# 27" 1440p monitor recommendations?



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

Looking for some recommendations from people who have good experiences with their 27" 1440p monitors.
My GW2765HT is accurate and consistent but getting kinda long in the tooth, also kinda lacking on brightness, probably better as secondary monitor. Good sRGB performance is a must, but kinda interested in Adobe RGB, ngl.

Requirements:

27"
2560x1440
120Hz+ refresh rate, tbh won't be hitting 120fps in all games, but the next step down is 75Hz
IPS (no VA please)
Good sRGB color performance out of the box
75x75 or 100x100 VESA holes
Not curved
Not ultrawide
*$650 CAD* or less
Needs to be something I can get here in Canada. Preferably from Memory Express, Amazon.ca or Dell.ca, but I can't always be picky.

Current contenders are in the poll. I'll go back and add any good suggestions I've missed.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## 80-watt Hamster (Feb 26, 2021)

My vote for the Dell isn't in entirely good faith, since I have the prior version. But its biggest flaw (saturation gradient due to vertical viewing angle) should be fixed with the new panel. Dunno about its second biggest flaw, though: the awful control panel buttons.  I'm also biased because I like Dell monitors overall, the Ultrasharp line in particular.


----------



## AltCapwn (Feb 26, 2021)

Can't help you choosing a monitor as my knowledge is pretty limited in terms of panel quality, etc... Tho I'm very satisfied with my Acer, and there's the exact same model as mine but not 21:9. Might check it out. Priced at 350$, tho it's 75hz 5ms and I'm not sure about the color performance. My guess is that it's not professional grade.



			https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/acer-27-1440p-wqhd-75hz-5ms-gtg-ips-led-monitor-cb272u-smiiprx-black/14763272
		


I purchased all my stuff on bestbuy.ca, they got some very nice deals.


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

80-watt Hamster said:


> My vote for the Dell isn't in entirely good faith, since I have the prior version. But its biggest flaw (saturation gradient due to vertical viewing angle) should be fixed with the new panel. Dunno about its second biggest flaw, though: the awful control panel buttons.  I'm also biased because I like Dell monitors overall, the Ultrasharp line in particular.



I am also a big Dell fan, but am a little hesitant after my experience last (last?) year with the U2719D. I got a panel with bad uniformity down the middle, then I sent it back and they gave me a panel with bad uniformity down the right side. So both went back.

But I do love Dell's online returns and 3-year "premium" replacement (Ultrasharp and monitors like the S2721DGF). I still have a U2515H in storage across the pond - they really do have the best stock stands, I would use them if I didn't have 2 VESA arms.

S2721DGF is a little out of my budget if it's not on a big sale though, and even at $600 it's towards the top end of my budget.



altcapwn said:


> Can't help you choosing a monitor as my knowledge is pretty limited in terms of panel quality, etc... Tho I'm very satisfied with my Acer, and there's the exact same model as mine but not 21:9. Might check it out. Priced at 350$, tho it's 75hz 5ms and not I'm not sure about the color performance. I guess it's not professional grade.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Personally I think that if it's 75ms nowadays it's gotta have *outstanding* guaranteed out-of-box sRGB performance, or good sRGB and good Adobe RGB performance for me to consider it worth the money. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll look at it.

Before the Dell adventure, I got a sale price 27UL550-W from Best Buy (literally up the road) and returned it one the next morning for poor brightness all down both edges of the screen, so maybe I am cursed  I definitely will consider Best Buy for the convenience of being next to them and easy returns.

After the U2719D and 27UL550 ordeal I really wondered if thin-bezel monitors are just doomed to have poor uniformity. My 5-year-old BenQ GW2765HT has damn near flawless uniformity, and has great sRGB performance to top it off. Same with my 6-year-old U2515H.


----------



## Batou1986 (Feb 26, 2021)

I have the S2721DGF its a good monitor once calibrated otherwise its a bit yellow like every TN panel, definitely dont pay more $350 USD/$450 CAD for it.
Adobe RGB is worthless unless you are shooting in ARGB and printing in ARGB as nothing else supports ARGB properly


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

Batou1986 said:


> I have the S2721DGF its a good monitor once calibrated otherwise its a bit yellow like every TN panel, definitely dont pay more $350 USD/$450 CAD for it.
> Adobe RGB is worthless unless you are shooting in ARGB and printing in ARGB as nothing else supports ARGB properly



I think we might be thinking of different monitors. The S2721DGF is IPS. The S2716DG and S2719DGF are TN.


----------



## vbq7qK68eyYAH4iR (Feb 26, 2021)

I bought a Dell S2721DGF in November 2020. It has been a good monitor. I had concerns about some backlight bleed, as i saw people on Dell's website complain about the issue, but mine was perfect. My only remark on the monitor, and i don't know if this applies to all HDR monitors, but the panel and front bezels can get warm. This might be becuase it's running far brighter than i'd normally manually set a monitor, so i haven't noticed it on previous screens. I certainly don't have that issue on my ancient U2713HM.

