New Monitor Time Approaching - Buy or Wait?

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Insto.Veritas
Posts: 1
Joined: 30 Aug 2022, 18:44

New Monitor Time Approaching - Buy or Wait?

Post by Insto.Veritas » 30 Aug 2022, 19:43

Background:
One of the two older monitors I use for work recently died, and while I can limp along with mismatched panels for a bit, a new monitor is definitely in the works. My plan is to shift my personal monitor (AW3418DW) over to daily work, and use it as an excuse to upgrade. I've honestly been disappointed by the AW3418DW, and swore that I wouldn't buy a new monitor without checking in with blurbusters and rtings in the future... so here I am. I apologize that my first post is a wall of text.

AW3418DW Complaints:
1. IPS Glow - Terrible to the point that I avoid dark backgrounds, and dark scenes in games/movies annoy me from time to time.
2. Motion Blur - The smearing is real.
3. Input Lag - Subjective as I've never measured it, but compared with the non-UltraWide TA and VN panels, it feels laggy.
4. G-Sync Behaviors - Even when set up correctly has some weird behaviors on this monitor. Must use G-Sync - monitor will not go over 60Hz with G-Sync disabled for me. Full screen only - full screen & windowed causes intermittent frame rate drops into 5-15 range.

All are moot for use as a work monitor. Color is great, and the curve is enjoyable during long sessions.

Desires in a new monitor:
1. Low Motion Blur
2. Low input lag
3. Good/Excellent colour reproduction
4. Avoid the strange behaviors / crashes I've experienced with G-Sync to date.
5. Low light bleed / glow

Current Contenders:
1. Dell AW3423DW - I like the UltraWide format, but given experience with my AW3418 and Dell support give me pause. My concern is amplified by the fact that firmware is not user upgrade-able. 175Hz refresh rate and Samsung's QD-OLED technology sound incredible, on the other hand.
2. LG C2 42" - Have a large C9 that I am extremely happy with already. (other than the omnipresent LG Lipsync shenanigans) Option of 4k for media. Can be bought locally, and returned locally if any issues arise.
3. LG UltraGear 45GR95QE - 240HZ OLED sounds really enticing, but hard to say without reviews or a release date.
4. Other options - High refresh rate IPS display? I hear that post-2020 IPS monitors are significantly improved. I also hear that high refresh rate + ULMB are amazing. Doesn't suffer the same potential burn-in issues as above OLED displays.
5. Just wait.

Thoughts and feedback much appreciated!

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