The push for 4K resolution and HDR (high dynamic range) has been at a record high over the last couple of years, mainly due to the increase in content available across today’s media platforms. While many users have comfortably settled with 1080p TVs over the last decade, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find 1080p sets unless you go to the lowest-end displays. Price premiums for good quality 4K TVs are steadily declining, making it quite easy to find a good quality 4K TV well under $1500. While the market is saturated with the Samsungs, Sonys, and LGs of the TV industry, we are seeing some new players enter the fold with very competitive offerings. One of these companies is TCL, and they happened to send me their most interesting 55″ 4K TV for a review, the 55P607. This model comes with an attractive price for those on a budget, and should definitely be on your radar if you’re in the market for an affordable gaming TV.

At first glance, the TV makes no attempt to turn your head. It’s offered in a standard black casing that houses the majority of TVs on the market. It’s supported by two plastic feet that have a solid feel, and don’t give the impression of breaking easily. These feet have a metallic gunmetal finish, and do a nice job at complimenting the black casing. Bezels are quite thin, and shouldn’t be distracting to anyone. An important thing to mention is that the feet are connected near the ends of the display, making it easy to place a soundbar in the center. It might seem like a small thing, but many TV manufacturers don’t pay attention to this detail, and end up having a big base at the bottom center of the TV, making soundbar placement annoying while situated on a TV stand. TCL’s logo is printed in a no-frills fashion, with a LED standby light that glows white just below it.

In terms of inputs. the P607 features a standard assortment found in most TVs on the market. It’s equipped with 3 HDMI 2.0 ports that are fully capable of HDCP 2.2, an optical/TOSLink out, an ethernet port, cable and AV inputs, along with a headphone jack to use your own headphones. The power connection is located on the left side of the TV, separate from the input cluster. On the lower right side of the TV, there is a group of buttons used to navigate the OSD, if you happen to lose your TV remote or need direct access without one. The P607 also features 802.11ac Wi-Fi, so you don’t need to use the ethernet port unless your router isn’t up to snuff.

Speaking of the OSD, I was pleasantly surprised with TCL’s offering. Having tested hundreds of displays over the years, it gets a little boring staring at your average black and blue menu systems. The OSD of the P607 takes a big depature from this, with a red colored background filled with a diamond cut design. It’s also quite snappy in terms of response, with smooth transitions while navigating between menus. At first, I thought it might be an issue to have the TV power up to the central “Home Screen” every time, however this option can be configured to boot the TV into last used input, or another input of your choice.

In terms of configuration, TCL implemented a few clever quirks. By pressing the * button on the Roku remote, it brings up your standard calibration menu that allows you to configure TV brightness, picture mode, picture size, among other settings. An advanced calibration menu allows further tweaking, giving you access to controls such as brightness, contrast, local contrast (local dimming control), as well as “Game Mode” to reduce input lag once enabled. At first, I was quite bummed not to found any kind of 2pt or multi-point RGB calibration menu, which would have prevented me from tuning the picture for accurate performance. Upon further inspection, the 55P607 DOES feature an 11pt RGB calibration tool, however it is hidden away in the Roku app that you can download onto iOS or Android. Once downloaded, you can navigate over to the “Expert Picture Settings” option that is located under the settings menu. Here, you are able to configure picture mode, gamma, noise reduction, and color temperature presets. This implementation is quite clever, as it is much cleaner and faster to handle this task through your mobile phone, and the 11pt calibration allows a full 255 point adjustment for each RGB value. The thing I like most about their calibration implementation is that it still works under “Game Mode”, something that I can’t even do on my LG B7A OLED TV. LG doesn’t permit fine tuning of RGB values under “Game Mode”, and your only option is to force an input to PC mode to achieve low lag and multi-point calibration.

Even though this TV is only available in 55-inches, there are actually two models of this TV: the P605 and the P607. They are identical, except that the P607 model includes a special Roku TV remote. This remote is a bit of a departure from your standard TV remotes, forcing you to sync it to the TV using an internal button on initial setup. There is a benefit to doing this: you don’t have to point the remote directly at the TV to control it! Even if you cover the IR blaster on the top of the remote and point it away from the TV, it still controls the TV just fine. This is useful if you happen to have a large soundbar that can sometimes block the IR port of your TV. In terms of feel, the remote feels quite ergonomic in your hand. It has decent weight, the plastic doesn’t feel cheap, and the buttons are sized well and feel nice to the touch. The remote features shortcuts to Netflix, Sling, Hulu, and Starz on the bottom, as well as search function to utilize voice control search. This worked quite well in my testing, as long as you speak directly to the microphone located below the power button. The right side of the remote features volume control as well as a mute switch, and the left side features a headphone jack, a useful addition for those that don’t want to have a wire dangling from the TV.

The sound quality is nothing special, and resembles what’s found in most TVs on the market. It’s good enough to hear dialogue and the overall soundtrack, but don’t expect any presence in the low-end, or dynamic range. You will definitely want to use a sound bar or home theater system for this TV.

Panel Uniformity:

Panel uniformity is something that tends to be quite problematic in screen sizes north of 55-inches, however it is a mixed bag on the P607. The panel doesn’t degrade much in terms of luminance from the center of the screen, showcasing only a 5% drop in luminance on the top left and bottom left portions of the screen. However, the color temperature does exhibit a significant variance from the center of the screen, particularly on the bottom corners of the screen, as well as the right side of the panel. This deviations drop the color temperature as high as 400 K off center, so the picture will appear slightly warmer in these areas. I wasn’t able to detect this deviation in normal viewing, but it’s there. Keep in mind that uniformity tends to vary significantly across different samples of the same display.

Picture Calibration – Standard Dynamic Range (SDR):

It’s rare to find displays within this price range that include a multi-point grayscale configuration, but TCL was generous enough to include this option, provided you download the Roku smartphone app. Without the app, you are limited to the presets that TCL has calibrated such as Normal, Cool, and Warm. TCL’s calibration out of the box wasn’t too far from the target 6500 K that I normally calibrate for in Movie mode, but still needed some fine tuning. Due to the fact that I would primarily use this as a gaming display, I decided to calibrate the Movie preset with Game Mode enabled, in order to achieve the lowest input lag possible. Thanks to the multi-point grayscale calibration, it allowed me to fine tune the P607 to achieve truly remarkable grayscale accuracy, even under Game Mode. This resulted in an average DeltaE value of 0.4, well under the recommended average of 3.0, along with a contrast ratio of 5129:1. Average gamma tracked extremely well at a near perfect 2.2 to meet Rec 709 standards. I found that keeping Game Mode enabled under the Movie preset presented a pleasing picture overall, so I didn’t find a reason to disable Game Mode for minuscule differences in accuracy. The backlight was adjusted to achieve a dark room brightness of 120 nits, which also resulted in a black level of 0.02 nits. This is with local dimming disabled, so you can significantly boost perceived contrast ratio and achieve darker black levels by setting the “Local Contrast” setting to High.

Picture Calibration – High Dynamic Range (HDR):

The calibrated settings for SDR fared quite well with HDR content as well. The only setting that needed adjustment was the “TV brightness” setting, which allows you to choose between different backlight presets, separate from the brightness and backlight controls. The P607 managed to reproduce 92% of the DCI P3 color space thanks to its wide color gamut, and tracked quite well along the EOTF curve using calibrated SDR settings. The peak brightness achieved on the P607 was 583 nits, which is sufficiently bright for HDR content, though not as bright as some higher-end LED TVs.

Our calibrated settings can be found in the images below. Make sure you download the Roku app on iOS/Android, otherwise you will not be able to perform the 11pt calibration:

Picture Review:

After calibrating the P607 to achieve enough accuracy for critical viewing, I put the TV through its paces with several pieces of SDR and HDR content. It’s important to note that the P607’s local dimming plays a huge role in the TV’s contrast ratio, and I highly recommend enabling it to get the most out of the P607. Without it, your black levels can suffer. Personally, I set it to “High” and re-calibrated the picture to achieve 120 nits brightness in a dark room setting. I used my Xbox One X set to output at 10-bit color gamut, along with Limited black levels, so it sent reference video levels to the TV.

As expected, grayscale performance was extremely good. Colors appeared to be natural, without any oversaturation in skin tones or deep RGB colors. With the local contrast set to “High”, the P607 did a good job at darkening scenes where the majority of the video signal was dark. I noticed that the “High” setting can be slightly aggressive compared to the lower presets, but it didn’t bother me enough to where I wanted to change it, as I preferred darker black levels. During the dark scenes in the first episode of Netflix’s Punisher, I was able to resolve enough shadow detail in the scene with Frank Castle brawling with his 3 co-workers towards the end of the episode.

In terms of gaming, I played through the beginning parts of Gears of War 4’s second act, when JD and the squad encounter Marcus for the first time. There are scenes on this level where you can look at the moon and notice the effects of HDR right away, and the TV achieved enough brightness to where the benefits of HDR were quite visible. The grayscale was quite similar to SDR mode, and I couldn’t really discern any significant difference in this regard. However, HDR mode allowed for a wider color gamut and deeper dynamic range, which definitely made a difference in perceived contrast.

I do have a few complaints with the overall picture quality however, mainly due to the TV’s viewing angle. The P607 isn’t a strong performer when viewed from the sides, as there is a significant shift in gamma and contrast. While this is a common problem with most LED TVs, I found it to be a bigger problem on the P607 in comparison. Below are some screenshots with Blue at 100 IRE to showcase the problem. You’ll notice a purple hue when viewing angle has shifted too far in any direction, though it doesn’t look this pronounced in actual content. If you mostly view the TV head-on, level with your eyes, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Gaming Performance – Measured Input Lag:

The main reason that the TCL 55P607 received a bit of a cult status is due to its extremely strong gaming performance. Around the time 4K TVs started entering the market, they offered sub-par gaming performance, with input lag as high as 60ms under game mode. This made it extremely difficult to perform any serious gaming. Things have changed significantly for the better in 2017, with many 4K TVs offering under 30ms of input lag under game mode. However, many of these TVs tend to be priced north of $1000, which makes it less accessible to gamers on a budget. So, how does the P607 fare when it comes to gaming? Exceptionally well.

• Top: 6.8ms
• Middle: 14.2ms
• Bottom: 21.5ms

With game mode enabled, the P607 achieves remarkable results for input lag across all types of picture modes, with an average input lag of 14ms. This includes 1080p sources being scaled up by the TV, native 4K sources, and 4K HDR content as well! There was quite a bit of outrage last year when some brands exhibited higher input lag while under HDR mode, which became quite problematic for gamers wanting to experience HDR. It’s great to see that TCL achieved low input lag results across all types of input sources, so gamers don’t have to worry about input lag during serious gaming. To test it further, I booted up my copy of Ultra Street Fighter IV to nitpick its gaming performance.

It was extremely difficult to notice the difference between a fast gaming monitor and the P607 when it came to Ultra Street Fighter IV. I was able to connect 1-frame link combos that typically require adjustment when playing on TVs with higher lag. If there is an adjustment coming from a gaming monitor, it’s quite minimal, as my brain was able to adapt to it instantly without much effort. Unfortunately, most modern fighting games have higher input lag in their engines, along with longer buffer windows, which makes it difficult to feel the difference between 1-frame timings. Nevertheless, the TV felt great when playing Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 as well. I was able to execute korean backdash techniques in Tekken 7 with similar timings to a fast gaming monitor With that said, there is something I wasn’t too happy about, and it was the motion performance during fast gaming, which I break down in more detail below.

Response Time / Motion Blur:

An area where I feel the P607 is a bit lacking is in its motion performance, which becomes a big deal in gaming applications. While it’s more difficult to notice in 24hz and 30hz content, it becomes apparent when 60hz content is displayed, particularly during fast motion scenes and camera pans. While the P607 has a Clear Motion Index (CMI) rating of 120hz, it’s native panel refresh rate is 60hz, which is common for TVs in this price range. Particularly during my sessions with Ultra Street Fighter IV and Tekken 7, I noticed motion blur while the characters particularly during movements such as dashing and fast walking. This is similar to gaming monitors when their over drive setting is completely disabled, though a touch better than that. Most gaming monitors incorporate different levels of over drive to reduce this type of blur, in exchange for some motion artifacts that are difficult to see during real content. I would have liked to have seen some kind of over drive implementation on the P607, even though it’s not a common thing in TVs. It would help in situations like this where the panel has some trouble keeping up with fast motion. Most people probably won’t notice it at all, but if you’re coming from a fast TN gaming monitor, the difference is there. The screenshot below from TestUFO gives an idea of how it looks during fast motion, while under Game Mode.

