Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Ask about motion blur reduction in gaming monitors. Includes ULMB (Ultra Low Motion Blur), NVIDIA LightBoost, ASUS ELMB, BenQ/Zowie DyAc, Turbo240, ToastyX Strobelight, etc.
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ELK
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by ELK » 11 Dec 2019, 11:20

witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 09:01
ELK wrote:
10 Dec 2019, 21:39
witega wrote:
10 Dec 2019, 14:10
Hey Chief, did ViewSonic get back to you yet on why we can't select sRGB as a color temperature in thr OSD when we have PureXP+ enabled?
He mentioned earlier that you can achieve it through full color control. idk why sRGB isn't avaiable but custom still is and can achieve 99% sRGB in strobed...
How do I get sRGB in custom? I must be overlooking something.
Chief Blur Buster wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 14:08
witega wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 11:59
So get this. When you are in non-strobed mode you can select sRGB and then when you turn PureXP on, it looks like sRGB is still selected but the font turns black to where you cant select it. Weird.
My tests show that the XG270 manages to retain virtually its entire color gamut while strobed. You do need a colorimeter that is compatible with impulsed displays (the flickery displays like CRT, plasma, and pulsed backlights). It's quite difficult to have zero-crosstalk during strobing while using LCD full color gamut because there's no overdrive help for fullblacks and fullwhites, unless you have overdrive headroom below black, or overdrive headroom above white -- which is why some strobed monitors configure the LCD to use a smaller color gamut (i.e. LightBoost) to massively reduce strobe crosstalk. Fortunately the speed of a 240Hz IPS makes this unnecessary (at least at 120Hz refresh rate), which is fantastic.
hmm this actually doesn't work on mine. When I turn PureXP+ on after selecting sRGB it goes back to native color temperature...

ELK
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by ELK » 11 Dec 2019, 11:28

witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 09:01
ELK wrote:
10 Dec 2019, 21:39
witega wrote:
10 Dec 2019, 14:10
Hey Chief, did ViewSonic get back to you yet on why we can't select sRGB as a color temperature in thr OSD when we have PureXP+ enabled?
He mentioned earlier that you can achieve it through full color control. idk why sRGB isn't avaiable but custom still is and can achieve 99% sRGB in strobed...
How do I get sRGB in custom? I must be overlooking something.
Chief Blur Buster wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 11:47
witega wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 00:40
Hey Chief, when I have PureXP turned on, it doesn't give me the option to select "sRGB" in the color temperature. Is something wrong? Trying to get sRGB strobed.
I will contact ViewSonic and ask. Currently, it is a pre-set calibrated for non-strobed mode and you can still recalibrate manually to get the same effect.

Meanwhile, does your PureXP menu only have the ON/OFF or the 4 levels OFF/Ultra/Extreme/Normal/Light settings? (That is in the new firmware download coming early 2020, installable by monitor USB port).
I guess you have to have a color gun and manually adjust the red green blue

Falkentyne
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by Falkentyne » 11 Dec 2019, 11:35

Chief Blur Buster wrote:
27 Nov 2019, 20:30
Yep. ViewSonic had me factory-optimize the ClearXP+ strobe backlight mode on this monitor.

For a long time, bad strobe crosstalk and poor strobed color quality has been a long-time pet peeve of Blur Busters.

It's 120 Hz strobing is among the better I've seen thus far.

Yes, you heard me right. 99% sRGB strobed. IPS colors strobed. With the low crosstalk of TN. The cake is not a lie.

Its 1ms IPS is roughly as fast as a yesteryear 1ms TN. Even if not perfect 1ms. See Pixel Response: GtG vs MPRT FAQ for how pixel response numbers are measured, it's really fuzzy. But I've seen worse and ghostier 1ms TN panels than these 240 Hz 1ms Nano IPS panels. For 120Hz, I have less strobe crosstalk on my XG270 than my very old BenQ XL2720 which I also love for its flexibility.

If you want to support Blur Busters, feel free to buy your XG270 via this Amazon link:
(Purchasing this monitor via this link sends a commission to Blur Busters)

Amazon: ViewSonic XG270 -- 240Hz 1ms IPS Gaming Monitor

Also, I am pleased to mention that the XG270 is easy user firmware upgradeable via its USB port! No dongles.

A new Blur Busters Approved firmware is coming at ViewSonic that will add levels to the strobe backlight (Light, Normal, Extreme) as a pulse width adjustment. Though you can't adjust strobe phase, you will eventually be able to adjust pulse width in granular steps. I believe the new firmware is coming out early 2020. While you still lose a lot of brightness strobing. I'm able to get it pretty bright (about 2.5x to 4x brighter than PureXP+ first firmware) with the upcoming firmware I'm currently testing.

