NVIDIA G-Sync Pulsar monitor - Asus ROG Strix XG27AQNGV

[Discorz]

What about Pulsar? How much did they manage to improve MPRT? Someone should test whole VRR range in Smooth Frog. Eg. 360-240-144-100 fps or similar. Do it with Rtings pattern please. It has a neat MPRT indicator. And we already have Rtings pursuits from old firmware to compare against. If anyone needs help with instructions, let me know.

Quick instructions for those who want to test VRR Pulsar in Smooth Frog:

• Set the monitor to desired refresh rate. In this case use maximum refresh rate for VRR testing.
• Import custom pattern images by pasting them into "\SmoothFrog0.94b\SmoothFrog0.94b\WindowsNoEditor\SmoothFrog\Content\UserPatterns". Images must be in PNG format, 256x256 resolution minimum, and named "User1" or "User2".
• Use Pixels/Frame mode for pursuit camera. Switch between Pixels/Frame & Pixels/Second modes with "P" key.
  Here I'd like to mention that Pixels/Second mode is excellent for observing VRR persistence and overdrive behavior in real time, as it allows changing the frame rate while keeping the panning speeds fixed. It does come at the cost of not having Sync Track and jitter outside VRR.
• Enable VSYNC with "V" key. You can check if it's enabled in the HUD menu at the bottom. If needed, toggle the menu visibility with "H" key. Also make sure FSR is disabled with "F" key.
• Adjust the moving speed by increasing or decreasing px/frame value with "mousewheel up/down", or by dragging the slider on the HUD. For this specific pattern, target a speed as close as possible to 1920 px/sec. FPS render speed = one speed step. For example 144 * 13 = 1872 px/sec or 240 * 8 = 1920 px/sec. Use "space" to pause/play the pattern movement. Pause when not doing pursuit camera to avoid image retention.
• Switch moving directions with "Q" or "E" keys. For this case use left-right or "E" direction.
• Press mousewheel button to toggle Sync Track visibility. Move the Sync Track up/down by holding "right mouse button" and dragging it to desired area. Fine/pixel adjust with "W" and "S" keys. In this case move it to the marked area on the pattern image.
• Set FPS Limit to desired value by typing it in the box or by dragging the slider on the HUD. For more consistent Pulsar pacing some users are opting for third party limiters such as RTSS or similar, however Smooth Frog's limiter is already good, so you might not need it. In case you prefer third party limiters, make sure Smooth Frog limit is above the input (maximum) refresh rate.
• Adjust camera exposure and make sure focus is good. By default Sync Track is a 4-bar-cascade, so for camera shutter speed it is recommended to follow the fps/4 rule. For example 144/4=36 (s1/36) or 240/4 = 60 (s1/60). Every frame rate requires a shutter readjustment. You can also use fps/3 rule if needed. For that you can turn the Sync Track into a 3-bar-cascade within the menu settings which can be accessed by pressing "ESC key" and navigating to "2D Settings > Pursuit Camera Sequence Track".
  Now track/pursuit/follow the moving pattern with camera. To achieve perfect vertical alignment of the ladder segments on the Sync Track, you need to sync the camera's panning speed precisely with the on-screen motion.

[Discorz]

Thanks for all the pursuits! We now get the idea of how full-screen crosstalk scales over the whole ULMB range, at PW10 however. Larger pulse widths/durations usually have a bit more crosstalk because the backlight illuminates more of the GtG zones.

Images below are all your pursuits I could find on this thread. All these should resemble the latest firmware version. It can be concluded that in 1.1.10, the entire range likely uses the same strobe method - top-bottom crosstalk consistently increases as Hz goes up.

360Hz PW10 ~1920pps (1800pps) - viewtopic.php?p=127730#p127730


240Hz PW10 1920pps - viewtopic.php?p=127819#p127819


120Hz PW10 1920pps - viewtopic.php?p=125997#p125997


60Hz PW10 1920pps - viewtopic.php?p=123346#p123346
I couldn't find full-screen pursuits, but we know it's 99.9% crosstalk-free over whole screen.
One extra shot from Stilgar - https://i.ibb.co/MxMMbDM7/XG27-AQNGV-60 ... 920pps.png

[hammelgammler]

I also wonder why in pulsar mode we cant pick PW?

