "enormous" problem only if you have pair of shitty eyes... which is really mostly result of having no idea how to 'see' which is result of ignorance. People think they know how to see and that they already do it properly and then they their sight get worse and worse and they still think they do it properly. Sad story of silly human kind.

 

[elvn]

I think for reading without scaling 108.8ppi is good for 27" at 1.5' to 2' away. I also have a 4k 43" angled so half if it is further and half close which reads great. There is your regular default text size but there are also asterisked sub texted in manuals and under some web site photos, references and custom text sizes, menus and graphic suite toolboxes etc which can have much smaller than the default text size. This resolution and ppi allows for near news/magazine print size or standard paperback novel size. That imo is the perfect size (which is probably why it is that size for those mediums to begin with) which are typically at relaxed arms slightly bent length or lap length away. Yes you can read at tiny asterisked footnote size but that is not a normal reading size and leaves no leeway for smaller text footnotes, menu items etc. I mean sure you can read a tiny fold out electronic device manual or the footnote text on a food box but most people have zero interest in that unless they are nearsighted perhaps.

What going higher rez than 108.8ppi at the same screen size allows for in desktop/apps is scaling for more refined edges in text (and graphics) at relatively the same size when scaling is supported properly. Much like the game viewport 16:9 to 16:9 is the same exact scene just more detailed on the same size monitors.

Personally I'd rather 4k on a larger monitor without scaling to gain more desktop/app real estate.

For now I game at 2560x1440 to get ~100fps-hz and better in order to get appreciable benefits out of a high hz monitor (40%-50% blur reduction, ~double the motion articulation, glassy movement). That is a monitor more or less dedicated to gaming though. I have two other monitors for desktop/apps and media.

 

[Vega]

Another great review that mirrors TFTCentral and my thoughts:

https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/asus-pg27uq/

Second place gaming monitors below the PG27UQ and X27 are quite distant.

 

[elvn]

Interesting read and a nice monitor.

At a glance I saw: white./black/contrast
60% brightness SDR (Factory Defaults) 381 0.37 1030
40% brightness SDR266 0.26 1023

Refresh rate = 144Hz 381 0.37 1030

variable backlight
varying sized white patch on black background or black patch on white background yielded
black depths of .03 to .08, .15 to .37
contrast ratios of 946:1, 2320, 4225, 4986, 8725, 11,900:1

HDR overall white 1285nit, black depth .03 , contrast 42,833:1

Impressive HDR performance.
Makes me wonder what the VA versions will be able to do, especially for SDR content where the black depth and contrast ratios are lacking on some ips scenes.
I think the BFG is going to be VA like the 21:9 35" too.


https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/asus-pg27uq/#Contrast_and_brightness

 

[XoR_]

Makes me wonder what the VA versions will be able to do, especially for SDR content where the black depth and contrast ratios are lacking on some ips scenes.

VA version will add gamma shift and motion artifacts to moving objects

 

[elvn]

Modern gaming VA are tight to 120hz before they lose it so best capped in that sweet spot range. The gamma shift is negligible head on for dedicated gaming use. On the other hand, the hdr ips
still has some glow too
" It is somewhat reduced compared to what you’d expect to see on an IPS-model of this size, however. As usual the glow ‘blooms out’ as viewing angle is sharpened.
"

VA base contrast and black depth is triple ips and tn. So there are tradeoffs on both sides. The other big tradeoff for gsync panels so far is smaller size on the ips ones.



---------------------

Lim's Cave has a good video review of the acer version of this monitor. There is a lot of good info about the tech if you listen to the whole video review.



https://www.limscave.com/acer-x27

"When comparing blooming to my Sony XE93 (4K HDR TV with a VA panel), the blooming is a bit more obvious on the Acer, probably because of using an IPS panel."

"
- The amount of the IPS Glow and Backlight Bleed is unacceptable for the price tag even when it looks better than on current WQHD 165Hz IPS panels with activated local dimming zones
- Black crush above 120Hz (144Hz)"

"This is the best gaming monitor currently on the market. These current ips direct led screens have the pros from all the ips included with the pros of VA gaming monitors without suffering the VA glow and a better black and contrast but now I can't wait for the new ultrawide direct LED panels with a VA panel."

