ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

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SparkieSpaark
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ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

Post by SparkieSpaark » 23 May 2017, 14:03

Hey, I was just wondering out of curiosity are these two monitors exactly identical in terms of motion blur (default) and like clarity? Like which one has the better reduction of motion blur with the default settings, nothing changed.
I know there is no "best" but I'm just wondering which one is a head interms of reduced motion blur or better clarity.

I know the ASUS has G-Sync and the BenQ has freesync? I currently own a 1080 Ti, so I guess G-Sync is a plus too the ASUS.

The only games I ever really play are Overwatch and CSGO which I can easily hit 300+fps with. I basically want the best advantage I can get.

Also, the BenQ XL2546 should be coming out either the end of this month or could be another 1-2 months until release. Not sure if the DyAc on the 240hz will be any good? Since I see people saying they can't the XL2540 to 240hz with the option in the service menu? And how much input lag is being added with DyAc?

What would you suggest?

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 23 May 2017, 15:55

Identical Panels
-- Both the PG258Q, the XL2540 and the XL2546 are 240Hz 1ms TN panels.
-- They vary in monitor motherboard/firmware implementations, which affect features such as overdrive, VRR, and blur reduction features.

Motion Blur is Identical in non-strobed non-VRR modes
(VRR being Variable Refresh Rate, aka GSYNC or FreeSync). When running in non-VRR non-strobed modes, they are darn near identical in amount of motion blur. XL2546 is a DyAc model which will have Blur Reduction enabled by default. In non-strobed modes with similar overdrive settings, they're all darn near exactly identical in motion blur (much like identicalness of 144Hz 1ms TN-panel monitors).

GSYNC vs FreeSync
Little is known in quality differences, but reportedly GSYNC at 240Hz is currently performing better than the unoptimized Adaptive-Sync implementation (no variable overdrive currently implemented on this specific model). If VRR is a priority at 240Hz, the cards currently favour GSYNC at this time. If you don't plan to use VRR, then this isn't relevant. For 300+fps VSYNC OFF operation, GSYNC becomes less important, but when you ramp up the detail levels, e.g. games that don't 240fps consistently -- then GSYNC is more advantageous than during 144Hz days -- when you've got mondoo headroom to 240Hz and newer games like Overwatch that can wildly fluctuate 50fps-200fps... Your decision whether or not to use GSYNC/FreeSync should be based on whether you're consistently running framerates below refresh rate. If you are, then it's a setting worth trying.

ULMB versus Blur Reduction versus DyAc
- PG258Q uses ULMB, XL2540 uses unadvertised "Blur Reduction", and XL2546 uses advertised "DyAc". ULMB is easier to set up with minimal strobe crosstalk out of the box, while Blur Reduction/DyAc is much more adjustable. BenQ/Zowie will let you enable strobing at >144Hz at the tradeoff of more strobe crosstalk, but for refreshrate-versus-refreshrate, you can get roughly similar quality (e.g. 144Hz versus 144Hz) after about an hour of calibration (either via Service Menu or via Strobe Utility), or aim for a higher strobed refresh rate instead to reduce lag.
- The new version of Strobe Utility now has experimential support for XL2540 and probably works with XL2546 too.
- All three monitors have strobe length adjustments (very subtle improvement in motion blur, for large tradeoff of brightness -- see LightBoost 10% vs 50% vs 100%).

Blur Reduction Lag
This is complex to answer, but loosely speaking: The higher refresh rate for blur reduction, the lower lag the blur reduction (strobing) will cause. ULMB's 144Hz limit and fixed strobe phase limit -- creates more non-adjustable input lag than BenQ/Zowie. As a result, strobed input lag is much more adjustable, down to less than +2ms added input lag average by strobing at a higher Hz (with somewhat increase strobe crosstalk). If strobed input lag is far more important to you, BenQ/Zowie is hard to beat if you're able to tolerate slightly more strobe crosstalk for lower-lag higher-Hz blur reduction.

