Universal monitor for XBox One X and PC (BenQ's DyAc?)

All newer XBOX consoles supports 120Hz+ & FreeSync. Getting help with getting "Better Than 60Hz" on the XBOX ONE, XBOX Series S, and XBOX Series X, as well as the PlayStation 5.
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StaticNoiseLog
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Universal monitor for XBox One X and PC (BenQ's DyAc?)

Post by StaticNoiseLog » 02 Aug 2018, 16:39

I am looking for a universal gaming monitor that I can use for console and PC gaming.
My (strict) requirements:

- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- Between 24" and 27"
- Excellent support for XBox One X with modern optimized games. Classic 30fps and 60fps games must work without degradation, too.
- Very good support for PC gaming with high fps.
- Good support for Playstation 4 PRO.
- Low lag and fluid motion are most important for me (action games).
- Colors are NOT important.
- At least 2 HDMI ports and 1 DisplayPort.
- Price is not an issue (1000.- US$ is still OK).

I really like BenQ's ZOWIE XL2546 but do not understand enough to judge if it makes sense for consoles.

As far as I can tell, the XL2546 has DyAc (Dynamic Accuracy) instead of FreeSync.
Does anybody have an idea how well DyAc works with an XBox One X?
A "Freesync range" is mentioned often and it seems that this range would have to go low enough so that 30fps games run without degradation.
Does this apply to DyAc, too, i.e. is there a "DyAc range" and what would that be for the ZOWIE XL2546?

What are the fundamental differences between FreeSync and DyAc?
Why did BenQ choose DyAc instead of FreeSync? A good decision on their part?

Would the ZOWIE XL2411P with FreeSync and without DyAc be a more appropriate choice for my requirements?
Or the XL2720 recommended in another thread?

Basically I think it comes down to these questions:
As of today, should one choose a 144Hz or a 240Hz monitor for an XBox One X?
Is FreeSync or DyAc better for use with the XBox One X?


Thanks in advance for any comments and recommendations of other monitors if the XL2546 would be a stupid choice.
I thought buying a high-end PC gaming monitor would have me covered for XBox and Playstation, too. But the issue seems to be more complex than anticipated.
Last edited by StaticNoiseLog on 08 Aug 2018, 15:34, edited 2 times in total.

Falkentyne
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Re: XBox One X and ZOWIE XL2546 240Hz DyAc? How does DyAc wo

Post by Falkentyne » 03 Aug 2018, 13:24

DyAc is simply Benq Blur Reduction, apparently with some extra backlight brightness boosting thing (which I can't verify, I have no access to these panels).

If you're trying to buy a monitor to use with BLUR REDUCTON on an Xbox One, you don't want ANY of the DyAc or any newer Benq monitors. The only panels you want are the XL2411, XL2411Z, XL2420/Z (discontinued), XL2430/XL2430T or XL2720/XL2720Z, because you have the option to turn on "Single Strobe' in the service menu for 60hz blur reduction

(NOTE : Do NOT enable single strobe if you find yourself stuck at 50hz for some reason, ever).

The newer benq monitors will DOUBLE strobe at 60hz, which winds up looking worse for some users than having blur reduction/DyAc disabled completely, and if you are buying a monitor to use on an console, but NOT Intending to use blur reduction, there are many many better options than Benq/Zowie monitors.

None of the current Benq monitors will single strobe at 60hz. The "single strobe" option was REMOVED starting with the XL2730Z and all newer monitors and Benq refuses to re-add it. Why? Call them on the phone and ask for their engineering department and ask them yourself. No one knows why :(

StaticNoiseLog
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Re: XBox One X and ZOWIE XL2546 240Hz DyAc? How does DyAc wo

Post by StaticNoiseLog » 06 Aug 2018, 15:55

@Falkentyne: Thank you very much for clearing up DyAc and blur reduction!

I understand now that blur reduction is not really important for my purpose.

