VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

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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Hotwir3
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Joined: 27 Dec 2013, 14:29

VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by Hotwir3 » 27 Dec 2013, 14:35

I feel like the monitor itself might just have poor blacks, but I feel like the blacks on this monitor with lightboost are very light. Even when I put the strobe brightness all the way down it just feels like everything is tinted grey, like the brightness is too high and the contrast is too low. When I go to the monitor settings, contrast is the only setting I can change...every other option is greyed out.

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SisterBob
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Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by SisterBob » 27 Dec 2013, 14:54

Hm, I don't know. They seem fine to me, but then again, I'm not exactly sensitive to colour depth at all. I did have to fiddle with both the monitor settings and the color settings in the Nvidia desktop colour panel to get something that I found acceptable.

I also find that lightboost mode makes everything - blacks, whites, greys, blues, etc. - a little dimmer.

Hotwir3
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Joined: 27 Dec 2013, 14:29

Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by Hotwir3 » 27 Dec 2013, 15:20

It basically feels like I'm looking through a smokescreen. I tried looking through the AMD Catalyst Control Center and can't find any options.

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SisterBob
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Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by SisterBob » 27 Dec 2013, 15:41

Well, it could be you just have a bum unit, but I'd wait and see what other VG248QE users have to say before considering RMA just yet.

I should also note that I'm coming from a relatively cheap TN model which looks pretty rough compared to the VG248QE, so maybe it's affecting my judgement. Because, seriously, this monitor to me looks comparable to the cheaper IPS I was using before.

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 27 Dec 2013, 15:53

Hotwir3 wrote:I feel like the monitor itself might just have poor blacks, but I feel like the blacks on this monitor with lightboost are very light. Even when I put the strobe brightness all the way down it just feels like everything is tinted grey, like the brightness is too high and the contrast is too low. When I go to the monitor settings, contrast is the only setting I can change...every other option is greyed out.
Unfortunately, this is normal specifically on the Asus VG248QE and certain models.
It is often normal for many LightBoost monitors to get brighter greys during strobe mode. This is often done to reduce crosstalk between refreshes (strobe crosstalk). It adds extra margin for cleaner/faster overdrive without visible overdrive artifacts, for faster and cleaner pixel transitions during strobing. However, reduced contrast is one of the side effects.

There are some models of strobe backlight monitors that avoids brighter greys during strobe mode:
-- Asus VG278H original (non "E" suffix), OSD contrast at 90% or higher, far better Lightboost blacks than VG248QE
-- Eizo FG2421 Turbo240 (EIZO's equivalent of LightBoost) -- very bright, colorful and contrasty during strobe mode.

Keeping your ASUS VG248QE, you can also try lowering your LightBoost % setting (LightBoost 10% vs 50% vs 100%) to get darker blacks and clearer motion, but it will also dim the whole picture too as well.
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SisterBob
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Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by SisterBob » 27 Dec 2013, 15:58

Chief Blur Buster wrote:Keeping your ASUS VG248QE, you can also try lowering your LightBoost % setting (LightBoost 10% vs 50% vs 100%) to get darker blacks and clearer motion, but it will also dim the whole picture too as well.
Ah yes, I did this too.

Hotwir3
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Re: VG248QE with LB, blacks are grey

Post by Hotwir3 » 27 Dec 2013, 18:24

Thanks for clearing everything up!

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