Lowest possible strobed lag, while avoiding microstutters
Blur reduction modes can amplify visibility of microstutters. For maximum fluidity you'll want either framerate matching framerate=Hz) or ultrahigh VSYNC OFF (>500fps preferably) to avoid the amplified microstutter effect of blur reduction. Quality is obviously best at VSYNC ON. But that's not a good option competitively. At least, you can turn on/off blur reduction. If you want to competitively play with blur reduction -- aka lowest lag with blur reduction, without the amplified microstutters -- you'll want to use VSYNC OFF and attempt as much overkill amounts of framerate you can get (e.g. 500fps-1000fps, now very easily doable with CS:GO+1080Ti) -- at a higher refresh rate such as 180Hz or 240hz -- and tolerate the increased amounts of strobe crosstalk in exchange for the world's lowest strobed lag.

Links to Amazon:
- ASUS PG258Q
- BenQ Zowie XL2540
- BenQ Zowie XL2546
Head of Blur Busters - BlurBusters.com | TestUFO.com | Follow @BlurBusters on Twitter

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SparkieSpaark
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Joined: 23 May 2017, 12:32

Re: ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

Post by SparkieSpaark » 23 May 2017, 16:22

Chief Blur Buster wrote:Identical Panels
-- Both the PG258Q, the XL2540 and the XL2546 are 240Hz 1ms TN panels.
-- They vary in monitor motherboard/firmware implementations, which affect features such as overdrive, VRR, and blur reduction features.

Motion Blur is Identical in non-strobed non-VRR modes
(VRR being Variable Refresh Rate, aka GSYNC or FreeSync). When running in non-VRR non-strobed modes, they are darn near identical in amount of motion blur. XL2546 is a DyAc model which will have Blur Reduction enabled by default. In non-strobed modes with similar overdrive settings, they're all darn near exactly identical in motion blur (much like identicalness of 144Hz 1ms TN-panel monitors).

GSYNC vs FreeSync
Little is known in quality differences, but reportedly GSYNC at 240Hz is currently performing better than the unoptimized Adaptive-Sync implementation (no variable overdrive currently implemented on this specific model). If VRR is a priority at 240Hz, the cards currently favour GSYNC at this time. If you don't plan to use VRR, then this isn't relevant. For 300+fps VSYNC OFF operation, GSYNC becomes less important, but when you ramp up the detail levels, e.g. games that don't 240fps consistently -- then GSYNC is more advantageous than during 144Hz days -- when you've got mondoo headroom to 240Hz and newer games like Overwatch that can wildly fluctuate 50fps-200fps... Your decision whether or not to use GSYNC/FreeSync should be based on whether you're consistently running framerates below refresh rate. If you are, then it's a setting worth trying.

ULMB versus Blur Reduction versus DyAc
- PG258Q uses ULMB, XL2540 uses unadvertised "Blur Reduction", and XL2546 uses advertised "DyAc". ULMB is easier to set up with minimal strobe crosstalk out of the box, while Blur Reduction/DyAc is much more adjustable. BenQ/Zowie will let you enable strobing at >144Hz at the tradeoff of more strobe crosstalk, but for refreshrate-versus-refreshrate, you can get roughly similar quality (e.g. 144Hz versus 144Hz) after about an hour of calibration (either via Service Menu or via Strobe Utility), or aim for a higher strobed refresh rate instead to reduce lag.
- The new version of Strobe Utility now has experimential support for XL2540 and probably works with XL2546 too.
- All three monitors have strobe length adjustments (very subtle improvement in motion blur, for large tradeoff of brightness -- see LightBoost 10% vs 50% vs 100%).

