Does Price Correlate To Quality?

[Mark Fable]

I have two questions. Here is the background information: I recently purchased a Dell S2522HG 240Hz gaming monitor, which is amazing! However, I was browsing through Amazon and noticed that the BenQ Zowie XL2540K 240Hz monitor retails at about $430 while the Dell monitor I own retails for about $300 when not on sale. I also observed that the Zowie monitor shares the same refresh rate and screen size as the Dell monitor but uses a TN panel, as opposed to the Fast IPS panel in the Dell, and supports BFI. Other than that, response times and added processing latency appear practically the same.

Question 1: Why is the Zowie significantly more expensive than the Dell, despite sharing nearly the same specifications? Is there something I am missing or are BenQ products just generally more expensive, or is it because TN panels are niche?

Question 2: This is more of a technical question but when a monitor has a certain refresh rate (for example mine refreshes at approx. 239.757Hz), does this mean that the monitor always refreshes at that exact rate as long as it is connected to the sufficient power supply and a cable that exceeds the necessary data rate, or is there a possibility that the monitor experiences drops in refresh rate, similar to how one can experience drops in frame rate while playing videogames? I'm asking this because when I use the UFO Refresh Rate Test, I notice that the refresh rate measurement fluctuates when I move the mouse. I'm assuming this is due to a measurement error and not the actual refresh rate of the monitor then, correct?

[masterblaster]

Yeah. You can chalk it up to BenQ's marking here. You obviously don't know but BenQ is pretty much the most expensive out there, so youre comparing the most expensive semi-competitive serious fps gamer brand to dell which is kind of more casual/general and cheaper. You are at two very different sides of the spectrum here.

BenQ is catering to specific types of gamers. So unfortunately there are idiots who pay these prices because they feel like the features offered are worth it I guess? My logic would be people must be paying their prices or otherwise they wouldnt have their pricing as such.

Second, you're using the term "quality" but really that could mean different things. I think you mean more "performance".

To answer your question directly, price does not correlate to performance/quality/etc. It is a subjective industry and this is the trick to figure out when shopping for products.

Another example. I have a few monitors but have used the Acer AOpen 390hz ips for a while now, which can be found for around $300. This monitor you could argue performs probably close to the same or better than the zowie xl2566k which is $600.. Is the zowie xl2566k worth $300 more than the acer 390hz? Hell no.... But some people want that dyac feature so they are willing to pay absurd money for a TN panel.

[Inco^]

For my use case, XL2566K is significantly better than XV252Q F. XL2566K is better mainly for two reasons:
- DyAc (whose pulse width is adjustable with Blur Busters Strobe Utility),
- faster pixel transitions thanks to TN.
Regarding price, it is simply the law of diminishing returns.
And it being a TN panel doesn't bother me at all as far as my gaming experience goes.

Question 1: because a monitor's quality for competitive FPS is not just given by the duo { refresh rate , resolution }. Pixel response time (GtG) is also of primary importance and BenQ's TN is probably faster than that fast IPS. Second, DyAc not only reduces persistence blur, it also contributes to hiding GtG transitions. Also note than BenQ monitors are used in LAN events for competitive FPS.

Question 2: I don't have specific technical knowledge regarding this question but I don't think you should worry about decimal fluctuations of the refresh rate. Afaik, there is no such thing as refresh rate drop in a similar way as FPS drop. I just checked https://www.testufo.com/refreshrate and my refresh rate is constant, no decimal fluctuations. So I don't know.