Display Enlightment by NCX

Thank you for the kind comments.  The MSI has a fake-bezel/frame-less casing with a perceived black depth decreasing black bezel which partially negates the point of having a VA panel, especially when also dealing with the slower pixel response times and less sharp text vs AHVA/IPS/PLS, and warped curved image.  3$ silver tape can be put on the inner bezel, but the MSI, but there are better 32" 4K VA panels, though no monitor come close to the Samsung plasmas.  I highly recommend saving up for the BenQ PD3200U.  The PD3200U competes with VA panels perceived black depth wise since the PD has a perceived black depth increasing matte grey bezel and low glow AHVA panel.

I use this silver Scotch tape on a few fake border or frame-less monitors I own such as the HP 24 Envy (HP 24 Envy with and without tape and HP 25er without and without tape) and 25er.  I've removed and re-taped a few monitors after a few months and not had issues with residue, however I must warn that adding tape to a monitor may void the warranty.


If you really want a VA panel the BenQ EW3270U (review links) and LG 32UD59 review links both have better image quality than the MSI, proper bezels/cases and should be competitively priced against it.  The BenQ requires some research and set-up to use properly since it has a native DCI-P3 (wide gamut) panel, passable HDR and a good SDR mode.

Hi NCX and monitor community - a crazy update on this. Firstly, I'm enjoying the MSI MAG321CURV, nice black levels, colours are good, like the curve, but I found somewhat noticeable dead pixels up close and the backlight bleed can sometimes be noticeable.

More importantly, when I decided to ask BHPhotoVideo about an exchange for the LG 27UL550 due to a potentially defective monitor, they didn't even give me a chance to confirm and just decided to issue me an exchange, immediately informed me of the new order and even threw in that there is no need to return my 'defective' monitor.

So now I get to keep the MSI and I'm getting a brand new LG 27UL550, the one you NCX reviewed so well, for free. Maybe it's meant to be that I got that one, as I had my eye on it for quite some time, plus it's IPS and seems to have rendered great reviews by you and across the community for its many pros.

A part of me doesn't want to try it once I get it because I don't want it to veer me off from the MSI or see the difference and become subjective. It will be my second monitor that I never planned to get hah. But alas I digress, I'll update on the new monitor LG27UL550 once I've tested it out.

Thought you'd enjoy/appreciate this update. Take care and be safe all.

I have my eyes on the Aoc C27G1 and the Samsung C27FG73. They apparently have a static contrast of ~3000:1, and besides that get they get great reviews in a lot of places, including this site.
But the thing is, I donīt really care about the 144hz these monitors offer. So if there are any HD monitors with similar or better quality/contrast/colours you know of, [perhaps even cheaper than the ones mentioned as of the missing refresh rate,] please let me know. Size also wouldīt be a problem, my previous one was 23".

The Samsung has vastly superior perceived contrast versus the AOC since the Samsung has a matte grey bezel versus the AOC's inner black bezel.  The smaller Samsung C24FG73 is equally as good as the 27".  The older, tested, 60hz + 1080p and non-curved 24" VA panels were significantly worse than the 27" models and I don't know of any newer tested 24-27" 60hz VA panels which are good.  Also, the newer 144hz Samsung panels also have fake bezel/frame-less bezels like the AOC monitors, so I'd definitely try out a C24FG73 before it gets replaced.

Really weird (or stupid xD ) idea-question: to achieve a "glossy" coating over a matte monitor, would something like the "Displex Scratch Remover" do anything good?

Someone made an Acer XB271HU glossy accidentally with scratch remover, but I have not seen this process repeated; there's no surefire way to make the fake bezel/frame-less panels glossy, and often those who try the distilled water + paper towel method end up removing the polarizer and ruining their display. 

I wouldn't expect HP to help me given that I bought this in early 2017.

No harm trying.

Added the Review by =DEAD= to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 24-25" 1080p IPS/PLS Monitors and Best Reviewed Flicker Free 240-280hz Monitors buying guides.

Matte, fully-adjust-able, 1920x1080, 240hz IPS panel with AMD Free-Sync (48-240hz) Displayport, 2x HDMI 2.0, 4x USB 3.0 & 3.5mm Audio Out.  The Acer can fully cover the sRGB color space (with very minor over-saturation), has 1000-1100:1 contrast, is very accurate out-of-the-box aside from a very minor blue tine (6700k preset color temperature) and http://=https://4k-monitor.ru/reviews/i_zachem_teper_tn_film_obzor_i_testirovanie_igrovogo_240_gts_ips_monitora_acer_nitro_xv253qxbmiiprzx/#elem-6can be further improved by switching to the sRGB mode.  The Acer has very fast pixel response times with only minor overshoot when the default Normal OD setting is used at 240hz; =DEAD= does not test input lag or 60hz overdrive performance.

The Acer has a noticeably grain and sparkly matte coating when viewing light colors and whites.