Blur Reduction Lag
This is complex to answer, but loosely speaking: The higher refresh rate for blur reduction, the lower lag the blur reduction (strobing) will cause. ULMB's 144Hz limit and fixed strobe phase limit -- creates more non-adjustable input lag than BenQ/Zowie. As a result, strobed input lag is much more adjustable, down to less than +2ms added input lag average by strobing at a higher Hz (with somewhat increase strobe crosstalk). If strobed input lag is far more important to you, BenQ/Zowie is hard to beat if you're able to tolerate slightly more strobe crosstalk for lower-lag higher-Hz blur reduction.

Lowest possible strobed lag, while avoiding microstutters
Blur reduction modes can amplify visibility of microstutters. For maximum fluidity you'll want either framerate matching framerate=Hz) or ultrahigh VSYNC OFF (>500fps preferably) to avoid the amplified microstutter effect of blur reduction. Quality is obviously best at VSYNC ON. But that's not a good option competitively. At least, you can turn on/off blur reduction. If you want to competitively play with blur reduction -- aka lowest lag with blur reduction, without the amplified microstutters -- you'll want to use VSYNC OFF and attempt as much overkill amounts of framerate you can get (e.g. 500fps-1000fps, now very easily doable with CS:GO+1080Ti) -- at a higher refresh rate such as 180Hz or 240hz -- and tolerate the increased amounts of strobe crosstalk in exchange for the world's lowest strobed lag.

Links to Amazon:
- ASUS PG258Q
- BenQ Zowie XL2540
- BenQ Zowie XL2546

Oh wow, thank you for all that information!
One last question. Do you think that DyAc with Blur Reduction on by default is going to be able to run at 240hz with Blur Reduction on? Because I see people with the XL2540 only reaching 182hz before the crosstalk gets too much?

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Re: ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 23 May 2017, 16:29

SparkieSpaark wrote:Oh wow, thank you for all that information!
One last question. Do you think that DyAc with Blur Reduction on by default is going to be able to run at 240hz with Blur Reduction on? Because I see people with the XL2540 only reaching 182hz before the crosstalk gets too much?
It's a user preference

-- Different people will be more tolerant to strobe crosstalk than others.
-- For some, people are very picky about perfect blur reduction, while others are perfectly okay with moderate levels of strobe crosstalk.
-- Some use strobing up to 180Hz, and while others use strobing at 240hz, while others don't use strobing at all. At least you have the option to choose to play with any of those settings on the BenQ/Zowies.
-- It is unknown at this time, but the extra DyAc features might have hidden features that improve strobe quality. A comprehensive test comparing DyAc and non-DyAc monitors would be needed to determine if there's any quality difference.

Generally speaking, for 240Hz strobing -- you can adjust strobe phase with the Blur Busters Strobe Utility (or the service menu). For example, you might get a reasonably acceptable-crosstalk image in the center of the screen but significant amounts of strobe crosstalk for 1/2 to 2/3rd of the screen (the top 1/3rd and the bottom 1/3rd). If you're mainly staring at the center band of the screen, then 240Hz strobing could actually be okay (and even competitively useful, given the much smaller input lag than 120Hz strobed)

If you're looking for ease of use, ULMB is easier (less adjustment/calibration needed) if you can tolerate more strobed lag than BenQ/Zowie. However, if you're never going to play with strobed settings, you might prefer the option of having GSYNC if it's more useful depending on the games you choose to play.

If you have no experience with GSYNC / ULMB / Blur Reduction, it could be harder to decide. Not everyone likes GSYNC but prefers Blur Reduction. Or vice versa. Or neither.
Head of Blur Busters - BlurBusters.com | TestUFO.com | Follow @BlurBusters on Twitter

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Forum Rules wrote:  1. Rule #1: Be Nice. This is published forum rule #1. Even To Newbies & People You Disagree With!
  2. Please report rule violations If you see a post that violates forum rules, then report the post.
  3. ALWAYS respect indie testers here. See how indies are bootstrapping Blur Busters research!

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saw141
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Re: ASUS PG258Q vs BenQ XL2540

Post by saw141 » 16 Aug 2018, 17:58

How do these compare to the 27” equivalent to the XL2546, the new Xl2740?

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