Lightboost for Civ 5 and other non FPS games?

[Johnked6]

To all you lightboost users out there, how has your experience been with games like Civ 5. One of the biggest problems I have with Civ 5 is whenever you scroll around the map the image smears like crazy, it causes me eye strain after a couple hours. 2D strategy games like this actually requires constant scrolling of the map. I'm curious if lightboost would fix that?

 

[Morkai]

It does fix it, yes.
Vsync is also great for side-scrolling graphics, only type of games i use vsync for.

 

[Johnked6]

It does fix it, yes.
Vsync is also great for side-scrolling graphics, only type of games i use vsync for.

How's the overall experience playing a strategy game with lightboost? I hear lightboost reduces the brightness and clarity of the image, is it worth the trade off in your opinion for a 2d game? I'm thinking of picking up the ASUS VG278H or VG248QE.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

It's really hard to say. It helps Civilization 5 if you love scrolling around a lot at framerate=Hz. However, Civilization 5 doesn't depend much of a competitive advantage from LightBoost like FPS does. Civilization 5 really benefits from IPS 1440p a lot. Blur Busters actually recommends a 120Hz 1440p overclock for people who only plays sims and doesn't care about motion blur. But your case is very special.

In special cases where you get motion blur eyestrain *AND* you do not get CRT eyestrain, then I highly recommend LightBoost, no matter what you do. Civ5 scrolling does hugely benefit from LightBoost. Blur Busters, in this case, highly recommend LightBoost for this.

Eyestrain from LightBoost varies on person. The LightBoost FAQ has entries for both MORE eyestrain/LESS eyestrain angles.
LightBoost reduces eyestrain for people who don't mind CRT flicker, but gets eyestrain from motion blur.
LightBoost increases eyestrain for people who get eyestrain from even high-refresh rate 120Hz CRT's.
People like me and Vega gets less eyestrain with LightBoost.

 

[Mark Rejhon]

How's the overall experience playing a strategy game with lightboost? I hear lightboost reduces the brightness

Correct.

and clarity of the image

Incorrect, motion clarity is improved by LightBoost. Streaking/blurring is completely eliminated.
You might be referring to color quality, which LightBoost does degrade. But you're massively improving motion quality.

I'm thinking of picking up the ASUS VG278H or VG248QE.

VG278H has better color quality than VG248QE, but it's also more expensive.
It's also easier to fix LightBoost color problems on a VG278H, with some quick known settings tweaks. Zero purple tint on VG278H LightBoost.
The list of supported monitors is listed at LightBoost HOWTO.

 

[Romir]

I like to play Crusader Kings 2 with my lightboost monitor because all the map text is legible when scrolling around the map. Everything from the big province names to the little 3mm tall unit count numbers (important!). Those unit numbers blur with the 144hz normal output but are perfect at 120hz lightboost. On a normal 60hz monitor, only the largest province names can be read when scrolling.

Civ V doesn't have that kind of map text and is much prettier so I've never actually tried it until now. Motion looks perfect like it should with lightboost. I compare the effect to looking through glass at something moving in real life. It "feels" solid and real. You might need to keep the AA off to maintain 100 fps when mostly zoomed out though, or you'll get juddering if it drops below that.

Edit: I briefly had a ASUS VG278H with a defective emitter that lightboost wouldn't work on. I loved the bigger text on it when playing CK2. This is relevant for a lot of strategy games because their UI's don't tend to scale. If it was less expensive, or if the VG278HE wasn't inferior, I'd probably own one of them instead of the VG248QE.