[SOLVED] Acer XB271HU vs Asus PG279Q - Down to 2 monitors but open to suggestions

[marek_shields]

I just acquired an EVGA 2080 (non-Ti) and am looking for a good 1440p 144Hz monitor to pair it with. From all of the reviews I have read (and I have read quite a few), the battle has down to the ASUS PG279Q and the Acer XB271HU as being the top IPS displays available at 27".

Rtings.com (as well as most other reviewers) gives the edge to the PG279Q. Here is the side-by-side comparison. Both the PG279Q and the XB271HU use the same panel so the picture quality should be comparable. PG279Q has a larger contrast ratio and high max brightness than the XD271HU but I don't know how much that matters. The PG279Q, according to a review I read, handles motion somewhat better as it has a back light flicker feature that supposedly makes high-speed motion smoother that the XB271HU doesn't have though I don't know if that actually matters or how true that statement actually is.

One other major thing I am considering is the quality control issues the PG279Q has. There are countless posts about excessive back light bleeding on what is supposed to be a top-end monitor and users needing to RMA/return it, sometimes 4 or 5 times, until they get one with an acceptable level of back light bleeding. Another thing to consider is that the XB271HU $599 right now and the PG279Q is $699 though that is less of a consideration given I am already willing to spend over $500 on a good monitor.

Does anyone have any experience with both of these monitors that could give a little insight into which one they decided to stay with an why? I'm also open to suggestions if someone has another unit worth looking at.

 

[Eximo]

Hopefully ASUS has taken care of the quality control issues. I bought one at launch, and it does have some definite uniformity issues. At the time ASUS had far more buyers than panels and would rebox anything that passed their tests and send them back out. Sadly, many people expected absolute perfection for $800 and kept sending them in, only to get worse ones that other people had already sent in. It created a lot of buzz that still shows up in searches. Those are the people who sent it in 4 or 5 times.

There was also a large contingent of people moving from TN displays to these VA panels. A lot of them considered the glowing at the edges to be a defect since they hadn't seen it before. But it is a characteristic of all VA and IPS/PLS displays.

I kept mine, and while it is slightly bright in the bottom right and more blue on the left and yellow on the right, it isn't all that noticeable with a game running. The center of the screen is where you spend most of your time looking anyway. I posted about it here if you want to track down the post. I took pictures.

Acer wasn't immune either. A lot of complaints about dirt, fingerprints, and other foreign debris UNDER the anti-glare coating. They took care of that pretty quickly though it seems.

As for the back light flicker features. They can't be used simultaneously with G-sync as I recall. And it reduces overall brightness when in use.

Some people swear by it, but they likely want as many FPS as possible, so the anti-ghosting is more useful than G-sync.

 

[marek_shields]

I ended up picking up a PG279Q yesterday from MicroCenter. Here's hoping I don't have to play the RMA game with the first one!