Added the Review by Tom's Hardware to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 144-165hzhz 1080p Monitors buying guides.

Fully adjust-able, matte, 1920x1080, 165hz, TN panel with AMD Free-Sync, back-light strobing (ELMB), Displayport, Dual-Link DVI (120hz), HDMI 1.4, and 3.5mm Audio In & Out.  The Asus has up to 960:1 contrast which is , accurate but slightly too high (2.35 average) preset gamma when using the default and most accurate Racing Mode, fairly accurate preset color (64900k in the default Racing Mode), but fails to fully cover the sRGB color space (94%) resulting in some color de-saturation.  The VG258QR has negligible input lag (2-3ms measured by Playwares with the SMT Tool) and the fast and balanced overdrive is controlled by the Trace Free setting and performs best when set to the Trace Free 80 setting at 165hz.

Playwares does not test for dark scene banding or test the 60hz overdrive so I can't recommend the VG258QR until this information is available.



Added the Review by Ashun and Review by Global HD Russia to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 1080p IPS/PLS Monitors and Best Reviewed Flicker Free 240-280hz Monitors buying guides.

Fully adjust-able, matte, 1920x1080, 280hz AHVA panel with back-light strobing (ELMB), Nvidia G-Sync (48-280hz), Displayport, 2x HDMI 2.0 and 3.5mm Audio Out.  The VG279QM is preset to the Racing Game Visual Mode which is very accurate and almost properly covers the sRGB color space, but the unit PC Lab PL came with slightly too low gamma (2.1-2.2) versus the nearly linear 2.2 gamma Playwares and TFT Central measured.  The VG279QM slightly over-saturates greens, oranges, reds and yellows by over 10% but is otherwise very accurate.  The VG279Q supports HDR, but it is best lest off since it lacks almost all of the features required for true HDR, especially in regards to the DCI-P3 color space coverage since it peaks around 80%.  The overdrive is preset to the Trace Free 60 setting which provides the best performance at 240hz whileTrace Free 80 speeds up the pixel response times without obvious overshoot at 280hz.  Trace Free 60 causes some obvious overshoot at 60hz; Trace Free 20 slows down the pixel response times and gets rid of most of the overshoot at 60hz, but is a bit slower than Trace Free 40 which TFT Central recommends. 

Les Numeriques measured (middle screen) a 9.7ms delay with the Leo Bodnar device at 60hz which is nearly as low as possible.

PC Lab PL measured a 27.5ms delay with a high speed camera.  27.5ms is very high for a gaming monitor.  This is likely a 60hz measurement since Ashun measured a 34ms delay at 60hz and a negligible 2ms at 280hz.



Added the Review by Tom's Hardware to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 4-5K AHVA/IPS/PLS buying guide.

Fully adjust-able, matte, 3840x2160, 60hz IPS with 40-60hz AMD Free-Sync, Displayport, 2x HDMI 2.0, and 3.5mm Audio Out.  The VG289Q has 1,000:1 contrast, is nearly perfectly accurate preset gamma and color wise, and covers 120% of the sRGB color space (it over-saturates some greens by 20%) with no under-saturation.  The preset Trace Free 60 overdrive setting provides fast and overshoot free pixel response times, and the VG289Q has negligible input lag.



Added the Review by =DEAD=, It Hardware PL, NL Hardware and Review by Tom's Hardware to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 4-5K AHVA/IPS/PLS buying guide.

Full adjust-able, matte, wide-gamut (partial HDR support), 98hz (8 bit +FRC=10 bit with full 4:4:4 color) to 144hz (8 bit with 4:2:0 color) 3840x2160 AHVA panel with Nvidia G-Sync, 2x Displayport 1.4 (G-Sync), 2x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 3.0 and 3.5mm Audio Out.  The XG27UQ has 950-1150:1 contrast, 92% DCI-P3 coverage out-of-the-box, and over-saturates SDR (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) color, as well as has a red tint (5827-6078k color temperature; RGB measurements) unless set to the sRGB mode which is more accurate, and has high (200-220cdm/2), and locked brightness controls.  The XG27UQ's HDR mode is fairly accurate, but is also too red and lacks a true 10 bit signal and local dimming.  The XG27UQ has negligible input lag (2ms), and minimal overshoot, but slower than average pixel response times (5-12.6ms range versus 2-8ms) versus the fastest non-TN competitors.



Added the Review by Playwares to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 24-25" 1080p IPS/PLS Monitors

Matte, 75hz, 1920x1080 IPS with AMD Free-Sync, 3x HDMI and 3.5mm Audio Out.  The EW2480 has 1400:1 contrast, is fairly accurate, but can not fully cover the sRGB color space like most budget oriented IPS panels.  The EW2480 has negligible input lag (4-6ms measured with the SMT Tool), and fast pixel response times for a non-TN panel when the default AMA High overdrive setting is used.