I would certainly buy the S2721DGF again.


----------



## evernessince (Feb 26, 2021)

The LG monitor has better colors and black uniformity.  The Dell has slightly better g2g.  Both have abnormally poor contrast ratios.

I can't find any info on the iput lag of the Dell but the LG monitor has very low input lag, one of the lowest of any 27" monitor in fact









						LG 27GL850 review - TFTCentral
					

27" 1440p high refresh rate IPS gaming display from LG. With a DCI-P3 gamut, 1ms G2G response time spec and 144Hz refresh rate




					www.tftcentral.co.uk
				




It's pretty disappointing for either TBH.  I've had the Acer xb270hu for years and it's still as good as any of these 27" gaming monitors coming out: https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_xb270hu.htm#viewing

You have to pay upward of $700 to get a 240 Hz 1440p monitor and even then first gen models have their compromises.


----------



## Batou1986 (Feb 26, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> I think we might be thinking of different monitors. The S2721DGF is IPS. The S2716DG and S2719DGF are TN.


woops your right i got the numbers mixed up


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

evernessince said:


> The LG monitor has better colors and black uniformity.  The Dell has slightly better g2g.  Both have abnormally poor contrast ratios.
> 
> I can't find any info on the iput lag of the Dell but the LG monitor has very low input lag, one of the lowest of any 27" monitor in fact
> 
> ...



Placed an order for a S2721DGF. After another coupon it's right on with the current exchange rate for the $464 USD price right now. Eh, I've seen better and I've seen worse in terms of Dell deals.

In the end it ended the way it started as a tossup between the S2721DGF and M27Q. The M27Q does have a lot going for it (including the price), but I can only get it from Canada Computers - no easy returns unless defective. Reading the recent user anecdotal reviews (a stark contrast compared to the glowing reviewers' takes), I just wasn't willing to take the chance on the newcomer (Gigabyte) _with _the retailer that has a mediocre reputation for returns (CC, technically I haven't had any issues with returning defective RAM and boards, but that's must easier for me to confidently present as being defective). If Amazon or Memory Express had the M27Q I would've given it a shot.

I did read about the contrast ratio but I don't care too much about that. I'll have the GW2765HT to the side so we'll see if the lack of sRGB clamp is a deal-breaker that can't be solved via ICC or turning down the contrast/brightness.


----------



## Night (Feb 26, 2021)

LG 27GL850 all the way, it was the one I was going to get but it ran out of stock. There's also a cheaper variant with classic IPS panel, though I do like how NanoCell works on my TV. https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27gl83a-b-gaming-monitor

Edit: Never mind, as you already made an order.


----------



## evernessince (Feb 26, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> Placed an order for a S2721DGF. After another coupon it's right on with the current exchange rate for the $464 USD price right now. Eh, I've seen better and I've seen worse in terms of Dell deals.
> 
> In the end it ended the way it started as a tossup between the S2721DGF and M27Q. The M27Q does have a lot going for it (including the price), but I can only get it from Canada Computers - no easy returns unless defective. Reading the recent user anecdotal reviews (a stark contrast compared to the glowing reviewers' takes), I just wasn't willing to take the chance on the newcomer (Gigabyte) _with _the retailer that has a mediocre reputation for returns (CC, technically I haven't had any issues with returning defective RAM and boards, but that's must easier for me to confidently present as being defective). If Amazon or Memory Express had the M27Q I would've given it a shot.
> 
> I did read about the contrast ratio but I don't care too much about that. I'll have the GW2765HT to the side so we'll see if the lack of sRGB clamp is a deal-breaker that can't be solved via ICC or turning down the contrast/brightness.



I personally wouldn't risk Gigabyte either.  Their QC is very hit or miss.  

I don't know why Dell doesn't advertise it but many of it's S model gaming monitors come with a premium panel guarantee.  If you have any dead pixels, you can RMA for a new one.  Last time I did (this was years back) they paid shipping both ways.


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

Night said:


> LG 27GL850 all the way, it was the one I was going to get but it ran out of stock. There's also a cheaper variant with classic IPS panel, though I do like how NanoCell works on my TV. https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27gl83a-b-gaming-monitor
> 
> Edit: Never mind, as you already made an order.



HWUB is saying that the S2721DGF uses the exact same panel as the 27GL850, so they perform similarly all the way down to the poor contrast ratio (lol). I did look at the 27GL83, but after my experience with the 27UL550-W I don't have the best impressions of LG's budget monitors.

