Presenting the ZOWIE XL2540 240Hz

[Chief Blur Buster]

Dear Chief thanks for your answer.

1. I don't know but... who can ? (cs:go and quake live apart)
2. I have a Logitech G9X with 1000Hz polling rate already setted
3. Where is this funcion ? (edit: XL2540 no have this features) Inside service menu ? (I run 120/130 fps in Overwatch)

Anyway I have never seen how work an IPS 144hz in real game action with my eyes, compared to TN.
So do you think this new 240hz TN monitors really much more fast, less blurried and competitive for FPS gaming of them?
If Benq-Zowie offers only TN I think there's a reason.....

While there are diminishing points of returns, 240Hz definitely has a lot of eSports benefits even if you can't tell the difference in many situations.

The input lag of 240Hz is less than the input lag of 120Hz, as the frames are delivered twice as fast.

Even during VSYNC OFF operation, the opportunities for scanout interruptions (the tearlines that occurs) are twice as often for any position along the display's vertical axis. (i.e. every 4.1ms instead of every 8.3ms). If your game is spewing out frames really fast, you can have fresher image slices at all positions along the display. In the best case scenario, 4.1ms less lag (the difference between 1/120sec and 1/240sec). So there is generally a few milliseconds less lag at 240Hz than at 120Hz regardless of VSYNC ON or VSYNC OFF. eSports players often care a lot about milliseconds, and the lag savings of 240Hz is actually noticeable.

Also, individual tearlines are only visible for half the amount of time (1/240sec instead of 1/120sec), making tearlines less visible during VSYNC OFF operation.

Also, microstutters at high varying framerates near the refresh rate, will be roughly half the stutter amplitude (e.g. 230-250fps @ 240Hz versus 110-130fps @ 120Hz). Although GSYNC is supposed to eliminate stutters, but if you don't use GSYNC, then having twice as many refresh cycles, means smaller motion inaccuracies at framerates diverging from refreshrates.

Also, stutters at higher framerates on a higher refresh rate, stutters will be visible for briefer periods, and less likely to be noticed for the same motion speed. Even low-frequency stutters will be visible -- e.g. 1 stutter per second (beat-frequency 239fps at 240Hz) the distance of motion-jump in the stutter will be roughly half the distance than it would for the 1-stutter-per-second that 119fps at 120Hz scenario occurs. (This stutter beat-frequency effect is easier to see with VSYNC ON than VSYNC OFF, although beat-frequency effects is also observable with a rolling (scrolling) tearline, the rolling tearline effect often seen with VSYNC OFF combined with a Source Engine's fps_max fractionally off the current refresh rate).

Motion blur of 240fps@240Hz is approximately half of 120fps@120Hz (Assuming near-instant GtG). A good test is http://www.testufo.com/photo -- the photo will be approximately half as blurry at 240fps@240Hz than 120fps@120Hz.

Also, if you enjoy VSYNC ON gaming, 240Hz has half the VSYNC-ON-related display lag, which can be a boon if you're a hater of tearlines & have a GPU capable of playing 240fps in the games you choose to play (e.g. older Source Engine games). If you're using a buffer queue 3 deep (8.3ms+8.3ms+8.3ms = ~25ms) versus (4.1ms+4.1ms+4.1ms = ~12ms) -- as commonly occurs during windowed VSYNC ON (due to window compositing being an additional buffer delay) -- then you can have a huge reduction of lag, ~25ms versus ~12ms for VSYNC ON operation -- VSYNC ON 240Hz has a much bigger reduction in input lag than for VSYNC OFF operation, since the buffer lag is cumulative.

Also, if you combine 240Hz and GSYNC, even in newer games, another advantage is that you're much more rarely hit the lag-inducing GSYNC limit. GSYNC is known to have a sudden increase in lag when you hit the maximum framerate. (See GSYNC Preview Part #2) ... And even if framerates slams the frame rate cap, the sudden lag increase will be smaller.

That said, I should note, GtG of a typical TN is typically 1ms, and that eats into a 240Hz refresh cycle (4.1ms). That 1ms GtG is 1/4th of a 240Hz refresh cycle. So Instead of a full halving of motion blur, it will be roughly more like 3/4ths of a halving reduction in motion blur (3/4ths of 50% = 3/8th) -- i.e. 240fps@240Hz will have approximately 3/8ths the motion blur than 120fps@120Hz on a 1ms GtG TN. IPS GtG is much bigger and much closer to a refresh cycle so a 240Hz IPS will not have as much motion blur reducing benefit as a 240Hz TN, given the GtG starts to re-approach a refresh cycle's length again. For most modern LCD panels where GtG is a tiny fracton of a refresh cycle, GtG is not the motion blur factor. More motion blur on displays is caused by eye tracking, http://www.testufo.com/eyetracking ... and is illustrated in this chart:


(assumes framerates matching refreshrates, unaffected by stutters).

TL;DR: There will continue to be benefit to keeping increasing refresh rates (...240Hz, 360Hz, 480Hz, etc...) from both an eSports and non-eSports gaming perspective -- because of many factors such as lag/stutter/tearing/GSYNC/etc.

