I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Talk about NVIDIA G-SYNC, a variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. G-SYNC eliminates stutters, tearing, and reduces input lag. List of G-SYNC Monitors.
Rothron
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Rothron » 08 Aug 2014, 23:29

I wonder if this is related to the vertical stripes I'm seeing.

It's like every other vertical line takes an extra refresh to reach it's supposed color, but which lines alternate between each refresh.
On a still image I can, in dark gray colors especially, see the switching light and dark stripes. Especially when moving my head. 3D-Vision brings this out in full force as the lines no longer alternate as they matching the swapping of the two stereo pairs.

Playing The Walking Dead I've seen image slight retention buildup appear and disappear in seconds, made easier to see buy the game's graphic novel style.

kasakka
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by kasakka » 09 Aug 2014, 05:29

The green color on smaller images and flicker when moving the window happen on my Swift as well but other than that I can't really see the light and dark stripes thing at all, nor have I noticed it in any game.

Rothron
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Rothron » 11 Aug 2014, 09:17

I'll be getting a second screen to test. Feel a bit sorry for others who are struggling with availability.

dmbr
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by dmbr » 12 Aug 2014, 07:56

Where can this monitor be purchased?

Rothron
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Rothron » 12 Aug 2014, 13:10

Second screen is exactly the same. In 3D mode it's almost as bad as getting half resolution.

I suspect that both screens have been purchased by others before and returned to the store, because of the distinct lack of removable plastic film, just two tiny bits on the back that are easilly overlooked, but still, it seems odd that they should have exactly the same vertical line issues. What's the point of having an 8-bit TN-display when there is still temporal mixing going on even though it's just an artifact of inversion?

On the tftcentral review you can clearly see the striped background in the pixperan images, and the stripes in the overdrive artifacts.

The most annoying thing is when the inversion flicker is combined with g-sync, because the inversion line swap seems to be fixed at some rate, while the g-sync is not. Sometimes the inversion pattern does not switch vertical lines between the refresh and the result is a quite visible flicker.

I'll send them back and wait for OLED I suppose. *sigh*.

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RealNC
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by RealNC » 12 Aug 2014, 13:13

Can you clarify whether this is a problem you didn't have on other TN monitors before? Because I don't think I have such a problem on my current (TN) monitor (except on the inversion test patterns; never in normal use.)

If this defect is common with the Asus monitor, that means I'll stay the hell away from it. For $1000, I'd like to get a better image than I have with my current $250 monitor...
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Rothron
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Rothron » 12 Aug 2014, 15:17

The problem related to g-sync is of course new to me. I've seen similar dithering patterns on TN-screens at work but I've never used them for gaming, so I've never found them to be problematic.

My now current screen, after I've reboxed the PG278Q, is a VG248QE, which does not have this problem. There IS a faint static pattern in 3D-Vision modes on it, but it's fairly faint.

Now that I know what to look for I can see shades of the same artifact as on the PG278Q but it's not nearly as visible or annoying, both because it's more of a checkerboard rather than vertical blinds, and because it's a lot fainter. On the PG278Q I could see it in images when scrolling web pages. It was very visible when tracking objects in games, and in explosions and muzzle flashes. It may not annoy other people to the degree it annoys me.

In 3D-vision mode it was really distracting, but it's not unprecedented. It looks exactly like this: http://3dvision-blog.com/9009-some-3d-v ... n-3d-mode/

The main reason for returning is the high price. I could keep it and be reasonably happy, G-sync really takes the sting out of not reaching a steady frame rate. I'm positive that variable sync is here to stay, but the annoying artifacts would make me want to do another upgrade pretty soon, but I can't be spending that kind of money on monitors every year.

What's really annoying is that I now know that I can't determine what monitor I want based on reviews. I feel that this is something that should've been caught and mentioned by reviewers.

Sparky
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Sparky » 15 Aug 2014, 16:41

I've had inversion artifacts be annoying on a normal 60hz TN panel. I noticed it years ago, with patterned backgrounds flickering, but didn't put a name to it until I saw the test on testufo.

Rothron
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by Rothron » 17 Aug 2014, 07:00

I'd seen it before, but always assumed it was a result of temporal dithering to get closer to 8 bit colors on a 6 bit TN-panel. I was disappointed to see this on an 8 bit panel.

xwidghet
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Re: I got the ROG Swift (PG278Q) -- my tests

Post by xwidghet » 18 Aug 2014, 14:10

Rothron wrote: It's like every other vertical line takes an extra refresh to reach it's supposed color, but which lines alternate between each refresh.
(Image from tft central review)
Image

Could someone who sees this problem see if disabling overdrive makes it go away or become less noticeable? When I looked at another Asus 120hz monitor which had a checkerboard effect to changing pixels it went away with overdrive (Trace Free) disabled.

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