480hz for competitive gaming

High Hz on OLED produce excellent strobeless motion blur reduction with fast GtG pixel response. It is easier to tell apart 60Hz vs 120Hz vs 240Hz on OLED than LCD, and more visible to mainstream. Includes WOLED and QD-OLED displays.
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Loubie
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480hz for competitive gaming

Post by Loubie » 02 Mar 2026, 07:29

Hello,
I want to get an OLED (coming from a zowie XL2566X+) I'm a Valorant competitive player so that's mostly what it will be used for, here are my options:

-Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDP
-LG UltraGear OLED 27GX790A-B
-Sony INZONE M10S

I'm leaning more towards the Sony (only because of the rescale option to 24.5" but where I live it is double the price of the LG)
I've also heard that the ASUS adds tremendous amount of input lag if you rescale it (as shown in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugi2SZvWXic)
But so far I don't know if the LG does in fact have the rescale option, or whether or not it adds input lag as well
I'm insisting on this because I find that 27 was too big and since we move a lot (bootcamps, lans..) I wouldn't want to get used to 27"

The LG is half the price of the Sony for some reason as well

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kyube
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by kyube » 02 Mar 2026, 09:54

Loubie wrote:
02 Mar 2026, 07:29
-coming from a zowie XL2566X+-
None of those are better than your 66X+ with DyAc2=Premium
Stick to the Zowie till RGB stripe models arrive at minimum, if you absolutely want to upgrade to OLED for the increased contrast ratio.
Should be around end of 2026 or 2027.

Loubie
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by Loubie » 02 Mar 2026, 13:37

kyube wrote:
02 Mar 2026, 09:54
Loubie wrote:
02 Mar 2026, 07:29
-coming from a zowie XL2566X+-
None of those are better than your 66X+ with DyAc2=Premium
Stick to the Zowie till RGB stripe models arrive at minimum, if you absolutely want to upgrade to OLED for the increased contrast ratio.
Should be around end of 2026 or 2027.
The thing is, believe it or not I perform horribly in my zowie as of now, I have tried everything (Dyac off, AMA high or lower...) I'm just too tunnel visionned and my performance drops significantly (I perform 3 times better with my old asus pg259qm 280hz IPS) than with the xl2566x+.
Basically I lose every aim duel and I found myself being completly lost (tunnel vision, my comms drop during practice...) and my stats take a huge hit.
After I noticed that it was because of the monitor, I've decided to experiment 3 more days on the Zowie, exactly the same scenario
The minute I get back on my ASUS even though it is way older, I get back to my level and it is instant, after some reaserch and apparently it's called "visual cognitive load".
The sad part is that I performed horribly for over a year without knowing what was the cause, until recently.

So I just think the Zowie is not for me and that OLED is the closest upgrade that could fit me instead of strobing and whatnot.

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kyube
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by kyube » 02 Mar 2026, 13:57

Loubie wrote:
02 Mar 2026, 13:37
I'm just too tunnel visionned and my performance drops significantly (I perform 3 times better with my old asus pg259qm 280hz IPS) than with the xl2566x+.
Basically I lose every aim duel and I found myself being completly lost (tunnel vision, my comms drop during practice...) and my stats take a huge hit.
After I noticed that it was because of the monitor, I've decided to experiment 3 more days on the Zowie, exactly the same scenario
The minute I get back on my ASUS even though it is way older, I get back to my level and it is instant, after some reaserch and apparently it's called "visual cognitive load".
The sad part is that I performed horribly for over a year without knowing what was the cause, until recently.

So I just think the Zowie is not for me and that OLED is the closest upgrade that could fit me instead of strobing and whatnot.
OLED will only exacerbate “visual cognitive load”, by your logic. :D
There's likely a different phenomena at play here, maybe related to G2G response times.
I still think that you should wait for RGB stripe OLED or get a AOC Q25G4SR as a intermediary if you absolutely cannot wait.
Current OLEDs offerings are not worth it, when RGB stripe is on the horizon.

