need advice on getting a new monitor.

[rcarlos243]

I was previously using a laptop (Alienware M17x R3) and I discovered that I could overclock it to 96Hz (it is a 1920x1080 17.3" 60Hz TN panel) and the improvement is very noticeable even on desktop by just moving the mouse around especially when playing games (FPS) but my laptop is aging and can barely maintain high enough FPS.


I recently built a desktop pc and the specs are
Intel Xeon E3 1230 V3 4C/8T Haswell 3.3Ghz
Asus R9 280X (will upgrade to R9 290 or GTX 770)
16GB RAM
480GB SSD
etc...

The monitor I am currently using on my desktop is a Dell 2007WPF S-IPS that is 20" 1680x1050 and from what I can tell it uses PWM backlight as I see flickering if brightness is less than 100% if I view my monitor on my camera on phone (flickering is gone at 100% brightness).

I watch lots of high quality videos (movies, anime) and also read manga. There is a night and day difference between my TN laptop (although from what I can tell, the TN panel on my laptop is alot better than most TN panel in terms of color reproduction based on what I see from other computer like when i go to best buy) and S-IPS monitor in terms of color reproduction even when viewing directly.


I also prefer to use very low brightness (about 15-25%) as I spend extremely long hours in front of my computer and lower brightness helps my eyes from getting less fatigue and dry.

Matte (anti glare) finish is also a must as I absolutely hate glossy monitors.

my max budget is $400 and I am thinking about getting either a QNIX QX2710 Evolution II or BENQ XL2411Z.

from what I understand, the BENQ XL2411Z is miles better in terms of motion clarity compared to QNIX QX2710 as it is PWM free and has extremely low persistence.

I also heard that the BENQ has better color reproduction than many TN panels out there.


so my question is
How does the BENQ compare to QNIX in terms of color reproduction while viewing directly? if so are there any direct comparison or similar comparison showing each other side by side?

also I do not understand the backlight stuff.

on the BENQ or any lightboost monitor do I have to set the brightness to 100% on the monitor to achieve perfect clarity?

is there a massive difference in terms of motion clarity between the BENQ and QNIX (QNIX is set to 96Hz)?

[Chief Blur Buster]

How does the BENQ compare to QNIX in terms of color reproduction while viewing directly? if so are there any direct comparison or similar comparison showing each other side by side?

BENQ -- not as good colors as QNIX, but much less motion blur
QNIX -- better colors than BENQ, but massive more motion blur

For a comparision on the motion blur, see PHOTOS: 60Hz vs 120Hz vs LightBoost

Regular 60Hz = baseline
Regular 120Hz = 50% less motion blur
Strobed 120Hz = 80 to 98% less motion blur

on the BENQ or any lightboost monitor do I have to set the brightness to 100% on the monitor to achieve perfect clarity?

It's vice versa. The brighter the blurrier, the dimmer the clearer. This is because shorter persistence has more black period between refreshes (cramming the light into briefer flashes). However, the difference betwen 10%-vs-100% is very subtle (LightBoost 10% vs 50% vs 100%), and you should adjust to personal preference since the mere act of enabling strobing, produces the most dramatic improvements.



As you can see, even the worst LightBoost setting still has less motion blur than 144Hz non-strobed.

also I do not understand the backlight stuff.
is there a massive difference in terms of motion clarity between the BENQ and QNIX (QNIX is set to 96Hz)?

To understand strobing better, here are educational animations:
Animation of motion blur caused by persistence -- http://www.testufo.com/eyetracking
Animation of black frame insertion to reduce blur -- http://www.testufo.com/blackframes
Animation of larger black duty cycle having less motion blur -- http://www.testufo.com/blackframes#count=3

Also see:
- LightBoost testimonials; people raving about lightboost motion clarity
- LightBoost media coverage; including places like AnandTech and TomsHardware

Hardware-based strobing is massively better than this, because hardware based strobing is capable of sub-millisecond persistence, much like a CRT. Strobe backlights allow gaming LCD displays to have the motion clarity of a CRT. Brand names of strobe backlights include "LightBoost", "ULMB", "Turbo240", and "BENQ Blur Reduction". A list can be found in the Official List Of 120Hz Monitors.

Choosing between the BENQ Z-Series (good strobing) versus the QNIX QX2710 (1440p 120Hz) depends on whether you consider colors/resolution more important, or motion clarity (CRT-like) more important.