Need help choosing a monitor

[Luis Felipe Rodrigues]

Hello guys, I've been using a 32' samsung TV as my monitor for a while but it just died, so I'm gonna have to buy a replacement. The general consensus is that monitors are better than TVs for gaming, so I'm going for a monitor this time. I want a 27' monitor because 24' is too small for me, I don't like sitting too close to it. The problem is that there are 3 main types of displays (TN, VA and IPS) and I'm no sure which is the right choice for me.

According to my research, IPS has better colors and viewing angles, while TN has better response time but worse colors and viewing angles, and VA is a compromise between the two. If I take that at face value, IPS is the right choice for me due to the viewing angles, but I've also read that IPS has a big problem with backlight bleeding, which I can't stand. Do VA monitors have the same backlight bleeding problem that IPS monitors have? If so, I'll probably have to settle with a TN, if not I'll probably get a VA, or maybe that backlight bleeding problem I heard about is exaggerated and an IPS would be just fine, I don't know. I also have to consider the price, my budget isn't big and I live in Brazil, so I have to consider the prices and availability found here. I found one of each monitor type that I'm considering buying, and I'd like to know which would be the best option.

VA monitor: ACER VA270H
https://www.acerdisplay.com/monitor/visioncare/va270h.html
This one has Acer's Flicker-less technology (don't know how it compares to Asus' Flicker Free), Blue light filter and 5ms response time. The price is 228,50 dollars (or 880 reais).


TN monitor: ASUS VP278H-P
https://www.asus.com/us/Commercial-Monitors/VP278H-P/specifications/
This one has Flicker Free, Blue Light Filter and 1ms response time. The price is 303,80 dollars (or 1.169,90 reais).

IPS monitor: ASUS MX279H
https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MX279H/specifications/
This one has Blue Light Filter and 5ms response time. The price is 389,49 dollars (or 1500 reais).


The VA monitor is the cheapest, and the IPS one is by far the most expensive. Both Asus monitors also have 2 HDMI ports, which is useful for me because I want to plug both my PC and my PS4 on it. The VA monitor only has 1 HDMI port, but since it also has a DVI port I can plug the PC on the DVI port and the PS4 on the HDMI port, so long as there is no visual fidelity lost on the DVI (I'm not sure about this), but I'd have to use a HDMI-DVI adapter because my graphics card only has HDMI outs, the lack of audio on DVI is not a problem because I use a separate sound system for audio. The difference between 1ms and 5ms is not a big deal for me because I don't like competitive online games, I only play single player games, and I've been using a TV for a long time which has much worse response time than 5ms, so getting a 5ms monitor is already a big upgrade.

So there you have it, which of those would be the best option? Right now I'm leaning towards the Acer one both because it's cheaper and because VA doesn't seem to have the same backlight bleed problem of IPS monitors I've heard about, and it has better viewing angles than the TN monitors, but I'm not sure if the TN or IPS monitors would be a better choice. Any help is appreciated.

 

[camieabz]

First up, get to know the difference between backlight bleed and IPS glow - https://www.limscave.com/reduce-ips-glow

If IPS glow is a problem for you (dark room, and/or a lot of dark display situations), then TN is the way to go. Equally, I would aim for TN if very into FPS gaming (i.e. you have the kit present to max out the settings, so that only the monitor's response time is a factor, and you're competitive enough for it to ruin your game - 0.1% of people, although probably more than 50% of gamers will disagree).

The viewing angle thing of TN only matters if you're likely to be viewing the screen from a distance and not at eye level, and not head on (not what most people do). So for me it's price vs colours (or perhaps IPS glow).

I wouldn't bother with VA to be honest.

N.B. - All those monitors are 1920 x 1080 and at 27" that resolution might be a little more grainy than on a 24" monitor. Lower PPI density.

1920 x 1080, 24" - 91.79 PPI, Dot Pitch: 0.277mm

1920 x 1200, 24" - 94.34 PPI, Dot Pitch: 0.269mm

1920 x 1080, 27" - 81.59 PPI, Dot Pitch: 0.3113mm

2560 x 1440, 27" - 108.79 PPI, Dot Pitch: 0.2335mm

 

[Luis Felipe Rodrigues]

I use my pc in a dark room, I guess IPS is not for me because of the glow thing, so it's between TN and VA. I don't mind the pixel density, I was using a 32' 1080p TV as a monitor before and it didn't bother me, so 27' should be ok, right?

What's wrong with the VA monitor though? I rarely play FPS games, and when I do it's single player only, so the 1ms response time isn't required for me, and I would really like the better viewing angles of the VA monitor, so I'm leaning towards it. If there's something bad about it, please let me know and I'll get the TN.