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The post Gaming Review: TCL P-Series 55P607 4K HDR TV appeared first on DisplayLag.

TCL has gained a solid reputation for gamers since the release of their P-Series 4K TV from last year, widely recognized for its extremely low input lag and budget pricing. The current marketplace for TVs is seeing an increased focus on gaming, with several manufacturers now sporting low input lag in their latest models.

TCL sent me a review unit of their sucessor to the P607 from last year, the 55-inch R617. There are several improvements with TCL’s latest 6-Series model for 2018, most notably increased contrast control zones, and an all-new brushed metal finish. Say goodbye to the black plastic from last year! The 55R617 looks considerably more premium with its new look, making it an attractive option for your household that’s in line with the Sonys and Samsungs of the world.

Speaking more on the looks, the new finish of the 55R617 really adds to the bold character of the new model. I’ve always associated shiny black plastic bezels with a sort of “cheapness” to the overall look of a display, but there’s none of that with TCL’s new 6-series. The brushed metal bezel prevents any sort of glare or distraction from the panel itself, and looks quite nice under lit conditions.

It also doesn’t attract any fingerprints and is quite smooth to the touch. There’s an all-new power button on the bottom right of the display, that signals when the TV is in standby mode. It also allows you to navigate through the OSD without requiring separate buttons to make menu choices; simply hover the menu item that you’d like to configure, and it will automatically select it after a second or two. This is only useful for changing inputs and turning the TV off, however. You will still need to use the included Roku remote to handle more in-depth tuning.

The OSD itself is largely unchanged from last year, featuring the same red and white UI with a diamond-cut background. I’m personally a big fan of this UI, as it looks quite refreshing compared to the standard UIs found in most mainstream TVs today. Most of the OSD options have carried over from last year, so if you’re already seasoned to this UI, it should feel quite familiar for most users. If this is your first TCL TV, there is a * button on the remote that allows you to access advanced features depending on the screen you’re on. For example, pressing this button on a HDMI input allows you to configure its picture settings, as well as adjust preferred audio output.

Like last year’s P-Series, you can download a specialized Roku app for iOS or Android, and use that to control your TV, as long as it’s connected to the same home network as your phone. This also allows you to configure 11pt white balance controls, which cannot be found using the traditional remote. The benefit of configuring white balance through your phone is that it makes it incredibly easy to configure specific RGB values, without having the OSD interfere with your colorimeter.

While an option to configure through your remote control would still be nice, this method is more optimal in my opinion to fine-tune the 55R617’s white balance. In addition to 11pt white balance, the TV’s color space can also be configured through the app.

The remote itself contains most of the features from last year’s model, but loses its built-in headphone jack, and the ability to find the remote if it gets misplaced. It still features a built-in microphone, which allows you to control the TV’s functions quite well. I was able to seamlessly switch HDMI inputs, and even turn the TV off with simply my voice.

The remote is coated with a matte texture, and is quite a bit smaller than most full size remotes that are traditionally supplied with the competition. This makes it quite comfortable and light for prolonged use. Volume control and mute functions are located on its side, and the remote also features shortcut buttons for popular streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu.

In terms of audio, the 55R617 features a pair of built in 8-watt stereo speakers, that are serviceable for basic audio needs, however, don’t expect any sort of dynamic range or low-end oomph from them. These speakers are mainly included to provide basic audio, though TCL does offer DSP effects to change the overall sound from the speakers.

These presets include settings such as Big Bass, Higher Treble, and Speech to improve certain aspects of audio delivery. For best results, however, you should pair the 55R617 with an appropriate sound bar or home theater receiver.

The 55R617 features three HDMI 2.0 inputs that support HDCP 2.2 to connect your media players and game consoles, as well as ethernet, composite, RF, USB, optical, and USB connections. There are no component connection for the 5 people that may still use it in 2018, which means that you’ll need an external box to handle that connection.

For those not inclined on using the Ethernet port for online connectivity, the R617 also features 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is the connection I personally used to test out the TV’s online suite. I didn’t encounter any disconnection issues, and the connection remained stable throughout the duration of testing. To see the full list of specifications of the 55R617, click the toggle below:

Panel Uniformity:

An area that can be problematic in most LED TVs is panel uniformity. This includes problems such as backlight bleed, which create differences among different areas of the screen. It’s a phenomenon that can usually be noticed in a dark room with a black or gray image on the screen. Using Calman’s screen uniformity test, I measured 9 different areas of the screen using 30 IRE and 100 IRE signals, to showcase the deviation from the center of the screen.

In the 100 IRE test, the largest deviations can be seen on the left and top-left portions of the screen, as well as the bottom-center, exhibiting a slight reddish hue. In the 30 IRE test, the deviations are less noticeable, though the top-left portion of the screen features the largest deviation from the center of the screen. These results are relatively standard fare when it comes to most LED TVs on the market in this price range.

Picture Calibration:

Similar to last year’s 6-series TV, this year’s 55R617 model features 11pt white balance calibration via the Roku smartphone app, which syncs to your TCL TV when setup correctly. This allows you to adjust the Red, Green, and Blue color balance on top of existing picture settings and color temperatures that come standard with the 55R617. As the primary focus of this review is intended for gaming, I will be calibrating the Movie picture preset with Game Mode enabled to achieve low latency.

The Movie preset is the closest to our target of 6500 K and 2.2 gamma, though it still needed further tweaking. Using the 11pt calibration controls via the Roku app, I performed a multi-point grayscale calibration and achieved some stellar results. Even while under Game Mode, the calibration resulted in an impressive DeltaE value of 0.1, with an average gamma of 2.28.

This is well below the recommended average DeltaE of 3.0. While it may be possible to achieve even better calibration by disabling Game Mode, the low input lag offered in this mode is definitely worth the slight sacrifice in accuracy. Using this calibration profile, I measured a black level of 0.03 cd/m², recorded at a brightness level of 120 nits.

Keep in mind that this was with local dimming disabled, so you can achieve even better black levels by setting the Local Contrast setting to “High”. In addition, these settings also work well with “Game Mode” disabled, yielding an average DeltaE value of 0.2.

In terms of HDR performance, the calibrated settings from the SDR calibration manage to carry over into my HDR test. The only changes necessary were to change the “TV brightness” setting from “Darker” to “Brighter”, in order to increase the backlight for HDR content. Additionally, setting Local Contrast to the High setting enables the local dimming zones, drastically increasing the contrast ratio on this TV.

The R617 manages to follow the EOTF curve during HDR10 analysis quite nicely, with only some slight shifts in over and under luminance. Peak brightness with Local Contrast set to off was approximately 640 nits, whereas engaging Local Contrast on the High setting resulted in a peak brightness of 905 nits. This is a significant improvement from last year’s model, and makes HDR content pop that much more. Check out our calibrated settings in the images below (please note: these settings can perform quite differently on your TV, use at your own discretion):

Gaming Performance – Measured Input Lag:

Last year’s TCL P607 surprised me quite a bit when it came to its gaming performance. That TV made numerous headlines last year among the press for its extremely low input lag, a figure we measured ourselves in our review. For those unaware, while most manufacturers have made giant strides in reducing input lag in their TVs, it still hasn’t been quite low enough to match the fastest gaming monitors in our input lag database. The previous P607 managed an impressively-low input lag rating of just 14ms, so how does this year’s model fare comparatively?

• 1080p: 16.7ms
• 4K: 18.6ms
• 4K + HDR: 18.6ms

There is a slight difference among 1080p and 4K signals on this TV, though this difference should not be noticeable. While this number is higher than last year’s model, it still falls under our ‘excellent’ rating when it comes to high performance gaming displays. This result rounds up to an average input lag of 19ms. I do wish that TCL made further improvements to input lag, to bring them closer to the 10ms mark.

Regardless, this TV should offer a great experience to anyone that’s serious about their gaming, especially during 4K HDR content. Additionally, TCL introduced a new black frame insertion mode in this year’s model, called LED Motion Clarity in the menus. This reduces blur that is noticeable on LED TVs during fast content, at the expense of backlight brightness. It also introduces a flicker, which can cause discomfort with some users.

The interesting part of this feature is that it can be enabled with Game Mode as well. You will be trading some responsiveness for reduced motion blur. These are the input lag results with both features enabled:

• 1080p: 22.8ms
• 4K: 21.6ms
• 4K + HDR: 21.8ms

Input lag isn’t increased significantly with this mode enabled, so if you do prefer black insertion, then it shouldn’t affect your gaming performance by much. Personally, the flickering bothered me, so I chose not to use it.

What I DID NOT Like:

Motion blur. This is something I noted in my review from last year’s model, and I still have issues with it in this year’s R617. While TCL did add a mode called LED Motion Clarity, which adds black frame insertion during content, this option drastically reduces your peak backlight brightness, and causes a noticeable flicker that is quite distracting.

The trade offs to me just aren’t worth it, mainly because the peak brightness makes it difficult to view content outside of dark rooms. Unfortunately, there are limitations with the VA panel used in this TV, and many other manufacturers also have this problem in this price point. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by OLED TVs and fast TN gaming monitors, but I do feel there could be some panel overdrive tricks that could be done to improve this. It’s especially noticeable during 60hz content, and you do need a trained eye to see it.

Viewing angles still aren’t the greatest, again a problem due to the VA panel used by TCL. You will notice significant color/gamma shifting the further you move from the center of the screen, which degrades a calibrated picture. The TV doesn’t become unwatchable by any means, though I highly recommend staying as centered as you can with this TV.

While this TV does support Dolby Vision content, I was unable to use Dolby Vision through the Xbox One X. I do notice that the Xbox One X is finicky with which devices it chooses to pass Dolby Vision content through, however in this case, Dolby Vision support was grayed out completely. My other Dolby Vision test files worked just fine, however.

Though I praised the low input lag offered by the R617 overall, the fact remains that it is a regression from last year’s model, which measured at approximately 14ms, compared to the 17-19ms offered in the R617. While this change won’t be noticeable to the grand majority of gamers, including high level gamers,

I’d like to see input lag reduce in a newer model. It’s only a few milliseconds, but it adds up over the years if input lag numbers keep increasing. For those unaware, 1 frame in a 60 fps game is roughly 16.67 milliseconds. With that said, you won’t notice the difference unless you’re trained to detect 1 frame of additional input lag, which is quite difficult.

What I Liked:

There’s plenty to love with TCL’s R617 this year, as they have revamped several things to improve the overall user experience. The new design is so much better than last year’s plain black plastic, with the slimmer bezels and stealth metal design. It truly looks like it belongs in a modern living room, and stands toe to toe with other major brands in this department. Its UI is quite modern and easy to navigate, and the bonus of having true 11pt multi-point grayscale calibration shouldn’t be taken lightly, as most TVs in this price range do not offer the luxury.

During SDR content, color accuracy was impeccable. In a dark environment using the calibrated settings listed above, colors and skin tones looked spot on, without any noticeable over-saturation or weird looking colors. In HDR mode, the color gamut was noticeably expanded, along with the benefits of increased contrast ratio. I tried several games kicked into their HDR mode, including Spider-Man, Gears of War 4, Halo: Master Chief Collection, among others. The R617 provided a great experience with all the games I tried. Though it can’t match the depth that OLED provides, I was happy with the TV’s overall HDR performance, and the increased contrast zones over last year’s model do play a part in that.

It’s great to see that TCL continues to provide low input lag to appeal to serious gamers. Doing side-by-side comparisons with the Zowie RL2460 pro gaming monitor, I found it extremely difficult to discern differences with input timing when testing Ultra Street Fighter 4 on the PlayStation 4. I was able to perform difficult 1-frame links without any real adjustment, besides calibrating myself to the much larger screen size. Even when running a side-by-side camera test at 60 FPS, the TCL TV only trailed behind the Zowie monitor by 1 frame at most, which is excellent performance. This is especially great because the R617 still provides complete 11pt multi-point grayscale calibration, even with Game Mode enabled. As Game Mode naturally reduces processing, many manufacturers tend to disable advanced calibration options when Game Mode is enabled. Unless you’re a professional gamer who needs frame-perfect input response, you shouldn’t have any problems with the R617’s gaming performance, in both SDR and HDR modes.

The post Gaming Review: TCL 6-Series 55R617 4K HDR TV appeared first on DisplayLag.

Just in time for the holidays, we have a big update coming to our input lag database! Today’s update features several models from LG’s OLED and IPS TV lineup. What’s remarkable is that LG has significantly improved input lag in their TVs year over year, with some of their 4K IPS models hitting unbelievably low input lag numbers – check out the impressive 11ms of input lag offered in 4K mode from the LG 75UK6570! If that’s out of the budget, LG’s 43″ UK6300 also offers an extremely low 12ms input lag under $400, quite an impressive value. We will be updating several more brands very soon!

