Need help choosing a 2440p 144hz monitor (UPDATED)

Dunan · Jun 15, 2021

Are there options for wide gamut 27" 2k display but under 165hz max?

What I'm looking for is a wide gamut color accurate display that I can game higher than 60hz refresh rate with. Color reproduction is more important than gaming at high refresh rates, but I dont want to be stuck at 60hz @2k forever either.

The only monitors that I can find (available) that tick all the boxes, or most of them, is the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q and Alienware AW2721D and those are esports monitors, far faster than I would ever need/use. But the color reproduction (especially on the asus) is exactly what I'm looking for, but either will do.

Hardware Unboxed recommended that players that plan to game above 165hz only look into these monitors and I can see why.

It was also recommended by Hardware unboxed to look at the LG 27GL850 144hz instead, the refresh rate is perfect as I dont plan on ever going above it, but then there's the issue of color reproduction, which isnt anywhere near the top two, and RTINGS.com reviewed that the backlight bleed is poor as well so I'm not sure what else I can look at.

Top budget is about what the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q is going for presently, about 1150
Any recommendations?

Present monitors in sig

shilka · Jun 15, 2021

The Asus PG279Q is a 2016 model so its rather outdated and is being replaced by the PG279QM so the PG279Q is not worth buying
The LG 27GL850 is also being replaced by the 27GP850

Dunan · Jun 16, 2021

shilka said:
The Asus PG279Q is a 2016 model so its rather outdated and is being replaced by the PG279QM so the PG279Q is not worth buying
The LG 27GL850 is also being replaced by the 27GP850

I'm not sure the asus will be available at launch. The LG might. What do you think about the Alienware unit, the AW2721D? I feel like i'd be buying a really fast musclecar when i dont plan on going over 60 if you know what i mean. But nothing else comes close to the color accuracy or the backlight bleed is bad, even on $500US panels

Imprezzion · Jun 16, 2021

Check rtings.com for reviews. I love the MSI 27"MAG274QRF-QD with one exception. Colors are horrible out of the box. Way too saturated and red/orange tint. It CAN be good but needs a lot of tweaking.

Dunan · Jun 17, 2021

Imprezzion said:
Check rtings.com for reviews. I love the MSI 27"MAG274QRF-QD with one exception. Colors are horrible out of the box. Way too saturated and red/orange tint. It CAN be good but needs a lot of tweaking.

Checking out RTINGS is how I got my NEC in my sig more than 10 yrs ago

I was looking at the MSI monitor before and I can calibrate it so I'm not worried about the over saturation, as long as it can do (for the most part) accurate colors it should be fine

Imprezzion · Jun 17, 2021

Dunan said:
Checking out RTINGS is how I got my NEC in my sig more than 10 yrs ago

I was looking at the MSI monitor before and I can calibrate it so I'm not worried about the over saturation, as long as it can do (for the most part) accurate colors it should be fine

It's actually extremely accurate with very low delta after calibration. I had it at first but I swapped it for a VG279QM because I didn't really liked 1440P next to my 2 other screens which are 1080p and I wanted the extra FPS lol. Moving the mouse from a 1440p in the center to 2 1080p's on the sides is awkward with the "edge" it gives you...

Dunan · Jun 17, 2021

Imprezzion said:
It's actually extremely accurate with very low delta after calibration. I had it at first but I swapped it for a VG279QM because I didn't really liked 1440P next to my 2 other screens which are 1080p and I wanted the extra FPS lol. Moving the mouse from a 1440p in the center to 2 1080p's on the sides is awkward with the "edge" it gives you...

I know what you mean - I have a 27" 1440 right next to a 24"1080p and yeah the mouse is weird crossing between screens. I need to look at that MSI to check availability, it seems to be the only option other than the Alienware, and for the price its going for right now its very hard to keep in stock (about $765 atm)

I'd jump on the alienware but I dont play anything that does 165hz, the dark souls games are frame lock limited to 60 and if the alienware doesnt do 60hz well (high input lag at that hz apparently) but has amazing colors while others do better at 60hz while having moderate colors.....ugh my brain.

