Asus VG248QE: A 24-Inch, 144 Hz Gaming Monitor Under $300

[ceberle]

Every performance-oriented gaming rig needs a speedy display to keep up with cutting-edge GPUs. Asus delivers up to 144 Hz with its VG248QE 24-inch TN-based monitor. Is its display performance as impressive as the company's sub-$300 price tag?

Asus VG248QE: A 24-Inch, 144 Hz Gaming Monitor Under $300 : Read more

 

[CaptainTom]

I gotta wonder if 1 ms vs 5 ms really makes a difference...

 

[ff6shadow]

I own this. Bought when it was first available. Great monitor for gaming. I use 2x GTX Titans with it.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i don't like the sound of this dithering BS, i guess that's why its cheap....

 

[SWEETMUSK]

if I have $300 dollars I will not buy for 24 inch "TN" screen
IPS is much better then TN

 

[Axonn]

People who think 144 Hz is more important than an 8-bit panel are in for a big, big fail.

 

[ryude]

This monitor uses PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) for the backlight, which causing flickering. The only 144hz monitor that does not use PWM is the BenQ XL2420TE.

 

[Plusthinking Iq]

they only sell BenQ XL2420T version in my country, so i bought the asus for the double pwm hz. pwm, the scourge og the lcd monitor.

 

[CraigN]

ryude - yes, it uses PWM, however, as an owner of one of these monitors, I have not noticed any flickering at all. It's a really solid performing monitor. That same PWM comes in real handy when running in Lightboost mode for even more reductions to input lag.

CaptainTom, 1ms makes a huge difference over 5ms. I didn't think it would at first until I bought one of these. Next to my old 24" HDTV that was my monitor for awhile, the difference is insane.

 

[CraigN]

PS , Christian, your SmartBuy award photo at the end of the article is the wrong ASUS monitor Also, would you guys mind releasing the ICC profile you guys calibrated for your tests?

 

[Turik]

The final picture is not of the VG248QE?

 

[Turik]

As someone with a high quality 1440p IPS and 2 of these monitors, for most gaming I prefer these. For World of Warcraft or other MMOs where screen space is a luxury, it's hard to give up the high-res IPS, and the color quality is noticable, but with a proper ICC profile and some tweaking, it's a good looking monitor.

ICC profile is use is here: http://pcmonitors.info/reviews/asus-vg248qe

 

[ubercake]

The thing is contrast is lacking big time on IPS monitors less than $500. So who cares about color accuracy if you can't see all the shades? Cheap IPS monitors are not only slow because of inherent input lag, but also a fail when it comes to contrast.

These high refresh rate monitors offer an incredible performance boost for first-person shooters if you have video cards that can produce frame rates close to the high refresh rates (or higher than 60Hz consistently). I've tried 1440p 60Hz monitors and can't stand the lower refresh. I've tried 60Hz surround setups and can't stand the low refresh. Once you go to these monitors, you develop a need for them. Nothing with lower refresh rates compares any longer. If you've never had it, you don't miss it and don't know what you're missing.

If you don't have the kind of GPU power to consistently get you beyond the 60fps mark at 1080p, 60Hz monitors are the way to go. I still wouldn't settle for cheap IPS monitors with crappy contrast ratios though. For shooters, the input lag is also a terrible characteristic of the cheap IPS monitor.

 

[finder]

and it's backlight flickering as hell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBYnnBfub4E&mode=post-play

 

[twztechman]

I own this. Bought when it was first available. Great monitor for gaming. I use 2x GTX Titans with it.

2 Titans for 1980x1080 resolution? That's a bit silly. You have spent $2000 for video cards and you are gaming on one 1980x1080 24 inch monitor!
You should have at least 3 of these monitors for a surround set-up.

 

[CraigN]

Turik - I'm aware of the one at pcmonitors.info, as well as the one included with the disk. I was just wondering if it was (possible) for them to release their post-calibrated icc. I have no idea how monitor calibrators work (I didn't need to alter much on my personal VG248QE to be satisfied, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be better) so I just thought it couldn't hurt to ask.

Also - does anyone own one of these and notice that opening Pictures come up darker/dimmer than they look as thumbnails or in image preview??

 

[BigMack70]

I just wonder if/when we'll ever get a panel like this at high resolution (1440p/4k), because I'm done with 1080p.

ASUS... could you pretty please make us a 144 Hz 1440p IPS screen ??????

 

[ubercake]

I just wonder if/when we'll ever get a panel like this at high resolution (1440p/4k), because I'm done with 1080p.

ASUS... could you pretty please make us a 144 Hz 1440p IPS screen ??????

I second the 'pretty please'.

 

[moogleslam]

If I understand things correctly, if your monitor updates faster than the frame rate pumped out by your graphics card, you don't have screen tearing anymore, and therefore no longer need vsync?

 

[jdon]

I've looked at IPS panels and TN panels in some depth, and found that other than the viewing angle, I'm not able to perceive much difference. Then my fiancee laughed at me and said, "You really are THAT colorblind, huh?" ....It actually kind of makes me glad that I can appreciate the better frame rates without being disappointed by the lack of color depth!

 

[vpnuser]

I own one of these as well as a 27" Dell 1440p IPS panel, and I prefer this one for gaming. 120hz with 2D lightboost has 0 ghosting. Sure the color is crap compared to the IPS, but what good is color when it looks like 24fps movie blur in games? Quoted from my girlfriend, who can't tell the difference between 1080p and 720p movies, within 5 minutes of me setting up the monitor ; "That's really smooth."

I would prefer the best of both worlds, but I don't think current graphics cards are quite up to the task. (At least not for less than a $2500 machine) Current IPS panels out there can pull the hz, but can't match the response times just yet.

Add in the fact that the industry will be pushing for 4k soon, and you can kiss 120hz goodbye for a while.

 

[slomo4sho]

Great monitor for gaming. I use 2x GTX Titans with it.

Titans in crossfire for 1080P? 780s or even 770s in SLI make much more sense...

A fool and his money are soon departed...

 

[Fokissed]

If I understand things correctly, if your monitor updates faster than the frame rate pumped out by your graphics card, you don't have screen tearing anymore, and therefore no longer need vsync?

You'll still get tearing without vsync, you can calculate your tears per frame by dividing your FPS by refresh rate.

At < 1, the tears are hard to notice, since the tears aren't every frame, and they usually aren't in the same spot.

When the fps=refresh rate, the tears will happen in the same spot every frame, becoming very noticable.

When your fps is much higher than refresh rate, such as 200fps on a 60hz monitor, there will be 3 or 4 tears per frame.

 

[Steveymoo]

For those pooh-poohing this screen, comparing it to an IPS panel. I'm afraid you're missing the point! Until you have played an FPS game on one of these screens attached to a kick-ass gaming rig, you will not understand just how fantastic the experience of silky smooth, instantly responding motion is. I would take one of these for gaming over an IPS panel in a heartbeat. If you're into film and photography however, IPS is for you.

 

[master9716]

the ones with Lightboost work like Crts if you know how to enable lightboost on 2d games , frame is to big though , waiting for next version of the 27s