Display Enlightment by NCX

TN panels suffer from vertical gamma shift: their colors and shades are uneven from top (top quarter is too dark) to bottom (bottom half is washed out), as well tend to have more banding, and always have vastly less wide, or more restrictive viewing angles than other panel types.  VA panels suffer from horizontal gamma shift which causes the sides of VA panel to be significantly lighter or washed out compared to AHVA, IPS and PLS panels. VA panel gamma becomes lower, and colors and shades become more washed out the further away from the center.  AHVA, IPS and PLS panels do not suffer from gamma shift at all, and thus are able to display colors and shades evenly across the panel. 

The BenQ Zowie RL2460 and ViewSonic VX2458-mhd both use AUO TN panels with vertical shift, but the ViewSonic suffers from less gamma shift in the bottom half of the panel, however it does appear to suffer from a bit of horizontal shift as well and have a dark wide hour glass shape spanning across most of the panel, though the grey bar panels still appear more even over all compared to the BenQ which has a significantly more washed out bottom half than the VX2458-mhd.  The ViewSonic VX2458-mhd offers atypical and exemplary homogeneity for a TN panel, however it still suffers from obvious gamma shift and looks washed out compared to good AHVA/IPS/PLS and VA panels.



The AUO TN panel in the VX2458-mhd has normal, or very restrictive and limited viewing angles for a TN panel.


The AHVA panel using 144hz 1080p Asus VG279Q is the best 144hz 1080p monitor.  Viewing angle photo compilation is from the Review by PRAD.



The VA panel using 144hz 1080p Samsung C24FG70 uses the same panel as the C24FG73 which has better overdrive with less overshoot ghosting, but the same image quality.  Viewing angle photo compilation is from the Review by PRAD.



The TN panel using ViewSonic VX2458-mhd is one of the best tested 144hz 1080p AUO TN panels.  Best Reviewed Flicker Free 1080p 144hz Monitors with performance summaries and dozens of review links.  Viewing angle photo compilation is from the Review by PRAD

The ViewSonic does not automatically detect and correctly display the default 16-235 signal consoles send out, but it does have an HDMI Black Level settings located in the Color Range sub menu in the Color Settings main menu.  I recommend using these console settings since changing the monitors settings affects all inputs and will negatively affect other inputs if one forgets to change the settings back when the display is connected to devices which send out different or incompatible signals.

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 must have its YCbCR709's setting selected to prevent the image from being washed out since the other settings send a 16-235 signal which causes the display to be washed out

Spoiler (hover to show)

Use the following Image Settings

System Settings> Console Settings> Display> HDTV Settings>Select 1080p

Enable Display Discovery in the System Settings>Console Settings>Display Settings tab or

System Settings> Console Settings> Display> Reference Levels: Standard

System Settings> Console Settings> Display> Color Space>YCbCr709

Xbox One & Xbox One X

The ViewSonic looks washed out when connected to the Xbox One and Xbox One X since it does not automatically detect and correctly display the signals the Xbox and Xbox One X send out.  To rectify this Go to the Settings > All Settings > Display & Sound > Video Output > Color Space and change the setting from Standard to PC RGB.  The ViewSonic does have HDMI Black Level settings located in the Color Range sub menu in the Color Settings main menu, but I recommend using these console settings since changing the monitors settings affects all inputs when the display is connected to devices which send out different or incompatible signals.

The ViewSonic supports Free-Sync with the One S and One X if the Free-Sync setting is selected (Color Control Menu>Viewing Modes>Gaming FreeSync), and if the Allow variable refresh rate setting is selected in the Xbox One S and X's Display & sound Advanced video modes menu.  Here's how to access this setting:

1.) Open the Settings app on Xbox One.
2.) Navigating to the Display & sound tab.
3.) Select the Video output tile.
4.) Select Video modes.
5.) Enable the Variable Refresh Rates checkbox.

Source=Xbox One FreeSync and Variable Refresh Rates: Everything you need to know by Matt Brown

+Competitive price
+No contrast, gamma or uniformity loss when set to 144hz vs 60hz
+AMD Free-Sync support over Displayport (48-144hz) and HDMI 2.0 (48-120hz)
+Nearly grain and sparkle free matte coating allows for increased clarity and vibrancy of light colors and white
+Minimal banding when displaying dark content
+Fairly accurate
+TN panel with exemplary image homogeneity and reduced vertical gamma shift
+Balanced overdrive with no overshoot and very fast pixel response times (default Advanced Response Time setting) at both 60 and 144hz
+Negligible input lag
-Stand wobbles very easily
-Dead white pixel in the bottom right corner
-Glossy black bezel reduces perceived black depth
-Preset RGB Level accuracy could be better
-Miss-matched color gamut with over and under-saturation
-TN panel with obvious vertical gamma shift
-TN panel with very narrow and restrictive viewing angles
-Minor horizontal gamma shift and hour-glass shaped image distribution

The ViewSonic VX2458-mhd is a great budget friendly gaming monitor, but sadly this is mainly because many of the 144-165hz AUO TN panels have severe functionality and image quality issues, and not because it offers excellent all around performance.  The VX2458-mhd is not a super accurate TN panel, but it does not suffer from obvious issues such as severe banding when displaying dark content, low gamma, contrast, gamma and uniformity loss when set to 144hz, as well as has atypically uniform image homogeneity or reduced vertical gamma shift compared to most TN panels.  It also offers outstanding gaming performance without any real flaws such as the need to change the overdrive setting when changing the refresh rate, and it's more accurate than many of the more expensive 1080p 144hz TN panels.  The ViewSonic VX2458-mhd is the best 144hz 1080p TN panel without G-Sync as of May 17th 2019, and until otherwise noted in my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 144hz 1080p Monitors buying guide.