Excellent –  Recommended for the most hardcore gamers who value low input lag. The adjustment from a 60hz gaming monitor will be very minor or non-existent.

Great – A small difference from ‘Excellent’ displays, it shouldn’t affect the grand majority of gamers out there. Those most sensitive to lag may notice, but will usually be within 1 frame.

LG 4K HDR TVs:

• IPS LED – 75″ 75UK6570PUB – Input Lag: 11ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• IPS LED – 43″ 43UK6300PUE – Input Lag: 12ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• IPS LED – 55″ 55UK7700PUD – Input Lag: 13ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• IPS LED – 65″ 65SK9500PUA – Input Lag: 14ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• IPS LED – 55″ 55SK8000PUA – Input Lag: 14ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• IPS LED – 55″ 55SK9000PUA – Input Lag: 16ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• OLED – 55″ OLED55B8PUA – Input Lag: 21ms (Great) – Check Amazon
• OLED – 55″ OLED55C8PUA – Input Lag: 21ms (Great) – Check Amazon

Want to compare these displays to over 500 displays in our input lag database? You can do so here.

The post Input Lag Tests: LG 2018 UK, SK, and OLED TVs (C8, B8) appeared first on DisplayLag.

If you’re a frequent visitor to DisplayLag, BenQ should be no stranger to you. As a market leader in creating low input lag displays, they’ve ventured into a number of displays over the years, with entry level TN monitors designed for speed, all the way to panels aimed at graphic design. With many advents in technology over the years and the push to 4K, this new resolution has already become the standard for home theater, and has crept its way into many monitors as well.

The EL2870U is BenQ’s entry level option designed to get people into the 4K HDR craze, while still maintaining a price point under $500. For the purpose of this review, BenQ sent me a sample to give a test run. Keep reading to see what it’s all about.

BenQ’s EL2870U features a native 3840 x 2160 resolution at 60hz refresh rate, which is the current standard for 4K content. This panel is encased into a large 28″ screen size, which definitely envelopes you when you sit close. It supports HDR10 content, so you won’t find HDR formats such as Dolby Vision and HLG here, but this is to be expected at the entry level price point.

FreeSync support is also present here, making the most of your AMD graphics cards, along with consoles such as the Xbox One (more on that later in this review). It sports a TN panel with an advertised 1ms GTG response time, which in theory should be plenty fast for your gaming needs. Full specifications can be seen by clicking the toggle below:

A departure from most of BenQ’s displays, the EL2870U features a two-tone finish in both gray and black plastics, with the gray portion having a slight glitter effect under direct light. The monitor comes separated from its stand out of the box, which requires a quick assembly before you can take it for a spin.

Unfortunately, the stand contains no height adjustment, and due to its TN panel, it’s important for you to place the monitor at eye-level for the best experience. It also cannot be swiveled, however its angle can be adjusted vertically to compensate for slight height differences. It would have been nice to see a fully adjustable stand, like their popular RL2460 gaming monitor.

The buttons for OSD control are located at the bottom of the monitor this time, instead of the sides like some of BenQ’s other offerings. One great aspect of BenQ’s OSD design is that the functions for the buttons appear on the screen itself, so you don’t have to guess too much when trying to configure the monitor in a dimly-lit environment.

Compared to some of their other monitors, the OSD response is also much improved, though still doesn’t quite match the speed of ASUS monitors. There is a small lag time when trying to browse the menus. Once this monitor is set up correctly, you shouldn’t have to tinker too much when it comes to changing settings, so it’s a minor annoyance.

In terms of connectivity, BenQ’s EL2870U features a good amount of digital connections for your devices. Two HDMI 2.0 inputs can be found to connect home consoles like an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, along with DisplayPort 1.4, which you’d ideally use for your PC. A headphone jack is also present for external audio devices, though I’d imagine most people will connect their audio directly to their system or controller of choice.

Picture Uniformity:

Uniformity is a common problem among most LED displays, with TN panels usually being the worst offenders in this category. Using out of the box settings, I measured the EL2870U across 30, 80, and 100 IRE signals to get an idea of how much deviation was present from the center of the screen.

In all three tests, the largest deviations can be seen across the top and bottom of the display, with a DeltaE variance of over 3 on most parts of the screen. Due to the limitations of TN panels, it’s difficult to obtain color accuracy throughout the whole screen. The images below give some reference, though this is harder to notice while viewing actual content.

Picture Calibration:

When it comes to calibrating the EL2870U, BenQ offers the standard assortment of RGB configuration that’s present in most of their models: a standard red, green, and blue adjustment slider, along with a bunch of preset picture modes depending on what you prefer out of the box. While out of the box modes such as Standard, sRGB, and Rec.709 had decent performance, I wanted to fine tune the monitor’s SDR settings further and opted for the User picture mode.

This allows tuning of the gamma curve, along with the aforementioned RGB sliders to tweak color temperature. I managed to achieve a grayscale DeltaE average of 1.6, which falls under the recommended ceiling of 3.0 for accuracy, along with a color temperature of 6466 K. Black level was measured to be 0.16 nits, which is typical for TN monitors, as they don’t usually reproduce great black levels. I measured a native contrast ratio of 769:1 under a brightness level of 120 nits, which is shy of BenQ’s 1000:1 claim, though again typical for lots of TN displays.

In terms of color accuracy, the EL2870U measured at 96.4% coverage of sRGB color gamut, with deviations in red, green, and blue primaries from the intended targets. Overall accuracy falls in line with most TN panels, though I recommend looking at IPS panels if this is an important factor for you. Outside of calibration controls for accuracy, the EL2870U features some proprietary technologies to dynamically adjust the image.

One such feature is called Brightness Intelligence Plus (B.I.+), which detects the ambient light and color temperature in the surrounding environment to optimize picture quality. As this feature is mainly used to enhance viewing conditions in uncontrolled environments, I didn’t utilize it for the purpose of this review.

Gaming Performance – Measured Input Lag:

One of the perks of sticking to low-cost TN monitors is that their input lag is unmatched when it comes to competitive gaming, as these panel types consistently offer around 10ms of input lag when measured. While many displays are capable of reaching our “Excellent” category now with under 20ms of lag, if you are a professional gamer and require frame-perfect response times, you want to stick to a display that’s been measured to be around 10ms in our input lag database. Considering that BenQ’s EL2870U does feature a 4K 60hz TN panel, how does it fare when put to the test?

Exceptionally well. As part of our new input lag testing process, we have acquired a new 4K input lag tester, which is capable of rendering a native 4K image, as opposed to having to upconvert our old 1080p lag tester. This allows us to measure the EL2870U at native resolution, while using a HDFury Vertex to inject HDR metadata.

Several 4K displays end up having different input lag values when measured between HDR and SDR formats, however the EL2870U maintains the same input lag in either mode. BenQ’s EL2870U measured as follows:

• Top: 1.4ms
• Middle: 8.3ms
• Bottom: 16.0ms

This result gives the EL2870U an average input lag rating of 9ms, which is an excellent result for serious gamers. This is the lowest amount of latency you can typically achieve in a 60hz display, and it should pose no problems for professional gaming at 60hz.

What I DID NOT Like:

HDR performance seems to be messed up, at least on the unit I received. Besides the limitation of the panel maxing out at 300 nits of brightness, engaging HDR mode on this monitor via Xbox One X resulted in elevated black levels and rather poor color accuracy/contrast ratio.

I’m quite experienced with HDR content across several TVs and even my Samsung Galaxy Note 9, so I’m sure that this isn’t how the monitor is supposed to behave. Having browsed around the internet to dig deeper into this issue, I found several people that have encountered the same problem, though it seems to be related to defective samples.

Motion blur is present on this monitor, despite being an advertised 1ms GTG response time, coupled with a TN panel. I have extensive experience with BenQ’s RL2460 pro gaming monitor, which I enjoy due to how it handles motion with its AMA processing.

The AMA processing on the EL2870U pales in comparison, even while set to High. The Premium setting causes too many artifacts to be usable during fast motion. Keep in mind that it’s hard to notice if you aren’t used to other 1ms GTG monitors. If you’re coming from a TV, you’ll be just fine.

Gamma is messed up out of the box. There are six levels of Gamma settings, ranging from 0-5, and all of them except 0 have poor shadow detail, and cause problems with dark scenes. Thankfully, gamma 0 is what we calibrated this monitor towards, which provides a gamma curve of 2.13, and fixes the black levels for SDR content. Make sure you switch this monitor to gamma 0 out of the box.

BenQ’s EL2870U has poor shadow detail (shown above), unless gamma is changed to 0.

What I DID Like:

Input lag feels crisp, thanks to the extremely low 9ms input lag that was measured earlier. After booting up Ultra Street Fighter IV and practicing links and combos with my main character Akuma, I was unable to detect any latency over other tournament-grade monitors I’ve used during competitions. Everything felt smooth to the touch without any adjustment necessary.

FreeSync worked without a hitch while testing it via the Xbox One X, allowing reduction of V-Sync stutters and some input lag. However, this monitor has a FreeSync range from 40-60hz, which means you don’t want to use FreeSync in games that frequently dip below 60 FPS.

Color accuracy in SDR mode is quite good. Once the gamma was set to 0 to prevent grayscale problems and the screen was calibrated, skin tones and overall color looked great. While it won’t compare to IPS, VA, or OLED panels in this department, I was happy with the SDR performance for a TN panel.

The post BenQ EL2870U 4K HDR Gaming Monitor Review appeared first on DisplayLag.

Following up from our LG input lag update, we have gone ahead and tested several of Samsung’s 2018 TVs for input lag! Samsung has consistently been a strong performer in this department for the last few years, and 2018 is no exception. As a matter of fact, one of these displays is currently within our top 3 fastest 2018 TVs in our input lag database!

This update includes a variety of their LED TVs, as well as their top of the line QLED lineup. The NU7300, NU7100, and NU6900 feature 60hz displays, whereas the rest of the displays are all native 120hz screens. If you’re able to use a PC or console at 120hz refresh rate, you can expect even lower input lag than the numbers reported here.

What’s really interesting is that we are starting to see full size TVs exhibit close to 10ms input lag, which means we can expect input lag numbers low enough to contest the fastest gaming monitors in the near future.

Excellent –  Recommended for the most hardcore gamers who value low input lag. The adjustment from a 60hz gaming monitor will be very minor or non-existent.

Great – A small difference from ‘Excellent’ displays, it shouldn’t affect the grand majority of gamers out there. Those most sensitive to lag may notice, but will usually be within 1 frame.

Samsung 4K HDR – Quantum Dot TVs:

• QLED – 55″ QN55Q6FN – Input Lag: 15ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• QLED – 55″ QN55Q7FN – Input Lag: 16ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• QLED – 55″ QN55Q8FN – Input Lag: 20ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• QLED – 55″ QN65Q9FN – Input Lag: 22ms (Great) – Check Amazon

Samsung 4K HDR – LED TVs:

• LED – 55″ UN55NU7300 – Input Lag: 13ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• LED – 55″ UN55NU7100 – Input Lag: 13ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• LED – 55″ UN55NU8500 – Input Lag: 16ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• LED – 55″ UN55NU8000 – Input Lag: 18ms (Excellent) – Check Amazon
• LED – 55″ UN55NU6900 – Input Lag: 23ms (Great) – Check Amazon

As always, you can compare these displays to over 550 displays tested in our input lag database!

The post Input Lag Tests: Samsung 2018 NU and QLED TVs (Q6FN, Q7FN, Q8FN, Q9FN) appeared first on DisplayLag.

For quite some time now, I’ve been asked by many readers on featuring VIZIO TVs on the site, as they’ve produced some attractive options for gamers over the years. Their TVs are traditionally aimed at those who want quality specs to match an affordable price. Having met their team several years ago at CES, I could tell that they had a genuine enthusiasm with their products. So, I was happy when they reached out to me to review one of their main TVs for 2018, the P-Series 55″ 4K HDR TV.

Like many competitive offerings from LG, Sony, and Samsung, it’s a full-featured LED backlight option that provides up to 1000 nits of brightness, wide color gamut, 120hz refresh rate, as well as HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG support. Up to 120 zones of local dimming in full-array formation are offered in the P-Series lineup for 2018, though the 55″ model I was sent has 56 local dimming zones. Most of you probably understand what comes in a mid-range 4K TV nowadays, so lets get straight to the point: is this a good buy, and good for gaming?

