Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Adjusting BENQ Blur Reduction and DyAc (Dynamic Acceleration) including Blur Busters Strobe Utility. Supports most BenQ/Zowie Z-Series monitors (XL2411, XL2420, XL2720, XL2735, XL2540, XL2546)
semiroundboss
Posts: 3
Joined: 07 Sep 2015, 11:13

Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by semiroundboss » 19 Sep 2015, 10:35

Hello all. I am currently in love with my Asus VG248QE. But I want strobing on my monitor without having to use Lightboost (Doesn't work on my 390X). But I also play games on my Xbox One and have heard of strobing at 60 hz. So my question is, is there a Benq monitor that would strobe while I am playing on my Xbox One? Going from 144hz to 60hz is extremely jarring, and I think strobing would help that out a bit.

Falkentyne
Posts: 2793
Joined: 26 Mar 2014, 07:23

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by Falkentyne » 19 Sep 2015, 10:46

Yes, all of the Benq Z series EXCEPT the XL2730Z will single strobe at 60hz, but you need to enable the single strobe option in the service menu. The XL2730Z has buggy firmware and will double strobe (at 120hz rates) at 60hz and strobe out of sync with stutters (100hz at 120hz rates) at 100hz :(

I would probably *highly* recommend the XL2720Z if you can afford it, because the XL2720Z has an extra AMA mode (only in version 4 firmware) that will lower the amount of overdrive artifacts you will get in blur reduction mode (it's an undocumented toggle, 1) enable MBR, 2) Go to AMA and set it to high, or move the slider to off/premium then back to high, or if its on high already, highlight it and press "back" instead of enter (pressing enter (button 3 on the OSD) will just act like a cancel).

This will recalibrate the AMA and set it to a much lower level, about 50% lower, equivalent to an 'AMA low' setting. To make most use of this will require a contrast setting of 0-15, otherwise the normal ghosting of black to white sharp transitions will be WAY too high. this benefits 2D sidescrollers the most. 3D games are not benefited very much, but 2D games (side scrolling/platformers) will see a big improvemenet but only if you drop the contrast after doing this.

With the default AMA high setting, black to white transitions are perfect (contrast 40-50) while light to dark transitions have a lot of "inverse overshoot ghosting". The AMA low undocumented setting removes all of that but black to white transitions will have high normal ghosting unless you drop the contrast to 0-15. (dropping contrast without toggling the AMA will just cause spectral white ghosting on black to white, which looks far worse).

The XL2411Z, XL2420Z and XL2430T do not have this toggle setting on their V4 firmware for some reason. This makes the XL2720z a MUCH better choice (v4 firmware only!!)

Hmm here's some pictures of what I'm referring to.

1) default AMA high settings on XL2411Z, XL2420Z, XL2430T and XL2720Z. Apparently the freesync XL2730Z also looks like this (this monitor can ONLY strobe correctly at 120 and 144hz--do NOT buy this for a console!!)
Contrast setting=43 (correct white point)
AMA=high without toggling, which is default calibration (1: set AMA TO high before enabling blur reduction, 2) enable blur reductionYou can see light to dark transitions show a lot of overshoot. Black to white (e.g. moving text on white backgrounds, poles/phone wires in FPS games) have no ghosting/overshoot at all. Dropping contrast in this mode causes black to white to turn into white spectral ghosting which is VERY ugly.

Image

2) Contrast 43, AMA high after toggling on XL2720Z V4 (1) enable MBR, 2) move AMA to off/premium or back to high or highlight high and press "back" instead of enter = (AMA low). You can see inverse ghosting removed, normal ghosting added. Black to white with contrast 43 and AMA "low" toggle has very intense normal ghosting so contrast MUST be lowered.