 

[Armenius]

VA version will add gamma shift and motion artifacts to moving objects

Motion artifacts only at refresh rates greater than 100 Hz.

 

[elvn]

Yes and pretty negligible at 120hz on a good VA ... in all cases keep in mind what your frame rate averages would be due to demand on gpu on specific games at any given resolution.

Modern VA , Hz vs response times
tftcentral review of gk850g, a modern gaming VA, in regard to response times vs Hz:

One thing to keep in mind also is whether the pixel response times are fast enough to keep up with the frame rate demands of the high refresh rate. To deliver 144Hz, a new frame is sent to the screen every 6.94ms, which means that response times need to be consistently under this to keep up. If they're not, then you end up with some added smearing on fast moving content. For the 165Hz overclocked refresh rate you need response times to be <6.06ms to keep up (1000 ms / 165 Hz = 6.06ms). On the 32GK850G the response times (even if we ignore the few slow black transitions for now) were not quite fast enough to keep up with 144Hz or 165Hz refresh rates, and you get a little added smearing in practice if you use the screen at those settings. We felt 120Hz (needing <8.33ms) was a better balance and provided the optimal experience.

Above are some pursuit camera tests running the screen in the optimal 'Faster' response time mode, at both 120Hz and 165Hz. You can see the dark trailing evident at both refresh rates behind the moving UFO, particularly on a dark background where the black outline of the UFO is changing to a dark shade. It's on dark content where the black smearing becomes most noticeable. You can see that a little bit more smearing and blurring is visible at the max 165Hz refresh rate, and that's because the pixel response times have trouble keeping up with the frame rate of the screen. You start to get more noticeable smearing, especially with blacks. So despite the added refresh rate helping to reduce perceived motion blur in theory, the performance is being limited by the response times of the pixels themselves. We would recommend sticking with 120Hz for optimal performance, although 120 - 165Hz is still useable and doesn't look terrible. If you're using G-sync for instance and wanted to use the full range up to 144Hz or 165Hz, it is still very usable, and you may not be pushing frame rates that high regularly anyway.

Getting Better

results in practice with some dark smearing on moving content. It's less noticeable at this maximum 'faster' response time setting but it's still there sadly. This mode has at least eliminated some of the slow middle G2G transitions you get in the 'fast' and 'normal' response time modes which is good news. In the best case the response time actually reached down to 2.8ms G2G which was impressive. The quoted 5ms figure is actually conservative from LG if you want to consider the best case measurement.

Not in the same Class as other VA (bodes well for the FALD VAs due out?)

With an average G2G of 8.3ms, it was faster than the recent competing Samsung C32HG70 model, which measured in at 13ms G2G average but also showed a lot more slow transitions from dark to light shades. There was less noticeable dark smearing as a result on the LG. It was a little better for gaming than the Asus ROG Strix XG35VQ overall as well, which struggled even more with transitions from black to dark grey, and also showed some high levels of overshoot in practice.

Being a VA panel it still struggled with some of those darker transitions and so black smearing was still apparent on moving content in certain situations. We feel that the high refresh rate IPS panels such as the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q (5.0ms G2G average, 144Hz) and Dell Alienware AW3418DW (6.9ms G2G, 120Hz) for instance offered a smoother experience without that dark smearing becoming a problem. Of course you are then having to live with a much lower contrast ratio and put up with the pale "IPS glow" from that technology, so it depends what is important to you. For a VA panel, the 32GK850G was a good option we felt when it came to gaming.

And smaller sizes.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cap Frame Rate
You should cap the frame rate below the max refresh rate of your monitor to avoid frame rate overages causing g-sync to revert back to v-sync which adds input lag. Using an in game frame rate limiter is the best option as it doesn't really add input lag. RTSS external app adds "up to" 1 frame of input lag (shorter ms the faster the frames), and nvidia's driver panel method adds 2 frames of input lag so is not recommended if you can use the other options. In game > RTSS > nvidia cpl > no limiter/v-sync on overages.
In the case of a VA you'd cap the frame rate at 118 (or 98 if you are obsessive/stickler about it), and use the fastest overdrive if the monitor's overdrive tech is good enough.