One of my first impressions with VIZIO TVs was roughly a decade ago when I’d make a daily commute to the local mall, and they used to have these really big front spacing speakers plastered on the front of the display. While a bit gaudy, it was an interesting design choice that made the TV standout from others on the market.

Much has changed since then, with consumers focused towards ultra-thin screens and eliminating the bezel as much as possible. I think that manufacturers across the board have realized how important it is for a TV to look attractive in the living room. The P55-F1 is no slouch in this department, featuring an edge-to-edge panel with solid metal feet to support the display. It feels premium to the touch.

Powering up the TV to inspect the OSD, I personally find it to be a mixed bag, On one hand, I really appreciate the detail that VIZIO provides on every main option that can be configured on the display. Seriously, this can’t be understated to the average user. For example, highlighting their black frame insertion feature “Clear Action” mentions that it reduces motions blur, but will limit the peak backlight brightness. Highlighting the “Gamma” option advises to use a lower gamma point for bright rooms, and higher values in a dark room.

While most tech savvy people and reviewers don’t need this information, this is a great step in educating the average consumer on what these settings do. The thing I dislike about the OSD is the responsiveness. It’s not horrible by any means, but in a world where Apple’s main draw is software optimization and responsiveness, it feels a bit sluggish. I feel that manufacturers should start optimizing their software as much as they optimize the exterior of their products. It’s even more important if you’re pushing Smart TV functionality. Lets push for 60 FPS menus!

Speaking of SmartCast, the TV features several built in streaming options that are placed on the remote as well: VUDU, Netflix, Amazon Video, XUMO, Crackle, and iHeartRadio. While I don’t use these services, the main draw for SmartCast is that it’s essentially a built-in Google Chromecast inside the TV, which is quite useful for those that don’t want an extra dongle attached to their HDMI port.

From my testing, it seemed to work seamlessly, though I couldn’t get 4K or 4K HDR content to display on it. The max resolution I could pass through my Galaxy Note 9 through the YouTube app was 1080p at 60 FPS. Twitch streaming also worked without a hitch. Useful if you need to share a video quickly with others in the room, but doesn’t display the max capabilities of this TV by any stretch.

In terms of connectivity, VIZIO’s P55-F1 provides more display inputs than almost every TV on the market. Included on the P55-F1 are five HDMI ports (four of them support full bandwidth for HDMI 2.0, more on that later), analog and digital audio out, ethernet, and even a component/composite connection. It supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and has an ethernet port. Full tech specs can be seen in the dropdown toggle below:

The remote is quite serviceable. Apart from the streaming service buttons implanted on the top of the remote, it features a large directional pad, and all the main buttons you’d need quick access to on a TV remote. It’s quite plain and there isn’t anything interesting to note, besides the feel of the center “OK” button.

It’s indented downwards to allow your thumb to rest on it, which I found quite pleasant in terms of comfort. Dual 10w speakers provide audio for those that don’t want an external audio source, though the quality was quite average. On the plus side, there is plenty to configure in the Audio menu, including volume leveling and an equalizer to fine tune frequencies.

Panel Uniformity:

The VIZIO P55-F1 sample that I was sent appears to have really good panel uniformity, with less than 2 DE deviation from the center of the screen across most of the tests. The only area of the screen that displayed a DeltaE deviation above 2 was the top center of the screen during the 100 IRE test, which should be unnoticeable during regular watching. Keep in mind that uniformity is very specific to the sample display, and does not represent the average uniformity across all samples of the same display.

Picture Calibration:

The P55-F1 comes with a full suite of preset picture modes, such as Standard, Vivid, Computer, and Game, but also features two pre-calibrated modes to resemble Rec. 709 requirements. While these two picture modes weren’t too far off from the recommended targets, I created my own SDR picture mode using a SpectraCal C6 HDR colorimeter along with Calman’s calibration software to achieve the best accuracy from the P55-F1. I calibrated the P55-F1 using HDMI 1 with “Game Low Latency” enabled, to achieve the lowest input lag from the TV.

After calibration, the P55-F1 achieved excellent color accuracy, with an average DeltaE of just 0.6, well below the recommended threshold of 3.0. The gamma was calibrated to BT.1886, and I was able to record a contrast ratio of 4906:1 as well as a black level of 0.02, which is great for a LED display. Backlight brightness was calibrated to approximately 120 nits, which is our ideal target for low-lit environments.

The P55-F1 was able to cover 99.5% of the sRGB color gamut, which is slightly less than competitors, but shouldn’t make a big difference in practice. Our SDR picture settings can be found in the gallery below (please note: these settings can perform quite differently on your TV, use at your own discretion):

The story bodes well for HDR10 performance as well. The P55-F1 had overall great tracking along the EOTF curve, with only slight over-luminance. I recorded a peak brightness of approximately 932 nits with Xtreme Black Engine Pro set to “High”, which is excellent performance; it’s very close to VIZIO’s advertised 1000 nits of peak brightness for HDR. Our HDR picture settings can be found in the gallery below (please note: these settings can perform quite differently on your TV, use at your own discretion):

Gaming Performance – Measured Input Lag:

With so many manufacturers offering low input lag numbers over the past few years, the overall bar has been raised to pleasant heights. Nowadays, there are dozens of TVs to choose from to get a quality responsive experience while gaming, which you can see for yourself in our input lag database.

Historically, I’ve seen VIZIO’s input lag numbers over the past few years, and they’ve been offering low input lag for a while too. So where does that put the P55-F1? Simply put, VIZIO’s P55-F1 is a complex creature when it comes to input lag performance.

Lower input lag on the P55-F1 is achieved by either setting the picture to “Game”, or enabling the “Game Low Latency” option under the “More Picture” menu. The latter method is advised so that you can have some flexibility when it comes to picture modes. The other requirement is dependent on your source. As mentioned earlier in this review, the P55-F1 features 5 HDMI inputs, though HDMI 5 is a special input that is unlike the other 4 inputs.

While the other 4 inputs are capable of processing the full suite of HDMI 2.0 features including HDR, HDMI 5 is essentially a “gaming” input that is lower bandwidth, but can support full 120hz input, as well as provide the lowest possible input lag from the display. The single important catch here though, is that it does not support HDR, while it does support 4K. So, lets run the numbers with game mode turned on, and see how this plays out.

HDMI 1:

• 4K: 26.2ms
• 4K HDR: 26.2ms
• 1080p: 27.3ms

HDMI 5:

• 4K: 14.5ms
• 1080p: 15.6ms

This puts us in quite a conundrum when it comes to games that are output at full 4K HDR: do we disable HDR to get the fastest response from the TV? Or let it rock and deal with almost an extra frame of input lag? To be honest, I’d personally deal with the extra frame of input lag, because most games that do support HDR aren’t usually stable with framerates.

But, it would be ideal to not have to make this choice, as many other manufacturers offer their lowest input lag while being fed a full 4K HDR signal. The other issue is that if you want to have two non-HDR sources to receive the lowest input lag on the P55-F1, you will have to invest into a separate HDMI switch to plug both sources into HDMI 5.

Another important aspect of this TV is its black frame insertion mode labeled “Clear Action”, which is designed to lower the motion blur present during fast action. While I typically don’t like black frame insertion as it usually cuts the backlight brightness too much, I was surprised to see that it didn’t cut much brightness on the P55-F1.

This makes it an attractive option to use combined with “Game Low Latency”, however this mode can cause eyestrain and headaches due to a noticeable flicker. If you’re used to watching 3D content, this mode shouldn’t bother you much if you can stomach its side effects. The input lag numbers with “Game Low Latency” + “Clear Action” enabled are as follows:

HDMI 1:

• 4K – 33.3ms
• 4K HDR: 26.1ms
• 1080p: 33.4ms

HDMI 5:

• 4K: 22ms
• 1080p: 22ms

The “Clear Action” mode slightly increases the input lag, however the differences shouldn’t be detectable based on the numbers. To test how much input lag was present in the P55-F1 in a real-world scenario, I connected a PlayStation 4 to my ZOWIE RL2460 pro gaming monitor, which also features a zero-delay cloned HDMI output. This output was used to feed a 1080p signal to the P55-F1’s HDMI 5 input, allowing the image from the RL2460 to be cloned onto the P55-F1. Using a slow motion camera, it’s possible to detect the difference between both monitors during different frames of the recording.

Based on my testing, the P55-F1 lags behind the RL2460 by roughly 1 frame in real world usage. This is still excellent performance, and almost undetectable unless you’re a professional gamer. Even then, it’s still quite difficult. If you view the video below, you can pause at different segments of the recording and see the difference between frames:

What I DID NOT Like:

The menus have a slight lag to them. While it’s not bad by any means, the P55-F1 offers a bunch of configuration options that you’ll likely tinker with over time, so it would be nice to see a more responsive OSD implemented in future models or via a firmware update.

Input lag segregation between HDMI 1-4 and HDMI 5. While I understand there are technical reasons for this, it’s unfortunate that we can’t experience the lowest lag possible from this TV with HDR content, especially with PS4 Pro and Xbox One X being mainstream consoles on the market. With that said, the input lag on HDMI 1-4 isn’t bad at all, and still falls under our “Great” category, meaning it’s very hard to detect. The plea to standardize the lowest input lag across all HDMI inputs comes purely from a hardcore/professional gamer’s perspective.

Viewing angles could be better. I noticed some gamma shifting when moving to the sides of the TV, which is a common situation when you have 2-3 other people in the room watching with you. It’s a known problem in many LED TVs, and unless you have tech-savvy friends in the room, they might not notice.

I didn’t care about the SmartCast options outside of Chromecast and Twitch streaming from my phone. The menu systems within the built-in apps felt laggy, so I’d rather use my own devices to stream content to the TV.

This complaint is isolated to myself only (perhaps), but for some reason, VIZIO shares the same remote codes as LG. This caused the TV remote to operate both my LG OLED as well as my VIZIO P55-F1, which was quite annoying to avoid. The remote would constantly turn on my LG OLED, or just function on both TVs at the same time, even though they were on opposite ends of the room. I was forced to unplug my LG OLED for this review.

What I DID Like:

Excellent motion clarity for a LED panel. I’m so used to most LED TVs having rather poor motion performance, as they tend to use cheaper panels or panels that aren’t designed for gamers. Usually, you have to stick to a TN gaming monitor to get the best response times. However, I was very surprised with the P55-F1. Motion was quite smooth during fast pace gaming, and it was quite hard to tell the difference from my TN panel RL2460.

You’ll have a hard time finding better motion clarity outside of OLED or a fast TN panel. If you enabled “Clear Action” for black frame insertion, the clarity was even better, giving almost CRT-like pixel response. I’m confident that VIZIO has one of the best black frame insertion modes in the business. The only downside to using “Clear Action” is that it can cause eyestrain and headaches, so YMMV.

Low input lag under HDMI 5. While HDMI 1-4 could have better performance in this regard, HDMI 5 was sublime and I couldn’t detect any major problems with input lag once “Game Low Latency” was enabled. The 15ms input lag provided under this HDMI input is lower than many other competing TVs on the market, so it’ll feel very responsive to even the most hardcore gamer.

Black levels are great for a LED TV. Even though it measured a 0.02 nits black level without local dimming enabled, you should absolutely enable local dimming on this TV, labeled “Xtreme Black Engine Pro” within the picture settings. I’d recommend choosing either the Medium or High setting, I personally found the High setting satisfactory. This will significantly increase your contrast ratio, especially during HDR content. While you’ll still find halos around bright objects on a black background, it’ll be tough to find better black levels unless you go to OLED, mainly because of the VA panel used in the P55-F1.

Color accuracy was great. Using the calibrated settings mentioned earlier in the review, I really enjoyed how the overall picture looked during gaming sessions in Spider-Man and God of War on the PS4 while playing in HDR. Though I have to admit that I’m quite spoiled by my LG OLED when it comes to overall picture quality, which is an unfair comparison.

The post VIZIO P-Series P55-F1 4K HDR TV Review: Low Input Lag for Gaming appeared first on DisplayLag.

We have updated our input lag database with several models from Sony’s 2018 lineup! With so many good gaming TVs to choose from this year, it’s interesting to see that Sony’s lineup is still lagging a bit behind the competition when it comes to input lag performance. While the A9F and Z9F feature very similar input lag numbers with both 1080p and 4K sources, the rest of the TVs on this list have better performance with a 4K signal instead of a 1080p signal.

