Just upgraded from a Benq XL2411T to a Eizo FG2421

[Bishi]

I thought I'd share my observations and opinions after this upgrade. I won't get technical and this is just repeating what many reviews have stated but I thought people might be interested. and trying to decide between these monitors.

Turbo240 is much better than the forced lightboost mode on the XL2411T; the screen was so dark and the colours were so washed out it actually made it harder to do well in games no matter what settings I tried to fix this.
With Turbo240 enabled on the EIZO, the screen is barely any darker and the motion tests show very little blur!

The EIZO screen (from OCUK) has no visible artifacts, crosshatching etc mentioned in other forums. You get minor overdrive artifacts when Turbo240 is enabled but its much better than having the motion blur with it off imo. There is a slight ghost toward the bottom right of the screen when Turbo240 is enabled but this is only noticeable on desktop text / taskbar. In a very dark game with very high contrast settings there is also bleed along the right edge of the screen but these are extreme conditions and you won't notice it 99% of the time.

Contrary to many people here I like my monitor quite bright for gaming. I use gamma 2.0 and brightness 100, at full brightness in Turbo240 mode the EIZO is a little darker than the XL2411T (around 10%), but the added colour depth is worth it.

The XL2411T is still a great screen, especially for ~£180 but the colour and brightness lost in forced lightboost mode is appalling, the FG2421 is a keeper if you have the budget, get a good screen and can afford the higher asking price.
If you're not going to use Turbo240/lightboost then save yourself the cash and buy the XL2411T

I've also owned the XL2420T and it is a very similar screen to XL2411T performance-wise but with a 120hz limit.

[Chief Blur Buster]

I agree -- when it comes to the "compromise" (best colors, best brightness AND strobing), if you don't mind other tradeoffs (such as 23.5" size), the EIZO FG2421 is the best-looking CRT replacement I've seen.

The EIZO FG2421 is also on amazon.com

It is slightly higher persistence than adjustable-persistence strobe backlights at their minimum settings (e.g. LightBoost=10% or the new firmware of BENQ Blur Reduction), but you get the much better colors and extra brightness.

Also, make sure to warm up the EIZO FG2421 for at least 30 minutes after turning on, since it ghosts a lot more when cold.

[Bishi]

Also, thanks so much for creating the tests at www.testufo.com, they really do make it easy to see the differences between the screens

[MrBrown]

Arent IPS displays generally better suited for high framerate/low input lag, especially gaming? I feel like s-pva displays tend to ghost alot generally and have a high input lag. Even though colors and viewing angles are way better.

Does the FG2421 have PWM backlight or PWM free?

[Bishi]

FG2421 is VA not IPS. TN is the lowest input lag / worst colours. IPS tends to be 60hz limit and slower response than TN / VA

[Chief Blur Buster]

Arent IPS displays generally better suited for high framerate/low input lag, especially gaming? I feel like s-pva displays tend to ghost alot generally and have a high input lag. Even though colors and viewing angles are way better.

After warming up and turning on Turbo240, it is far, far, far more blur-free than every single IPS monitor I have ever tried, including overclockables. All IPS monitors, including QNIX QX2710 go into VHS-quality motion blur hell during fast motion (120fps@120Hz panning such as http://www.testufo.com/photo ...)

There is some minor dark-color ghosting, but it is insignificant compared to the godawful sample-and-hold motion blur that IPS. The colours of IPS is so wonderfully dreamy, and 2560x1440p is so lovely for Visual Studio, but push comes to shove, my eyes prefer the blur free paradise of EIZO Turbo240 during full locked 120fps @ 120Hz VSYNC ON solo gaming. Not everyone is sensitive to motion blur.

Also, although similar, panel ghosting is not the same thing as tracking based motion blur. See LCD Motion Artifacts 101 as well as http://www.testufo.com/eyetracking to learn more about ghosting versus motion blur. Sometimes the motion blur is vastly more dominant than ghosting in real world gaming, and thusly, you have far, far better motion clarity with a strobed VA than a non-strobed IPS, by a HUGE margin, especially on a good, warmed up EIZO FG2421 unit.

All the panels have their pros and cons, even if strobing helps shift some of the tradeoffs around. There are certainly VA tradeoffs like dark color gamma nonuniformity, so it all depends on what you are sensitive to. You got poor TN color and view angles, IPS motion blur hell, VA nonuniformity, etc. Pick your poison. Some people are color blind. Some people arent sensitive to motion blur. You might prefer IPS color, or you might prefer CRT quality motion, but you can find a middle ground in the Eizo FG2421 if you want something that combines near-IPS color *and* the clarity of LightBoost simultaneously -- it's not a perfect marriage, but the best I've seen on the market, if you're a LightBoost clarity lover who hates LightBoost color. There's the complaints of quality control, but it's an issue with every single brand from time to time -- so you have to play the panel lottery (buy a vendor that accepts exchanges, including to a different monitor model) and make sure you are already aware of what you prefer.

Modern strobed LCD motion clarity can be largely controlled by strobe length, once most of GtG (pixel repsonse) is hidden in total darkness in the off cycle between backlight strobes. When pixel response is hidden from human eyes, it can cease to be the dominant motion clarity factor. Strobe flashes can be shorter than the pixel response. Motion clarity now routinely breaks the GtG response barrier with strobe backlights. See High Speed Video of LightBoost. That's why such technology can overcome the slow VA pixel response surprisingly well (on warm-temperature VA panels, at least). The Turbo240 is essentially EIZO's more colorful equivalent of LightBpost. BENQ Blur Reduction is BENQ's equivalent of LightBoost. NVIDIA ULMB is essentially NVIDIA's officialized, easy lightboost sequel.

[MrBrown]

I can see that a strobed VA has way less motion blur than a non-strobed IPS. My question was if actually strobed IPS would make more sense than strobed VA for gaming, since IPS panels are more responsive than VA in general and the colors are somwhat comparable. Not quite, but theyre closer than say TN vs VA.