Is VA panels my only bet if I'm real anal about my blacks and contrast ?

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Subzerok11

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A couple of years ago I bought a real nice well reviewed Dell IPS monitor, at the time I had a BenQ GW2760HS 27-inch VA 1080p. When I tried the Dell right away I was like dam the blacks are definitely a downgrade. I returned the Dell and got a 24" Benq VA 1080p. Why you ask ? it's because PPI 1080p were just to large for a 27" screen for me. Now that I got some money again I'd like to go big again and in the 1440p. I can't find any 27" VA screens in the 1440p. I'm thinking about getting the BL3200PT 1440p VA screen it's got some good reviews and 1440p at 32" would give me the same PPI as in the 24" model. Do you guys know of any good 27"/32" VA screens in the 1440p that I'm not seeing ?
 
Are you using it for G-Sync / FreeSync or anything similar? Production work where you care about color accuracy? Any concerns with viewing angles?

VAs do usually have better blacks, but not all of them are better than IPS. If you're really, really picky about black levels and contrast, spend the cash and get an OLED.
 
If you like good blacks VA panel is your only option. Outside of OLED that is but they are expensive, be it TV or the just released Dell 3017Q. IPS and TN panels are limited at maximum to 1000:1 which is indeed quite poor range. However most VA panels among ordinary PC monitors are not that amazing at contrast ratio either and usually have 2000:1 contrast ratio, which is better than IPS but still not convincing as far as blacks go for contrast fiends like me and not enough to counter the bad sides VA panels have compared to IPS.

Read reviews and hunt down a monitor which measures over 4000:1. This is the point where I consider good and convincing blacks start, blacks will look black even in dark room, especially if there is brighter object on the screen. With computer monitors the models that break the 4000:1 mark are rarity, but with TV's this pretty much a norm and easy to find, thanks to hometheater videophiles I guess. (we are very picky about image quality)

True blacks are the realm of OLED. Contrast ratio is infinite:1. But as said, they are expensive and as far as TV's go way too big (minimum 55"). And they have other issues like image retention and in worst case scenarios even burn-in which limits their use as computer monitors somewhat.
 
MaZa said:
If you like good blacks VA panel is your only option. Outside of OLED that is but they are expensive, be it TV or the just released Dell 3017Q. IPS and TN panels are limited at maximum to 1000:1 which is indeed quite poor range. However most VA panels among ordinary PC monitors are not that amazing at contrast ratio either and usually have 2000:1 contrast ratio, which is better than IPS but still not convincing as far as blacks go for contrast fiends like me and not enough to counter the bad sides VA panels have compared to IPS.

Read reviews and hunt down a monitor which measures over 4000:1. This is the point where I consider good and convincing blacks start, blacks will look black even in dark room, especially if there is brighter object on the screen. With computer monitors the models that break the 4000:1 mark are rarity, but with TV's this pretty much a norm and easy to find, thanks to hometheater videophiles I guess. (we are very picky about image quality)

True blacks are the realm of OLED. Contrast ratio is infinite:1. But as said, they are expensive and as far as TV's go way too big (minimum 55"). And they have other issues like image retention and in worst case scenarios even burn-in which limits their use as computer monitors somewhat.
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"With computer monitors the models that break the 4000:1 mark are rarity, but with TV's this pretty much a norm and easy to find"


Why do TV's get good panels that have good blacks ? You would think it should be the other way around ? What type of panels do TV's usually sport ?
 
Subzerok11 said:
"With computer monitors the models that break the 4000:1 mark are rarity, but with TV's this pretty much a norm and easy to find"


Why do TV's get good panels that have good blacks ? You would think it should be the other way around ? What type of panels do TV's usually sport ?
Click to expand...


Because, as I said, videophiles are very picky people and TV manufacturers have to comply if they want to sell TV's. They are the people who buy the most expensive sets (outside of rich people with money to burn) and improvements in the high end also bleed into the cheaper models. Gaming computer monitors sell with features like high refresh rate and Gsync and whatever, image quality is faaar secondary to a point that manufacturers have gotten lazy in that regard. Factory calibration can be total ass and panels can be cheap as long as they are fast in refresh rate (which TV's do not really need, especially now that 3D is dead) and has fast pixel response times. Actually you have probably seen few big VA monitors like the Philips 40" couple of years back, they were very likely TV panels and incidentally had very, very good contrast ratio. :)

VA panel is the most commonly used panel in TV's. Some models do have IPS (like all LG TV's except their OLED models) but VA panel rules supreme in the TV world.
 
Subzerok11 said:
"With computer monitors the models that break the 4000:1 mark are rarity, but with TV's this pretty much a norm and easy to find"


Why do TV's get good panels that have good blacks ? You would think it should be the other way around ? What type of panels do TV's usually sport ?
Click to expand...


VA panels are far cheaper than IPS panels. Especially when you get into larger TV sizes.
 
Subzerok11 said:
A couple of years ago I bought a real nice well reviewed Dell IPS monitor, at the time I had a BenQ GW2760HS 27-inch VA 1080p. When I tried the Dell right away I was like dam the blacks are definitely a downgrade. I returned the Dell and got a 24" Benq VA 1080p. Why you ask ? it's because PPI 1080p were just to large for a 27" screen for me. Now that I got some money again I'd like to go big again and in the 1440p. I can't find any 27" VA screens in the 1440p. I'm thinking about getting the BL3200PT 1440p VA screen it's got some good reviews and 1440p at 32" would give me the same PPI as in the 24" model. Do you guys know of any good 27"/32" VA screens in the 1440p that I'm not seeing ?
Click to expand...

I have the BL3200PT and it's awesome. It's also gotten really inexpensive lately, which is a nice bonus. Now keep in mind there are a couple drawbacks to this monitor: 60Hz max refresh and some motion blur. The motion blur is just something you accept if you want a VA panel. The amazing blacks and contrast levels are worth it to me. There's no backlight bleed on it either... literally zero.

I also have the XR3501. Another great VA ultrawide from BenQ.

EDIT: Also, since the BL3200PT has both HDMI and DP, you can do fun stuff like hook up your PC and PS4/XB1 at the same time. My PS4 looks awesome on this monitor as well. Just remember to turn the HDMI range to full vs limited or it'll crush the blacks.
 
Was thinking about it. It’s a lot money either way plus needing a new video card to run 1440p. BL3200PT is like 400$ the new Samsung VA 27" C27H711 is 450$. I would also need to upgrade to a new video card like the GTX 1070 which is like 350$. The GTX 1060 might do for 1440p but I tend to keep my cards for a long time. This is a lot of money to upgrade. Dam monitor cost way more then just a PS4. Probably could buy the Xbox Scorpio for the price of the monitor alone, not buying a console just saying. I think I’ll just stay at 24″ 1080p or go back to a 27″ 1080p, this is what I’ll do, no way I’m spending that kinda of money. I'll have to wait till 4k becomes the standard and cheap. I'll just wait a couple more years.

My last question is when it comes to a good solid 27″ VA monitors 60Hz and nothing fancy. From what I’ve found so far and best bang for your buck would be the GW2760HS correct ? Would you recommend a different one for around 200$ ? Thanks

Thanks
 
This is one the reasons I bought a Samsung C24FG70 monitor and it's a purchase I don't regret.

You should definitely check out the 27 inch 1440p version.
 
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