The A8F and the X900F are the biggest culprits with varying input lag performance, offering about 1 frame less of input lag when fed a 4K source. As a result, you will want to set your Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC to output 4K resolution to these TVs (doesn’t matter on the A9F and Z9F), even if your game isn’t natively rendered in 4K. When sent a 4K signal, all of the TVs in the database below fall under our Great rating, which is satisfactory for most gamers. 

Here’s hoping that Sony can lower input lag further with their 2019 models. They provide some stellar picture quality utilizing their X1 processor, so it would be great to see Sony reach our Excellent rating like they did back in 2013. As always, you can compare these displays to others in our input lag database, and also check out our recommendations for the best gaming TVs of 2018!

The post Sony A9F, Z9F, and other XBR TVs Tested for Input Lag appeared first on DisplayLag.

To aid our users in finding the best monitor for their gaming needs, we created a separate database designed specifically for G-SYNC and FreeSync monitors! There are many filters present in this database to sort and compare displays, making it very easy to find the right match for your gaming hardware. These filters include:

• Size
• Brand
• Model
• Resolution
• Refresh Rate
• VRR Range
• Panel Type
• Response Time
• Anti-Motion Blur (Strobing Backlight)
• VRR Tech
• HDR
• Flat/Curved
• HDMI
• LFC
• Aspect Ratio

This database will be continually updated with as many FreeSync/G-SYNC monitors we can get our hands on! The vast majority of monitors in this database have very low input lag, so they should be suitable for serious gaming applications. You can find the database here.

The post New Database: Find the Best G-SYNC/FreeSync Monitor! appeared first on DisplayLag.

Announced earlier this year at IFA 2018 in Berlin, LG’s 34GK950F-B and 34GK950G-B ultrawide monitors are now available to purchase through Amazon and other retailers. These monitors are the first to launch under LG’s new “UltraGear” branding, which represents their top of the line features for gaming.

The 34GK950F is the FreeSync 2 model, whereas the 34GK950G is designed for NVIDIA’s G-SYNC technology. Both of these models are ultrawide monitors with a native ultrawide QHD resolution of 3440 x 1440, as well a nano IPS panel. Both also feature a 5ms GTG response time, and can achieve 1ms MPRT response time by enabling its strobing backlight functionality. LG officially refers to this as 1ms MBR (motion blur reduction) in their spec sheet. Native contrast ratio appears to be 1000:1, which is standard fare for most monitors.

There are some key differences, however. The 34GK950F (FreeSync 2 model) supports a significantly higher refresh rate of 144hz when compared to 34GK950G’s max refresh rate of 120hz (overclocked). The native refresh rate of the 34GK950G is actually lower at 100hz. This is fairly disappointing for NVIDIA users, and is entirely due to using an older G-SYNC module.

The older module is only capable of a 100hz native refresh rate due to DisplayPort 1.2 limitations, and is also limited to 8-bit color depth. The FreeSync 2 model has no such limitations, allowing a full 144hz refresh rate and 10-bit color depth, along with DisplayPort 1.4. It’s also significantly cheaper than the G-SYNC model. Both models support 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, which is the main benefit of the nano IPS technology that LG has developed for their high-end monitors.

HDR is supported on the 34GK950F FreeSync model, carrying VESA’s DisplayHDR400 certification:

• True 8-bit image quality – on par with top 15% of PC displays today
• Global dimming – improves dynamic contrast ratio
• Peak luminance of 400 cd/m2 – up to 50% higher than typical SDR
• Minimum requirements for color gamut and contrast exceed SDR

Dynamic Action Sync, commonly abbreviated as DAS, is also present in this model. It’s LG’s marketing term for a game mode, which reduces input lag. Based on my experience with older LG monitors, DAS typically reduces input lag to around 10ms at 60hz, and goes even lower at higher refresh rates like 120hz or 144hz. Combined with G-SYNC/FreeSync, these monitors should be a treat for gamers that need low latency.

In my opinion, if you’re in the market for a high-end 1440p ultrawide monitor, and are team Radeon GPU, you should act on the FreeSync 2 model. It appears to be selling out fast. You can view the monitor on Amazon using the links below:

Alternatively, you can also view our G-SYNC/FreeSync monitor database, which lets you compare hundreds of displays against each other.

The post LG’s UltraGear 34GK950F & 34GK950G have released appeared first on DisplayLag.

If you’ve visited this site within the last year, you’ve no doubt come across our glowing review of TCL’s 6-Series, one of the most impressive values in the TV marketplace even today. The Chinese manufacturer is making big strides every year to earn its place into the American marketplace, and their presence at CES 2019 reflects this.

Starting with their press conference on Monday, TCL announced that their popular 6-Series TV from 2018 will receive a 75″ version, no doubt a result of consumers asking for this TV in a larger screen size. The 6-Series was previously only available in 55″ and 65″ screen sizes. We reviewed the 55″ model last year, which earned our Editor’s Choice award.

This model can be purchased from Best Buy currently with a suggested price of $1800 right now, and will be on sale at other retailers in the coming weeks.

Dolby Vision Update for Xbox One

Another pleasant surprise from their press conference was the announcement of a firmware update for existing 5-Series and 6-Series owners. This update will enable Dolby Vision for Xbox One consoles, a welcome addition that increases the value proposition offered by TCL from their lineup.

TCL brings 8K in 2019

TCL was my first press conference on Monday, so you can imagine my shock when they unveiled that their 8K TVs will be shipping in 2019. TCL has joined other manufacturers in pushing 8K adoption, though I imagine that many people will be content with 4K for quite some time. Their first 8K model falls under their new 8-Series umbrella, and will be sporting a Quantum Dot (QLED) display.

In an effort to boost black levels among their new LCD TVs, TCL intends to dramatically increase the amount of Contrast Control Zones by utilizing Quantum Contrast in their Quantum Dot 8-Series TVs. Powered by mini-LED, this aims to dramatically boost the amount of local dimming zones by up to 300%.

TCL utilizes mini-LED tech to increase the amount of zones that can be dimmed, which may end up significantly removing halos and other artifacts caused by inadequate local dimming solutions.

I managed to take a brief look at their 8-Series 8K TV on the show floor. While the concept of 8K TVs is enticing, the industry hasn’t fully matured with 4K content yet. Many broadcasts are still presented below 4K resolution, console games are rarely rendered in native 4K, and PCs require a significant investment to push native 4K beyond 60 frames per second.

But what if you don’t care about all this 8K stuff, and just want TCL’s Quantum Dot magic with its boosted local dimming zones? You’re in luck, because TCL will be offering the 8-Series in a 4K variant as well! This TV will carry over most of the important features from the 8K model, with 4K resolution instead.

This will be an attractive option for those that don’t want to fork over the extra dough on 8K. The 8-Series aims to be TCL’s high end lineup in 2019, with the 6-Series keeping its budget-conscious proposition.

TCL revises 6-Series for 2019

The 6-Series is still being retained in 2019, though much information wasn’t available to me in terms of what’s new. I was told to expect picture quality improvements, and more information would be announced at a later date. However, the 6-Series is sporting a new look compared to the 2018 model. You can check it out in the gallery below:

Input Lag and Gaming Performance

While TCL wasn’t able to provide concrete input lag data to me regarding their 2019 models, they are very aware of the low input lag present in their previous models, and will be making every effort to provide a great gaming experience across their entire lineup.

I stressed the importance of low input lag to their team, so it will be interesting to see how these new models, especially their Quantum Dot lineup, fares with input lag. Hopefully they will continue to earn our excellent rating for serious gaming.

Be sure to check out our input lag database to find the best TV or monitor for gaming!

The post TCL brings 8K and revised 6-Series TVs to CES 2019 appeared first on DisplayLag.

So, this was quite a surprise. For those accustomed to the monitor market, you’re no stranger to Dell, as they provide some of the finest monitors on the market. Their gaming brand, Alienware, tends to focus on high-end gaming monitors that sport fast refresh rates well beyond 60hz, and is geared towards gaming enthusiasts.

At the end of their Dell Experience press conference at CES 2019, they unveiled a large sized monitor that yielded quite an applause. This 55-inch 4K monitor aims to tap into the market that NVIDIA has been pursuing since last year, with it’s Big Format Gaming Display (BFGD).

The main draw here is that it sports an OLED display with a native 120hz panel, which immediately warrants a comparison with LG’s own famous OLED TVs. After all, while it’s cool that Alienware is bringing a large OLED display into the market, what’s going to separate it from LG’s existing OLED TVs, which also sport 120hz panels?

This question intrigued me, so I went to Dell’s Experience venue immediately after the conference to take a closer look.

As expected, the OLED display looks fantastic, bezels aren’t too distracting, and it’s a handsome display overall. But the real draw to this monitor lies in the fact that Alienware is serious about not competing with OLED TVs.

The first result of this stance is that it comes equipped with DisplayPort, as well as HDMI. For those that have been in the TV world for a while, you’ll notice that no modern TVs feature DisplayPort connectivity, while the Alienware OLED will sport this connection.

Secondly, being positioned as a monitor allows this display to feature a monitor-level scaler. The reason TVs tend to have higher input lag than monitors is because of the heavy image processing that TVs are equipped with. Game mode does reduce this processing significantly, but there are still very few TVs on the market that can match the speed of a monitor, even under game mode.

The Alienware rep confirmed to me that their goal with this OLED display is to minimize processing as much as possible, which should translate to very low input lag times. While I had no way to confirm this on the floor, it is promising.

LG’s flagship OLED TVs tend to sport around 21ms input lag at 60hz, so if this display can achieve 10ms or lower input lag at 60hz, color me impressed. I would love to bash in some heads in Tekken 7 with the same timing as a fast gaming monitor.

Additionally, this OLED monitor will support variable refresh rate (VRR) tech. A modern flagship display isn’t complete without this support, though the rep couldn’t confirm what flavor it will support. I’m assuming this means a guarantee on FreeSync, with a possibility of G-Sync.

In terms of general tech specs, as mentioned earlier, it is an OLED 4K display that pushes a full 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution, with a native 120hz refresh rate. It will also provide 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.

I can’t wait to see more details on this behemoth of a monitor. It is scheduled to release in 2019.

The post ALIENWARE shows off a huge OLED monitor at CES 2019 appeared first on DisplayLag.

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure to attend CES 2019 to check out all kinds of new tech on display. It didn’t take us very long to dart straight towards central hall, home to many of the TV manufacturers that display every year.

LG had several new TVs to showcase this year at CES, with all kinds of new tech: 8K resolution, HDMI 2.1 standard among their 2019 lineup, as well as a nifty new rollable OLED TV. With LG’s OLED TVs getting high praise from us and other publications over the years, it can be easy to gloss over their LCD lineup, which also returns in 2019 with NanoCell technology.

OLED TV R:

LG’s flagship announcement for 2019 is the introduction of their new rollable OLED TV screen, which turned many heads at CES. For those conscious about their viewing area, this TV neatly tucks away when not in use, allowing you to display some cool artwork on the wall behind it. It’s a design that’s sure to win over the minimalist crowd.

Sporting their latest A9 Gen 2 processor, it comes equipped with a 4K OLED screen that’s aimed to match the quality of their mainstream OLED 2019 models. It will come in 65-inches. The casing it tucks itself into features a 100-watt Dolby Atmos speaker. HDMI 2.1 will be present, no doubt allowing a great gaming experience.

To be honest, while I’m not the primary market for this TV, I couldn’t help but think about how convenient it would be to transport, assuming you don’t drop it. No price has been announced, but expect this one to be expensive.

2019 OLED TVs:

For those with more reasonable wallets, LG also debuted the latest in their OLED lineup that we’ve previously given top honors to for gaming. This includes improved 4K models from last year, as well as the debut of their new 8K lineup. It seems that the 8K rat race has officially begun, and LG is going all in.

LG OLED Z9: The Z9 represents the pinnacle of their 2019 lineup, if you don’t count the rollable TV discussed above. Featuring a full 8K resolution and HDMI 2.1, there’s definitely going to be a markup from existing 4K TVs on the market. Like many of LG’s 2019 TVs, it comes equipped with the A9 Gen 2 processor, which houses picture quality improvements and other enhancements. This model is offered in 88-inches.

LG OLED W9: For those unfamiliar, LG debuted a wallpaper TV last year that was extremely thin, designed for those that cared a lot about aesthetics. The W9 is mainly an incremental update, featuring HDMI 2.1 and their new A9 Gen 2 processor. If you’re not in the market for HDMI 2.1 and already own a W8, you might not need to upgrade to this TV. It comes in both 65-inch and 77-inch screen sizes.

LG OLED E9/C9/B9: For those familiar with LG’s OLED lineup over the years, you’ve probably noticed that their entry level B-series carries the same panel as the rest of their OLED lineup, with the C and E-series hosting improvements in audio and design. But one drawback to the B-series was that it housed a weaker processor than its more expensive bretheren.

