05/22/2020 UPDATE. The IPS 240hz monitor tier list.(I've measured/tried the all) and my honest explanation why.

[Oevi]

Will post the aw2521hf response times in a bit and how it performs relative to ALL fast IPS monitor(that $2000 LG ultrawide wont be included). Ima add the viewsonic xg270qg, 27gl850, rog strix xg279q relative to the 240hz IPS monitors.

Great looking forward to that rly hard time deciding right, gonna be my first 240hz monitor.
First feeling told me to go with the MSI Optix MAG251RX but it is not available for the next 2-3 months as it seems.
Now i am stuck between the VG259qm and the AW2521HF.
And right now i am more leaning to the AW2521HF. Never used backlight strobing, so i won't miss it.
But i am still not 100% sure.

yup, u have to turn on adaptive sync if the fps is below 240hz, otherwise u will see stuttering, tearing, and judders. Also, make sure u turn on v sync if u want the scaler to synchronize to ur gpu correctly so g sync compatibility will be serviceable.

My fPS is always above 240hz so i never use any form of adaptive sync.

That's the issue with freesync monitors, it doesnt have variable overdrive so anything that is below the refresh rate the performance will go down and inverse ghosting start to creep in. That is the side effect of non native g sync panels.

Another thing, if u are getting under 200 fps, i suggest u get a stronger GPU or calibrate your display for performance.(example. lowering resolution ). Bcuz if ur not getting 240hz fps, then the refresh rate is counter productive

Got a 5700 xt so g sync won't be used. Staying above 240hz in the games i play competetive won't be a problem.
And turning on freesync for maybe some AAA title won't be a dealbreaker i think, just want good colors for the AAA titles.
Anyways thank you for your response.

[ItwasLuck]

After 24 hours with the Acer Predator XB253Q GXbmiiprzx. I found that the black uniformity is almost perfect (got lucky with my panel) and I can hardly notice the IPS glow. IPS glow will always be present no matter how great the quality of your panel is but as long as it isn't noticeable, it is not something to worry about.
More importantly, the VRB (ULMB) at Normal is quite good with slight trailing behind. In games, I hardly notice it at all. The one thing I have noticed however is the almost non-existent input lag! This has been mentioned by various people in the Blur Buster forums as well. It was a sight to behold for sure. With the UFO test, I can make out the alien with his eyebrows and the 3 white squares are very clear!
With VRB Normal, I am getting around 141 cd/m2 which isn't terrible. WIth VRB Extreme, it is even lower (sub-100 cd/m2). Colors are quite accurate (semi-stock) despite not fiddling with the settings too much.
As for response time, you are stuck at Overdrive being set at Normal, the Extreme setting has too much overshoot for my liking. But guys keep in mind that while the response time isn't the best compared to the MSI, it isn't something that you will notice unless you are looking for it. Arguably input lag is MUCH more important for gaming as compared to MPRT (especially with these Fast IPS Panels). And for that, the XB253/273 is KING.
It's still too early to make a comprehensive review but I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised with how well this IPS Panel stood up to gaming! I knew that this panel is the same one on the Acer Nitro XV273 Xbmiiprzx (just the 24.5" version).
Before buying, I was eyeing the Viewsonic XG270 and the MSI MAG251RX. These 3 panels are the best out of all the new Fast IPS 1080P / 240HZ monitors without a doubt.
From my semi-extensive research, I can say the 2 best panels at the moment are the Acer Predator XB253/273 GX and the MSI MAG251RX. I have seen mixed reviews with the Viewsonic panel however. Some say they are getting CRT-like motion while others say the implementation of PureXP is buggy.
While most people are using these panels to run at 240HZ, I am simply looking for the least motion blur with Black Frame Insertion. And TN just isn't for me nor is VA, I came from a 144HZ VA panel. Color reproduction should be accurate and viewing angles should be great. Finally I have a panel that gives me that but doesn't limit me in terms of gaming.
And yes, I am perfectly fine with being limited to 144Hz with this panel. I have a decent gaming setup but for games like EFT, I will struggle to get 240 FPS consistently. Even with a 2080TI, you won't be reaching that kind of FPS. So I'd rather stick to 120-144HZ (ULMB) for now. I see myself as a semi-competitive gamer for those curious. I am not the type of person to lower settings for better performance and/or reduce shadow qualities. I play with max fidelity and if I can push 120 FPS consistently, then I'm happy.

[axaro1]

Great looking forward to that rly hard time deciding right, gonna be my first 240hz monitor.
First feeling told me to go with the MSI Optix MAG251RX but it is not available for the next 2-3 months as it seems.
Now i am stuck between the VG259qm and the AW2521HF.
And right now i am more leaning to the AW2521HF. Never used backlight strobing, so i won't miss it.
But i am still not 100% sure.

I own a VG259QM and I'm really enjoying it, you won't miss strobing if you never tried but you will miss strobing even if you only try it once.

