XL2546 - Can Dynamic Accuracy reduce the panel's lifespan?

Ask about motion blur reduction in gaming monitors. Includes ULMB (Ultra Low Motion Blur), NVIDIA LightBoost, ASUS ELMB, BenQ/Zowie DyAc, Turbo240, ToastyX Strobelight, etc.
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testid
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XL2546 - Can Dynamic Accuracy reduce the panel's lifespan?

Post by testid » 08 Aug 2017, 14:49

Even with XL2546's Dynamic Accuracy enabled, the monitor still outputs 320cd/m2 brightness. Isn't that TOO bright for a monitor with blur reduction enabled? Is the panel being pushed to the limit? If it is, can its lifespan be affected in the long run? What do you guys think?

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: XL2546 - Can DyAccuracy reduce the panel's lifespan?

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 09 Aug 2017, 14:04

BenQ/Zowie's DyAc (Blur Reduction) in newer monitors such as the Zowie XL2546 are extremely bright because they use voltage boost during strobing.

Depending on LED, it is okay to get around ~2-5x voltage boost during short strobe lengths. If you begin with a panel capable of 1000 nits at full persistence (~8.3ms at 120Hz), you can reduce persistence by 66% at one third brightness of 333 nits (~2.8ms strobe flashes at 120Hz). Then use voltage boost of 3x to reduce persistence by another 66% while maintaining that brightness (~0.9ms strobe flashes at 120Hz at 333 nits).

It is merely fantastic to exceed 150 nits at 1ms persistence which is a very bright "LightBoost 10%" equivalent.

The other possibility is the 333 nits may only apply to 240Hz. The extra refresh cycles can provide more opportunities to flash the backlight. For a given persistence goal (e.g. 1ms), you can be twice as bright at twice the refresh rate. However, there will be lots more strobe crosstalk at 240Hz than at 120Hz. This is due to TN LCD 1ms GtG likely doesn't fit very well into the blanking interval between 4ms refresh cycles (1/240sec = 4.1ms).

There's some margin for inefficiencies during boosts (e.g. 3x boost might only be 2.5x brighter), but you can still get quite standard strobe backlight persistence (1-2ms) with ~300 nits with current 1000-nit edgelight technologies.

So 320cd is not unrealistic for a well-designed ultrabright strobe backlight -- and won't really shorten the LED's life appreciably -- if the designed it properly.

Normal wear and tear of any LED backlight is common and may be noticed after a few years. You might get some dimming over the long term (let's say, a reduction down to 200cd/m2 after a few years of use) but this is normal with most LED backlit monitors that are used almost 24/7. If you really do want to prolong life, just reduce brightness a little bit, and configure the computer to sleep after X hours (which also turns off monitor automatically).
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drmcninja
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Re: XL2546 - Can DyAccuracy reduce the panel's lifespan?

Post by drmcninja » 17 Aug 2017, 16:06

Chief Blur Buster wrote:BenQ/Zowie's DyAc (Blur Reduction) in newer monitors such as the Zowie XL2546 are extremely bright because they use voltage boost during strobing.

Depending on LED, it is okay to get around ~2-5x voltage boost during short strobe lengths. If you begin with a panel capable of 1000 nits at full persistence (~8.3ms at 120Hz), you can reduce persistence by 66% at one third brightness of 333 nits (~2.8ms strobe flashes at 120Hz). Then use voltage boost of 3x to reduce persistence by another 66% while maintaining that brightness (~0.9ms strobe flashes at 120Hz at 333 nits).

It is merely fantastic to exceed 150 nits at 1ms persistence which is a very bright "LightBoost 10%" equivalent.

The other possibility is the 333 nits may only apply to 240Hz. The extra refresh cycles can provide more opportunities to flash the backlight. For a given persistence goal (e.g. 1ms), you can be twice as bright at twice the refresh rate. However, there will be lots more strobe crosstalk at 240Hz than at 120Hz. This is due to TN LCD 1ms GtG likely doesn't fit very well into the blanking interval between 4ms refresh cycles (1/240sec = 4.1ms).

There's some margin for inefficiencies during boosts (e.g. 3x boost might only be 2.5x brighter), but you can still get quite standard strobe backlight persistence (1-2ms) with ~300 nits with current 1000-nit edgelight technologies.

So 320cd is not unrealistic for a well-designed ultrabright strobe backlight -- and won't really shorten the LED's life appreciably -- if the designed it properly.

Normal wear and tear of any LED backlight is common and may be noticed after a few years. You might get some dimming over the long term (let's say, a reduction down to 200cd/m2 after a few years of use) but this is normal with most LED backlit monitors that are used almost 24/7. If you really do want to prolong life, just reduce brightness a little bit, and configure the computer to sleep after X hours (which also turns off monitor automatically).
I'm going to be getting the XL2546. So the strobe light blur reduction is going to be on all the time, even as I'm adjusting Brightness, Contrast, etc?

Would it help longevity if I reduce Brightness and run the monitor at 144Hz for Windows desktop?

I'm going to install the Blur Busters utility to see if the strobe crosstalk can be optimized a little after I get it. Does the utility allow turning blur reduction OFF? Or can that only be done with the service menu?

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Re: XL2546 - Can Dynamic Accuracy reduce the panel's lifespa

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 17 Aug 2017, 17:49

Yes, it does. At least on the XL2540, it can turn on/off blur reduction -- or you can go to the service menu.

We need users to test Blur Busters Strobe Utility on the XL2546 -- we've designed it in a way to use the same command codes as XL2540 and the XL2546 is supposed to be no different.
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drmcninja
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Re: XL2546 - Can Dynamic Accuracy reduce the panel's lifespa

Post by drmcninja » 23 Aug 2017, 22:41

I can confirm it works the same. The OSD allows DyAc to be turned on or off and unchecking the box in the strobe utility also does the same.

It's just that strobe crosstalk is so weird at 240Hz, I'm not sure there's much room for improvement. The 'double image' effect is almost mitigated by the refresh rate if that makes sense. It looks only slightly better at 182Hz (worse at top/bottom bands, better in middle).

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