[Trip]

Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of enabling ULMB from the hidden service menu? Someone has said it works and someone has said its bugged.

It works its not buggy at all I think even the intensity setting works but the differences are so small its almost unnoticeable. The thing is at 240hz you have a lot of cross-talk at the center of the screen but you can fix this by adjusting the area setting. What I do find strange is that at non-standard frequencies and timings the cross-talk moves. So at the start the top has a lot of cross-talk then after a while it will move to the bottom of the screen. Its like the display is adjusting the phase while scanning which is really weird.

[Falkentyne]

Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of enabling ULMB from the hidden service menu? Someone has said it works and someone has said its bugged.

It works its not buggy at all I think even the intensity setting works but the differences are so small its almost unnoticeable. The thing is at 240hz you have a lot of cross-talk at the center of the screen but you can fix this by adjusting the area setting. What I do find strange is that at non-standard frequencies and timings the cross-talk moves. So at the start the top has a lot of cross-talk then after a while it will move to the bottom of the screen. Its like the display is adjusting the phase while scanning which is really weird.

I saw someone else mention something about the crosstalk moving by itself.
I think it may have been on the XL2730Z, actually.
They said that the "Area" parameter was changing by itself from 0 to 100, without any input.

Maybe that's' what's going on here?

[pupo]

Dear Chief thanks for your answer.

1. I don't know but... who can ? (cs:go and quake live apart)
2. I have a Logitech G9X with 1000Hz polling rate already setted
3. Where is this funcion ? (edit: XL2540 no have this features) Inside service menu ? (I run 120/130 fps in Overwatch)

Anyway I have never seen how work an IPS 144hz in real game action with my eyes, compared to TN.
So do you think this new 240hz TN monitors really much more fast, less blurried and competitive for FPS gaming of them?
If Benq-Zowie offers only TN I think there's a reason.....

While there are diminishing points of returns, 240Hz definitely has a lot of eSports benefits even if you can't tell the difference in many situations.

The input lag of 240Hz is less than the input lag of 120Hz, as the frames are delivered twice as fast.

Even during VSYNC OFF operation, the opportunities for scanout interruptions (the tearlines that occurs) are twice as often for any position along the display's vertical axis. (i.e. every 4.1ms instead of every 8.3ms). If your game is spewing out frames really fast, you can have fresher image slices at all positions along the display. In the best case scenario, 4.1ms less lag (the difference between 1/120sec and 1/240sec). So there is generally a few milliseconds less lag at 240Hz than at 120Hz regardless of VSYNC ON or VSYNC OFF. eSports players often care a lot about milliseconds, and the lag savings of 240Hz is actually noticeable.

Also, individual tearlines are only visible for half the amount of time (1/240sec instead of 1/120sec), making tearlines less visible during VSYNC OFF operation.

Also, microstutters at high varying framerates near the refresh rate, will be roughly half the stutter amplitude (e.g. 230-250fps @ 240Hz versus 110-130fps @ 120Hz). Although GSYNC is supposed to eliminate stutters, but if you don't use GSYNC, then having twice as many refresh cycles, means smaller motion inaccuracies at framerates diverging from refreshrates.

Also, stutters at higher framerates on a higher refresh rate, stutters will be visible for briefer periods, and less likely to be noticed for the same motion speed. Even low-frequency stutters will be visible -- e.g. 1 stutter per second (beat-frequency 239fps at 240Hz) the distance of motion-jump in the stutter will be roughly half the distance than it would for the 1-stutter-per-second that 119fps at 120Hz scenario occurs. (This stutter beat-frequency effect is easier to see with VSYNC ON than VSYNC OFF, although beat-frequency effects is also observable with a rolling (scrolling) tearline, the rolling tearline effect often seen with VSYNC OFF combined with a Source Engine's fps_max fractionally off the current refresh rate).

Motion blur of 240fps@240Hz is approximately half of 120fps@120Hz (Assuming near-instant GtG). A good test is http://www.testufo.com/photo -- the photo will be approximately half as blurry at 240fps@240Hz than 120fps@120Hz.

Also, if you enjoy VSYNC ON gaming, 240Hz has half the VSYNC-ON-related display lag, which can be a boon if you're a hater of tearlines & have a GPU capable of playing 240fps in the games you choose to play (e.g. older Source Engine games). If you're using a buffer queue 3 deep (8.3ms+8.3ms+8.3ms = ~25ms) versus (4.1ms+4.1ms+4.1ms = ~12ms) -- as commonly occurs during windowed VSYNC ON (due to window compositing being an additional buffer delay) -- then you can have a huge reduction of lag, ~25ms versus ~12ms for VSYNC ON operation -- VSYNC ON 240Hz has a much bigger reduction in input lag than for VSYNC OFF operation, since the buffer lag is cumulative.

Also, if you combine 240Hz and GSYNC, even in newer games, another advantage is that you're much more rarely hit the lag-inducing GSYNC limit. GSYNC is known to have a sudden increase in lag when you hit the maximum framerate. (See GSYNC Preview Part #2) ... And even if framerates slams the frame rate cap, the sudden lag increase will be smaller.