Added the Review by PC Monitors and Review by Tom's Hardware to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 32" 4K AHVA/IPS/PLS buying guide.

Matte, 3840x2160, wide gamut AHVA panel with partial HDR support, a remote, Displayport, 2x HDMI 2.0, USB-C.  The EW3280 offers accurate DCI-P3 color space coverage, but over-saturates the SDR color spaces by over 40% unless set to the REC 709 mode which has high (2.40) gamma and locks the color controls.  The EW3280U has good HDR accuracy but only partial support since it lacks local dimming, has low brightness and lacks a true 10 bit panel; the HDR mode is best left turned off.  The EW3280U has negligible input lag (2-3ms measured with the SMT Tool) and http://=https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/benq-ew3280u/#Responsivenessfast pixel response times for a 60hz non-TN panel when the default AMA High overdrive setting is used.



The FI27Q supports 4K up-scaling over HDMI which is a great feature for those who also console game since the PS4 Pro only supports 1080p and 4K.

Added the Review by PC Monitors and Review by Tom's Hardware to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 144-165hz 1440p Monitors and Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 1440p AHVA/IPS/PLS buying guides.

Fully adjust-able matte 2560x1440, 165hz wide gamut/HDR IPS panel with AMD Free-Sync, Displayport, 2x HDMI, 2x USB 2.0 and 3.5mm Audio In & Out.  The FI27Q over-saturates the color of SDR (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) out of the box by over 30% since it has a wide gamut panel which tries to cover the DCI-P3 (HDR) color space, but it is very accurate preset gamma and color (previous 3x hyperlink source=PC Lab PL), especially when the Color Temperature setting is switched to User Define.  The sRGB emulation mode of the unit IT Hardware and Tom's Hardware tested are quite accurate while the FI27Q's sRGB mode Belgium Hardware tested significantly reduces the gamma and RGB level color accuracy (Standard versus sRGB), as well as looks washed out since the sRGB mode's gamma is too low.  The FI27Q has negligible input lag and less (2.7%) overshoot ghosting than the AD27Q (20%), but slower pixel response times resulting in more color streaking or ghosting.



Added the Review by TECHSPOT to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 27" 1080p IPS/PLS Monitors and Best Reviewed Flicker Free 240-280hz Monitors buying guides.

Fully adjust-able, matte, 1920x1080, 240hz IPS with AMD Free-Sync, Displayport, 2x HDMI 2.0 and 2x USB 3.0.  The LG has low average gamma (2.05) resulting in some washed out colors and shades, and suffers from a slight pink tint, but covers 99% of the sRGB color space or does not suffer from color de-saturation (assuming correct gamma).  The 27GN750 has negligible input lag at both 60hz and 240hz, and has very fast pixel response times at both refresh rates which makes it great for both 60hz console and 240hz PC gaming when the Faster Response Time setting is used.



Added the Review by Playwares to my Best Reviewed Flicker Free 144-165hz 1440p Monitors

Curved, matte, semi-wide gamut (123% sRGB mode or 25% over-saturation in the Gamer 2 mode for non-HDR content) 2560x1440 144hz VA panel with height adjustable stand, AMD Free-Sync (48-144hz), back-light strobing (MPRT), Displayport, 2x HDMI and 3.5mm Audio Out.  The 325M8 is very accurate when set to the Gamer 2 or sRGB mode which also provide remarkably high 6800:1 contrast, and very accurate colors, but with around 25% over-saturation of SDR (HDTV/REC 709 & sRGB) since the 325M8 uses a semi-wide gamut panel.  The Philips has negligible input lag (4-5ms measured by Playwares with the SMT Tool), but below average pixel response times at 144hz even when the best (Fast) Smart Response overdrive setting is used.

Hello! My monitor recently broke, so after 7 years itīs time for a new one.
For me the contrast and colours would be most important, theoretically speaking. I donīt know if I would even spot the difference. But at least the few times I played horror games, the lacking contrast of my old monitor was visible. I would go for an OLED TV for the heck of it, but thatīs not in my price range right now which would be up to ~350€.
I have my eyes on the Aoc C27G1 and the Samsung C27FG73. They apparently have a static contrast of ~3000:1, and besides that get they get great reviews in a lot of places, including this site.
But the thing is, I donīt really care about the 144hz these monitors offer. So if there are any HD monitors with similiar or better quality/contrast/colours you know of, [perhaps even cheaper than the ones mentioned as of the missing refresh rate,] please let me know. Size also wouldnīt be a problem, my previous one was 23".
Kindly looking forward for your advice, thank you in advance!

Now my HP 25er is starting to fail. Losing focus? I don't know how to term it except that I can see very faintly horizontal lines. The backlight has only about 13,000 hours.

I tried changing the cable, and it looks the same in the BIOS as in the OS. Just has a subtle grainy look about it now.