Based on the 2nd thread you've opened here: viewtopic.php?p=123130#p123130
I have 2 things I think could be an issue:
...properly tuned tight RAM timings.
&
I used Zowie/TN monitors for 5+ years in the past without issues (XL2546k) I then switched to the ASUS which is an IPS panel, later then I "upgraded" to the new 400hz from zowie (still TN) and for over a year my performance in officials and ranked in general was a disaster.
Send a ZenTimings SS of your current profile and what steps you've done to come to such a conclusion.
I suggest that you try lowering your refresh rate to 360Hz on your XL2566X+ and try playing on that for a while.
The effect could be related to the panel coating, which you could alleviate by getting https://viascreens.com/screen-protector ... 46x/impact

Loubie
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by Loubie » 02 Mar 2026, 14:11

Thanks for your answer, here's the zentiming ss
https://prnt.sc/Knfxd3aO88fg
I've detailed more on my issue in another thread, viewtopic.php?p=123130#p123130
But quiet frankly I have no idea what is causing it and the difference in performance is drastic, I don't know why it is only me experiencing this I bought this monitor and I was confident it was a huge upgrade since I've mostly used zowie in the past (240hz then 360)

Clear Motion Seeker
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by Clear Motion Seeker » 03 Mar 2026, 09:01

Combining 480 hz + BFI would be ideal, and not only for competitive gaming.

I like keeping a clear vision even when i'm just turning the camera to look around or to keep a clear panning or scrolling depending on the game.

Also, it's much less tiring for the vision.

DanDare
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Joined: 28 Feb 2026, 07:38

Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by DanDare » 25 Mar 2026, 06:26

I upgraded from a xl2546, which I used to use strobed, to a MSI mpg 50x 500hz oled, and I haven't been tempted to look back even though it is used as a secondary monitor. I just don't want to use it, even for work related stuff I prefer the oled, even for reading text, knowing full well it isn't good for the oled.

There's little point having near perfect motion clarity on a strobed display if the overall picture has less 'absolute' clarity - In other words if the static picture has lower contrast, worse colour separation, then the motion clarity is wasted. I play mainly Fortnite at the moment and some of the models are now much easier to spot.
I was concerned they the motion blur of my oled would cause me to get motion sickness, as I am sensitive to it, but I actually have less dizziness, in fact I have had none what so ever.

What I can also say is that there is definitely room for higher hertz displays. Eye track a moving bicycle wheel in real life ( looking down at the front wheel ) and you can ere a sharp image of it for a split second, but no way can you do thst on a 500hz display, or even perhaps a 10 000hz display. But even to keep a 500hz display fed is a selective endeavour. For example even in quake3 arena, you can't just turn up the framerate as the physics of jump pads breaks. Nvidias fancy frame multiplying or upscaling sound good, but then they only work on dx12.

Anyways, you'll just have to try it because it's not easy to predict how you will get on.

Oh another big advantage of oled is the reduction in display latency of around 2 to 3ms over LCD is noticeable for mouse movements. I wasn't sure if it would be but I a politely noticed it straight sway. Bear in mind my total system latency is about 5ms.

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Chief Blur Buster
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 26 Mar 2026, 17:21

DanDare wrote:
25 Mar 2026, 06:26
or even perhaps a 10 000hz display.
That's the right ballpark(ish) of retina refresh rate, depending on variables (display size, FOV, resolution, etc)

You should read www.blurbusters.com/5000hz - amongst a few parties, I recently convinced Microsoft to raise Windows 11 limit to 5000 Hz!

Diminishing curve of returns is strong, and one may prefer alternate bandaids (e.g. ultrabrief GPU motion blur like 0.5ms of GPU motion blur for 2000fps 2000Hz) to fix stroboscopics, once motion blurs are sufficiently solved, as 0.5ms-1ms MPRT despite GPU motion blur is actually pretty damn clear. The path forward is largely optimizations in the quad-digit Hz regime.
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DanDare
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Re: 480hz for competitive gaming

Post by DanDare » 29 May 2026, 01:22

Chief Blur Buster wrote:
26 Mar 2026, 17:21
DanDare wrote:
25 Mar 2026, 06:26
or even perhaps a 10 000hz display.
That's the right ballpark(ish) of retina refresh rate, depending on variables (display size, FOV, resolution, etc)

You should read www.blurbusters.com/5000hz - amongst a few parties, I recently convinced Microsoft to raise Windows 11 limit to 5000 Hz!

Diminishing curve of returns is strong, and one may prefer alternate bandaids (e.g. ultrabrief GPU motion blur like 0.5ms of GPU motion blur for 2000fps 2000Hz) to fix stroboscopics, once motion blurs are sufficiently solved, as 0.5ms-1ms MPRT despite GPU motion blur is actually pretty damn clear. The path forward is largely optimizations in the quad-digit Hz regime.
I have and it is a good article which seems true for me, and thankyou for pushing Microsoft in the right direction.

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