I would also like to know. With pulsar on, 480 nits is just way too much for me. My target for SDR calibration is always around 100 nits. Achieving this with a lower pulse width would be amazing.

Now I need to always see if I target 120FPS/120Hz ULMB2 for maximum motion clarity or Pulsar. With a lower Pulsar PW, I wouldn’t feel the need to use 240Hz ULMB2. Now it’s in a strange middle ground, with worse motion clarity than 120Hz ULMB2 but of course smoother motion.

Would be amazing to simply be able to limit the FPS with Pulsar at 160-340 based on the game and still having the best motion clarity (besides <=120Hz, as those support global flash).

[mawi]

I would also like to know. With pulsar on, 480 nits is just way too much for me. My target for SDR calibration is always around 100 nits. Achieving this with a lower pulse width would be amazing.

Yea i also play with 300 nits. Would be nice if the reduction of brightness would be achieved by pw reduction + clarity gain.

All DrG-Sync said on NV board so far on this topic was:

"12.5% pulse width for Pulsar. Unfortunately, a lower pulse width doesn't help with the Rolling Scan 240 and 360 modes, sharpness quickly becomes limited by crosstalk, not pulse width."

But that was 4 month ago... I dont know if that holds up with todays changes in strobing technique etc.

[liquidshadowfox]

I would also like to know. With pulsar on, 480 nits is just way too much for me. My target for SDR calibration is always around 100 nits. Achieving this with a lower pulse width would be amazing.

Yea i also play with 300 nits. Would be nice if the reduction of brightness would be achieved by pw reduction + clarity gain.

All DrG-Sync said on NV board so far on this topic was:

"12.5% pulse width for Pulsar. Unfortunately, a lower pulse width doesn't help with the Rolling Scan 240 and 360 modes, sharpness quickly becomes limited by crosstalk, not pulse width."

But that was 4 month ago... I dont know if that holds up with todays changes in strobing technique etc.

I mentioned that it would be nice to get an "extreme pulsar" mode that would allow a lower FIXED pulse width (they said no to adjustable pulse width because they explained the algorithm is complex enough as it was for determining when to flash, keep OD working properly, managing crosstalk, etc). Currently pulsar is at a locked 25% duty cycle (x4 less persistence blur), I mentioned it would be REALLY nice if they could add an "extreme pulsar" mode with either:

1. Offer 12.5% duty cycle mode where you'd give up half the max brightness (over 500 nits is too bright for me anyways) which would give pulsar an effective x8 LESS persistence blur (120 fps pulsar would "look" like 960 fps, 240 fps would "look" like 1920, etc) but maybe the duty cycle is 25% because that gives the scaler just enough time at worst case to do it's calculations for pulsing or maybe there's more to this we don't understand of how they are doing the rolling scan strobe for pulsar mode.
2. Offer 16.67% duty cycle mode for x6 LESS persistence blur and lose 1/3rd max brightness (still over 334 nits max brightness if we assume every panel hits 500 nits at max)
3. Offer 20% duty cycle mode for x5 LESS persistence blur and you lose 20% of max brightness for a marginally better experience without swaying too much in terms of duty cycle.

Either way, even if nvidia stopped here and didn't update pulsar further, I'm very happy with it so far. I think the nvidia app update to allow us to automatically control settings without touching the OSD would just be the biggest icing on the cake to seamless change between ULMB 2 (and having different pulse width settings per game I hope), pulsar and regular Gsync operation without touching the monitor buttons.

[tsarri]

I also wonder why in pulsar mode we cant pick PW?

I would also like to know. With pulsar on, 480 nits is just way too much for me. My target for SDR calibration is always around 100 nits. Achieving this with a lower pulse width would be amazing.

Now I need to always see if I target 120FPS/120Hz ULMB2 for maximum motion clarity or Pulsar. With a lower Pulsar PW, I wouldn’t feel the need to use 240Hz ULMB2. Now it’s in a strange middle ground, with worse motion clarity than 120Hz ULMB2 but of course smoother motion.

