Why I returned a perfectly good VA panel monitor

You have an IPS panel, no? You bought a VA one because you weren't happy with the black levels on it. So try bias lighting.

 

I was wondering the other day why people are buying large monitors, put them on a desk and then complain the angles are bad, ofc they are bad if you have your face sticked to it. Everything over 27" is not well usable on a desk. #1 advice of watching it from a distance is correct one. Also, less vibrant colors does not mean the screen has poor color accuracy.

 

You can even say the opposite is true with sRGB content. Color accuracy is highly overrated, basically every wide gamut device can achieve ~99% sRGB after calibration, but on the other hand show goofy LSD colors without calibration or in applications without color management (which includes every single game out there, at least without HDR). There is no difference between IPS and VA in color accuracy anymore, maybe this was true 15 years ago.

 

I probably wasn't too clear on why I wanted another monitor. I thought the IPS monitor was great, but it was a little on the small side, and it also had a maximum of 75hz. I wanted something bigger with a better refresh rate. I was very happy with the color reproduction and such on the LG, although black levels could always be better on an IPS. Anyway, I have a 34" Gigabyte IPS panel on the way and will be sure to share my thoughts after I set it up, give it a go and can directly compare it to my experience with the Dell VA panel of the same size and aspect ratio.

I just don't feel you can get much of an immersive gaming experience out of a 27" or below monitor. Have you ever gamed on a 32" or bigger on your desk? A 34" ultrawide or multi-monitor setup end-to-end even? It's a whole other world imo. Full peripheral coverage, and just a serious wow factor. But you're right on the distance thing though, I was probably sitting a bit close.

 

Well even if you do get monitor that does not compromise on viewing angles I would still recommend watching it from distance. Watching flat light sources for extended time periods surely causes eye strain.

 

I have gamed on 32" and bigger monitor and it great for gaming, but only when sitting back an extra foot or 2, which fine if your gaming on controller but if you doing on keyboard it not ok, less you can move said kb and mouse back. normal desk view distance 32" and bigger is just to big atlest for me when doing things like web browsing and what not way to much head movement and or eye movement for my taste. i know people that will agree with that and i know people that disagree with that, it all comes down preference.

Gaming is better on bigger screen no doubt, that is why I have 24" pc monitor I rarely game on that will at some point be changed to 27", and i game on my 55" tv majority of time for pc and consoles from my tv sitting spot. i dont have to move my head or eyes to see everything on screen like do 32" and bigger monitors.

to me having to constantly move ones head or eye to see monitor means one 2 thing your sitting to close to it or its to big or both. and that to me is no no for monitors see most general view that distance of 2 feet give or take. but again it come down to preference.

 

Very happy with my 32" 4K panel. Very immersive, sharp, and great colors / black levels. (It's a VA) Had a 28" before and felt it wasn't filling my vision. So I have to disagree with @Raserian on this. (Unless your monitor sits a foot away from your face.)

Monitor is mounted on an arm, and hovers over the back edge of my desk.

 

A lot of people seem happy with their VA panels. It's just possible that I got a somewhat lower quality VA loaded monitor, and perhaps a higher end one would have fit the bill more nicely? Either way, the 34" Gigabyte IPS panel is set to arrive tomorrow and I will be sure to share my results. I have a feeling that my eyes just prefer an IPS, because I switched back to my old LG and my eyes were like ahhhhh, better lol. We're def on the same page with the size thing though. Gotta get that immersive, full vision experience.

 

My monitor has a fake HDR mode for when I want to simulate gaming on a IPS panel.

Seriously tho, it's supports DCI-P3 96% color gamut, which I've set to use on my video player, and HDR looks as good as it's going to get on a low nit monitor. (I still enjoy HDR content) Since I do watch TV/movies on it, the black levels are important to me.

So no, I don't feel I am missing anything vs having an IPS, other than the IPS version of my monitor has better framerates, FreeSync Pro. You should find out what panel your Dell used and check the panel specs..

 

I received the new Gigabyte 34” IPS panel monitor this last weekend, and the early results are in. It's pretty clear to me, my eyes just prefer the look and overall presentation of an IPS panel even with very little effort right out of the box. The colors are far move vivid here, and this monitor supports 117% of the sRGB spectrum on an IPS. The viewing angles are also a definite improvement. Of course, I do have some of the classic IPS panel glow going on, but its only really noticeable in a dark room. Seems like there is more of it on the left side than the right? Anyway, during the day or a well lit room, its not really a factor and its unnoticeable while gaming. I consider that a small price to pay for the quality image and consistency I want front to back. The only thing that was better on the Dell VA were the black levels and black uniformity. I'll simplify my thoughts below with a pros/cons look from my viewpoint and experience. Keep in mind, I spent far more time tweaking the Dell to a lesser result, and have spent far less time on the Gigabyte to get it to look better (to my eyes).

Dell S3422DWG
Pros:

1. Better contrast and black levels.
2. Better overall visual design of the monitor itself. Blue downlight, nice presentation and build
3. No backlight bleed

Cons:

1. Poor viewing angles
2. Washed out gamma/color near far edges. Only looked 100% dead center
3. Average and inconsistent color reproduction by comparison
4. Text slightly harder to read for some reason?

Gigabyte M34WQ
Pros:

1. Far better color reproduction and vivid 117% sRGB coverage
2. Text appears more crisp
3. Better viewing angles all around
4. Overall better and more appealing imagery from this panel
5. Even better response time

Cons:

1. Fairly bad IPS glow, especially on the lower left side
2. Average overall contrast (typical IPS there)
3. Design could be more attractive from the front. Design looks better from the back lol

 

Just looked them up, those really are monsters. Funny thing is that hardware with gaming design, including monitors like these look VERY aggressive. We have completely sunk in culture of violent video games I guess. And since bezels are so thin these days, you can't really have much design in front.

 

In case anyone wasn't satisfied with any 1440p 27" 144Hz display he had: I've ended up with a Lenovo G27q-20. I could reduce backlight bleeding at frontal viewing angle by massaging the panel near affected zones. It's not perfect, but still acceptable also in dimmed environments (at least with <90nits). Of all 144Hz IPS devices I had, only the Gigabyte M27Q was better in that regard, but that Sharp panel has disgusting font rendering. Otherwise, the Lenovo is pretty solid. That panel isn't the fastest, but medium overdrive setting is very reasonable for VRR (no noticeable overshooting in practice).