ule wrote: ↑15 Jun 2026, 13:45
The primary use for this monitor would be gaming; tacfps and competitive shooter games more specifically. It's counter-strike, rainbow six siege, apex, overwatch, and tarkov mainly. I can comfortably supply 500+ frames to support a monitor refresh rate that high in most titles I play and for those I can't, either due to hardware limitations or an engine fps cap, I
begrudgingly tend to run nvidia smooth motion to boost framerate admittedly at the cost of input latency. As I plan to upgrade my computer further whilst not really changing games much, lets assume I'm able to provide as many frames as needed to supply any refresh rate fully.
Nvidia Smooth Motion does tend to reduce image quality in dynamic content (when flicking), as it's a external solution which doesn't rely on motion vectors.
For 1/5 games you've mentioned (Apex), I suggest having a LCD with backlight strobing instead of a OLED.
Of course, one could also run a fps_max 250 cap in Apex & run Nvidia Smooth Motion to achieve 500FPS @ 500Hz on the new QD-OLEDs, but I find the difference to be mild compared to a good backlight strobing implementation.
For the rest, I'd argue that higher refresh rate OLED is a better experience due to the way those games are played.
There is an argument for OW, where one might like backlight strobing more, but that opinion is difficult to apply to a larger population.
TacFPS crowd rely on gazing at crosshairs more often, where raw sample rate is better.
See this article made by Chief in regards to the stroboscopic effect of (relatively) low sample (refresh) rate displays
ule wrote: ↑15 Jun 2026, 13:45
To answer your other questions:
-For my budget, I'd like to stay under 750usd. That being said, I'm not opposed to stretching it by going used or even breaking it and going over if a monitor is
that much better of a fit for me.
-My desk depth is just under 35in(~88cm) and I don't see any issues accommodating even the largest of monitors.
-For pixel density, I have basically only owned 24in 1080p monitors, so thank you for pointing this out it, isn't something I had considered. It makes total sense that a 27in 1080p monitor would look "worse" in terms of pixel density as you go up in monitor size whilst keeping resolution. I'm not worried about it too much,
as my main goal is motion clarity at high refresh rate and not picture quality.
-As for resolutions, I don't really have a need(or want) to go above 1080p and even play some games lower with a custom resolution.
Anything higher is superfluous, but not a con.
Both
spatial information (display resolution AKA pixel density) &
temporal information (effective motion clarity & refresh rate) are important in terms of overall image quality.
One shouldn't forfeit the other, regardless of use-case.
The higher the display resolution, the higher need for a good backlight implementation.
The US continent has it a bit worse in regards to offerings available compared to the EU, IMO.
Here's a couple of models within your budget:
https://www.amazon.com/INNOCN-Monitor-C ... B0FPFVLT57 (INNOCN 25G2S)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FP45L1BH? (MSI X30MV)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHK7LLZD? (ASUS PG27AQN)
https://www.newegg.com/asus-xg27aqngv-2 ... 6824281394 (ASUS Pulsar model)
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E1682401497 ... 6824014975 (BENQ 66X+)
OLEDs:
https://www.newegg.com/msi-mpg-271qr-qd ... 6824475540 (500Hz QD-OLED with UHBR20)
I will put a disclaimer:
If your current display model is sufficient or you're willing to wait, I suggest waiting on RGB stripe OLED (aka same as LCD subpixel layout) instead of going for current OLED offerings on the market due to the fringing you may encounter on black shapes.
In regards to the LCD's & their backlight strobing implementations, here's how they stack up in regards to crosstalk handling & effective motion clarity:
DyAc2 ≥ PG27AQN's ULMB2 > Pulsar model (set to "ULMB2") ≥ MPRT (MSI)
The INNOCN doesn't have any backlight strobing. I've put it there due to it's price for the density & refresh rate you'd be getting.
The PG27AQN would likely give you a much better experience than the DyAc2 model due to the better pixel density, good viewing angles & good strobing capabilities at it's highest refresh rate setting.
The Pulsar equivalent (even when set to ULMB2) cannot compare to the PG27AQN in terms of achievable effective motion clarity at the same refresh rate.
Of course, all of this above may be completely irrelevant to you if you aren't used to backlight strobing or have some form of eye discomfort while using it. YMMV.
You might like applying a
screen protector on all of the LCDs to achieve a glossy surface, which tremendously boosts overall sharpness & perceived contrast ratio.
See this discussion on the forums in regards to this
ule wrote: ↑15 Jun 2026, 13:45
Thank you again for taking your time to explain and link things to me, both your response and the write-ups you've linked have been extremely helpful in learning more about this as someone who has been mostly ignorant to the space.
Glad I could help out, hope this post helps out too!
