Display Enlightment by NCX

How about the Samsung 24" FHD Monitor with Bezel-LESS Design - LS24R350FHNXZA, Dark Blue Gray

Says only 1000:1 contrast.

The VA 27" curved Philips has much better contrast.

I'm wondering if the Philips is better for eye and brain comfort, but I've also read many reviews on Amazon complaining of defects on their Philips units, which seem to have a high rate of issues.

My potentially warranty voiding solution and surefire way to vastly improve the perceived black depth or contrast is to put non-stick, perceived black depth increasing tape on the inner black bezels.

I use this silver Scotch tape on a few fake border or frame-less monitors I own such as the Acer H257U, 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 tape residue, however I must warn that adding tape to a monitor may void the warranty.

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.

Thank you NCX for that breakdown and information, it was very helpful indeed, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I had already decided on the MSI MAG321CURV by the time you sent this. I don't think I would have found a better deal than the one I got, and needed it rather soon with shipping/delivery in mind.

Having said that, I checked out the reviews on the monitors you mentioned, and I completely see where you're coming from regarding many factors such as colour gamut and bezels. Despite the specs of those VAs, coming from much larger and older TVs at 1080p, and being my first monitor, I don't think I'll see the differences that seasoned experts or long-time monitor consumers will see.

I've also never used an IPS, so on that front, although I will enjoy this first monitor I got that's VA and will probably love the colours and all being it's my first so I don't have the bias to compare, I do think I will likely switch to an IPS for my next monitor in a couple years just to see the difference. This is assuming VA doesn't improve much over its IPS counterpart. Clearly the facts and tests says it all, as you've shown.

In a way, I may have subconsciously opted for VA knowing full well that as a first monitor it may be my only chance to appreciate it before experiencing IPS. Of course, I care a lot about contrast/blacks, especially coming from the last good old plasma tv that finally bit the dust. But I switched to a basic Sony Bravia 42in 1080p after that one for the last two years. My purchase at the end of the day really came down to the value for the price point that I found with the MSI MAG321CURV while ticking my specs boxes such as curved (although I see you make a valid point on curves), USB ports, price, size and resolution.

Being my first monitor I wasn't going to discern differences like most others and would fully appreciate what I'm getting in colours, vibrancy, and all as I have no subjective or factual comparisons to go by. But based on what I've read and seen such as your amazingly accurate tests and reviews, I will most likely be more subjective in my next purchase, and it may most likely be IPS.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy my first monitor which happens to be VA. I've grown very intrigued by this subject though, thanks in large part to your reviews, feedbacks, findings, and general content. It'll be exciting to see the developments for the next gen VAs IPSs and TNs.

Thanks again for your help, feedback and support.

Looks like I need one of the new EliteDisplay monitors. HP has a recently released model with low haze. Looks perfect for me, and looks higher quality than the Asus eye care series.

I noticed both my HP monitors here have almost perfect backlights. The Asus I returned, which was the 2017 23.8" Eye Care model (VZ249HE), had quite a lot of backlight bleed and IPS glow.

Is the HP 22xw that I have flicker free? I can't find any information on that.

Right now isn't a good time to buy a monitor, but maybe things will ease up in a few months.

The new 2019 VA24EHE by Asus has been selling out everywhere, but I think I'd anyway rather keep my money and put it toward a low haze EliteDisplay.

So, I've decided to try a VA monitor as they seem the best regarded for eye comfort for office work. VA2452SM qualifies, but I'm still looking at other options.

VA panels have less sharp text than AHVA/IPS/PLS and there are zero ways a TN or VA panel can be easier on the eyes since almost all monitors, (including all monitors I recommend) are PWM/Flicker Free and have similarly light matte coatings now.  The VA248HE is untested so there's no way to know if it's better than the S24F350H.