Custom Refresh Rate compatible (NVIDIA / AMD / ToastyX). Single strobes 75Hz thru 240Hz. Recommended strobe refresh is 120 Hz. Refresh rate headroom is your friend. No monitor (TN or IPS) does low-crosstalk at 240Hz yet. Though requires help to single-strobe 60 Hz, it also does really great strobed 60 Hz via software BFI in emulators (much better on this IPS than on TN). The nearly crosstalk-free 100 Hz and 120 Hz motion clarity reminds me of a Sony FW900 CRT on my desk -- except for LCD-style blacks instead of CRT-style blacks. The most CRT-color-quality strobing I've seen so far at this price range (if you strobe at 120Hz or less).

P.S. Although the marketing copy says "left/right" -- the blur reduction is omnidirectional and works vertically too. Marketing copy probably refers to TestUFO and FPS head turning since that's sideways motion. It works fine with vertical web browser smooth scrolling, no text ghosting -- we've dialed the strobe-optimized overdrive with careful consideration of comfortable strobed browser smooth scrolling too, not just games!

We're a LONG way from the "Poor LightBoost Colors" days, toto!
99% sRGB color gamut strobed.
Chief there seem to be three models. Is there a freesync one with these specs? The amazon link seems to go to the Gsync one.
This is tempting. This or XL2735, Chief?

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witega
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by witega » 11 Dec 2019, 13:04

ELK wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 11:20
hmm this actually doesn't work on mine. When I turn PureXP+ on after selecting sRGB it goes back to native color temperature...
Yup that's why I would like Chief to confirm with ViewSonic if this is going to be in a future firmware update.

I just don't understand why that option can't be selected once you turn on PureXP+. Chief any ideas?

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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 11 Dec 2019, 13:41

witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 13:04
ELK wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 11:20
hmm this actually doesn't work on mine. When I turn PureXP+ on after selecting sRGB it goes back to native color temperature...
Yup that's why I would like Chief to confirm with ViewSonic if this is going to be in a future firmware update.

I just don't understand why that option can't be selected once you turn on PureXP+. Chief any ideas?
For the purposes of improving understanding:

Short answer: You can get sRGB manually.

Long answer: Automatic sRGB requires more work than you think:
....There is a limited amount of firmware memory and limited budget for user interface redesigns and branching conditions. The sRGB calibration was done for non-strobed, and it would likely require a completely new sRGB calibration for strobed (partially because a custom tuned overdrive is used for strobed, and that affects sRGB calibration). So the non-strobed presets are not selectable, since it may or may not be distorted by the strobe mode. If they enabled non-strobed sRGB calibration for PureXP+, reviewers may complain it is not correct sRGB calibration, especially if they verify with colorimeters that don't work well with strobe/CRT. This does not prevent you from manually creating a close-to-sRGB calibration during PureXP+
....The bottom line is that near sRGB gamut is achievable, just manually calibrated with a strobe-compatible colorimeter. So while automatic precalibrated sRGB isn't necessarily selected, you're already able to manually calibrate to the gamut you need during strobed, as the LCD dynamic range is not compressed in any way.
....Intentionally, many other strobed LCDs brighten blacks and darkens whites to reduce strobe crosstalk because of overdrive difficulties near fully saturated colors, full-blacks, and full-whites. As I've written over the years, overdrive logic requires voltage overshoot/undershoot headroom beyond destination color. That means at the end of the range, you need overdrive overshoot room below black and above white, just to simply accelerate a GtG (even without GtG-curve ripple)
....ViewSonic does not compress the dynamic range during strobed mode. Normally this creates more strobe crosstalk, but the sheer refresh-headroom and speed of panel, was sufficient overkill to produce crosstalk-free full-dynamic-range strobed operation on the panel, with properly tuned overdrive. That's why 240Hz 1ms IPS is a huge leap forward in (120Hz) strobe quality.
....Be noted, what I am writing here is stuff I've written in the past, is generic law-of-physics in dynamic range and applies to all strobed displays. People familiar with oscilloscopes and squarewave ripple will have a better understanding of what I mean by overdrive overshoot behavior.

That said, I'll ask if ViewSonic can re-enable the presets (sRGB) for strobed, and at least verify if it's sufficiently close (~1% deviation instead of >10% deviation) to be able to recycle the same calibration for strobed vs non-strobed.

To refresh memory (since other readers might not be reading earlier pages), I've quoted my earlier here:
Chief Blur Buster wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 11:47
witega wrote:
06 Dec 2019, 00:40
Hey Chief, when I have PureXP turned on, it doesn't give me the option to select "sRGB" in the color temperature. Is something wrong? Trying to get sRGB strobed.
I will contact ViewSonic and ask. Currently, it is a pre-set calibrated for non-strobed mode and you can still recalibrate manually to get the same effect.