Not anymore! The B9 offered by LG in 2019 is going to house the same A9 Gen 2 processor that is equipped on the C9 and E9 series launching as well. This means that if you don’t care about the fancy improvements in audio and design on the higher-end models, you should be receiving nearly identical picture quality with their entry level B9.

If you’re like me and copped a B7, but were underwhelmed with last year’s B8 model, the B9 makes a significant leap with the introduction of HDMI 2.1, along with the new processor. This will effectively allow native 4K/120fps playback, along with HDMI 2.1’s gaming improvements.

The most exciting improvement with HDMI 2.1 for us is the inclusion of VRR support, previously only found on Samsung’s 2018 TVs. If you have a FreeSync-capable device such as a PC or Xbox One, you can take advantage of lower input lag and stutter-free gaming on LG’s 2019 OLED lineup!

The E9 and B9 will be offered in 55 and 65-inch screen sizes, whereas the middle-road C9 model will come in 55, 65, and 75-inches of screen real estate.

2019 LCD TVs:

While OLED TVs feature the best image quality available in a TV today, they still have a higher price tag than LCD panels. Some of you may also dislike the risk of burn-in that can occur on OLED TVs with static content.

LG continues to improve their LCD lineup this year, offering a range of NanoCell-equipped TVs that looked quite impressive on the show floor. These are IPS panels with a nano cell enhancement layer. However, unlike their OLED lineup, there are more significant differences between models.

The important thing to note here is that the NanoCell models feature HDMI 2.1, so these models will offer the best gaming performance in terms of VRR (FreeSync) support, and features such as Automatic Low Latency Mode. These models start with the prefix ‘SM’ in their model number. LG’s mid-range UM models will NOT come equipped with HDMI 2.1, although they will still retain 4K resolution.

The models listed below don’t include every model launching this year; these are the highest-end LCD panels in their 2019 lineup.

SM9970 NanoCell LCD: This is LG’s flagship 8K model featuring NanoCell, coming in at a whopping 75-inches of screen estate. You will be receiving the A9 Gen 2 processor in this model, with full support for HFR content, as well as HDMI 2.1. It features their best implementation of local dimming dubbed FALD Pro, which will offer the most local dimming zones to achieve deep black levels.

SM9500 NanoCell LCD: The resolution is a standard 4K instead of the SM9970’s 8K, and it also packs the lower-grade A7 Gen 2 processor, though it still features FALD pro local dimming.

SM9000 NanoCell LCD: The main difference from the SM9500 is the lack of FALD pro, though it will still feature full-array local dimming. Expect less overall control of zones due to this, which may result in more halos around bright objects in dark scenes.

Input Lag & Gaming Performance:

While we weren’t able to get a hold of a LG rep to confirm input lag details, we do expect 2019’s models to offer low input lag based on LG’s 2018 models. LG has offered some of the lowest input lag in their lower-end 2018 LCD TVs, and still offer good gaming performance in their 2018 OLED models. Hopefully they can reduce input lag even further in their 2019 OLED TVs in particular! You can compare the 2018 models in our input lag database.

The post LG’s full 2019 TV lineup: OLED TV R, 8K, & HDMI 2.1 appeared first on DisplayLag.

Tucked away from the busy convention floor of CES 2019, GAEMS dedicated a private suite to showcase the next evolution in their personal gaming environments. Having owned one of their earliest models, the Sentry many years ago, I was eager to check out what they had in store.

The aforementioned Sentry unit was used in many of my tournament travels over the years, and has been tossed around many aircrafts and TSA checkpoints. It held up quite well, though I’ve always disliked their first-generation TN panels and OSD. Their newer models showcased at CES 2019 look and feel so much better.

GAEMS Sentinel

The first product I got to look at was the Sentinel. This model was announced back in December 2018, however it didn’t go on sale till early January 2019, during CES week as a matter of fact! It provides numerous improvements from their earlier models, in a much more manageable form factor.

The Sentinel no longer features a TN panel, and instead is fitted with a 17.3″ IPS display. The improved image quality and viewing angles were immediately apparent. As this unit is designed for console gaming, it tops out with a 60hz refresh rate, and provides a 5ms GTG response time (with overdrive).

We’re looking at a max resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080) pixels, which is a step up from earlier 720p models. Additionally, two headphone jacks are present to give each player their own audio source. For those who don’t need to use headphones, a pair of 3W stereo speakers are also within the unit.

The most important part of the Sentinel is the improved design. It just feels so much smaller and compact than earlier models, while still retaining a big display. When folded up, it’s also quite an improvement. It does this while still being able to house the PS4, PS4 pro, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X.

I couldn’t notice input lag during my short time with it, however the only game I got to try was Soul Calibur VI, which I don’t play often. I did receive a review unit of the Sentinel, so please look forward to thorough testing in the very near future. The Sentinel retails for $349.99, and is already on sale via Amazon.

GAEMS Guardian

On a completely different spectrum, GAEMS also brought a prototype to CES 2019 with a completely different focus. The Guardian is a behemoth of a product that’s mainly focused on traveling streamers and those who want a grander experience (with a deeper pocketbook, of course).

The Guardian is a significantly beefier product, featuring dimensions of 23.45″ W x 16.9″ D x 4.79″ H. It weighs a hefty 18lbs, and due to its size, feels a bit more fragile than other GAEMS products. This one will definitely turn heads at the airport.

In terms of specs, it features a 23.8″ IPS panel with a 1440p (2560 x 1440) resolution. The refresh rate is 60hz, and its max brightness is around 300 nits. Unlike the Sentinel, the response time on the Guardian’s screen is around 9ms GTG with overdrive.

It features a HDMI 1.4 input and output, as well as a USB 3.0 hub. This prevents you from losing the USB port on the back of the console, as it’s difficult to access once placed into the GAEMS unit.

The sound quality sees a significant improvement from other GAEMS units, featuring a pair of 9W stereo speakers with a 12v power amp. GAEMS claims the Guardian provides “Dynamic Soundstage” in their press materials, which should translate to much better sound quality overall.

All of this information would be pointless, however, if I didn’t get to play on it. In my short time with Forza Horizon 4, playing on this unit felt really good. It’s interesting actually; the screen is only about 24-inches in size, which is small by monitor standards, however it felt massive while I was playing on it.

Maybe its because it was sitting next to the smaller units which gave it a sense of scale, but I can totally see myself getting immersed if I took this thing around during some trips. It felt responsive, and viewing angles were great.

While I can’t provide concrete input lag numbers, I’m expecting this unit to feature low input lag like the rest of GAEMS’ lineup. Hopefully next time they’ll have Tekken 7 on board for me to test some hard combos.

I mentioned to GAEMS how this unit would actually make more sense as a PC case, allowing you to transport a gaming PC around. Though the 60hz refresh rate may be too low for satisfactory PC gaming.

As this product is still in its prototype stage, many details such as pricing have yet to be announced. Many things can still change before this product launches. It’s planned for a spring or summer release in 2019.

The post GAEMS brings Guardian and Sentinel to CES 2019 appeared first on DisplayLag.

LG’s spacious exhibit area was packed to the brim at CES 2019 earlier this month, with lots of 4K and 8K goodness all over the floor. Buried within, however, was a pair of their latest UltraGear gaming monitors, which compliment their earlier UltraGear monitors we reported on a few months back.

LG UltraGear 38GL950G Monitor

First up is the 38GL950G, which is a 37.5″ UltraWide QHD+ display, featuring a native resolution of 3840 x 1600. It provides a native 144hz refresh rate that can be overclocked to a whopping 175hz according to LG’s official specs. Its fitted with a curved Nano IPS display, and provides 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.

The ‘G’ at the end of the model number signifies that it’s fitted with NVIDIA’s G-SYNC module. I wasn’t able to confirm which version of the G-SYNC module is present in the 38GL950G.

For those unaware, the 34GK950G was limited due to having an older G-SYNC module, which capped its max refresh rate to 120hz. Here’s hoping the 38GL950G fully supports the benefits of DisplayPort 1.4. It would be silly not to, considering that its overclockable to 175hz.

As LG’s UltraGear lineup is geared towards the highest-end specifications, I fully expect the 38GL950G to provide extremely low input lag, though you will need quite a beefy GPU to take full advantage of this monitor.

Outside of the main specs, this monitor does support Sphere Lighting 2.0 for those that want to take control of some RGB lighting goodness. This monitor also comes with three USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort, HDMI, and a headphone jack. Expect the 38GL950G to ship around Q2 2019.

LG UltraGear 27GL850G Monitor

On the more modest side of things, LG also showcased their latest bread and butter UltraGear monitor, the 27GL850G. This monitor features a 27″ screen size with a 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution, as well as a native 144hz refresh rate. This refresh rate can be overclocked to 160hz, just 5hz shy of most other IPS 144hz monitors that can reach 165hz.

The main reason for the difference is because it won’t be using the typical AU Optronics panel that most other vendors such as ASUS and Acer use in their monitors. The 27GL850G comes with a Nano IPS panel developed by LG, which also provides 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space.

NVIDIA’s G-SYNC module is also fitted onto this display, which will provide the best gaming experience when compared to standard V-SYNC monitors. G-SYNC allows for lower input lag and stutter-free PC gaming, which are bottlenecks with non-VRR monitors.

This monitor features three USB 3.0 ports, along with DisplayPort, HDMI, and a headphone jack. A release date hasn’t been announced, but we expect it to release later in 2019.

The post LG’s 38GL950G & 27GL850G UltraGear Monitors from CES 2019 appeared first on DisplayLag.

Samsung just announced more details about their 2019 TV lineup, comprised of various 4K and 8K TVs. During my time at their booth at CES last month, details on their mainstream QLED models were quite limited, with the Q90 being shown to journalists behind closed doors.

There’s a whopping 41 models to be released this year, however the meat of Samsung’s lineup will always be their flagship QLED lineup, which tend to offer better picture quality over their entry-level LED models.

Here is a handy chart that details the new 2019 models for this year, courtesy of CNET:

The Q900R was released last year in 65, 75. and 85-inch screen sizes, and the 2019 models of their 8K lineup adds additional 82″ and 98″ screen sizes. However, while 8K will eventually become a standard, it’s difficult to recommend them at the present time, due to the lack of native 8K content and their price premium over 4K models.

QLED Models:

The mainstream 4K QLED lineup focus on the Q90R, Q80R, Q70R, and Q60R. These models effectively replace last year’s Q9FN-Q6FN models, with significant improvements across picture quality and viewing angles. Additionally, Samsung will continue to offer FreeSync in these models, which is a big deal for serious gamers.

The Q90R and Q80R will feature Samsung’s newest Ultra Viewing Angle technology, which aims to drastically reduce washed out images when viewed from wide angles. This is a common problem with most LED TVs on the market, as it makes for a poor viewing experience for those not sitting in the center.

While this won’t extend to the Q70R, the Q70R will receive full-array local dimming this year, which should increase its contrast ratio and allow for better black levels. Last year’s model only featured edge-lit local dimming.

The Q60R will not receive full-array local dimming, which makes sense as its the entry level QLED in Samsung’s lineup. It still, however, will offer FreeSync capability, so if picture quality isn’t on the top of your list, I fully expect this model to still offer low input lag and a solid gaming experience.

Samsung’s 2019 QLED models will also feature Real Game Enhancer. It’s designed to improve visibility in dark scenes, which sounds quite similar to features in most modern gaming monitors. Samsung describes it below:

To beat the competition, you have to have full control. Dynamic Black Equalizer gives you better visibility in the dark and uses detailed scene analysis to optimize image quality. It can even enhance the sound, so you can immerse yourself in the game.

Non-QLED Models:

If you really want to save some cash, Samsung also announced the RU8000, RU7300, and RU7100 models to replace last year’s NU series. These are edge-lit LED TVs that come in a variety of sizes, and omit some of the high-end features found in their QLED lineup.

Input Lag & Gaming Performance:

Samsung hasn’t provided any official details on this year’s input lag numbers, so I’m hoping that they will continue to reduce it in 2019. FreeSync and auto game mode are making a return, so its clear that Samsung is still focused on providing a great gaming experience.

We will be sure to update these new models into our input lag database as soon as we can!

The post Samsung spills details on 2019 QLED TVs: Q90R, Q80R, Q70R, Q60R appeared first on DisplayLag.

VIZIO has been a household name in the American TV market for a long time. During last month’s CES visit, I was able to check out their private floor space away from the busy convention center to see what they had in store for 2019.