I think that the fact that you are forced to enable g-sync/freesync to make the overdrive usable is already a deal breaker for the AW2521HF.
That's why the MAG251RX and VG259QM are superior, both monitors have well tuned overdrives + strobing.

Reasons to choose the Asus over the AW2521HF:

- It is overclockable to 280hz
-Can be set to 10bit in the 60-144hz range (According to RTings the Alienware is 8bit only)
- It supports ELMB
- It supports ELMB + VRR (ELMB-Sync)
- 6 overdrives settings (compared to just 3 from the Alienware)
- The Asus has two speakers (which sounds better than I thought), the Alienware has no speakers

The Dell is cheaper, if you are a student you can even get a discount from dell.com

It's up to you to decide if the price difference is worth the extra functionalities, personally I think it is.

Got a 5700 xt so g sync won't be used. Staying above 240hz in the games i play competetive won't be a problem.
And turning on freesync for maybe some AAA title won't be a dealbreaker i think, just want good colors for the AAA titles.

I do have a 5700xt, I had to tweak the Freesync range with CRU(it was stuck at 48-240) since Amd apparently doesn't acknowledge that 280hz monitors exist xd.

[Oevi]

I own a VG259QM and I'm really enjoying it, you won't miss strobing if you never tried but you will miss strobing even if you only try it once.

I think that the fact that you are forced to enable g-sync/freesync to make the overdrive usable is already a deal breaker for the AW2521HF.
That's why the MAG251RX and VG259QM are superior, both monitors have well tuned overdrives + strobing.

Hmm, correct me if i am wrong. When i play competetive for example valorant, i will always stay at high fps. Do i even use overdrive? Then you are right that it is a dealbreaker.

Reasons to choose the Asus over the AW2521HF:

- It is overclockable to 280hz
-Can be set to 10bit in the 60-144hz range (According to RTings the Alienware is 8bit only)
- It supports ELMB
- It supports ELMB + VRR (ELMB-Sync)
- 6 overdrives settings (compared to just 3 from the Alienware)
- The Asus has two speakers (which sounds better than I thought), the Alienware has no speakers

The Dell is cheaper, if you are a student you can even get a discount from dell.com

It's up to you to decide if the price difference is worth the extra functionalities, personally I think it is.

Actually i would get both of them for the excact same price.
Two points that would still interest me about the VG259QM compared to the AW2521HF. How is the build quality and how are the colors?
I have read somewhere on reddti that the colors of the VG259QM are rly bad. If that is true i am asking myself why should i get the VG259QM instead of a fast tn for example the Omen x25f.

Thank you anyways u already helped me

P.S. Is there a way to PM somebody, already getting guilty conscience for spaming the thread ^^

[axaro1]

Hmm, correct me if i am wrong. When i play competetive for example valorant, i will always stay at high fps. Do i even use overdrive? Then you are right that it is a dealbreaker.

I mean, you must use some kind of overdrive, OD80 is the best if you can achieve high fps (200+).

Actually i would get both of them for the excact same price.
Two points that would still interest me about the VG259QM compared to the AW2521HF. How is the build quality and how are the colors?
I have read somewhere on reddti that the colors of the VG259QM are rly bad. If that is true i am asking myself why should i get the VG259QM instead of a fast tn for example the Omen x25f.

Thank you anyways u already helped me

P.S. Is there a way to PM somebody, already getting guilty conscience for spaming the thread ^^

The Asus has no RGB, the design is minimal with a good stand that can be easily lifted and rotated.

I'm using Asus' .icm profile available from their own drivers, which is quite similar to stock.
The colors aren't overly saturated and look very natural, some people however prefer highly saturated colors when they play games(in this case the MAG251RX would be an obvious choice), I watch a lot of movies/tv series and I like the Asus' color reproduction.

I recently tried watching 10bits content (kimi no na wa h265 10bit with MPC-BE+MadVR) on this monitor and it honestly looks great, there is no color banding.

OSD customizability isn't great, you can't change gamma and saturation, you are stuck with RGB control, brightness and contrast.
The settings are more gaming oriented: Decent dot crosshair, fps counter, zoom-in crosshair and ELMB-Sync which I basically use for every single competitive game where I can get 180+fps, I honestly can't find any crosstalk.

In my opinion the only reason why you should get yourself a 240hz TN like the x25f or Benq XL2546 in 2020 is if you play videogames at a competitive level or if you want to try Dyac.

[Oevi]

I mean, you must use some kind of overdrive, OD80 is the best if you can achieve high fps (200+).

ok thanks for that info

The Asus has no RGB, the design is minimal with a good stand that can be easily lifted and rotated.

I'm using Asus' .icm profile available from their own drivers, which is quite similar to stock.
The colors aren't overly saturated and look very natural, some people however prefer highly saturated colors when they play games(in this case the MAG251RX would be an obvious choice), I watch a lot of movies/tv series and I like the Asus' color reproduction.

I recently tried watching 10bits content (kimi no na wa h265 10bit with MPC-BE+MadVR) on this monitor and it honestly looks great, there is no color banding.

