Monitor Suggestions PG278QR vs PG258Q vs ??

[Haet]

Hello! I've been playing a lot of PUBG lately and recently played the hell out of the Quake Champions Beta.

Right now I use an ASUS PB278Q to game on, I've been having issues with motion sickness on PUBG with the lower FoV that they recently instated and it was suggested to me that I try two different things... a smaller monitor, and a monitor with a higher refresh rate.

I'm looking for some kind of validation of either of these theories but also a suggestion on a monitor. I have a 980ti currently and I'm not super price sensitive so I would like to get a g-sync monitor to try one out. I've been looking at the PG278QR or the PG258Q.

Anyone have any experience using those or would have a different monitor to recommend for me? Thanks!

[Chief Blur Buster]

[Re-Reply]

Drats -- I was composing a reply on my mobile device, and it disappeared in a browser crash -- oops.

First time it happened in a long time! I'll rewrite my reply by end of today. Apologies.

[Haet]

No worries, thank you Chief!

[Chief Blur Buster]

No worries, thank you Chief!

Now on a proper keyboard, here I go again...

Different factors can create nausea/headaches/discomfort/tension/eyestrain. Brightness. Size. Stutters. Motion. Motion blur. Flicker. Colors. Viewing angles. Etc. Some people really get headaches on flicker (PWM-dimming, strobe backlights) but there are some people who have reported headaches from motion blur (slow-response LCDs, low refresh rates, no strobe mode). I've got dozens of actual anecdotes of motion blur headaches too. There has been reported of increased motion sicknesses AND decreased motion sicknesses via strobe backlights and stutter, so it's hard to give you a "prescription" and it is easily misdiagnosed -- different peoples' motion sickness aren't solvable by a single display feature. However, let's analyze...

Differences relative to your existing PB278Q monitor:

• ASUS PG278QR -- 2560x1440 TN 165Hz -- Same size as your monitor, changes to TN, higher Hz plus GSYNC and ULMB
• ASYUS PG258Q -- 1920x1080 TN 240Hz -- Smaller than your monitor, changes to TN, higher Hz plus GSYNC and ULMB

Possible uncertain downgrade/upgrade:

• IPS switched to TN. This may actually worsen or improve things. Worsen due to color issues and viewing angles, improves due to less motion blur / less strobe crosstalk.
• Size increase. Big monitors can lead to more motion sickness in certain people.

Possible alternatives:

• ASUS PG279Q -- 2560x1440 IPS 165Hz -- Same size as your monitor, same panel type, higher Hz plus GSYNC and ULMB.

Suggestions to test:

• Fluidity/Stutter test; Temporarily turn VSYNC ON. Run a game that runs full framerate, e.g. 60fps at 60Hz. Make sure your mouse does not have a microstutter weak link. Does your motion sickness increase/decrease?
• Size test; To determine if your motion sickness is caused by size, try running a windowboxed resolution. Black bars around your image. There are several techniques to do this (both via monitor/Windows feature, or via CRU hacking) Does motion sickness increase/decrease?
• Brightness test; Try reducing monitor brightness a little bit. Juice the gamma a little, if you want to prevent dark stuff from getting too dark. Does motion sickness increase/decrease?
• Windows Stuff / non-gaming; Do you ever get motion sickness outside of games?

Once we know what happens with the above, it can make it easier to recommend a monitor with less chance of needing to return it. If taking a risk sight-unseen relative to your existing monitor, I'd suggest ASUS PG279Q to preserve panel type (IPS), while gaining stutter-reducing technology (GSYNC) and motion-blur-eliminating technology (ULMB). ASUS advertises it as an "Eye Care" monitor, so it is completely free of PWM dimming (in regular mode) and has a bunch of extra eye-pleaser features including low-blue-light too. One person may see no benefit at all in GSYNC while the next person may see it as an amazing motion-nausea-solver for them. At least you can turn on/off these features easily!

In addition to GSYNC and ULMB, that way you have more experimentation to try to dodge your motion sickness, add several potentially eye-pleasing upgrades, without switching panel type (that may unexpectedly worsen things). Buying a new deeper desk so you can push the display further back, can also help a lot too. Or buying a monitor arm so you can adjust monitor distance depending on gaming vs.windows.

Tip -- If you love a big monitor for Windows but only get motion sickness in gaming because of big size -- you can always windowbox your gaming.

[Haet]

Thanks for taking the time to reply! I will have to do some of these tests and get back to you but I just want to give more info.

The before they narrowed the FoV I wasn't getting motion sickness. Now that it's down to 70-80 it makes me dizzy. I thought that the fov decrease with the 27" screen size combined with the distance from the monitor was causing it. It doesn't happen to me on other games, I recently played a lot of the quake beta with no problems.

I never use vsync, I have a 980ti so I'm normally running well beyond 60fps which is why I want to try out g-sync, the whole input lag just makes me crazy.

I haven't had any issues with the size in the past, there have been a couple other issues with this but I've always been able to fix it by changing the FoV. However I never had it before I switched to this monitor about two years ago, which makes me think it's a combination of size and FoV.

I normally turn the brightness down a bunch, I also recently got a new pair of glasses, and also moved my monitor further away from me all to ease the potential eye strain.

I really like my IPS for editing photos and things so I will keep that as my second monitor to replace my old LED one. I was looking at that IPS one but passed on it due to the 4ms lag.

I haven't played on a TN panel before, is it really that crappy? I was just going for whatever would be better for gaming even at the cost of some appearance.

[Chief Blur Buster]

I never use vsync, I have a 980ti so I'm normally running well beyond 60fps which is why I want to try out g-sync, the whole input lag just makes me crazy.

Input lag is extremely bad for competitive, but its just a brief test. At least "to try" regarding headaches since VSYNC OFF also introduces microstutters (possible headache source) that disappear with VSYNC ON. If VSYNC ON solves your headache problem, then I have good news for you -- GSYNC will probably also solve your problem too. Then again, lag can be another source of motion sickness.

If you do use GSYNC, make sure you cap your game's framerate (preferably via in-game framerate cap) slightly below the maximum refresh rate of your monitor. This prevents the lag-increase effect when framerates slam against the maximum refresh rate of the monitor.

There are ultra-low-lag VSYNC ON techniques (on Blur Busters Forums) that can eliminate roughly three-quarters of the input lag caused by VSYNC ON. It won't be as lagless as VSYNC OFF, but it can mean it becoming good enough for things like solo gaming, or other less-lag-critical situations.

I haven't played on a TN panel before, is it really that crappy? I was just going for whatever would be better for gaming even at the cost of some appearance.

It's hard to say what your eyes will prefer. The good news is that we've got a 165Hz IPS options now, that can preserve existing IPS colors you're accustomed to, while gaining all the extra goodies normally formerly found on 120-144Hz TN monitors. Either way, you're adding many more options with any of the mentioned monitors.

If you decide to experiment with your monitor before buying a new monitor, let us know!