Performing horribly in TN panels

[Loubie]

Hello everyone,
I have a question that might sound weird and maybe never seen before but I really want your opinion on this as it drove me crazy over the years and I still haven't found a solution that is not drastic, here's my story:
I am a professional Valorant player (top Radiant level, tier 2 team currently and finished in the top 10 multiple times or even rank 1 EU) and I’ve noticed a significant and repeatable performance difference between two monitors, despite identical in-game settings and hardware.

Monitors:
ASUS PG259QM 280HZ
Zowie XL2566X+ 400hz

Observed Issue:
When using the Zowie:
I feel visually overwhelmed during matches, I cannot properly focus on simple things at all and my aim/focus suffers the most, reaction processing feels slower and most of all I struggle to filter teammate comms and visual information simultaneously, the result is me just freezing and unable to both aim or process what is going on in the game/mini map.
I feel mentally tense and less in control and after 1–2 games, cognitive fatigue increases noticeably (I've tried with both Dyac on and off, and AMA high or custom 18 or even premium)

When using the ASUS:
I feel calm and in control visual clarity feels natural and effortless, information processing feels automatic,
no cognitive overload whatsoever and my aim feels stable without extra effort overall I'd say I feel way less panic.


Same PC, same FPS (700–1000 FPS stable) on a ryzen 9800X3D properly tuned tight RAM timings
Same resolution and settings when tested.
Same mouse and peripherals.
The difference is immediate and repeatable.
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.



A week ago I've decided to give it a try again, for 3 days I would play on the Zowie no matter what, tuned colors properly and used an AMA slightly below high and no Dyac for the first day.
For the second day AMA set to High and Dyac to High
For the third day AMA premium with dyac premium

None of it mattered, I played horribly for the 3 days my performance was beyond awful
After those 3 days I've plugged in my Asus again (280hz, using hidden overdrive 120) and my performance was at the top again, instantly...my teammates noticed that I was talking and guiding them way more even, while landing crazy shots without breaking a sweat.

I have no idea why this is happening now, as I was at my peak using a zowie XL2566K in the past and didn't face those issues whatsoever but with the new XL2566X+ I just can't, no matter how hard I try.

The next logical thing I thought was upgrading to an OLED since you don't need an overdrive for that, and I'd just stick to it.
I want to know if anyone here noticed something similar or could have an explanation about this?

Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!

[Chief Blur Buster]

When using the Zowie:
I feel visually overwhelmed during matches, I cannot properly focus on simple things at all and my aim/focus suffers the most, reaction processing feels slower and most of all I struggle to filter teammate comms and visual information simultaneously, the result is me just freezing and unable to both aim or process what is going on in the game/mini map.

I feel mentally tense and less in control and after 1–2 games, cognitive fatigue increases noticeably (I've tried with both Dyac on and off, and AMA high or custom 18 or even premium)

When using the ASUS:
I feel calm and in control visual clarity feels natural and effortless, information processing feels automatic,
no cognitive overload whatsoever and my aim feels stable without extra effort overall I'd say I feel way less panic.

Very interesting ergonomic difference!

These kinds of "1%" ergonomic issues are always the most challenging & most interesting to analyze!

I have no idea why this is happening now, as I was at my peak using a zowie XL2566K in the past and didn't face those issues whatsoever but with the new XL2566X+ I just can't, no matter how hard I try.

The next logical thing I thought was upgrading to an OLED since you don't need an overdrive for that, and I'd just stick to it.
I want to know if anyone here noticed something similar or could have an explanation about this?

There are multiple possible reasons, but they are not guaranteed causes.

1. Different blue light behaviors -> Try wearing "computer glasses" (orange tinted glasses), although that may make enemies harder to identify
2. Frame Rate Control (FRC) -> Flickering pixels. This is a known cause of some eyestrains
3. LCD Inversion Imbalance (chessboard style textures) -> Flickering pixels (sometimes worse than FRC). This is a known cause of some eyestrains.
4. Different strobe behaviors -> But you said you turned off DyAc. So probably not this one (directly, except inversion artifacts or temporal dithers/FRC).
5. Screendoor
6. Antiglare film texture
7. Viewing angles
8. Other

It can be any one (or more) of the above, so if you are very determined, you will need to start troubleshooting. Some are fixable (e.g. computer glasses), some are expensive (panel lottery), and some are unfixable (no way to avoid).

[fuku]

I legit feel the same when i'm on my xl2566x+ monitor, what are you using right now? did u find perfect balanced settings or just switched the monitor? let me know please. im literally losing my mind. whenever im on xl2566x+ i feel like i have insane inputlag, compared to any other monitors. im losing duels, tunnel vision, cannot concentrate, etc. (top 500 ow dps player btw). Please respond, thank you.

[MSIfanboy]

some japanese reviewer