Help required on 240Hz G-Sync choice

[Annigo]

Now that I returned the AOC AG251FG due to issues, I can reconsider my choice on new monitor. Assuming that the monitor list on main website is up to date, I have following choices of 240Hz G-Sync monitors:

• Acer Predator XB252Q
• Acer Predator XB272
• ASUS ROG PG258Q
• AOC AGON AG251FG
• Dell Alienware AW2518H

I have done a lot of research, but wasn't able to find much of useful information about either of them. Can You provide some valuable sources on these, and give your recommendations? I will be using my current monitors (LG23MP55, 23" IPS) as additional screens if that matters.

Here are some thoughts on the monitors:

• Acer Predator XB252Q - is the full name XB252QBMIPRZX?
• Acer Predator XB272 - I recall seeing opinions that 27" high Hz monitors have "black lines". Unsure how I would experience the monitor size overall, especially with smaller ones on the sides. Also, is the full name XB272BMIPRZ?
• ASUS ROG PG258Q - seems to have significantly higher price than all the others (even the 27"), don't why. The stand looks unnecessarily "over-designed". Can't tell if the light under stand will be disturbing or not.
• AOC AGON AG251FG - had this for over a week. OSD is really poor (comparing to it's competition and even average monitors), and while I have no comparison to other monitors - the colors were washed out. Also the sticker in bottom-left corner covered part of the screen. Probably won't make this choice again.
• Dell Alienware AW2518H - found least information on it, apparently it has fake thin borders (which I don't know if is a bad thing).

Thanks

[Chief Blur Buster]

1. Yes, the Acer suffixes (usually in lowercase) are a sort of a "geek code" for monitor features. I don't have the decoder but those letters mean something. Usually it starts with the letter sequence "bmi" or similar, you can disregard these from the main model (e.g. "XB252Q")

2. My general 240Hz preference is to stick to the 24"/25" panels since they tend to have brighter blur reduction modes (300 nits typical). eSports players also tend to swear by 24" / 25" sizes usually. But you might have a preference for a bigger screen.

3. The PG258Q fancy light can be toggled off via the menus according to what I read in ASUS forums.

4. Colors being washed out, I have little experience with AOC so can't comment. That said, calibrating the monitor can do wonders in equalizing differences between monitors.

For color quality, I keep hearing good things about Viewsonic and ASUS. I have the Viewsonic XG2530, and while it is a FreeSync monitor with no blur reduction mode, it blows away my 144Hz TN monitors in out-of-the-box factory color quality. The XG2560 is probably similar if you're looking for GSYNC and I've seen it go on sale too. Sitting centered, I forget it is a TN panel and it doesn't seem to be giving me the "browser text eyestrain" I get from certain TN panels. Personally, if you're doing other things (computer programming) I've been happy with newer ASUS TN and ViewSonic TN on average.

Black Friday may be your magic timing price wise. Dell and Viewsonic had major price drops last year, those might happen again.

[Annigo]

My general 240Hz preference is to stick to the 24"/25" panels since they tend to have brighter blur reduction modes (300 nits typical).

Can you elaborate? Does screen brightness help countering blur or something? I ran my AOC with G-Sync, RTSS FPS locked to 237, so I couldn't use ULMB. I had Overdrive set on Low/Medium for optimal result. I was satisfied with the outcome - while not perfect in tests, in normal usage it was acceptable.

eSports players also tend to swear by 24" / 25" sizes usually.

I think it's because of how far the monitor is from the player on average. One obviously needs to have all parts of the screen in good sight, to see movements or UI/HUD. However, my desk is bigger, so I can put it little more far away, and in result still see everything. Can't be sure of this theory until I try myself, of course.

The PG258Q fancy light can be toggled off via the menus according to what I read in ASUS forums.

That's good to hear. I am still curious why this model costs like 125% of the others - it's even more expensive than the 27" Acer. At least in the Internet shops in my country I checked.

Black Friday may be your magic timing price wise. Dell and Viewsonic had major price drops last year, those might happen again.

Unfortunately, "Black Friday" is nothing but marketing trick in my country. That said the chances are small and discount (if any) will be low. Thanks for suggestion though.


Got anything else on the mentioned monitors that would help me decide? Some valuable sources, an actual monitor ranking perhaps? I experienced the 1.5" screen increase (that AOC vs my current LGs) positively, and leaning more towards the 27" that I previously avoided. First of all, I'd like to know if there are indeed any issues that come out from the fact the screen is bigger, like the mentioned black lines.

[Annigo]

When was the Viewsonic XG2560 released? I found posts about it back from February 2018, but I don't see it in any shop in my country. Is it US only?

I would like to know if the Acer XB252Q is better than the Asus PG258Q mostly comparing ULMB quality and nits @144hz and the input lag and image quality @240hz with G sync, please. Thanks in advance!

Keep tuned. I'll have both monitors in my hands for Quarter 2 testing run.

My current expectation is that I'll have approximately five 240 Hz monitors for the new BlurBusters testing workflow -- possibly six. I already have some of them in my hands now!

Did you do the tests afterall? In my current research I am mostly considering both Acers (24.5" and 27") and the ASUS. Apparently the ASUS ROG PG258Q is chosen more frequently over other 240Hzs for some reason, but I still wonder if it's worth paying significantly more (at least in local currency) for it over say Acer.

a bit old twit https://twitter.com/australiamsi/status ... 2915722246
25 Oct https://au.msi.com/news/detail/176578e8 ... 21a008357f
29 Oct https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/ ... australia/
"The MSI Oculux NXG251 gaming monitor will be available from December (via MSI's usual partners) at an expected retail price of $750." I guess it's Australian dollar (AUD). So expected price for AU will be ~ 532 USD.

What else do we know about this monitor, except for information from main page (Jun 6), aka "better viewing angles and brighter colors"? Do you think it's worth waiting? I've waited extra long for both GPU and CPU new generations, only to pick best from previous generation in the end - I am afraid this will be the case as well. What are "brighter colors" anyway - less washed out?