Dunan · Jul 7, 2021

I decided to get the MSI MAG274QRF-QD after a lot of consideration, and am split on if I want to keep it. But after all the other monitors i've looked at, this was the best pick, even with the lack of sRGB.

The oversaturation is something that is really hard to get a hold of, even after calibrating it several times. It puts up a good fight to keep those overblown reds if you want any kind of a decent contrast ratio. (DisplayCal/i1Display Pro).

Pros:
Excellent wide Gamut and deep colors
Refresh rate right where I want it
Latency and input lag very low
Blacklight bleed almost non existent on this unit
Black uniformity is really good
Good contrast for an IPS

Cons:
No sRGB setting/clamp: Most web content and old web material like pics are overreddend/oversaturated still after calibration compared to my NEC (78%RGB 73%sRGB, yes its old). It seems to me the sRGB clamp really matters for web use regardless of how wide the color gamut is.

I could recalibrate and get rid of more saturation but at the cost of contrast. Still doesnt make up for the lack of sRGB clamp though.
I've checked out all these monitors before choosing the MSI. Any that I missed in the 2440/144p $300-600 price range that does what the MSI does but with an sRGB clamp?

ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q
Asus ROG Swift PG279Q
Asus ROG Swift PG279QM
Dell s2721dgf
Dell Alienware AW2721D
Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD
Gigabyte Aorus FI27Q-P
LG 27MP500-B
LG 27GP83B-B
LG 27gl850
BenQ SW2700PT
HP M27F
Samsung odysey G7

Mr. Mojo · Jul 7, 2021

I was in the market for a new screen a few weeks ago, and LG was by far the most recommended. I ended up buying 2 different models, since I ended up with will it/won't it drama for my second screen (it died, then worked, then died again). I bought the older version of the LG 27GP83B-B (27GL83A-B) - which uses the same panel and has more or less the same configuration other than the stand. I've been happy with it for gaming, but I have it sitting beside a much cheaper model (27QN600-B). These are both LG 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitors. The QN has half the refresh rate since it's not a "gaming" screen, but it actually has noticeably better contrast and color accuracy out of the box. Neither of them are really "true" HDR, but I can enable it on the QN and it looks kind of decent, where the GL is a washed out mess.

I know it's not exactly the info you were asking for, but both of these screens are solid choices, it's just that they are very use-case specific. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the GL for gaming, even though the colors aren't great. I would recommend the QN for office work or movies. It has better IQ, it's just hampered by a 75hz refresh.

Leopardi · Jul 7, 2021

shilka said:
The Asus PG279Q is a 2016 model so its rather outdated and is being replaced by the PG279QM so the PG279Q is not worth buying
The LG 27GL850 is also being replaced by the 27GP850

Newer doesn't mean better. Current nano IPS panels are a step back in many ways, more IPS glow, more BLB and contrast in 700-800:1 area rather than 1200:1.

chebornek · Jul 20, 2021

MAG274QRF-QD - get the quantum dot version of this display if you haven't already purchased the one you wanted. The rest is TLDR.

I'd been shopping for a 27" 1440p display for the last almost 4 years. Frequently overlooked for upgrades, our display is one of the most important parts of a pc, since it's what we look at.

I have all review sites/youtube video review(ers) bookmarked. Every monitor had one or two flaws that were show stoppers for me, some were just way too expensive to justify purchase (looking at you, Samsung). I never looked seriously at ASUS as I'd had two ASUS monitors both go way too dim way too early IMO, from the late 2000s to early the last decade. They might have improved their tech, but they had already taken nearly 600USD in poor reliability/duration-of-use product from my wallet.

Same goes for Viewsonic, my first 17" flat panel was a 2004 Viewsonic, I can't remember anything about it except how long it didn't stay bright. It lasted about 3 years and dimmed out to where I had to get my first ASUS TN panel which then dimmed away by 2011. Unfortunately, wooed by the great ASUS images from that 23.5" 1080p unit, I purchased a 27" 1080p Asus 60hz VA panel but it outright just failed to power on one day in 2014.