For those unaware, we recently reviewed VIZIO’s 2018 P-Series TV. I walked away impressed with its overall picture quality and gaming performance, especially since it did a great job with handling motion during fast action. So, I’m personally excited to see what they can bring to the table in 2019.

Their 2019 lineup has been revised into 3 core model numbers, starting with their entry level models: the V-Series, M-Series, and P-Series. Additionally, a P-Series Quantum X is their flagship TV for 2019, and it boasts some exciting benefits over the lesser models.

V-Series:

The V-Series is VIZIO’s entry level model for 2019, rebranding their former E-Series. It’s a 4K TV with a native refresh rate of 60hz, and features full-array local dimming. This local dimming features only 16 zones, which is the main downside when compared to the more expensive models.

It comes in a variety of screen sizes between 40-inches and 75-inches, and will also support Apple AirPlay, along with Chromecast built-in. 802.11ac Wi-Fi is also included. Its peak brightness is another limiting factor, topping out at only 400 nits. This can limit your enjoyment of HDR content. Check it out on Amazon using the button below:

VIZIO V-Series on Amazon

M-Series

VIZIO’s 4K M-Series has historically been their mid-range line of TVs, and it continues to stay that way in 2019. It features a significant upgrade from 2018’s model by including Quantum Color technology.

By stepping up to the M-Series, you receive 90 local dimming zones along with a full-array local dimming backlight, an octa-core processor, and 600 nits of peak brightness. It comes in a variety of screen sizes like the V-Series, starting at 43-inches and topping out at 75-inches.

This model still features a 60hz native refresh rate as well. For those wanting a native 120hz panel, you will have to step up to the P-Series Quantum.

P-Series Quantum

Last year, VIZIO separated the P-Series into two main categories: the P-Series and the P-Series Quantum. The regular P-Series has been phased out in 2019, and will now start with the P-Series Quantum.

The P-Series Quantum features quantum dot technology, along with 1000 nits of brightness with 200 active zones of local dimming. It has a 120hz native refresh rate, along with an octa-core processor. The increase in peak brightness over the M-Series should provide more enjoyment during HDR content.

We reviewed the P-Series last year, and were quite impressed with its motion performance, along with overall picture quality. The inclusion of Quantum Color into the starting P-Series model should improve the picture quality even further for 2019. If its within your budget, we recommend starting with the P-Series Quantum if you’re shopping VIZIO this year, as its bound to be an impressive TV.

P-Series Quantum X

The P-Series Quantum X is the flagship TV from VIZIO in 2019. There’s several improvements from the P-Series Quantum if you’re interested in the best that VIZIO has to offer. Lets start with almost 3000 nits of peak brightness!

On paper, we’re looking at quantum dot tech fitted with 384 active local dimming zones, a native 120hz panel, and an octa-core processor. During my tour of the TV, the peak brightness was rated at approximately 2900 nits, which was quite striking to look at in person. The perceived contrast ratio rivaled my LG OLED at first glance, due to how bright HDR content looked on this TV.

Gaming Performace & Input Lag:

I had a chat with VIZIO representatives regarding input lag performance in this year’s TVs lineup. While they couldn’t offer me concrete details on the numbers, they will (unfortunately) continue to provide a special HDMI port to achieve the lowest input lag possible. Their current TV design requires this input to bypass certain processing.

I mentioned that this was a hassle for those that own more than one console, and would like to see the lowest input lag unified across all inputs. This is a common practice with other top TV brands, so I’d like to see it implemented in VIZIO TVs as well. Hopefully 2020 will bring unified input lag across all HDMI inputs.

We will be sure to update VIZIO’s 2019 TVs into our input lag database as soon as we can get our hands on them. They are all scheduled to launch during this spring.

The post VIZIO 4K TVs in 2019: V-Series, M-Series, and P-Series Quantum X appeared first on DisplayLag.

So, Razer finally did it! With deep market penetration in the PC gaming peripherals market, they’ve unveiled their first gaming monitor: the Razer Raptor. Razer is mostly known for their DeathAdder esports mice, and BlackWidow mechanical keyboards. They also have gaming keypads, headsets, console controllers and even a few arcade fightsticks.

I’m surprised it actually took them this long to get into the monitor space. I’ve visited their booth at CES for a few years now, mainly to rack up some win streaks in the fighting games they always have there. So it was exciting to take a closer look at their first gaming monitor.

The Raptor is a gorgeous monitor at first glance. Razer focuses on RGB synergy across their entire product line, and their monitor doesn’t skimp on this trait. As you can see in the picture above, the RGB lighting is fully customizable and emanates from the base.

In terms of raw specs, its competitive with most gaming monitors. Its fitted with a 27-inch WQHD IPS HDR Non-Glare display, with a peak brightness of 400 nits, as well as a 10-bit dimming processor. The Raptor reproduces 95% of the DCI-P3 color space, and also features a 1ms MBR response time. Its native contrast ratio is listed at 1000:1

The refresh rate tops out at 144hz, and supports FreeSync VRR (variable refresh rate). Now that NVIDIA has launched a driver to support FreeSync with NVIDIA graphics cards, I’m assuming it will play nice with the Raptor once it releases.

There was no word on how much input lag it will have, though I’m certain it will be extremely low, as I’ve yet to come across a 1440p VRR gaming monitor that had noticeable input lag.

Aesthetically speaking, there’s a lot to write about. Razer took a lot of pride in the design of the Raptor, and its quite different from other monitors in this regard. The back of the monitor has this felt fabric-type material instead of basic plastic, and the base is a sturdy piece of aluminum with a large footprint.

I joked to Razer about including a wireless Qi charging station on the base, as it would make a lot of sense. They mentioned that many other journalists raised the same question, however a Qi-charging pad will not be present on the base of this monitor. Full height and tilt functionality is present on the base, so it shouldn’t be difficult to obtain an optimal viewing angle.

The other significant feature of the Raptor is the CNC cable management system. Razer will include flat USB cables that route efficiently through the base of the monitor, and will include USB-C connectivity as well as 2x USB 3.0 Type A passthroughs. The USB-C connection supports power delivery, so you will be able to charge your USB-C devices through the Raptor.

In terms of video connectivity, the Raptor features DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0a, which should be enough for most users. There isn’t a need for a HDMI 2.1 port as the Raptor is limited to 2560 x 1440 resolution. The edge-to-edge display minimizes border distractions, allowing you to focus on the content.

At first glance, it seems as if Razer made no immediate compromises with the Raptor, though there’s no information on whether or not it can be overclocked as of right now. It will retail for $699.99 and go on sale later this year.

The post Razer’s Raptor Gaming Monitor: 144hz WQHD HDR FreeSync with Razer Chroma RGB appeared first on DisplayLag.

EDITOR’S NOTE 02/23/2019: Article has been updated with Xbox One S/X/PS4 Pro tests.

With the imminent release of Dead or Alive 6 on March 1st 2019, it’s an exciting time to be a Dead or Alive fan. Even though it’s only a week away, Koei Tecmo was generous enough to give a stacked demo that also features an offline training mode.

I managed to test the input lag of the DOA6 demo on the PlayStation 4 Slim console, and unfortunately, it’s quite a regression from DOA5: Last Round. We previously tested the PS4 version of DOA5: Last Round to feature approximately 5.4 frames of input lag. While the fastest fighting games tend to hover around 4 frames of input lag, DOA5 isn’t far off from them. The game also has many more animation frames for its attacks compared to most 2D fighting games

For those unaware with our input lag testing process, here’s a summary:

• Brook UFB PCB with latest firmware update used.
• Frames are calculated after the first visible green light.
• All input lag tests were recorded at 120 frames per second.
• Input lag is calculated as an average of 20 button presses.
• Average input lag is rounded up to the nearest 0.1 frame.
• Monitor input lag is included in this calculation, which adds approximately 1 frame of input lag on its own.

Dead or Alive 6’s Deluxe Demo features approximately 8 frames of input lag, which is a significant jump from DOA5 Last Round. For comparison’s sake, I retested DOA5 Last Round today and ended up with an average input lag of 5.2 frames, which is still within margin of error of our previous DOA5 Last Round input lag test. All equipment was identical across both games when tested. Please keep in mind that monitor latency was not removed from these numbers, which amounts to roughly 1 frame of input lag on its own. We used the BenQ RL2460, which is the tournament standard monitor used across most fighting game major events.

That’s almost 3 frames of additional input lag over DOA5 Last Round. With that said, this is still a demo distributed mainly for online testing, so there’s a chance that the final release will have lower input lag. It’s hard to say how far along this version of the game is. Hopefully Team Ninja can reduce input lag further to improve the overall gaming experience.

Additionally, input lag was measured across other consoles as well, including the PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X consoles. All consoles were set to 1080p output resolution. To see how the PS4 Slim console compares to them, check out the numbers below:

Dead or Alive 6 Deluxe Demo Input Lag:

• PS4 Slim: 8.0 frames
• PS4 Pro: 7.8 frames
• Xbox One S: 7.3 frames
• Xbox One X: 6.5 frames

These numbers were calculated as an average of 20 button presses. While the Xbox One consoles edged out the PS4 systems in this test, it’s very important to note that DOA6 has unstable input lag regardless of console. This means that your button input can take anywhere from 6 to 8 frames before it registers on the screen. If tested over a much larger sample size, it’s very possible that both systems would perform similarly. The Xbox One consoles had inputs that registered on the 6th frame, 7th frame, and 8th frame, for example.

It’s also important to note that there is noticeable slowdown in some stages on the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S console, particularly on the “Forbidden Fortune” stage. Frame drops and slowdown were extremely visible on the weaker consoles, and had a noticeable impact during gameplay. This also affects input lag, with buttons registering even slower than the results above during these slowdown periods.

You can compare the DOA6 demo to several other fighting games in our video game input lag database.

Also, be sure to check out our display input lag database if you’re interested in upgrading your TV or monitor!

The post Dead or Alive 6 Deluxe Demo: Input Lag Tested appeared first on DisplayLag.

Input lag in fighting games has seen a regression over the last 4 years compared to their older counterparts, with core franchises such as Street Fighter and Tekken exhibiting high amounts of input lag during their respective launches. Over time, this input lag was reduced for both games, resulting in a better competitive experience for hardcore players.

Recently, we tested the input lag on the Dead or Alive 6 demo that came out a week ago on PS4 and Xbox One. While it was an excellent demo overall in terms of content, the game unfortunately exhibited high amounts of input lag when compared to DOA5 Last Round. All of our DOA6 input lag tests are performed under the following conditions:

• Console resolution set to 1080p
• Graphics set to prioritize action
• BenQ RL2460 monitor input lag is included (about 1 frame)
• Average of 20 button presses is calculated

For those that missed the previous article, here were the results from the demo version:

Dead or Alive 6 Deluxe DEMO (BUILD 1.01 #21):

• PS4 Slim: 8.0 frames
• PS4 Pro: 7.8 frames
• Xbox One S: 7.3 frames
• Xbox One X: 6.5 frames

These numbers are quite high when it comes to 60 FPS fighting games, and can affect player reactions and overall game quality. Courtesy of Team Ninja, I received a PS4 code for the game to test the input lag on the final version. Here are the retail build results:

Dead or Alive 6 Retail Version (BUILD 1.01 #84)

• PS4 Slim: 7.4 frames
• PS4 Pro: 7.8 frames

As you can see, there isn’t much difference from the demo version of the game. Even though the PS4 Slim reported a lower average input lag than the demo build, the input lag in DOA6 can be unstable, with button inputs registering at different frames.

This article will be updated with the Xbox One results once we have the code to test it. Please do note that Team Ninja are aware of the input lag issues. Community support for lower input lag is important to make this a high priority issue, especially for competitive players.

If you’re looking to upgrade your TV or monitor to something with low input lag, be sure to check out our input lag database as well.

The post Input Lag Tests for Dead or Alive 6 appeared first on DisplayLag.

If you’ve been involved with esports in any manner, chances are that you’ve encountered BenQ ZOWIE’s products in the field, most notably their gaming monitors and mice. They’ve produced many high refresh rate monitors over the years for serious PC gaming. The XL2546 is one of ZOWIE’s newer offerings, featuring a native 240hz panel along with their proprietary DyAc backlight strobing algorithm.

Similar to other BenQ ZOWIE monitors, the XL2546 borrows design elements from previous monitors. The display itself rests on a metal stand that’s connected to sturdy plastic base, which includes a groove to place ZOWIE’s proprietary S-Switch dongle. For tenured viewers reading this review, you may recognize this puck from older BenQ monitors. It’s designed for quick access to a variety of monitor settings.

