"old" Asus PB278Q(PLS panel) or "new" PB278QR(AHVA panel) - What would you choose?

[Anom1c]

After browsing the internet for hours on the differences between these two I still can't figure out which one would be better for me. I can buy a 2nd hand PBQ278Q for less than 400€ or this one for 450€ + shipping&tax.

Here is a quote that sums up the differences of the QR:

+Competitively priced
+Excellent build quality
+Very Adjustable
+Displayport, Dual-Link DVI, HDMI and VGA inputs
+Made with matte/non-glossy plastic
+Semi-glossy coating is nearly grain free and handles reflections well
+Almost no discernible preset color tint
+LED PWM Dimming/Flicker Free unlike the original PLS version
+Suitable for all environments since it can get very bright and very dim
+Excellent preset color accuracy, color saturation and shadow detail when connected via DL-DVI
+Excellent calibrated colour accuracy
+Wide viewing angles
+Very fast pixel response times; is significantly faster than the PLS PB278Q
+One of the only delay free, multi-input 27" 2560x1440 monitors
-AHVA glow is more pronounced compared to newer PLS panels
-Useless Displayport due to the mediocre colours and contrast
-User Colour Temperature setting significantly reduces the preset colour accuracy
-User Colour Temperature setting significantly reduces the contrast and perceived black depth
-AHVA PB278Q uses a matte black bezel vs. the PLS version matte grey bezel
-Inferior perceived and measured black depth compared to the original due to the lower contrast and darker bezel
-Panel lottery; the newer AHVA version uses a matte black bezel vs. matte grey
-No way to distinguish between the AHVA and PLS version when ordering online

The revised PB278Q/PB278QR is better than the PLS predecessor in some ways, but worse in others, which is a shame since it is obvious Asus resorted to half measures when they updated the panel. The faster pixel response times/reduced ghosting, lack of input lag and LED PWM Dimming is appreciated, but the awful Displayport colours, inferior perceived black depth (caused by the lower contrast and darker bezel) and awful colours and contrast when the colour controls are unlocked are not.

Still, it is hard to argue against buying the Asus PB278Q/PB278QR since it is so competitively priced, and currently only the LG 27MB85R offers low input lag and better colours than the Asus while the other 1440p monitors with superior colour presets (AOC Q2770PQU and BenQ BL2710PT) have 20ms delays.

Source: http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/monitor-reviews-discussion/15515-asus-pb278qr-pb278q-2014-review-semi-glossy-pwm-flicker-free-8-bit-ahva-2.html#post1311901

I will love you forever if you can help me decide, this is giving me a headache lol.

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

A lot of things here you should ignore! I will list them:


+LED PWM Dimming/Flicker Free unlike the original PLS version
+Suitable for all environments since it can get very bright and very dim
+Wide viewing angles
+Very fast pixel response times; is significantly faster than the PLS PB278Q
-AHVA glow is more pronounced compared to newer PLS panels
-No way to distinguish between the AHVA and PLS version when ordering online


Last one is basically because both PLS and AHVA are worse than IPS which they are both based on, but different due to LG being the only one allowed to manufacture IPS. Color accuracy means absolutely nothing, if the panel they use is low quality, regardless. Uniformity is an issue with all non professional "IPS" like monitors. IPS-like or not, if the uniformity is bad, then colors suffer. Reviews can be incredibly inaccurate.

If you think that AHVA has got a higher contrast ratio than PLS, you're mistaken. They're both around 1000:1, IPS-like monitors cannot reach anything higher, without using pixel dimming found in TV's using IPS panels, no monitors use dimming.


If you want advise, then I suggest you include what your needs and or requirements are. Simply listing two monitors is easily the worst thing you can do, because you're not even considering other monitors on the market at that point. There is no one best monitor, there are bad ones across all three common panel types, TN, VA, IPS (or PLS and AHVA). The most consistent are easily TN, IPS and IPS-like being the worse on the market.

VA has got the highest contrast, and most accurate color representation once you move up in price for the professional range. With IPS you never know what you're getting, because bleed, glow, clouding will be in a random spot each time, it's a horrible choice, in my opinion.

For accuracy, always go with a 100% sRGB VA, they beat IPS everytime in every test but viewing angles. However, the vertical viewing angles for both IPS and VA are both horrible, a common misonception. IPS (or IPS-like) does have much better horizontal viewing angles though, than VA.

There is no best monitor for everything. There are of course OLED monitors on the market, but they're currently being used by the movie industry, and are ridiculously expensive. Therefore, you're left with having to choose between TN, VA, or IPS.



-If you're going to play a lot of games, and watch movies and TV shows, then VA is easily hands down the best choice. Again, unless you move up in price for the professional range, then VA is the best choice regardless what you do.

-If you're playing fast shooters, then TN is preferred, because they are the only cheap 120 Hz+ monitors on the market.

-If you're going to work with color sensitive applications, then IPS is preferred, because you'd have to spend quite a bit for a good monitor using anything but IPS.

Hopefully this clears things up.




All the best!

 

[Anom1c]

If you want advise, then I suggest you include what your needs and or requirements are.

VA seems best for me then from what you said. I want to play PC games in 1440p on an at least 27" screen (the bigger the better). I'm not a serious gamer so above 60hz doesn't make a difference to me. I'd like something that makes everything look as beautiful as possible in games like skyrim/fallout/GTAV etc.

I will be mostly using this monitor to play long sessions (6 hours a day) of online poker but would like something that makes movies and new games look very good as well.

1) What should I pay attention to when choosing a VA panel monitor?
2) What brand/model(s) would you recommend that cost under 500€?

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

Where are you buying from?

There are no smaller than 32" 2560x1440 VA monitor at the moment. This one is great:
http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-BL3200PT-32-inch-Monitor-Creative/dp/B00ITORMNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1449839654&sr=1-1&keywords=Benq+BL3200PT

 

[Anom1c]

Found one on amazon.de. I live in Belgium.

http://www.amazon.de/BenQ-BL3200PT-AMVA-32-inch-Monitor/dp/B00JIWLNHU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450371561&sr=8-1&keywords=bl3200pt


Still waiting for amazon to restore my account access. It's still "on hold for investigation". I faxed them the info they asked for 2 days ago and I'm kinda starting to regret ordering everything(first build) there. It's like they're punishing me for wanting to spend too much money or something haha.