Blur Busters Forums

Hey,

Long time lurker, first time poster!

I'm currently in the market for a new monitor, which will primarily be used for 144hz+ PC gaming, but also Retro gaming via modern conveniences (FPGA, Upscaling, think Analogue Nt Mini, Framemeister etc). Due to this, I would ideally have as little input lag, and motion blur as possible.

My requirements are essentially:

* 24 or 27 inch panel.
* Anywhere from a *decent* TN to VA/IPS.
* At least 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, and a headphone/line out jack (speakers would also be a plus).

My budget is roughly 30k JPY (or US$300). I've been eyeing up the XL2411P, but no idea when that is going to be released. Any recommendations to meet my needs?

As little input lag + emulator = you ideally want VRR. Like GSYNC or FreeSync.

GSYNC/FreeSync gives you a "nearly lag-free 60Hz VSYNC ON" which is excellent for emulators. Just make sure your VRR limit is 75Hz or higher.

If you google "Is GSYNC good for emulators?" you will see many testimonials saying it is extremely important invention that emulators are now benefitting from.

Compared to ordinary VSYNC ON 60Hz, you can actually save a massive ~33ms+ of lag (in many cases, at least two frame buffers worth) simply by running your emulator in VRR compatible mode. The emulator can run at any refresh rate of the emulated system (50Hz, 53Hz, 59.94Hz, 60Hz, 70Hz) and the monitor would sync practically perfectly to that emulated refresh rate, without needing unnecessary extra intermediate frame buffers, and the software calls the shots in exactly timing each refresh cycle -- VRR monitors means each refresh cycles are software-triggered. Also, it is a very huge input lag savings, as GSYNC/FreeSync isn't just for varying frame rates -- it really reduces VSYNC ON lag quite a lot.

I'd steer towards GSYNC rather than FreeSync, since some of the GSYNC monitors have the ULMB 60Hz trick, which is good for CRT-like motion, for those certain emulators where reducing motion blur is more important than absolute minimum lag.

Chief Blur Buster wrote:As little input lag + emulator = you ideally want VRR. Like GSYNC or FreeSync.

GSYNC/FreeSync gives you a "nearly lag-free 60Hz VSYNC ON" which is excellent for emulators. Just make sure your VRR limit is 75Hz or higher.

If you google "Is GSYNC good for emulators?" you will see many testimonials saying it is extremely important invention that emulators are now benefitting from.

Compared to ordinary VSYNC ON 60Hz, you can actually save a massive ~33ms+ of lag (in many cases, at least two frame buffers worth) simply by running your emulator in VRR compatible mode. The emulator can run at any refresh rate of the emulated system (50Hz, 53Hz, 59.94Hz, 60Hz, 70Hz) and the monitor would sync practically perfectly to that emulated refresh rate, without needing unnecessary extra intermediate frame buffers, and the software calls the shots in exactly timing each refresh cycle -- VRR monitors means each refresh cycles are software-triggered. Also, it is a very huge input lag savings, as GSYNC/FreeSync isn't just for varying frame rates -- it really reduces VSYNC ON lag quite a lot.

I'd steer towards GSYNC rather than FreeSync, since some of the GSYNC monitors have the ULMB 60Hz trick, which is good for CRT-like motion, for those certain emulators where reducing motion blur is more important than absolute minimum lag.

Unfortunately, the "emulation" will be running on FPGA-based devices over HDMI, so unfortunately G-SYNC/Freesync are out of the question. The device in particular I'll be using is the Analogue Nt Mini, which outputs a 1080p60 signal.

With that in mind, what do you think my best options are?

Thanks!

External 1080p sources only? No plans to use PC-based emulation sources sometimes?

Thanks for clarifying that --

All of the BenQ/Zowie XL series supports real time scanout / instant mode even at 60Hz (rolling line-buffer LCD/overdrive processing; instead of frame-buffer LCD/overdrive processing). So they are practically as lagless as a TN LCD can get. Good choice if you want the minimum possible lag for an LCD -- even for external 60Hz sources.

That said, if you want better colors, some IPS 60Hz LCDs come in real time scanout variants (I'm not sure which) -- you only get slightly more lag due to the slower pixel response of IPS, e.g. 1-2ms TN versus 4ms IPS for a modern faster IPS. As a general guideline, I think that most IPS FreeSync/GSYNC are also currently capable of real-time scanout in non-VRR mode.

Unable to find information on these IPS real-time scanout monitors you speak of

I understand 60hz isn't really the point of this forum, but do you have any recommendations for IPS low-persistence/motion-blur displays that may or may not fall into the 60hz category?