I have poor vision, even though corrected - I'm still slightly red/green colorblind for instance. I have a hard time seeing 'ghosting' or other normal artifacts other people might notice when we've overclocked our GPU too far and it introduces visual clues to our monitors. Only since purchasing a Hisense H9F VA/quantum dot - a few years back, was I able to actually notice excess blooming on a darker screen around closed captioned text or test pattern balls moving around its face. I cannot differentiate blooming on a normal bright screen/scenes.

I went to Microcenter, Best Buy, any brick and mortar to test drive various monitors. I can tell the fluidity difference between 30Hz and 60Hz video. I can see the difference between 60Hz pc game play and 120Hz gameplay in terms of fluidity. I've never noticed screen tearing on a BenQ 60hz non G-sync capable display I've owned. Saw it on a 60Hz ASUS though.

It always seemed to me that my old (long dead) 19" NEC CRT had excellent everything except screen size. I've never seen an LED panel which could match a CRT's color and pixel density, until I purchased my first IPS monitor last month. The MAG274QRF-QD is under 450USD usually. I can adjust color & gamma settings to my liking. It's not 100% professionally calibrated, but I don't use it for professional color grade work. It has everything I wanted in a 1440p monitor (I hope it has longevity, but that's something we won't know until we know).

My 24" Sceptre TN panel worked fine in its role as a display where I'd predominantly run graphs and system monitoring software about my rig. It was perfect for that at under $130.00.

My now almost 7 year old BenQ 27" GW2760HS has inherited that chore. It's been a great monitor with plentiful adjustments and excellent (to my eyes) color range. The new MSI 1440p monitor blows it out of the water and I was big fan of VA panels (contrast is king) because of the BenQ and my second ASUS. The el cheapo Sceptre and the BenQ were both purchased after my last ASUS died and they both still have satisfactory display brightness and color. Okay, so there's some color shift when I don't sit front center to them. Who doesn't sit in front of their monitors 99% of the time?

I was leery of IPS. That Viewsonic might've been IPS, I don't know, was probably TN. It also might've been 720p. Excess blooming, lack of VA contrast capability...the cost of adding a G-sync module to a particular model I might've liked. I switched to discrete GPUs in 2006 and except for one Radeon/AMD GPU from 2011 to 2015, I've had and prefer Nvidia.

The latest drivers in conjunction with this MSI monitor give me flawless G-sync (Win10) at up to 165Hz and as low as 20Hz it is also supposed to be covered. I never see frame rates dip below 45ish with the few games I play, that's not an issue. I rarely see frame rates climb above 140 (except DOOM or QUAKE). I have a dual boot PC... Win7 on one side and Win10 on the other. For my use-case scenarios, it's a great monitor so far. There is no noticeable blooming and the blacks are just fine (to my eyes), and it doesn't have that nasty curve the 27" overpriced Samsung has. If I wish to sit 10 to 90 degrees off center to watch a movie or play a game - there's no color shift with the MSI. Sennheiser headphones address lack of speakers.

165Hz across DP with G-sync on Win10, 165Hz on Win7 (no G-sync) . '120Hz via HDMI on Win7 or Win10 to the TV' - no noticeable tearing either (so far).

108-109 ppi is the clencher for this MSI display.

It's kind of cool that I can send DVI to the BenQ, HDMI to the Hisense TV & DP to the MSI with the 1080ti. Not being cutting edge has its benefits if you look for them.

Dunan · Jul 22, 2021

I ended up getting the MSI Optix MAG274QRF-QD.