So in terms of visual performance, with the exception of a single vote for the MSI quantum dot so far, all 7 votes have been for the same monitor  

There is one big difference though - the S2721DGF has an internal power supply like most if not all Dells. In true LG fashion the 27GL850 and 27GL83 have the dinky little barrel connector and external brick that I *HATE*



evernessince said:


> I personally wouldn't risk Gigabyte either.  Their QC is very hit or miss.
> 
> I don't know why Dell doesn't advertise it but many of it's S model gaming monitors come with a premium panel guarantee.  If you have any dead pixels, you can RMA for a new one.  Last time I did (this was years back) they paid shipping both ways.



Yep, I saw that on the product page, helped give me the final little push. That's the same policy that made my first U2719D return a breeze as well, didn't pay a cent in shipping for both monitors. I probably wouldn't buy my 2012 XPS 8500 or 2018 XPS 13 again, but when it comes to monitors I'm much more a believer in paying the Dell tax for the exchange policy and the 30 day return window.


----------



## evernessince (Feb 26, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> Yep, I saw that on the product page, helped give me the final little push. That's the same policy that made my first U2719D return a breeze as well, didn't pay a cent in shipping for both monitors. I probably wouldn't buy my 2012 XPS 8500 or 2018 XPS 13 again, but when it comes to monitors I'm much more a believer in paying the Dell tax for the exchange policy and the 30 day return window.



It's funny, I used to have that monitor as well.  Had to RMA it like 3 times due to cross hatching issues.  That said it was extremely easy.  Can't say I'd ever accept a monitor that came new with a dead pixel.  They should sell dead pixel units at a discount, not force them on customers.


----------



## 80-watt Hamster (Feb 26, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> There is one big difference though - the S2721DGF has an internal power supply like most if not all Dells. In true LG fashion the 27GL850 and 27GL83 have the dinky little barrel connector and external brick that I *HATE*.



Oh good, so it's not just me.   Power bricks for monitors can die in a fire.


----------



## TheLostSwede (Feb 26, 2021)

Mate of mine got the Dell, he's very happy with it, but apparently it's a bit fiddly to set up. That or he didn't know what he was doing...
Got an "old" Dell U2515H that my SO uses when she works from home and it hasn't missed a beat since I got it.
The connectivity that Dell offers on their slightly more premium screens is unbeatable. 



80-watt Hamster said:


> Oh good, so it's not just me.   Power bricks for monitors can die in a fire.


They might, considering more than one power brick has caught fire over the years...
Hating the one sitting on my floor right now...


----------



## Night (Feb 26, 2021)

Yeah actually regarding the bricks... I had to return a Samsung monitor because of it, the power supply was making a high pitched noise, so it was unbearable at night, couldn't sleep because of it.


----------



## TheLostSwede (Feb 26, 2021)

Night said:


> Yeah actually regarding the bricks... I had to return a Samsung monitor because of it, the power supply was making a high pitched noise, so it was unbearable at night, couldn't sleep because of it.


Coil whine, doesn't have anything to do with the power supply being a brick or built in.


----------



## Night (Feb 26, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> Coil whine, doesn't have anything to do with the power supply being a brick or built in.


Don't know, of 5 monitors I used that had built in power supply, I never had that issue.


----------



## TheLostSwede (Feb 26, 2021)

Night said:


> Don't know, of 5 monitors I used that had built in power supply, I never had that issue.


It's a component or design issue. It can happen in all power conversion circuits.


----------



## kapone32 (Feb 26, 2021)

I have the Gigabyte 32QC and can tell you it is is great monitor. It's my first VA and i am definitely impressed. The contrast ratio is real and this monitor is a joy to use in the dark.


----------



## Vendor (Feb 26, 2021)

i like lg, my brother has a nice 1080p IPS monitor by them but if it's that cheap for the dell monitor in sale and you desperately want to save some money then get that instead


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

kapone32 said:


> I have the Gigabyte 32QC and can tell you it is is great monitor. It's my first VA and i am definitely impressed. The contrast ratio is real and this monitor is a joy to use in the dark.



I did say no to VA in the OP lol  I did take a look at the G27QC (my friend recently bought the IPS G27Q (M27Q without KVM, essentially), unfortunately the G27Q has 0 availability now), but not too much a fan of VA compared to IPS. I have a GW2265 as my secondary monitor right now, and while it is quick and responsive the colours just aren't nearly as good as the IPS panels I have. It's got good contrast ratio and black depth, but the IPS GW2765HT next to it is equally good so if I really need the contrast for some odd reason, I'll probably just drag the window onto the big BenQ.

I don't usually use my monitors in "the dark" per se, I have a frosted lamp with a smart bulb behind my monitor to alleviate eyestrain a bit and 2700K table lamps off to the side as well. A lot of things are on dark theme right now, but very few aside from Windows apps are on an actually black background. The 27UL550 that I had for about a day had poor contrast ratio as well, but I really didn't mind (perhaps maybe even liked) the rather washed out blacks. Besides, I don't shoot photos in the darkness and then crank the contrast up 500%


----------



## GerKNG (Feb 26, 2021)

LG 27GL850​no doubt the best monitor i've ever had!