The XBox One X impements FreeSync 2 and that thankfully includes HDR.
So the specs I am looking for in a monitor are:
  • - FreeSync 2
    - FreeSync range with lower limit 30 Hz or less and upper limit 144 Hz or more
    - 1920 x 1080
    - TN panel for best response times
    - blur reduction not important
I have not found such a model, yet. As suggested in another thread, the Samsung CHG70 with user-upgradeable firmware would be interesting, even though it has a VA panel, not TN. But I don't want a curved display and (much) prefer the lower 1920 x 1080 resolution for working with the PC (old dev tools that look blurred when Win 10 scales them up).

UPDATE: Just found this list from AMD. At the time of writing the Samsung VA monitors really seem to be the only ones that support FreeSync 2:
https://www.amd.com/en/products/freesync-monitors

Maybe I am too paranoid insisting on a 30 Hz lower FreeSync range? My thought was that there would probably be quite a lot of XBox One games (indie games, for example) that do not have more than 30 fps. To get the benefits of FreeSync for all XBox games I thought one should better look for a FreeSync range from 30 Hz (for XBox) to as high as possible (for PC). Am I mistaken here?

Unless somebody here knows about a monitor with the above specs I might be better off delaying the purchase and see how things evolve with the XBox One X. Maybe I should just get a Nintendo Switch forgoing all the trouble of finding the right display :-)

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RealNC
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Re: XBox One X and ZOWIE XL2546 240Hz DyAc? How does DyAc wo

Post by RealNC » 06 Aug 2018, 18:09

I don't think you'll be able to find a FS panel that does less than about 40Hz. When FPS drops to 40Hz or lower, LFC kicks in (Low Framerate Compensation) which doubles the refresh rate (40Hz becomes 80Hz, for example.) Which is one of the reasons why it's important for MS to finally add support for 120Hz freesync.

As for 30FPS games, it should in theory work like that already (30Hz is doubled to 60Hz.) But I'm not actually sure if this is indeed the case. Not many tests are available to see how MS implemented freesync.
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StaticNoiseLog
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Re: XBox One X and ZOWIE XL2546 240Hz DyAc? How does DyAc wo

Post by StaticNoiseLog » 08 Aug 2018, 15:28

@RealNC: Thanks for the comment!

I have looked into this in more detail and have found out the following:

- XBox One games typically run at 30 FPS or 60 FPS. So I want good support for 30 FPS, too.
- 1080p (1920 x 1080) is the standard resolution for XBox One games. As I prefer speed over looks for gaming, I don't care about higher resolutions.
- FreeSync 2 guarantees HDR. HDR "only" gives us a greater dynamic range of luminosity but makes it more difficult to build a fast display. As I care for speed only, I do not want HDR at this stage of the technology.
- FreeSync 2 ensures adaptive sync functions at every framerate from 0 FPS up to the maximum refresh rate supported by the display. Now, that would be nice, but a FreeSync range from 30 Hz to 144 Hz will do for me.

XBox One X details:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digi ... xbox-one-x

FreeSync 2:
https://www.techspot.com/article/1630-f ... explained/

Conclusion: I do not need FreeSync 2 and so my modified requirements list for a universal console and PC monitor is this:

1) 1080p (I do not need more and in my opinion - at the time of writing - asking for higher resolutions for console action games is just asking for trouble)
2) FreeSync support over HDMI (XBox) and DP (PC) with a range of at least 30 Hz to 144 Hz (lower bound important for XBox, upper bound for PC)
3) TN panel between 24" and 27"

While these seem like modest requirements, the problem is the FreeSync range and I found only two monitors that match:
* AOC G2590PX
* AOC G2790PX

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/aoc/1406 ... n-a-budget
https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-g2590px/

These monitors do not have stellar reviews but they seem to be what I want.
So I will get one of those unless a comment here can stop me :-)

Another monitor that was on my list is the Acer KG271A. But then I found out that while it has a FreeSync range of 30Hz-144Hz via the DisplayPort, it only has 48Hz-144Hz over HDMI. As I need HDMI for the XBox One X this is a deal breaker.
https://www.144hzmonitors.com/reviews/a ... 1a-review/

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