Although, i'm on the fence with it, even after several calibrations. The lack of sRGB clamp is really bugging the heck out of me. I guess i'm spoiled by my NEC with its hardware calibration, but its 13 yrs old and only 60hz, which I gamed on for many, many, years. The issue is the reds. Clearly they are out of control, and no way to harness them without some sort of clamp. Calibration helped, but does not solve. This is what I mean:

Red XYZ, if I'm reading this right, and I could be totally wrong, is that 55.15 is the red luminance. The reds are far more saturated still and watching any web/youtube content looks overly saturated, especially people. Its not THAT bad anymore, but still quite noticeable next to the NEC. I still have to drop the red s a few notches AFTER calibration as they are still too blown out, which technically makes the initial calibration moot.

I'm still debating on whether i'll keep it. The lack of sRGB is clearly a problem as I probably watch more content than game at this point but didn't want to be stuck with 60hz forever either if I choose the latter at any point.

Here is the rest of the calibration chart, all GAMUT coverages are excellent, but that missing sRGB clamp that just about every other monitor i've ever bought has (without even looking for it btw) has me second guessing the purchase, because of lack of control. dE values were like 0.3. Still oversaturated with reds. Used i1DisplayPro colorimeter.

Everything about the monitor is great, no bad BLB, grey uniformity is great, no gradient banding, but no gamma adjustments or advanced color/sRGB mode.

I guess I'm still looking for a monitor then, one with an sRGB clamp that has near the color accuracy of this one.

Next step is to look for a content creator monitor that doubles as a gaming monitor I guess. If I cant find one soon, I may stick with the MSI.

Thoughts? Think I should keep it or keep looking? I am sooooo on the fence with this on what to do.

Dunan · Jul 26, 2021

Well I grabbed an Acer Predator XB3 XB273U GSbmiiprzx to compare to the MSI. Where one faults, the other makes up for it and vice versa.
sRGB clamp is OK on the Acer. After calibration, web and YT content look decent and not TOO saturated. Miles better than the MSI, and totally usable for web viewing.

Now the problems. BLB is good, grey uniformity is great, but there is a grainy coating that looks like dust if you get close enough. At 60Hz the overshoot and blurring is extreme. At ANY refresh rate the overshoot is clearly noticeable but especially at 60, and unfortunately I use it a lot for certain games.
No perceivable overshoot or blurriness on the MSI, its excellent.

Both have to go back and I may just wait it out now for another month to see if the new Asus ROG Swift PG279QM is worth it, cause its REALLY expensive. Unless the ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q is suggested? I know they use the same grainy panel coating, but thats passible for an all around better monitor with a workable sRGB mode.

I'm new seeing in order to get all of the ghosting to stop, everything has to be turned off. No overdrive, no adaptive sync, no VRB.

Dunan · Sep 1, 2021

Acer went back because of extreme ghosting, so i'm waiting for the asus PG279QM to come out. Supposed to be an endgame 1440p 27"....we'll see

writer21 · Sep 1, 2021

Samsung g7 odyssey is best 1440p monitor I'ved owned and runs at 240hz. Use it for xbox too. All throughout the framerate range the picture is clean lag minimal. If your budget allows you can't go wrong with this monitor unless you get a dud. Compares close to my VG259QM monitor which is 1080p and 280hz. Difference is contrast is way better and colors pop more especially at night.

Imprezzion · Sep 1, 2021

Try the Acer Nitro 272U KV model. Buddy of mine bought 3 straight from Acer, factory color calibration sheets included and full pixel warranty. They look amazing. "Only" 170Hz tho.

phillyman36 · Sep 11, 2021

@Dunan If you have a Microcenter near you check online for the Asus pg279qm. You can preorder it at BH Photo, Adorama, and Amazon. I put a preorder in at Amazon but then saw my local Microcenter had 1 in stock so I reserved it. Going to grab it later this evening. I canceled my Amazon preorder.

Need help choosing a 2440p 144hz monitor (UPDATED)

Dunan

shilka

Dunan

Imprezzion

Dunan

Imprezzion

Dunan

Dunan

Mr. Mojo

Leopardi

chebornek

Dunan

Dunan

Dunan

writer21

Imprezzion

phillyman36

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