TN vs IPS - IPS glow sucks and I hate the internet!

[managr]

So, I recently bought a new monitor (Gigabyte M27UA) and I'm very disappointed with the IPS glow.

Here's the IPS Gigabyte:

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Compare that to my old Iiyama TN display from a similar angle:

1I1.jpg (140.7 KiB) Viewed 3197 times

Notice how the contrast and details in the dark areas are completely gone on the IPS display. The dark areas at the bottom left are just a blob of gray. Even the rest of the screen has this ugly foggy look, as if there was a white filter on top of it.

Here's another IPS monitor, an older 60Hz LG:

1L.jpg (123.84 KiB) Viewed 3197 times

Similar problem. Dark areas become blobs of gray. Although in person it's not as bad as the Gigabyte. The Gigabyte is bad even if you look at it straight on from a regular distance, with noticeable IPS glow in the corners.

I wouldn't be so mad if this problem was mentioned and properly tested by people who make reviews and the various enthusiast communities, but it usually isn't!

Monitors Unboxed, for example, compared different panel types (IPS vs TN vs VA vs OLED ... I can't post links, but you can find it easily). He repeats the usual mantra of how great the viewing angles are on IPS compared to TN, but does he mention IPS glow as a downside? Nope, not even once. I don't get it. Many people in the comments pointed that out as well.

Rtings also don't test the monitors thoroughly as far as IPS glow is concerned. Apparently they take pictures for black uniformity from around 4 feet (1.2m), which is significantly farther away than most people use their monitor.

The only one who I've seen go a bit more in depth is "PC monitors" on Youtube. He does show IPS glow and some other problems that other reviews ignore, even if only briefly.

I know that TN panels have problems too. The colors and gamma shift a lot at different angles. That's a major problem in some cases.
But claiming that IPS is so much better at viewing angles as if it's some absolute truth is highly misleading. IPS is very flawed in terms of viewing angles as well and I think that in some situations people would prefer the color shifting of TN over the loss of detail and contrast of IPS. Maybe that's why pro e-sports players use TN monitors, besides the slightly faster speed.

Also, subjectively, often when I look at an IPS display it's like I'm looking at the picture through a filter (polarizer?) and it can be slightly nauseating. Whereas TN has a more raw/direct/sharp look. Does anyone feel the same?

Anyway, what annoys me is that because of the "IPS is so much better" narrative, TN monitors are now almost impossible to find. They don't make them anymore, except for those expensive 1080p e-sports models. That, plus the fact that a lot of IPS monitors just suck and it's hard to filter out the better ones, because the reviews are so lacking in detail.

[managr]

Attaching the original picture here, for anyone who wants to try it on their own monitor.

For completeness, I should mention that the Gigabyte monitor in my first post almost certainly had 'Night light' on, that's why it looks a bit orange. And I already sent the monitor back.
Apart from that, the three monitors were set to similar "normal" settings by eye.

And I appreciate recommendations or any pointers that can be useful in avoiding bad monitors with significant IPS glow. I'll probably still buy an IPS, because I don't have much choice (OLED would look better for sure, but burn-in is a problem). I'm looking for something around 24-28", 1440p+, 120Hz+, with speakers. Maybe even a 24" 1080p, if it's good in other aspects.

[Dalek]

Yep, pretty much summed up my experience testing an IPS monitor. IPS Glow is an unfortunate dealbreaker for me personally as well. I'd much rather stick with TN since the contrast is much better. I also hate the common phrase that TN panel viewing angles are bad - sure if you're not directly in front of it, but that's what the average person will be doing.

I would recommend trying out OLED, but I actually just tried a 4K 27" OLED monitor yesterday and it hurt my eyes with the colour fringing, yet this was supposed to be 'barely noticeable' and acceptable according to the reviews I've found. But that's the thing, everyone's eyes react differently so what may be a problem for you might not be a problem for someone else.

People have also mentioned OLED having 'instant response times', sure. But the MPRT blur is exactly the same as it is on every other monitor panel. So you will still have to deal with blur in very fast paced games unless you go for strobe or very high refresh rates.

[tong]

sounds like miniLED is the way for you then
you cant predict IPS glow because it varies even among the same models, so you'll just have to accept blacks wont look good off-angle

[MSIfanboy]

i remember back in the day, phone IPS lcds had the same issue, from an angle it would wash out, but phones with good lcds like htc one x, iphone 5 fixed most of the issue

[managr]

sounds like miniLED is the way for you then

I thought so too, but...
Here are some pics of the MSI MPG 274URDFW E16M, from a Youtube review, which is a gaming IPS with mini LED backlight:

A.jpg (136.91 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

B.jpg (143.64 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

C.jpg (87.22 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

It only looks fine when looking head on. And even that's not guaranteed, because maybe the camera was too far away from the monitor compared to a normal sitting position.

I know that some IPS screens don't have terrible glow. But they all seem to be slow panels. Anything with low response times seems to have lots of glow.