Asus VG278H Colour Calibration Prerequisites

[majnu]

Hi Mark,

I've replaced my Samsung SA27-750D with an Asus VG278H (Built in 3D emitter model) mainly for 3D gaming as I have NVIDIA GTX670SLI cards and not AMD anymore. I was using the .inf hack previously to play 3D games but the amount of crosstalk in 3D games was horrendous.

I'm aware that this is an older model with a 120Hz refresh rate but honestly for my PC setup I'd rather not loose more eye candy to game at 144hz when achieving constant 120hz is fluid enough for me. Also I believe the panel is probably the best for colour from a TN.

My question is:
I have an Xrite i1 Display Pro and intend to calibrate the monitor with DisplaycalGUI.

1) Is there an order of sequence in the Asus Menu GUI which I must preform before activating ToastyX Lightboost? I know 10% lighboot gives less motion blur but the colours are too washed out and dim although there is absolutely no overpowering hues.

Thanks

[Chief Blur Buster]

I was using the .inf hack previously to play 3D games but the amount of crosstalk in 3D games was horrendous.

If you were trying to use the .inf hack to play 3D games on the VG278H, that's probably because the LightBoost was not enabled. You can solve the crosstalk by forcing LightBoost to get enabled. For example, using ToastyX Strobelight to initialize LightBoost via AMD. Then the hacked 3D stereoscopic will become dramatically better, as you've forced LightBoost to be enabled for AMD product. NVIDIA doesn't sanction this, though, mind you...

I'm aware that this is an older model with a 120Hz refresh rate but honestly for my PC setup I'd rather not loose more eye candy to game at 144hz when achieving constant 120hz is fluid enough for me. Also I believe the panel is probably the best for colour from a TN.

This is correct. Among the 27" LCD panels other than the Samsung SA series, the ASUS VG278H is one of the best 120Hz TN LCD panels, better than the panel used in VG278HE and newer monitors.

1) Is there an order of sequence in the Asus Menu GUI which I must preform before activating ToastyX Lightboost? I know 10% lighboot gives less motion blur but the colours are too washed out and dim although there is absolutely no overpowering hues.

You can use LightBoost 50% or 100% as it still has far less motion blur than non-LightBoost. Also try setting Contrast higher on ASUS VG278H monitor; up to a Contrast of 90%. It will increase crosstalk (for both 3D and 2D -- 3D crosstalk during 3D Vision, and 2D double-image strobe crosstalk during 2D fast motion) but it will make the colors and hues pop more. So it's a trade-off.

For better colors at Windows desktop while using LightBoost, adjust NVIDIA Control Panel Gamma to these settings:
nVidia Control Panel Desktop Brightness = 52%
nVidia Control Panel Desktop Contrast = 45%
nVidia Control Panel Desktop Gamma = 0.70

This "undoes" the default gamma bump that LightBoost does, and makes colors look more normal. However, this won't "take" in games because the Control Panel settings are often ignored while playing games. Only newer strobe backlights (e.g. BENQ Blur Reduction) allows you to fully adjust color via monitor on-screen menus, while in strobe mode, unlike for LightBoost.

[majnu]

Thanks for that. I've used those settings before and they weren't to my liking. I guess using LB at 100% means sacrificing colour accuracy. I thought with LB enabled I could adjust the R,G,B from my monitor but unfortunately it locks out some of the menu options.

With the forthcoming ULMB monitors I hope it allow users to achieve colour accuracy but I guess we will have to wait and see what manufacturers have done to get around this.

The Asus lightboost is better than the Samsung's 3D mode as it is has less of a blue saturation effect, so I guess that is a bonus.

[Chief Blur Buster]

I guess using LB at 100% means sacrificing colour accuracy.

No, LightBoost at any % setting has the same color accuracy. The % setting only affects brightness vs blur tradeoff.
LightBoost sacrifices color accuracy compared to non-LightBoost, but this occurs at all % settings.

I thought with LB enabled I could adjust the R,G,B from my monitor but unfortunately it locks out some of the menu options.

Yes, it does lock the menu options.

With the forthcoming ULMB monitors I hope it allow users to achieve colour accuracy but I guess we will have to wait and see what manufacturers have done to get around this.

There are now four brands of "LightBoost" equivalents already:
- BENQ Blur Reduction (found in BENQ Z-Series)
- NVIDIA ULMB (found in GSYNC monitors)
- EIZO Turbo240 (found in EIZO FG2421)
All of them have better color accuracy than LightBoost, and all of them allow you to adjust colors much better than you can with LightBoost. LightBoost is an older first-generation strobe backlight that has been superseded by the above.