OSD customizability isn't great, you can't change gamma and saturation, you are stuck with RGB control, brightness and contrast.
The settings are more gaming oriented: Decent dot crosshair, fps counter, zoom-in crosshair and ELMB-Sync which I basically use for every single competitive game where I can get 180+fps, I honestly can't find any crosstalk.

In my opinion the only reason why you should get yourself a 240hz TN like the x25f or Benq XL2546 in 2020 is if you play videogames at a competitive level or if you want to try Dyac.

Your last sentence lets me ponder... The monitor will be used exckusive for gaming (got a wqhd 1440p ips monitor for media and stuff), maybe i am better off with a tn then.
Thanks a lot, i will wait for RLCScontender "final results" and then make my decision.

[RedCloudFuneral]

Your last sentence lets me ponder... The monitor will be used exckusive for gaming (got a wqhd 1440p ips monitor for media and stuff), maybe i am better off with a tn then.
Thanks a lot, i will wait for RLCScontender "final results" and then make my decision.

I'm going through the same agonizing decision myself and what I'm picking up on is that its game dependent more so than based on competitive intent. The IPS monitors are at their best in well lit scenes easily meeting the response requirements for 240hz whereas the .5ms TN are faster in most conditions but the response times seem to creep up in the very brightest scenes(maybe not to a point worth considering so you could also consider them universally strong.)

My personal take, just going by the numbers, is that the IPS will likely be the best choice for most people/situations. Where that really comes into question is if you're playing games which rely a lot on shadows & dark atmosphere: in my case Grim Dawn & Wolcen. In a more competitive light: Dead by Daylight & Hunt: Showdown. With these games the TN panels will have higher compliance with their refresh rates.. what this means in person I can't speak to without having owned any current gen 240hz monitors. I've ordered a TN mostly for 'peace of mind' on this topic but am having bad luck with my order getting cancelled due to stock issues, I'll be going IPS if this continues as the difference doesn't appear great enough to wait out supply issues or pay a scalper's price.

Talking strictly multiplayer esports type games it seems the development studios have already thought about the differing response times->color shade question. Most of these games seem to go out of their way to avoid high contrast areas which would give direct advantage to those with gaming screens & 'cheat' options like black equalizer much the same as they block ultrawide resolutions. That's why there is an argument to be had about the correct screen type for esports at any level below that where you're being paid to play.

[RLCSContender*]

i measured the color gamut on a 98% DCI-p3 (it's 101% DCi-P3 actually) and 133% srgb (140% srgb) IPS nano monitor vs the MSI MAG251RX 99% SRGB 80% DCI-p3. the MSI that i bought is actually 135% SRGB and 95% DCI-P3 WCG on my tests(

Nano IPS(the highest color gamut for a gaming monitor) vs MSI MAG251RX vibrancy and saturation test. It's extremely hard for me to tell the difference in which is more vibrant. I took this video in a super dark room and it was still more difficult. Except the MSI MAG251RX has way better contrast ratio of 1200:1 vs the Nano IPS 850:1 Also, the MSI MAG251RX can get a 10 bit color depth signal whereas this nano IPS cannot.

see for yourself. It took me FOUR attempts to buy the MSI MAG251RX and i got the LOTTERY panel. I'm going to keep this monitor for the next 4-5 years. if someone offered me $1000 for it, i won't. People might think i'm "schilling" for MSI, but i'm really not. It just so happen the MSI MAG251RX is the best overall IPS montor PERIOD(better than the nano IPS, better than the other 240hz IPS monitors.).

phpBB [video]

[RLCSContender*]

input lag results for anyone curious on which has the lowest overall input lag. You would be surprised. The nitro xv273x is probably the lowest input lag of all the monitors right now(not named OLED)

the 25" predator has excellent input lag too. Man, i too was shocked. yes, when i played rocket league, you might think that 0.4 input lag difference is miniscule, but in a dexterity heavy game like rocket league, it adds up. one button press is 0.4, but if you press buttons in your controller 200 times a minute, this will determine whether you get a perfect blindsided shot on goal or a WHIFF that will send your car flyign open for a counter attack.

for competitive gaming, the acer clones have the lowest input lag but the worst g2g averages.*at least that's what i measured*



My Leo bodnar tool for some reason never came and throughout the two months i've tested these monitors, i'm not able to get a reliable tool to measure input lag @60hz(even my hardware cannot get accurate measurements).. I used a human benchmark on myself and used a 5x5 25 sample size average. here's what I got. To my surprise the VG279QM is horrendous @60hz. I too noticed this when i played smash ultimate and it sucked playing on it. Keep in mind, i added 16.6ms to accomodate 60hz. My reaction times are fairly average for a human being but i'm top 1000 in rocket league as a 29 yr old.

[RLCSContender*]

the only two IPS monitors that are fast that i didn't get to measure was the LG 38" ultra wide which cost $2000 and the lenovo legion 27 y27q-20. Apparently they don't sell the lenovo legion 27" IPS nano in the united states. I didn't have $2000 to spend on the 38" LG ultrawide