Image

3) Contrast 10, AMA "Low" Toggle, (reduced camera exposure to capture image better, its much brighter than this)
Image

4) Contrast 0/10, ama low toggle with normal exposure, blurrier picture
Image


**NOTE**
THIS TOGGLE IS UNDOCUMENTED in V4 XL2720Z ! If you change monitor OSD brightness, Strobe settings in the service menu (Duty, Phase or single strobe) or any refresh rate/resolution, the AMA will reset to default!!

ziocomposite
Posts: 21
Joined: 28 Jul 2015, 11:59

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by ziocomposite » 19 Sep 2015, 16:56

Yes, works great for 60fps native games.

https://youtu.be/Ib8rLMPr6ew

Falkentyne
Posts: 2793
Joined: 26 Mar 2014, 07:23

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by Falkentyne » 19 Sep 2015, 19:00

What?
The AMA low toggle was added to *V3* on XL2720Z?

Didn't know that...(I don't even know how long V3 firmware was out for; it was supposed to be a saved gamer profile bugfix (e.g. Low blue light) that Chief blur buster requested fixed from V2, which didn't allow all saved settings to be used.

ziocomposite
Posts: 21
Joined: 28 Jul 2015, 11:59

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by ziocomposite » 20 Sep 2015, 09:07

v4 is still definitely better. v3 has that annoying displayport bug that required the cable to be un/replugged when activating back from sleep/turning on.

MrBrown
Posts: 53
Joined: 05 Feb 2014, 08:06

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by MrBrown » 25 Oct 2015, 09:07

how is the flickering at 60hz guys? Is the single strobe really flickery?

What about double strobe @ 60hz, is it even worth using, like does it reduce the motion blur noticably or just very minimal?

Im asking, because I consider using it on consoles in COD.. But if it doesnt really improve things or is too flickery, I wont buy a benq monitor.
Falkentynes BenQ Service Menu thread: http://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467

Falkentyne
Posts: 2793
Joined: 26 Mar 2014, 07:23

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by Falkentyne » 25 Oct 2015, 12:09

It's exactly the same as a CRT at 60hz.
If you're used to them the flicker isn't that bad IF you used a CRT before at that refresh rate. If not, well you might not like it.
Now, 50hz flicker...that will drive you crazy. (and the monitor can only single strobe at 50hz by using a VT tweak, which forces it to use 60hz pulse widths, and a strobe phase higher than 018. Attempting to use 50hz single strobe without a VT tweak will fail to strobe at all and the backlight brightness will be increased by 1.8x and the monitor may enter OVP and reset itself. (It double strobes just fine).
The reason for that is that there is no 50hz single strobe data that was added to make it strobe 50 times a second, but using a VT tweak "adds" it manually by using 60hz pulse widths (obviously that can't be done on consoles but I don't think consoles will output a 50hz signal anyway).

If you never used a 60hz CRT then I can't explain. But those of us who were around to use those things know exactly what we're getting.
Doublestrobe is not really worth using at 60hz. It probably makes things 5% more readable compared to blur reduction off but the double image effect is annoying. And there seems to be more input lag also.

For single strobe on, you can set strobe phase=100 to improve input lag by 1 frame (16ms), but you will have a lot more crosstalk at the bottom of the screen than you would at strobe phase=000, and if you want the screen brighter (higher strobe duty) the crosstalk will increase at the bottom even more, although this isn't an issue for call of duty, as the HUD covers that entire area. Going above strobe duty 008 at phase=100 will make the bottom 20% of the screen filled with crosstalk (pixels between frame transitions). It's quite usable in COD though.

Strobe phase 000 and strobe duty 009 only has 10% of the bottom of the screen with crosstalk at 60hz, but that comes at a price of 1 frame higher input lag (16.7ms; 1000/60=16.7ms)

Anyway:
for 60hz/consoles:

1) for FPS games with a HUD at the bottom, use strobe phase 100 and strobe duty lower than 010, for 1 frame lower input lag (16.7ms)
2) for side scrolling/platform/RPG games where reaction time isn't as important, use strobe phase 000, then adjust duty to your liking.

MrBrown
Posts: 53
Joined: 05 Feb 2014, 08:06

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by MrBrown » 25 Oct 2015, 13:33

Alright Falkentyne thanks for your very detailed answer.