Meanwhile, does your PureXP menu only have the ON/OFF or the 4 levels OFF/Ultra/Extreme/Normal/Light settings? (That is in the new firmware download coming early 2020, installable by monitor USB port).
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by witega » 11 Dec 2019, 15:42

Thanks Chief for the explanation. I'm always glad to learn something new. Sorry to be such a bother about this.

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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 11 Dec 2019, 15:51

I just noticed that someone posted a glowing Amazon review.
Was that you, witega? Since you mentioned FW900 here too.
Amazon Review wrote:5.0 out of 5 stars
"Finally, I can ditch the TN panels for competitive gaming! Sony GDM FW-900 CRT in LCD form factor"
December 4, 2019 -- Verified Purchase

Many years ago I owned a Dell Ultrasharp 23" 60hz panel. It had beautiful, vibrant colors thanks to the IPS panel. I was able to play competitive Counter-Strike on it (reported an input lag of 0.6ms! 0.6!!) while also doing graphic design work due to the terrific color accuracy.

But monitor technology was changing and soon enough 120hz and 144hz panels came out. I still wanted to play at a high competitive level in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, but unfortunately at the time the lowest input lag 144hz monitors were all TN panels. So I had to give up any hobbyist graphic design work. But the BenQ monitors I owned were excellent for CS:GO and using Blur Busters' BENQ Utility tool, you could control how much strobing and crosstalk was displayed on your monitor. The only trade-off is the more strobing at a higher refresh rate, the less luminance the panel emits.

Earlier this year I purchased an LG 27GK750F-B 27" 240hz panel. While this wasn't a huge leap from 60hz to 144hz, it was still enough to be noticeable. While the panel itself had decent color reproduction and no dead pixels, the firmware was broken. You had to download a Custom Resolution Utility application in order to "overclock" the monitor to force it into the correct refresh rate. While this monitor for the most part ran well at 240hz with Motion Blur Reduction turned on, there would be black artifacts from the monitor that would come up from time to time, or microstuttering, and so forth. It seemed that the frametimes could not match up with the display output which would cause the stuttering to occur sporadically. Needlessly to say it was an extremely frustrating experience. There were some "workarounds" to try to keep it stable for awhile before it would act up again. LG never bothered to issue a firmware update after repeated requests on their company's message board.

So I decided to never purchase an LG brand monitor again after the lack of firmware support and pretty much delivering a monitor that didn't function as advertised.

But then I heard about these 240hz IPS monitors on the horizon. I usually frequent the Blur Busters website for the best gaming monitor recommendations. And the owner of the site posted he had calibrated the motion blur reduction of this new ViewSonic panel, and that the strobing at 120hz reminded him of the motion clarity and color of the holy grail of CRT monitors: the Sony GDM FW900.

I owned the Sony GDM FW900 about 5 years ago and it truly deserved the reputation as being the best CRT monitor ever made. (Only the Artisan eclipses it by a hair with photography use). So to hear about an IPS panel that can look as good with the motion clarity of the FW900 had me very excited.

And yep I can say, while not exactly as bright as the FW900 in blur reduction mode (there will be more brightness in the next firmware version I am told), nor having those inky blacks (there is that IPS glow) it is the closest thing I'll get to that CRT in an LCD. Just superb. I no longer miss having the FW900 which is an incredible achievement. For purists, yes this is still an LCD panel and there is just something about the way CRTs present an image that even the highest end LCDs can't match. It is a total shame CRTs were killed off. However I think with the XG270, with the blur reduction enabled, and 99% sRGB/IPS colors, it considerably closes the gap. The FW900 is dead, long live the FW900!

The motion blur reduction in 240hz (it's 241hz in Windows), while there is crosstalk at the bottom, manages to run without a hiccup playing CS:GO, Rocket League, Overwatch, etc. (all games can be set at 240FPS or higher). I am not detecting any input lag when I'm playing CS:GO, in fact it might even be faster than the LG panel I bought earlier. There's no microstuttering or tearing to be had. (I have a RTX2080Ti card and my CPU is i9-9900k.)

The G-Sync option is amazing and here you obviously get much more brightness than you do the motion blur reduction. I actually find G-Sync with Ultra low latency and VSYNC enabled to be pretty good with CS:GO. If you really want to shave off those miliseconds, obviously keep the G-Sync off but I might actually stick with it. For other games that aren't CS:GO, I will probably use G-SYNC and maybe dial down the refresh rate to 120hz since it's difficult for most modern games to hit 240FPS consistently.

The sRGB color temperature setting in the OSD provides the best preset colors IMO. Of course you can adjust it as you wish.

Also the monitor and stand feel very well built, doesn't seem cheap.

TL;DR - Time to throw away your TN panels and upgrade to an IPS panel if you want both motion clarity and color accuracy. I could not be happier. This appeals to me as a serious competitive CS:GO player who occasionally does ESEA to regular casual games. I love having the flexibility of having settings for competitive use and for eyecandy, where I couldn't get that with my BenQ panels.