The XL2546 fitted with a TN panel, which is traditionally known for poor viewing angles and color accuracy. In exchange, TN panels typically receive the fastest response times, lowest input lag, and highest refresh rates available. To combat poor viewing angles, the XL2546 is equipped with full height, swivel, and tilt functionality to give an optimal viewing angle. I had no issues calibrating its placement to provide a centered viewing angle, however this stand does tilt upwards more than it does downwards. I don’t recommend placing this monitor too high above your head.

The XL2546 is outfitted with thick matte plastic bezels to eliminate/reduce glare and reflections, which is quite important to maintain focus for professional gaming applications. The overall build of the monitor feels hefty and gives me confidence in its overall longevity.

In terms of connectivity, the XL2546 includes DVI-DL, 2x HDMI, DP 1.2, a headphone jack and a microphone jack. The HDMI inputs do include a HDMI 2.0 port, as its necessary to achieve full 240hz if you cannot use DisplayPort for some reason. I’d advise sticking to DisplayPort for computer use, as it tends to have less issues in my experience. The HDMI inputs are useful for console users in particular.

Along with the above inputs, the XL2546 does include a USB 3.0 passthrough to power its dual USB 3.0 ports on the side of the monitor. Next to these USB ports, a pop-out headphone stand is built into the side as well, allowing you to store your headphones when not in use. I personally find this very useful, to avoid cluttering my desk with an additional headphone stand.

In terms of audio, there are no speakers present on the XL2546, though the aforementioned headphone jack will allow you to use your 3.5mm devices. Even with the headphone jack, you will still need some kind of amp, as the headphone output is far too weak to support even low impedance headphones. I connected my Fidelio X2HR full size headphones (35 Ohm, pictured above) to the headphone output with no luck. By comparison, even my Galaxy Note 9 can power the X2HR’s to adequate volume. The sides of the monitor include grooves to install shields that aim to reduce distracting elements from your peripheral vision.

Moving onto the monitor itself, BenQ/ZOWIE have traditionally offered clean menu systems that are easy to navigate in dark environments, thanks to indicators appearing directly above the physical buttons. The buttons are made of plastic and have good tactile feel to them, and the monitor itself emits a small beep when they’re pressed. This is good for confirmation of your button presses, though if you find it annoying, it can be disabled within the OSD.

BenQ ZOWIE takes it one step further and includes a proprietary S-Swtich dongle that connects via mini-USB directly to the monitor. I’ve used the S-Switch several years ago on one of their older monitors, and it’s still a joy to use on the XL2546. While there is a bit of lag present when scrolling through menus with it (the same amount as the physical buttons), it’s infinitely more comfortable to use the puck over the buttons on the monitor. Pressing the scroll wheel or the back button brings up the menu, and there are 3 separate buttons to quickly swap between display profiles that you may have set up. It also takes up no desk space, as there is a groove indented onto the base for it to rest.

The preset icons present shortcuts for picture mode, DyAc, and black eQualizer settings, however all 3 of these custom keys can be changed within the OSD configuration menu. If you’re seasoned with BenQ/ZOWIE monitors, the XL2546’s OSD implementation won’t surprise you at all; it should feel right at home. The screenshots below show every configurable option on the XL2546:

DyAc – Dynamic Accuracy:

The key feature of the XL2546 is the inclusion of DyAc, which is BenQ ZOWIE’s proprietary implementation of Motion Blur Reduction technology. Last fall, we launched a special gaming monitor database, that allows you to sort monitors based on high refresh rates, G-SYNC/FreeSync, among other criteria. The “Anti-Motion Blur” filter in this database allows you to sort monitors by motion blur tech from different manufacturers. They go under various names, with BenQ ZOWIE’s implementation referred to as DyAc — short for Dynamic Accuracy.

Engaging DyAc enables a strobing backlight that’s designed to drastically reduce motion blur during fast-paced action. Its benefits are appreciated at higher framerates, typically north of 100hz. While strobing backlights have been implemented in various gaming monitors over the years, there are some important distinctions to make in terms of their effectiveness.

CheckBenQ ZOWIE XL2546 Price on Amazon

One drawback with strobing backlight/motion blur reduction tech is the amount of headroom present with refresh rates. For example, running 144hz refresh rate on a 144hz monitor will result in strobe crosstalk artifacts — duplication of images due to limitations in GTG pixel transitions. This phenomenon occurs due to lack of headroom, as you’re maxing out the monitor’s refresh rate. It is highly advised to use refresh rates lower than the maximum refresh rate of your monitor when engaging DyAc or other MBR tech.

With that said, there are huge benefits in regards to lower input lag and smooth frame rates when engaging 240hz on this monitor. So the key here is to find a trade-off that provides a high-enough refresh rate that allows minimal input lag and maximum motion clarity. While running at the maximum 240hz refresh rate may sound optimal, there are huge benefits when utilizing DyAc to reduce motion blur significantly. The immense clarity boost provided by engaging DyAc is totally worth giving up some extra frames, as it allows sensitive gamers to process and react to intense gaming scenarios more efficiently.

Our colleagues over at BlurBusters have written an extremely useful guide to help calibrate strobe crosstalk artifacts, while achieving the best balance between refresh rate and minimal crosstalk artifacts. Per their recommendation on the XL2540, we created a custom 182hz resolution within the NVIDIA control panel to achieve this balance. The settings can be found below. My impressions regarding DyAc and the overall performance of the monitor can be found later in the review.

Picture Quality & Calibration:

While TN panels aren’t typically pursued for their image quality, the XL2546 surprised me in a pleasant way. There’s no getting around the limited viewing angles and gamma shifts that plague TN panels, however the XL2546 achieved excellent color accuracy after just a few calibration tweaks within the OSD. These are the results:

• Calibration Target: D65 / 2.4 gamma / 120 nits
• Black Level: 0.10
• Average Gamma: 2.33
• Average dE: 1.08
• Contrast Ratio: 1162:1

I was able to achieve an average dE much lower than 3, and an impressive contrast ratio of 1162:1, which shoots above BenQ ZOWIE’s 1000:1 specification. Though, I wasn’t so lucky in regards to gamma. Gamma 5 resulted in an average gamma of 2.5, whereas Gamma 4 ended up at 2.33. It’s a bit shy of our intended 2.4 target. In practice, colors looked very accurate once you achieve optimal viewing angles using the adjustable stand. These are the settings used:

• Game Settings:
  • DyAc: OFF
  • Black eQualizer: 0
  • Color Vibrance: 10
  • Low Blue Light: 0
  • Instant Mode: On

• Picture:
  • Picture Mode: Standard
  • Brightness: 18
  • Contrast: 50
  • Sharpness: 5
  • Gamma: 4
  • Color Temperature: User Define (R:94, G:100, B:95)
  • AMA: High
  • Dynamic Contrast: 0

How does the XL2546 fare in general viewing? Color accuracy is good for a TN panel, which allows the overall sRGB gamut to look quite good. I didn’t notice many irregularities with skin tones and other color sensitive data. With that said, it’s still a TN panel, so don’t expect it to trade blows with IPS and VA panels in this regard. The black level was measured at 0.10 cd/m², which is typical for a TN panel, but is much higher than VA panels. You may find letterboxes a bit distracting if you’re used to low black levels from other panel types.

Measured Input Lag:

When it comes to input lag, there are a few important caveats that should be taken into consideration. All of the measurements listed in our input lag database are taken at 60hz refresh rate, due to the limitations of our input lag testing device. Refresh rate has a huge impact on input lag, so the measurement numbers below only apply to 60hz users on this monitor (typically console gamers):

• 1080p/60hz Input Lag (Instant Mode On):
  • Top Screen: 8.9ms
  • Middle Screen: 12.8ms
  • Bottom Screen: 16.5ms
  • Average Input Lag: (Rounded): 13ms

DyAc was disabled with these measurements. These numbers may seem alarming at first, however they are normal due to the 240hz panel’s higher scanout period with 60hz refresh rate. While it’s a few milliseconds short of the fastest 60hz gaming monitors, it still falls under our Excellent rating for serious gaming.

Of course, this apparent disadvantage is immediately removed from the equation while running high FPS content above 60hz. Even on the fastest 60hz monitor, there is going to be a limitation with how fast your display can respond to a button press. The fastest console games tend to hover around 60ms of input lag, with many modern engines taking over 100ms before the button is displayed on screen!

To showcase the significance of 240hz in relation to input lag, I booted up Overwatch on our test PC. I measured Overwatch’s input lag using a 1000 FPS camera at both 60hz and 240hz refresh rate on the XL2546. In-game V-Sync was enabled as well for this test, though DyAc was disabled. Using a LED button mapped to strafe, the time between LED flash and on-screen action was measured 10 times, with the average of 10 results being used as our final number. At 1000FPS, 1 frame equals 1 millisecond:

• Overwatch 60hz Average Input Lag: 76ms
• Overwatch 240hz Average Input Lag: 24ms

Holy cow, what a difference! Running the game at 240hz results in 52ms of input lag being shaved off when compared to 60hz, which is extremely significant in my opinion. Most serious gamers would be able to feel the difference between these two refresh rates. On top of that, camera pans and overall visual clarity is far more pleasant. Different game engines provide different levels of input lag, however, any game with an unlocked frame rate will provide similar input lag shavings when running at 240hz.

Check BenQ ZOWIE XL2546 Price on Amazon

Liked:

DyAc was primarily designed to reduce the effects of gun recoil in games like CS:GO. As motion clarity is significantly reduced during this action, engaging the right balance of refresh rate and DyAc results in much better motion clarity, allowing your eyes to keep track of the action while under intense movement.

I’ve noticed significant benefits while using DyAc under heavy movement, especially during camera pans where you have to eye track. A known weakness of LCD panels when compared to older CRT displays is the lack of motion clarity during fast action. There have been many gaming monitors over the years that push 1ms GTG, but this still doesn’t rectify the issue, as some nasty overdrive artifacts tend to surface. Once NVIDIA introduced Lightboost that eventually morphed into ULMB, this opened the floodgates towards getting that CRT motion response back into LCD panels.

There’s always been one major issue with early strobe backlighting implementations: a large decrease in peak brightness. Many older monitors would cut the maximum nits in order to achieve strobing backlight, which made them a bit unsuitable for bright environments. That’s the really cool thing about DyAc in the X2546: there’s no brightness drop. In fact, my peak brightness measured at 343 nits without DyAc engaged, and 346 nits while it was turned on. This makes the monitor suitable for any indoor environment.

Visual clarity is excellent while tracking fast actions such as strafing while aiming, quick mouse swings, and anything that essentially involves fast camera panning. The increase in motion resolution really boosts your ability to aim and track your enemies without turning your screen into a blurry mess, which in theory should really benefit active players that want to maintain control. Especially in games like Gears of War 4, where advanced CQC gameplay revolves around fast camera control to aim your gun, while tracking enemies all around you. Engaging DyAc gives you that extra boost in clarity that can ease your itchy iron-sight trigger, resulting in less confirmations overall.

Color accuracy is good once calibrated with a colorimeter, and I had no issues with the overall image quality, provided you keep a level view that doesn’t shift. The build construction is very solid, giving me no worries about the monitor’s physical longevity. The monitor is lenient with custom refresh rates, and can be further tweaked from the service menu to calibrate DyAc even further.

Disliked:

The biggest issue I have with the XL2546 is a large green color shift that occurs when scrolling web pages. I thought this might have been a side effect of enabling DyAc, however even with DyAc disabled, I couldn’t remove this green flicker when scrolling vertically. It’s most apparent in heavy white content with blue/black text, typically Google searches. While it takes a trained eye to notice, it prevents me from recommending this monitor for general use. I can only recommend the XL2546 as a strict gaming monitor.

No official FreeSync support is a huge bummer. Especially since the predecessor XL2540 is listed officially by AMD as FreeSync capable. It would have been great to see this monitor offer FreeSync for those that have trouble maintaining consistent FPS during gaming. VRR makes a lot of sense in a 240hz monitor.

I’d like to see less input lag in the OSD overall. It’s fine when using the buttons, however it feels quite disconnected when using the included S-Switch control. It’s not a huge deal, as you’ll rarely fiddle with menus once everything is calibrated, though still a nitpick that bothered me.

CheckBenQ ZOWIE XL2546 Price on Amazon

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Disclaimer: this unit was provided by BenQ ZOWIE for review purposes, with no other compensation involved.

The post BenQ ZOWIE XL2546 Review: 240hz DyAc Gaming Monitor appeared first on DisplayLag.