----------



## jboydgolfer (Feb 26, 2021)

ive got 2 of the Dell Gaming 27" monitors with Gsync. they suffer a engineering flaw, where a vertical line appears occasionally due to refresh rate de-sync, but its easily fixed by changing the resolution , then clicking 'do not apply' , even restarting the display driver with Cntrl+Shift+WinKey+B fixes it.

i paid less than $600 for two of them on sale , if you can get them cheap theyre good, im pretty sure the dell you listed is the same model, but i wouldnt pay over $300 for one.


----------



## tabascosauz (Feb 26, 2021)

jboydgolfer said:


> ive got 2 of the Dell Gaming 27" monitors with Gsync. they suffer a engineering flaw, where a vertical line appears occasionally due to refresh rate de-sync, but its easily fixed by changing the resolution , then clicking 'do not apply' , even restarting the display driver with Cntrl+Shift+WinKey+B fixes it.
> 
> i paid less than $600 for two of them on sale , if you can get them cheap theyre good, im pretty sure the dell you listed is the same model, but i wouldnt pay over $300 for one.



Thanks, but they are definitely not the same panel. S2716DGR is a TN panel, along with the TN S2719DGF I mentioned earlier that someone else confused with the S2721DGF that I bought. You are right, I wouldn't pay more than $400CAD for the S2716DGR or S2719DGF.

Dell's gaming line nonclematures really do leave a lot to be desired. Ultrasharp is simple by comparison, P2715Q, U2415H, U2515H, U2715H, U2717D, U2719D, etc.


----------



## kapone32 (Feb 27, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> I did say no to VA in the OP lol  I did take a look at the G27QC (my friend recently bought the IPS G27Q (M27Q without KVM, essentially), unfortunately the G27Q has 0 availability now), but not too much a fan of VA compared to IPS. I have a GW2265 as my secondary monitor right now, and while it is quick and responsive the colours just aren't nearly as good as the IPS panels I have. It's got good contrast ratio and black depth, but the IPS GW2765HT next to it is equally good so if I really need the contrast for some odd reason, I'll probably just drag the window onto the big BenQ.
> 
> I don't usually use my monitors in "the dark" per se, I have a frosted lamp with a smart bulb behind my monitor to alleviate eyestrain a bit and 2700K table lamps off to the side as well. A lot of things are on dark theme right now, but very few aside from Windows apps are on an actually black background. The 27UL550 that I had for about a day had poor contrast ratio as well, but I really didn't mind (perhaps maybe even liked) the rather washed out blacks. Besides, I don't shoot photos in the darkness and then crank the contrast up 500%


I used to be a IPS snob too (I even has a 32" 4K 60hZ IPS). The first VA panel I ever bought was the 32QC and it does have some drawbacks to IPS but not enough to make me exclude them going forward..


----------



## Space Lynx (Feb 27, 2021)

Hardware Unboxed recommends the MSI QRF-QD as its top recommendation.


----------



## Khonjel (Feb 27, 2021)

IPS vs VA

__
		https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/ls81ey
This should be enough.

And I recommend and vote MSI 27QRF-QD


----------



## TheLostSwede (Feb 27, 2021)

jboydgolfer said:


> ive got 2 of the Dell Gaming 27" monitors with Gsync. they suffer a engineering flaw, where a vertical line appears occasionally due to refresh rate de-sync, but its easily fixed by changing the resolution , then clicking 'do not apply' , even restarting the display driver with Cntrl+Shift+WinKey+B fixes it.
> 
> i paid less than $600 for two of them on sale , if you can get them cheap theyre good, im pretty sure the dell you listed is the same model, but i wouldnt pay over $300 for one.


Entirely different displays with different panels in them.


----------



## Space Lynx (Feb 27, 2021)

Khonjel said:


> IPS vs VA
> 
> __
> https://www.reddit.com/r/Monitors/comments/ls81ey
> ...




yep the MSI QD is the king of monitors right now.


----------



## Cvrk (Mar 5, 2021)

@Khonjel thank you for the gif 

don't know if Op has made a purchase yet. @tabascosauz you mentioned that you wanna get 120hz,but won't be hitting 120fps in all games (makes sense). 

It doesn't have to make a difference in your purchase decision but here is my 2cents 

get the highest refresh panel your wallet can handle. your wallet will suffer and your eyes will thank you for the rest of your life

I have been reading about this on the net and YB forever. The endless debate can the human eye tell the difference between 60hz and .....2 million hertz YES!! YES IT CAN
I got a 140hz panel and my eyes are always relaxed. The higher the better. 
Before this, i never had more than 75Hz. The difference is huge when browsing the internet etc etc. - don't think just games.