Highly recommended!

Great job ViewSonic!

Original review link
This is a very good attribute of a 240 Hz IPS -- "I love having the flexibility of having settings for competitive use and for eyecandy, where I couldn't get that with my BenQ panels." -- If your goal is 1080p, you're a closer to have-cake-and-eat-too than with many previous monitors.
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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by witega » 11 Dec 2019, 19:06

Chief Blur Buster wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 15:51
I just noticed that someone posted a glowing Amazon review.
Was that you, witega? Since you mentioned FW900 here too.
Yep that's my crappy review. :lol:

I wrote it in haste as I was so ecstatic to have an actual 240hz monitor that worked with no hassle. I need to go back and edit to flesh some things out.
This is a very good attribute of a 240 Hz IPS -- "I love having the flexibility of having settings for competitive use and for eyecandy, where I couldn't get that with my BenQ panels." -- If your goal is 1080p, you're a closer to have-cake-and-eat-too than with many previous monitors.
Yep exactly. There's no longer this trade off between sacrificing visual fidelity in order to get the lowest response times, or vice versa. You can now have both.

And speaking of 1080p, this is one of the things I share with the DigitalFoundry guys who recently uploaded a video on the FW900. Chasing after higher resolutions doesn't exactly give you the best picture quality. A CRT monitor that can display 1080p, like the FW900, will outshine a 4k panel. You don't have to deal with smearing of detail due to blur.

But to have an LCD panel like the ViewSonic display with both the motion and color accuracy, I can't say I long to have that old FW900 back, which is a relief because there is more maintenance involved to keep it calibrated properly as it will drift over time.

Now if ViewSonic can take this same panel and put that into a 24" size, that would be my perfect monitor. I prefer to game on that size screen.

I'm grateful for the work you and everyone else at Blur Busters do to influence manufacturers to develop better monitors. And I'm really glad to see you guys advocating 1000hz+ displays as the future. I hope to support Blur Busters soon with a Patreon subscription.

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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by ELK » 12 Dec 2019, 12:32

witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 19:06

And speaking of 1080p, this is one of the things I share with the DigitalFoundry guys who recently uploaded a video on the FW900. Chasing after higher resolutions doesn't exactly give you the best picture quality. A CRT monitor that can display 1080p, like the FW900, will outshine a 4k panel. You don't have to deal with smearing of detail due to blur.
That's definitely a fact. The 1080p viewsonic xg270 looks better than the 4k tv I use as a monitor.

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Re: Viewsonic XG270 with 'PureXP" MBR [pre-tuned by Blur Busters!]

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 13 Dec 2019, 14:34

witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 19:06
Yep that's my crappy review. :lol:

I wrote it in haste as I was so ecstatic to have an actual 240hz monitor that worked with no hassle. I need to go back and edit to flesh some things out.
These are usually the most honest reviews. Other readers love that kind of uncensored/unedited stuff, even if not perfect. No reviews robot can do what you genuinely wrote.

That other one-star review on NewEgg complaining about written specifications — is from someone who didn’t yet buy the monitor. ViewSonic mentioned on NewEgg 5ms GtG without OD, 1ms GtG with OD, and that 1-star review from a non-purchaser was complaining about that? Most of you here already know our GtG versus MPRT article. ViewSonic was being honest when they said 5ms GtG when not overdriven, 1ms GtG is only overdriven. Manufacturer honesty like that should NOT get one-star. My tests on 1ms TN show they are often 5ms+ GtG for some non-overdriven colors. So why punish honesty? ;) You might want to crosspost your Amazon review on NewEgg, because it’s a honest review. You don’t have to, but — I am sure ViewSonic appreciates the honest counterbalance.

Many are unaware of how difficult it is to cheaply add improvements to monitors that cost under $500 each. Gaming monitors are more niche items that do not sells in the millions of units for anybody, unlike a smartphone or a cheap laptop. We know our stuff well and we can do it cheaply for manufacturers.
witega wrote:
11 Dec 2019, 19:06
I'm grateful for the work you and everyone else at Blur Busters do to influence manufacturers to develop better monitors. And I'm really glad to see you guys advocating 1000hz+ displays as the future. I hope to support Blur Busters soon with a Patreon subscription.
Appreciate it! Keep an eye on our Patreon coming 1H 2020. Originally I was not planning a Patreon but a few have asked for it in our poll/survey that I have reconsidered.

Disclosure: Even as Founder/President, I personally earn less operating Blur Busters full-time (but I like doing it more) than working in a cubicle. I was a Dilbert in a Cubicle Farm at various big corporations like I used to do. Patreon will be one of the many little initiatives that allows me to continue to operate Blur Busters to help improve gaming for everyone.
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