That said, I should note, GtG of a typical TN is typically 1ms, and that eats into a 240Hz refresh cycle (4.1ms). That 1ms GtG is 1/4th of a 240Hz refresh cycle. So Instead of a full halving of motion blur, it will be roughly more like 3/4ths of a halving reduction in motion blur (3/4ths of 50% = 3/8th) -- i.e. 240fps@240Hz will have approximately 3/8ths the motion blur than 120fps@120Hz on a 1ms GtG TN. IPS GtG is much bigger and much closer to a refresh cycle so a 240Hz IPS will not have as much motion blur reducing benefit as a 240Hz TN, given the GtG starts to re-approach a refresh cycle's length again. For most modern LCD panels where GtG is a tiny fracton of a refresh cycle, GtG is not the motion blur factor. More motion blur on displays is caused by eye tracking, http://www.testufo.com/eyetracking ... and is illustrated in this chart:


(assumes framerates matching refreshrates, unaffected by stutters).

TL;DR: There will continue to be benefit to keeping increasing refresh rates (...240Hz, 360Hz, 480Hz, etc...) from both an eSports and non-eSports gaming perspective -- because of many factors such as lag/stutter/tearing/GSYNC/etc.

Super deep technical reply Chief
I believe in you... I keep my XL2540
Next week, if I take courage to do, I try to mod the monitor in a glossy panel...

[Trip]

Can anyone comment on the effectiveness of enabling ULMB from the hidden service menu? Someone has said it works and someone has said its bugged.

It works its not buggy at all I think even the intensity setting works but the differences are so small its almost unnoticeable. The thing is at 240hz you have a lot of cross-talk at the center of the screen but you can fix this by adjusting the area setting. What I do find strange is that at non-standard frequencies and timings the cross-talk moves. So at the start the top has a lot of cross-talk then after a while it will move to the bottom of the screen. Its like the display is adjusting the phase while scanning which is really weird.

I saw someone else mention something about the crosstalk moving by itself.
I think it may have been on the XL2730Z, actually.
They said that the "Area" parameter was changing by itself from 0 to 100, without any input.

Maybe that's' what's going on here?

Figured out it happens when I use vt of 1325 at 220hz and area at 100 I still dont know the exact reason though. Btw the motion blur reduction on this monitor looks pretty good across the whole screen at around 200 hz or lower and then maxing the vt setting while staying below 600mhz pixel clock with an area setting of 0.

[Falkentyne]

It's still a shame it can't single strobe lower than 100hz (50hz, 60hz, 85hz is a no-go) I really would like to buy a new monitor...

[Trip]

It's still a shame it can't single strobe lower than 100hz (50hz, 60hz, 85hz is a no-go) I really would like to buy a new monitor...

Even if it could I would never use that at that refresh rate too much input latency and flickering for me. I like it at 200hz though big improvement over the 100hz ulmb setting of the xb270hu. Its a shame benq wont let users do that though. Maybe they are afraid of people getting seizures or something since I know not everyone can handle that low frequency flickering. Would be nice if someone could write a piece of software that could inject black frames after every regular one or something like that. That way you would have effective 60hz strobing at 120hz or something.

[r01d]

So...?
I still don't know which Area/ intensity settings are preferable to minimize motion blur etc. e.g. best picture quality with lowest input. Thanks in advance

[Kirayamato]

how do we enable benq blur reduction on the zowie xl2540?

[Trip]

So...?
I still don't know which Area/ intensity settings are preferable to minimize motion blur etc. e.g. best picture quality with lowest input. Thanks in advance

Nobody really knows at this point and there is no best setting for what you ask.
General logic dictates that the longer you let the pixels settle the better blur reduction works. So the higher your vertical total setting the better the image will look. The downside of that is there is a bandwidth limit of 600mhz. So if you would like high vertical total you have to sacrifice refresh rate. If you lower refresh rate you will have higher input latency. The area setting dictates when the scan should start. At 0 it will start right at the start of a frame at 100 it will start at the end. The goal is to get the middle part of the screen to look the cleanest since that is where you look at when gaming. If you use area 0 you will see a lot of cross talk after the end of the clear looking ufo on the top of the screen. That is part of the new frame while in transition. If you use area 100 you will see a lot of crosstalk before the clear looking ufo at the bottom of the screen. That cross talk is from the old frame before it.
The intensity is the amount of time the led's will stay on. High intensity controversially makes the led's stay on for a smaller amount of time then low intensity. If you use high intensity blur reduction will work better since the image will be clearer. Low intensity gives you a brighter screen. What you are asking is impossible to answer since it differs from what a person perceives as high input latency or bad blur reduction. Just experiment with the settings until you get a result you like. Btw the intensity setting works correctly in v1 firmware as well the effect is just more subtle to see then in previous monitors.

how do we enable benq blur reduction on the zowie xl2540?

Already mentioned but just hold down the 4th button from the left while powering on the monitor to get to the service menu where blur reduction is. 4+5 while powering on the monitor will bring you into the factory menu aside from OD-gain setting which does not stick after power cycling the monitor there is nothing interesting there to use though.