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 5, 2021)

Cvrk said:


> @Khonjel thank you for the gif
> 
> don't know if Op has made a purchase yet. @tabascosauz you mentioned that you wanna get 120hz,but won't be hitting 120fps in all games (makes sense).
> 
> ...



Thanks for the suggestion. Yep, I mentioned a few posts back that I got the S2721DGF. In fact, it's arriving today. We'll see how it turns out.

That was my thought too, obviously with my 2060 Super I won't be maxing out the display. Risk of Rain 2 is probably easy enough for 120fps+ (except when >1 hour in and absolute madlad difficulty, frames can bog down), BTD6 (lol) I think is high refresh capable, Project Reality is engine limited to 100fps, Borderlands 3 probably around 60-90fps, Genshin is engine limited to 60fps currently, No Man's Sky probably around 100-120fps, MCC I think only H2A works properly at 144fps. CSGO and Siege obviously are easy high fps candidates, but I hardly play them these days.

I'm more interested in the wide gamut support and better brightness compared to my BenQ; I have a colorimeter on the way so I can hopefully also get a sRGB-clamped .icc profile to use for photo editing while having a wide gamut .icc for better colors in everyday use.

Of course, all this depends on it being a good QC panel. It's Dell, fortunately, so I'm not worried at all about return/exchange.


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 15, 2021)

So now that I've spent about a week with the S2721DGF, there are good things:

Excellent colors and reasonable accuracy even without calibration.
Really freaking fast, as expected, with no input lag at all. My old GW2765HT is pretty much unusable for gaming now.
Just the right amount of brightness range on SDR.
Nice stand, would still use it if I didn't have monitor arms
The contrast ratio issue is highly exaggerated
The not-so-good:

Terrible black uniformity. There's a very obvious amount of IPS glow in the bottom left, some in the top left.
Yellow tint in the top right and bottom right that also kind of look like IPS glow. Honestly, if it was just the white glow, I wouldn't care, but obvious yellow shift on the right side of the monitor is pretty much deal-breaking.
There's no way to use tilt/height/brightness/contrast/black stabilizer to compensate for one issue, without exacerbating the other.
Changing Windows/Edge/Youtube themes can compensate slightly for the left side glow, especially if set to a black taskbar with a white background. However, the yellow shift stays and is equally obvious on dark themes.

Admittedly, I am a little OCD, but it's wholly disappointing that my 5-year-old BenQ GW2765HT still boasts near-perfect black and grey uniformity with zero (or at least, completely consistent) IPS glow but the 4 monitors I've tried in the last 2 years have failed to even come close to that level of performance and consistency.

I would do the usual exchange with Dell (and might end up doing so), but from a quick search it seems like the lower-left IPS glow and yellow shift on the right side is less a lottery issue and more an inherent flaw with the LG nanoIPS panels on the 27GL850 and S2721DGF. I was surprised to see from a quick Googling how many people had panels that exhibit exactly the same appearance as mine.

I still have until beginning of April until my Dell return window expires, so I ordered a MSI MAG274QRF-QD to see if that panel (AU Optronics quantum dot, not LG nanoIPS) can do better. That way I can have the 3 panels side-by-side to see whether the Dell or MSI is better.


----------



## Space Lynx (Mar 16, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> So now that I've spent about a week with the S2721DGF, there are good things:
> 
> Excellent colors and reasonable accuracy even without calibration.
> Really freaking fast, as expected, with no input lag at all. My old GW2765HT is pretty much unusable for gaming now.
> ...




please keep us up to date with your final review and decision. i have had my eye on the QD MSI for awhile now... almost grabbedit when it was on sale for $419 on amazon, but i didn't do it... lol now i regret it.


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 19, 2021)

lynx29 said:


> please keep us up to date with your final review and decision. i have had my eye on the QD MSI for awhile now... almost grabbedit when it was on sale for $419 on amazon, but i didn't do it... lol now i regret it.



Got the MAG274QRF-QD (god what a mouthful) today. Put it next to the S2721DGF for a bit, then used the MSI alone for a bit and got the MSI calibrated with my SpyderX. Out of the box, the quantum dot tech makes colours _really _pop which is nice, just not so great for photo work. Thankfully I was able to get it dialed in to about a deltaE of 1 with DisplayCAL.

The uniformity is...interesting. There is still a bit of glow in the bottom left corner, just like the Dell, just more subtle. The colour temperature is certainly cooler in the corners, but the bulk of the screen is pretty consistent. And as odd as it sounds, the uniformity discrepancies are consistent enough (all the corners are similar, not just the bottom left) that it's much more tolerable than the Dell. The bottom edge and top edge have a bit of bleed, but are also pretty consistent from left to right, which makes 100% the difference.

A bit more vignetting, whereas the LG panel in the Dell is pretty much perfect all the way to the corners.