Response times can relate to FrameRate+Hz
I'd also note that monitors like the PG279Q IPS had their response time tied to the refresh rate.. So at high fps+hz using g-sync, the response time was 5.2 or something... but when the frame rate+hz using g-sync was in a lower range the response time went back up to 8.5ms. This is an important factor to remember (especially when running 4k resolution frame rate ranges on demanding games). Your frame rate and hz using g-sync affect the response time on some monitors.

TFTcentral about PG279Q gaming IPS

So what does this all mean? Well it means that the pixel response times of the screen will vary a little depending on the refresh rate you're using. If you plugged in a 60Hz console, the response times would be ~8.5ms G2G, still very good for an IPS panel. If you use G-sync and the refresh rate fluctuates between 30 and 144Hz, the response times are controlled dynamically and will vary a little as refresh rate changes. To be honest we aren't talking huge differences, although when you combine the slightly higher response time impact on blurring, with the impact of lower refresh rates on perceived blur, you will notice some difference in motion clarity depending on your active refresh rate. The variation in response times isn't really a big factor, and you're more likely to notice the difference in motion clarity caused by the changes in refresh rate anyway.

TFT central regarding the PG27UQ

"the 'normal' mode showed a good improvement compared with at 60Hz, with average G2G response time improving from 9.3ms to 6.9ms when at 98Hz, and a little lower at 6.6ms at 120Hz. "

So the takeaway here is that unless you are running 100fps+ or better average frame rates, your frame rate graph is sluggish to where your resulting lack of motion clarity/blur reduction and motion definition rate will overshadow any negligible response time transition issues at capped frame rate/Hz, and it will also be a much slower response time to start with at lower fps ranges which will make the blur at speed (mouse looking and movement keying the whole viewport around in 1st/3rd person games) even worse. That is, you are making the already bad sample and hold blur and low motion definition rate of a 60fps and less range graph worse with the resulting lower response times inducing more blur.

Capping your frame rate and running higher frame rate graphs to straddle the "sweet spot" of a monitor is the best scenario... staying in the range with g-sync allowing for the lower end of the range to play out cleanly.. and truncating the top off to avoid exacerbating minor VA transition issues or on the HDR FALD IPS - reported black crush issues over 120hz and over 98hz color depth limitation, etc. Also avoiding input lag by avoiding reverting back to v-sync if fps every goes over the max refresh rate of the monitor of course.

 

[Q-BZ]

Splurged on one of these with a new machine a few weeks ago and have been very happy with it. Blown away utterly.





Out of nowhere I had an issue show up with mine this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon I turned the computer and monitor off and several hours went by. I'm on good power protection and there have been no issues like that. I turned the computer on and the monitor on and the monitor flashed a bunch of different colors at me, said there was an EDID Failure, and then I'm looking at the factory menu. My Windows display settings were reset and the monitor's settings were also reset. I've no issues up until this random and out nowhere issue.



Sidebar: My sister has one of these also and similar hardware but we have noticed hers seems to want to be a little bit "darker" than mine despite identical settings. It's like her gamma is "lower" than mine. Is that just a tale of no two monitors being the same? Kind of peculiar.





EDIT ADD: Strange. Now it's like my monitor is "darker" than it was earlier today like hers.

I'm going to clean sweep the video card drivers. I have nothing to lose. This is really strange.




EDIT: I honestly don't know what to make of this. It's like things are darker...there's almost this washed out look to some things... I guess I'm on the phone tomorrow.

I've switched cables. I've done everything I know how to do. Something funky is going on here.




EDIT ADD:

I unplugged the monitor of my new Cyberpower 1500PFCLCD UPS and waited about a minute and then plugged it directly into the wall. Everything is back to normal for now.

I unplugged it again. Waited a minute or so and now have it plugged back into the UPS and everything for now still looks normal. For however long it lasts. I don't like feeling lucky and I don't fully understand what's going on here. What do you all make of this? I'll be contacting Asus at least tomorrow about this.