Yes I was around when CRT monitors were the only monitors available and my first pc monitor was a 15" or 17" lucky goldstar 1280x1024 @85 or 100hz I think :) Later I had a better 19" iiyama.

One thing I still remember is that I couldnt use 60hz at desktop , it was way too flickery for me. Even in games I used 100hz or actually 120hz whenever possible, because ater a while it was also too heavy on the eyes.

And since when I play COD on consoles, I sometimes play for 3-4 or more hours, so I think the strobing at 60hz wont be for me as well.

On the PC, the online games I usually play dont require flicker free image. I play moba games in general and some RTS games etc. I dont play cs go for example or other fast paced fps games.

So I guess I might even consider different, cheaper monitors with 144hz refresh rate, instead of the XL2430T. I think the XL2411Z should be enough in my case, only thing though which Id really appreciate would be the small switch to switch profiles faster. So I might look into the XL2420Z, a used one, since no single online shop still sells the XL2420Z over here.

Whenever I play cod on consoles I do try to play as good as possible, so I thought the Blur Reduction on the Benq would be a nice improvement, but unfortunately its a double edged sword.

What about you Falkentyne, can you actually play at 60hz with strobing for hours without eye fatigue, since you mentioned elsewhere that you sometimes play emulators at 60hz?
Falkentynes BenQ Service Menu thread: http://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467

Falkentyne
Posts: 2793
Joined: 26 Mar 2014, 07:23

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by Falkentyne » 25 Oct 2015, 17:41

I have a problem with 60hz strobing on a desktop, and that's mainly due to all of the white colors you see, especially while browsing. White are evil.
Games are a different story. I don't even notice it in most games because most games use non white colors. So I can use 60hz flickering as long as I want in arcade emulators and games. No headache at all. It's difficult to notice flicker on palettes filled with browns and lower colors. I don't even get a headache on the desktop....it's just looking at white backgrounds at 60hz is really annoying.

I think you'll be fine. And yes blur reduction at 60hz single strobe makes a --big-- difference over no blur reduction at all (as long as the framerate is also 60).

MrBrown
Posts: 53
Joined: 05 Feb 2014, 08:06

Re: Benq Blur Reduction on Xbox One?

Post by MrBrown » 26 Oct 2015, 09:24

Alright thanks Falken,

I went ahead and purchased a used XL2420G. I got it for approx. the same price as a new XL2430T costs so around 400 eur. The reason I didnt go for a cheaper one is because I do want a solid and fast monitor and since I generally was satisfied with previous BenQs I had (xl2420te and xl2411t) I decided to get a BenQ that actually has that S-Switch for faster profile switching. The BenQs also dont lose the value really fast, so you can sell it a year or 2 later and still get some solid ammount of the money back.

I was ready to pull the trigger on a new xl2430t and then found someone selling a used xl2420G and for approx. the same price, its a nobrainer to prefer the "G" version.

By the way Im also active on the Overclock forum in the PG279Q section, I was one of the first ppl to receive mine, unfortunately due to some dead/stux pixels, 2 dust spots and very bad extensive glow, I did send it back and dont wanna try my luck again as of right now.

Thats why I decided to just get the xl2420g TN gsync and wait it out untill the Dell TN comes out, the Acer 271 and the new Eizo 27" IPS which is an Adaptive Sync monitor, and then decide whether Im gonna get another IPS gsync. So Im actually really looking forward to try out single strobing @ 60fps on consoles.

As to the the noticing flicker in games @ 60hz, well- I think its different for every person. I did notice it, even with CRT @60hz and I remember I got red eyes rather fast. I also could tell pretty easily if a crt TV had 50hz or 100hz refresh rate.

But anyways, Im really looking to try different strobing modes with consoles, I will report back once I get to test it and share my thoughts about the potential benefits of it etc. 8-)
Falkentynes BenQ Service Menu thread: http://forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2467

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