Needless to say, the S2721DGF is packed neatly back into the box, waiting for me to arrange the return. It's a nice screen and has its own perks, but the LG panel's by-design huge white glow in the bottom left and yellow glow in the right corners I just couldn't live with long-term. The AUOptronics panel isn't perfect either, but its nitpicks are much easier for me to live with.

At some point I probably need to accept that panel makers don't know what "quality control" is anymore, and I will literally never again get the sort of perfection I have on my old BenQ GW2765HT.


----------



## Chomiq (Mar 19, 2021)

Yeah from what I've read about 32" 4K display LG panels are usually inferior to AUO's offerings. I imagine this translates to lower res panels as well.


----------



## Space Lynx (Mar 19, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> Got the MAG274QRF-QD (god what a mouthful) today. Put it next to the S2721DGF for a bit, then used the MSI alone for a bit and got the MSI calibrated with my SpyderX. Out of the box, the quantum dot tech makes colours _really _pop which is nice, just not so great for photo work. Thankfully I was able to get it dialed in to about a deltaE of 1 with DisplayCAL.
> 
> The uniformity is...interesting. There is still a bit of glow in the bottom left corner, just like the Dell, just more subtle. The colour temperature is certainly cooler in the corners, but the bulk of the screen is pretty consistent. And as odd as it sounds, the uniformity discrepancies are consistent enough (all the corners are similar, not just the bottom left) that it's much more tolerable than the Dell. The bottom edge and top edge have a bit of bleed, but are also pretty consistent from left to right, which makes 100% the difference.
> 
> ...



yep. now i really regret not getting the MSI QD when it was in stock for 419. crap.


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 20, 2021)

Chomiq said:


> Yeah from what I've read about 32" 4K display LG panels are usually inferior to AUO's offerings. I imagine this translates to lower res panels as well.



I don't have any experience with AUO's recent IPS-type panels, all I know is that this new quantum dot AUO panel is supposed to be their very first panel that can compete with midrange-high end nanoIPS. But my BenQ is also a AUO panel, so that could explain why I prefer the MSI, if there are indeed design patterns between different AUO panels.

On an amusing note, the slightly cooler colour temp "curtains" down the left and right edges of the screen remind me of the LG 27UL550 that I tried, a 4K60 LG panel, except on that monitor there was significant light fall-off on those edges, as opposed to a slight colour temp shift, making it extremely obvious in all usage scenarios and basically unusable.



lynx29 said:


> yep. now i really regret not getting the MSI QD when it was in stock for 419. crap.



I'm sure you'll get another chance. Didn't the QD launch at $550? I bought mine for the equivalent of $445US, didn't even wait for a sale. I guess MSI finally came to their senses regarding pricing. QD panels are good, but they don't warrant a $100 premium over the nanoIPS competition


----------



## MagnyCours (Mar 20, 2021)

Does the S2721DGF use the same panel as the 27GL850? Because it's also notorious for its IPS glow on the bottom-left corner.

Don't know about the rest of the panels listed in the poll, but I'd recommend you avoid the 27GL850 if you're sensitive to IPS glow.

Here are pics of mine:


----------



## Space Lynx (Mar 20, 2021)

MagnyCours said:


> Does the S2721DGF use the same panel as the 27GL850? Because it's also notorious for its IPS glow on the bottom-left corner.
> 
> Don't know about the rest of the panels listed in the poll, but I'd recommend you avoid the 27GL850 if you're sensitive to IPS glow.




yep the LG nano-ips is highly overrated in the community. 



tabascosauz said:


> I'm sure you'll get another chance. Didn't the QD launch at $550? I bought mine for the equivalent of $445US, didn't even wait for a sale. I guess MSI finally came to their senses regarding pricing. QD panels are good, but they don't warrant a $100 premium over the nanoIPS competition



nope the $550 price was misleading it never launched for that, it was 450 at launch and briefly 419 on amazon. i had it in my cart. kicking myself lol - stock has been out for a long time now.


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 21, 2021)

Spoke too soon lol. The MSI panel developed some bright pixels smack dab in the middle of the screen. Which was exactly what I had feared from reading the reviews - it didn't sound like MSI's quality control was any better than Gigabyte's. Guess I found out firsthand.

So the S2721DGF is right back on my desk and it's the MAG274QRF-QD waiting to be returned now. Such is my luck with most of the things I do.

I guess I'll get used to the glow eventually. And if I can't, I guess I'll just have to watch movies on my Renoir HTPC on the TV instead.

I will say, I think the Dell has mellowed a bit with two weeks-ish of use. Just gotta dial in the calibration with my SpyderX.



MagnyCours said:


> Does the S2721DGF use the same panel as the 27GL850? Because it's also notorious for its IPS glow on the bottom-left corner.
> 
> Don't know about the rest of the panels listed in the poll, but I'd recommend you avoid the 27GL850 if you're sensitive to IPS glow.
> 
> Here are pics of mine:



Yeah, the 2721DGF and GL850 use the same panel, hence the same flaws. Looks pretty much the same as my S2721DGF did on day 1.