My sister's is fine except for the "darker" issue. Doing everything I wrote above for her made no difference. She didn't detereoriate like I did. At least not yet.



Armenius post 179 with the factory menu is part of what happened to me here along with the rest of this litany.

^^ Vega What do you make of all this?

 

[Q-BZ]

^^ In addition to all of that:


I think I'm starting to work with something here.

On other forums and even here this issue has been discussed:

Note that 8-bit / 10-bit and RGB / YCbCr have nothing to do with the above. When the signal is YCbCr, the display probably uses the BT.1886 gamma curve commonly used with Rec.709 video, which is slightly different from the sRGB 2.2 gamma curve commonly used with an RGB signal. This is the reason for the black crush in 144 Hz YCbCr422 mode. The monitor is actually behaving accurately, but the desktop and applications are incorrectly using the 2.2 gamma curve. Since this system wide problem will never be fixed in the foreseeable future, I presume ASUS decided to use the 2.2 gamma curve for YCbCr in the updated firmware so that desktop applications look correct.

I'm starting to believe the issue is wider spread than this because I'm at 120Hz 4:4:4 and I'm here to tell you this is happening to me. This is if I'm using "use Nvidia Color settings" vs "default" whatever that means. Obviously if I do that I'm back to RGB although things look a lot more "normal" when I do that vs "excessively dark."

So I think I'm starting to get somewhere...


EDIT add: Thanks to Armenius: 32 bit, RGB, FULL range, 120Hz, 8pbc... everything looks perfect. I'm sticking with that unless people tell me otherwise.

 

[Armenius]

^^ In addition to all of that:


I think I'm starting to work with something here.

On other forums and even here this issue has been discussed:



I'm starting to believe the issue is wider spread than this because I'm at 120Hz 4:4:4 and I'm here to tell you this is happening to me. This is if I'm using "use Nvidia Color settings" vs "default" whatever that means. Obviously if I do that I'm back to RGB although things look a lot more "normal" when I do that vs "excessively dark."

So I think I'm starting to get somewhere...


EDIT add: Thanks to Armenius: 32 bit, RGB, FULL range, 120Hz, 8pbc... everything looks perfect. I'm sticking with that unless people tell me otherwise.

Yeah, Windows color management is in a bad place right now and it seems Microsoft makes it worse with every update. This is what the updated firmware does, adding an option in the OSD to use the sRGB gamma curve with YCbCr. Unless there is a specific case when you need YCbCr you should always be using RGB on PC, anyway.

 

[Q-BZ]

Yeah, Windows color management is in a bad place right now and it seems Microsoft makes it worse with every update. This is what the updated firmware does, adding an option in the OSD to use the sRGB gamma curve with YCbCr. Unless there is a specific case when you need YCbCr you should always be using RGB on PC, anyway.

Good deal and that's me on information overload. Everything seems great now.

Only other bugaboo I'm trying to track down is why I had this weird EDID issue yesterday and then the debug menu showed up on me like it did for you back in post 179. I was able to get rid of all that relatively easily but I wouldn't mind at least understanding why that showed up simply from turning the computer and monitor on after two hours or so of having been off.

 

[Armenius]

Good deal and that's me on information overload. Everything seems great now.

Only other bugaboo I'm trying to track down is why I had this weird EDID issue yesterday and then the debug menu showed up on me like it did for you back in post 179. I was able to get rid of all that relatively easily but I wouldn't mind at least understanding why that showed up simply from turning the computer and monitor on after two hours or so of having been off.

Might be due to your UPS. FWIW I have my monitor plugged in directly to a wall socket while my PC is on a surge protector.

 

[Q-BZ]

Might be due to your UPS. FWIW I have my monitor plugged in directly to a wall socket while my PC is on a surge protector.

Noted.

I'll keep an eye on it. If the monitor is *that* finicky then so be it. I can deal with that.

That would be a shame since this is the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD that I just brought in last week for everything.