Would be amazing to simply be able to limit the FPS with Pulsar at 160-340 based on the game and still having the best motion clarity (besides <=120Hz, as those support global flash).

But 240htz ULMB2 is still too niche for most single player games unless you're running frame gen x2 or x3 in most cases with rough frame pacing, and even then its not easy to maintain. Pulsar becomes the next best motion clarity between 120 and 240 fps even without limiting frames, its not even close.

[kyube]

Currently pulsar is at a locked 25% duty cycle (x4 less persistence blur), I mentioned it would be REALLY nice if they could add an "extreme pulsar" mode with either:

I don't know why this keeps on being purported, when it isn't true.
Even Nvidia acknowledged this, as per the graph here
It's variable duty cycle, depending on the frame rate in-game:
20% duty @ 100 Hz & up to ~41,4% duty @ ~330Hz
You get the duty cycle by doing: (MPRT / refreshtime) * 100

A proper VRR+Strobe mode would lock you down to 10-19% duty cycle range in 100–330Hz refresh rate range.
This would provide bearable effective clarity across the entire refresh rate range & this is what you should be asking for.

My assumption is that the FW1.1.10 mode likely toned down the upper refresh rate region's duty cycle target, but no one tested it yet for a confirmation

[liquidshadowfox]

Currently pulsar is at a locked 25% duty cycle (x4 less persistence blur), I mentioned it would be REALLY nice if they could add an "extreme pulsar" mode with either:

I don't know why this keeps on being purported, when it isn't true.
Even Nvidia acknowledged this, as per the graph here
It's variable duty cycle, depending on the frame rate in-game:
20% duty @ 100 Hz & up to ~41,4% duty @ ~330Hz
You get the duty cycle by doing: (MPRT / refreshtime) * 100

A proper VRR+Strobe mode (what you're supposed to be asking for) would lock you down to 10-19% duty cycle range in 100–330Hz refresh rate range.
This would provide bearable effective clarity across the entire refresh rate range.

My assumption is that the FW1.1.10 mode likely toned down the upper refresh rate region's duty cycle target, but no one tested it yet for a confirmation

Then I think they need to reduce the variable duty cycle by 5% - 10% between 120 fps - 180 fps because 120 fps looks reasonably better than 144 to my eye for some reason and I couldn't explain why until you just showed why. I'm ok with higher than 200 fps using a 40% duty cycle given how hard g2g is trying to keep up but below 180 fps it should be able to keep up better. Maybe I'm just really ignorant but I appreciate the clarity.

[kyube]

Then I think they need to reduce the variable duty cycle by 5% - 10% between 120 fps - 180 fps because 120 fps looks reasonably better than 144 to my eye for some reason and I couldn't explain why until you just showed why. I'm ok with higher than 200 fps using a 40% duty cycle given how hard g2g is trying to keep up but below 180 fps it should be able to keep up better. Maybe I'm just really ignorant but I appreciate the clarity.

I'm somewhat certain it's just Nvidia opting for a brightness-first approach, hence why they're using this lackluster duty cycle range.
The panel is clearly capable of delivering lower duty cycles in fixed refresh rate with close to no crosstalk.
It's top 3 fastest G2G RT IPS panels on the market, alongside the 1kHz FHD LG & PG27AQN.

[edgintheledge]

FW 1.1.10 Pulsar Pursuits

Took some smoothfrog shots with the Rtings pattern. It's much easier for me to tell when I got a good pursuit photo on lowest PW ULMB shots since the motion clarity is so good you can see the individual pixels. With the higher persistence for pulsar, it's a little harder for me to know if it's just persistence blur or my phone's focus being off, but the MPRT indicator seems about right in the photos. Some photos I wasn't sure which one is best so some framerates will have multiple photos if you want to pixel peep.

IIRC pulsar improvements were >200fps. 120 should be the same but I took another for good measure
120fps 1/30sec shutter, 16px/f = 1920px/sec

120fps.jpeg (2.07 MiB) Viewed 136 times

200fps 1/50sec shutter, 10px/f = 2000px/sec

200fps.jpeg (2.14 MiB) Viewed 136 times