----------



## TheLostSwede (Mar 21, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> At some point I probably need to accept that panel makers don't know what "quality control" is anymore, and I will literally never again get the sort of perfection I have on my old BenQ GW2765HT.


Sorry, but this is a flawed statement. You can't buy a gaming focused screen and expect to get the best panel quality, as the focus on those panels is to be able to drive them at high refresh rates, not the best possible display quality. Your old Benq is most likely better, because it's an office monitor.
You want something with better quality, take a look the displays that are designed for the work you want to do on them, such as:








						ProArt | Displays for Creators | ASUS Global
					

ProArt displays are primed to take on any creative workflow with ASUS HDR Technology, industry-leading color accuracy, factory pre-calibration and wide color gamuts.




					www.asus.com
				



or




__





						ConceptD – Creator Laptops, Desktops, Monitors, & More | ConceptD | Acer United States
					

No matter if you’re a graphic designer, video editor, or photographer, ConceptD devices give you the power to fully realize your creative potential.




					www.acer.com
				



or




__





						ColorEdge Color Management Monitors  | EIZO
					

ColorEdge LCD monitors feature hardware calibration to provide consistent, predictable color for professionals in pre-press, photography, graphic design, and post production.




					www.eizoglobal.com
				




I guess this would be be what you should've gotten if you want high refresh and a high quality panel.




__





						Acer Laptops, Desktops, Chromebooks, Monitors & Projectors | Acer United States
					

Shop the latest Acer products, from Chromebooks, laptops, monitors, desktop PCs, and projectors for office, home, and entertainment use.




					www.acer.com


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 21, 2021)

TheLostSwede said:


> Sorry, but this is a flawed statement. You can't buy a gaming focused screen and expect to get the best panel quality, as the focus on those panels is to be able to drive them at high refresh rates, not the best possible display quality. Your old Benq is most likely better, because it's an office monitor.
> You want something with better quality, take a look the displays that are designed for the work you want to do on them, such as:
> 
> 
> ...



None of those monitors are any closer to solving the problem, which is black uniformity, not color accuracy. Neither the S2721DGF nor MAG274QRF-QD have any color problems after calibration. The calibrated S2721DGF has good sRGB and P3, and the calibrated MAG274QRF is good on sRGB, P3 and Adobe. That's not a problem.

The rtings review for the ProArt PA278QV shows uniformity that isn't much better than the MAG274QRF-QD I have. No high refresh. So much for ProArt.
Eizo's only high refresh monitor, the now-EOL FS2735, doesn't have the uniformity compensation feature that makes Eizo Eizo.
No ConceptD monitors are available here. I can't even get one from B&H. Specs look good, but 0 reviews anywhere, not even user reviews. Makes no claim to uniformity, nor has a brand reputation or features for it like Eizo.
As much as I like the SW2700PT and SW271, no high refresh.
I admit, maybe I got lucky with my old monitor or maybe it just improved that much over time. But my point still stands - striving for the fastest gaming panel can understandably impact color accuracy (and I wouldn't hold poor performance in that against a gaming monitor), but there's no reason why uniformity and glow should just magically be allowed to be worse than a "non-gaming" monitor. "Oh it's a gaming monitor, I guess frickin white and yellow blinding orbs in the corners are okay then"

Hey, just wanted to get it off my chest. I'll get over it. If not for the glow, the S2721DGF's performance is not bad. Definitely not feeling wallet remorse the way I did after the first two U2719Ds last last year.


----------



## TheLostSwede (Mar 21, 2021)

tabascosauz said:


> None of those monitors are any closer to solving the problem, which is black uniformity, not color accuracy. Neither the S2721DGF nor MAG274QRF-QD have any color problems after calibration. The calibrated S2721DGF has good sRGB and P3, and the calibrated MAG274QRF is good on sRGB, P3 and Adobe. That's not a problem.
> 
> The rtings review for the ProArt PA278QV shows uniformity that isn't much better than the MAG274QRF-QD I have. No high refresh. So much for ProArt.
> Eizo's only high refresh monitor, the now-EOL FS2735, doesn't have the uniformity compensation feature that makes Eizo Eizo.
> ...


The thing is, if you buy a professional monitor, that would be considered unacceptable.
If you buy a gaming monitor, it's not targeting your use case, so the monitor manufacturers are expecting to get away with certain flaws, as most users wouldn't care. This is also why so many gaming monitors are still using TN panels.
I never said any of those monitors except Acer's ConceptD was high refresh, as said those are the kind of monitors you ought to be looking at for work.
Interestingly, that specific ConceptD display is not available in Taiwan either...