 

[elvn]

Not exactly related but I had a power outage here for around 3 hours the other day. I have several UPS units in the house , one of them is on my tv+surround system and other devices (shieldtv etc). I have a whole house generator that kicks in. The power UPS units all are pure sine wave so they have capacitors that click in to keep the power level during browns/surges and otherwise "dirty" power. To my surprise, the unit bled the battery down while on generator power until it shut off a half hour later. In researching this, cyberpower says their consumer UPS units won't consider generator power as usable and won't run off the wall socket when the generator is the power source. They link to a page that sells very expensive UPS units rated for power supply use. My solution was to buy another heavy-duty trip-lite dedicated line conditioner unit. I have one on my gaming rig before the ups units but I didn't have one ahead of my tv/home theater hardware's UPS. Depending on your wattage they vary in price.

My 2400w unit on my pc is $180 - $200 usually and has 6 sockets "4 NEMA5-15R and 2 NEMA5-20R (6 outlets total)", "2400 watts output power rating supports heavy 120V loads up to 20 amps"
The 1200w unit is around $100 and has 4 (10amp) sockets "4 NEMA 5-15R "" 1200 watts output power rating supports 120V loads up to 10 amps".

Tripp Lite LC1200 Line Conditioner
Tripp Lite's LC1200 Line Conditioner keeps your equipment working through brownouts without using emergency power such as UPS systems and auxiliary generators. It automatically adjusts under- and over-voltages to provide safe, computer-grade AC power meeting ANSI C84.1 specifications. Surges, spikes and EMI/RFI line noise wear down sensitive circuitry and can cause premature aging or total failure of your equipment. The LC1200 exceeds the IEEE-587 standard for surge suppression (both categories A and B). It features the widest voltage correction range of any comparable units. Using multiple levels of voltage correction, the LC1200 automatically adjusts voltage fluctuations to keep you working through brownouts and prolonged overvoltage conditions. The LC1200 also protects your valuable equipment with built-in premium surge suppression.

Versatile Protection for Sensitive Electronics
The LC1200 provides comprehensive protection and performance enhancement for computers, A/V components and all electronics. It features built-in automatic voltage regulation to protect sensitive equipment from the harmful effects of brownouts and overvoltages, plus a 1200-joule surge suppression rating to protect against catastrophic surge damage. The LC1200 also filters out disruptive line noise that can cause performance problems and corrupt or erase data. With its 1200-watt output rating and four outlets, the LC1200 provides ample capacity for multiple items of connected equipment.

Advanced Automatic Voltage Regulation
To protect connected equipment from the harmful effects of voltage fluctuations, the LC1200 features built-in automatic voltage regulation (AVR) with three levels of voltage stabilization to provide a targeted response to overvoltages, undervoltages and severe brownouts. The LC1200 corrects brownouts as low as 89V and overvoltages up to 147V back to safe, nominal 120V power. AVR protection prevents equipment damage, data loss and power-related performance problems.

EMI/RFI Line Noise Filtering
Various electromagnetic and radio sources can cause disruptive interference on the AC line. This EMI/RFI line noise is a common cause of incremental hardware damage, data corruption and audio/video performance problems. The LC1200 incorporates technology that filters out disruptive line noise, preventing it from affecting your equipment or corrupting data.

Powerful AC Line Surge Suppression
The LC1200 provides 1200 joules of surge suppression to prevent even the strongest surges from damaging your valuable electronics. Includes full normal mode (H-N) and common mode (N-G/H-G) line surge suppression.

Built-In Diagnostic Capability
Seven diagnostic LEDs provide complete power status information: AC power (green = NORM), incoming voltage level (2 x yellow = HIGH/LOW, 2 x red = VERY HIGH/VERY LOW) and AC line status (green = LINE OK, red = LINE FAULT). An On/Off switch located on the rear of the unit provides one-touch power control over all components.

Compact Design
The LC1200's compact cabinet (less than eight inches in height) and 7-ft. cord make it easy to integrate into a wide range of applications: a desktop computer setup, a home theater setup, a lab bench, and more. Four 5-15R outlets provide ample capacity for connected equipment.

Ultimate Peace of Mind
The LC1200 comes with $25,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance—guaranteed lifetime protection for your equipment in case of surge damage, including direct lightning strikes. Additionally, this Tripp Lite Line Conditioner is backed by a 2-year warranty.