----------



## oxrufiioxo (Mar 21, 2021)

Your thread has been pretty interesting to follow.... Small sample size but I've had a decent amount of hands on with the LG GL850, GN850, and the S2721DGF. All of them were pretty good with very minimal glow in the bottom/left corner. If i did professional work none of them would probably be my choice but for gaming they were all great

I have a buddy who grabbed the Msi varient you did and he sent it back for the same reason although his had a decent amount of ips glow in all corners as well.

I honetly think like with anything it's just silicon lottery... back in 2017 I purchased 3 PG279Q, and one AG271QG and they all were terrible.... ended up just going with a PG278QR becuse it's faults for what it cost were way easier to deal with. My GN850 is miles better than all of them and was a decent amount cheaper.
​


----------



## tabascosauz (Mar 22, 2021)

oxrufiioxo said:


> Your thread has been pretty interesting to follow.... Small sample size but I've had a decent amount of hands on with the LG GL850, GN850, and the S2721DGF. All of them were pretty good with very minimal glow in the bottom/left corner. If i did professional work none of them would probably be my choice but for gaming they were all great
> 
> I have a buddy who grabbed the Msi varient you did and he sent it back for the same reason although his had a decent amount of ips glow in all corners as well.
> 
> I honetly think like with anything it's just silicon lottery... back in 2017 I purchased 3 PG279Q, and one AG271QG and they all were terrible.... ended up just going with a PG278QR becuse it's faults for what it cost were way easier to deal with. My GN850 is miles better than all of them and was a decent amount cheaper.



My only experience with Asus is the PB287Q, a 28" 4K60 TN. Given my recent luck with monitors, I have to get a monitor that has 30 days no questions asked return, which is why I've been defaulting to Dell. Otherwise, the retailer would have to have that kind of return policy, e.g. Amazon or Memory Express.

I was hoping this time around that the panel lottery would matter less / be a little kinder to me, but I guess I was asking too much. 

After calibration the panel actually looks a bit better now, or maybe I'm just used to it. The bottom left glow is here to stay, though. The nanoIPS panel seems extremely dependent on viewing angle - thanks to my VESA arm I was able to position the screen in a way that minimizes the yellow glow in the upper right corner. Obviously, that makes the white glow in the bottom left brighter, but also makes most of the bottom edge brighter as well so it's actually not as noticeable.

Seems like it's time for me to give up on the dream of having a single do-it-all monitor now that I've been spoiled with 165Hz. I just came across BenQ's new Adobe SW270C that has Eizo-esque software based uniformity compensation, but it would strictly be for my photo editing and not much else. The Dell has pretty poop Adobe coverage compared to the MSI (86% vs 98%), but thankfully my current needs don't yet warrant buying a $1099 SW270C.


----------



## s3thra (Jun 17, 2021)

I picked up the Dell S2721DGF on sale recently. Coming from my trusty 24.5" TN Acer KG251QF monitor, I was looking for something just a bit bigger with high refresh to boot, and with all my experience in the past with IPS panels with their better-than-TN colour accuracy, I was really looking forward to the upgrade. I've used an older Dell 27" IPS at work for years now, and the colour accuracy on that thing is impeccable.

So I did my research, checked things out on RTINGS, watched the Hardware Unboxed review a couple of times, weighed things up and thought about things considerably before finally making the decision on the S2721DGF.

The unit arrived, I quickly unboxed it, then set things up the first chance I had some spare time. I pull up my chair in front of my desk, adjust the panel height and angle, switch on my PC, log in, and stare at the screen for a few seconds before noticing a weird haze or shimmer, particularly in the corners of the screen. I fiddle with the colour settings based on the review recommendations - that should fix things right? Wrong. OMG THE IPS GLOW! WTF IS THIS?! It's like I'm seeing double vision in the corners, like I can't quite focus my eyes properly. AAAHH!

Yes, the reviews were mentioning the IPS glow, the backlight bleed as well, but I thought to myself "eh, how bad can it be coming from a TN panel". Well, it's very bloody noticeable for someone who has always used TN panels; I just can't do it, particularly in my dark-ish room.

Yes, TN has its flaws, but they are flaws I can live with and have gotten used to over the years coming from CRT. I must say as well, the new 24.5" TN panels are a huge step up from the old 23.8" units that have been around since like 2011. I was using a circa 2009 Dell 24" TN for the better part of a decade, and when I upgraded to the new Acer it was like night and day with brightness, colour, and contrast.

So overall it was an experiment, but I've learned now what @tabascosauz has learned - there's "design monitors" with awesome colours, and then there's gaming monitors, with less than perfects colours, rubbish glow, but play games without ghosting which look great as long as your game doesn't have any dark areas, like that's a thing.

There might be some VA monitors out there that will do what I'm looking for, but they are all bloody curved things and I'm pretty sure that would seriously trigger my OCD. So for now I'll return the S2721DGF and just go back to my KG251QF.


----------

