ASUS 27MXAQ IPS Glow

Parchon · 20 Dec 2017 at 23:00

I bought this monitor 1 week ago, but since then i get headaches and eye strain and i can't figure out what is the problem. I've tried all kinds of combinations of settings. At first I saw flickering on white/very light backgrounds, so I decided to lower the brightness. Still got eye strain. Now I've upped the brightness to 85, contrast to 60 and installed Iris which lowers the brightness and filters the blue light. I think whites are ok now and I don't notice that much flicker. Today I noticed something different. On black/super dark backgrounds I've noticed some kind of a reflection, like a glow, which again cause more discomfort. Lowering the brightness to 30 doesn't help and I can't lower it cause then the whites start to flicker. I've taken a picture of the monitor in a dark room doing the Backlight Bleed Test. Is it normal to be like that ?

This monitor is advertised as super good and with positive reviews, especially about picture quality and its really strange that it causes so much discomfort. Or maybe I got a faulty one? My super old Samsung S23B300 (no clue if its IPS or what) has much terrible picture quality but I can stick me head inside of it and feel no eye strain. Also the screen itself doesnt reflect anything, not like the ASUS one, which is almost like a mirror.

IvanDobskey · 21 Dec 2017 at 13:47

That does look to be a particularly bad one

Unfortunately all ips monitors have this to a degree. I'd definitely send that back for a replacement though.

This is why I bought a VA panel.

Vimes · 21 Dec 2017 at 16:10

It doesn't look good but with the "wrong" camera settings mine look awful, but are good in use.

As the mighty Ivan has said already if you wish to largely eliminate IPS glow then a VA panel is your friend

Just be aware that all of them have their limitations.

I have just taken delivery of a 25" Dell IPS @ 1440p, thankfully, apart from the tiniest bit of bleed, not glow, in the bottom right, it seems fine so far. It is my secondary screen to my 1440p BenQ IPS and I do like the overall colour reproduction and viewing angles etc of IPS - but whatever you chose you just roll the dice

Considering that the Dell, with their good three years onsite warranty, is an IPS it is head and shoulders better than the tired TN 24" 2409 Dell it replaced.

1440p at 25" is very crisp.

Parchon · 3 Jan 2018 at 23:43

I think i discovered a new bug in my monitor, unless its ok for an IPS panel. When I look my monitor from slightly above (even while sitting) and focus on the bottom of the monitor (where the windows task bar is), a black line starts to appear and grows bigger the more I increase the angle. The icons are cut in half, and the date in the bottom right corner is covered as well. I don't believe an IPS panel has so poor vertical visibility. And this happens only on the bottom, not on the top. I hope I've described the issue right. Anyone experienced something similar ?

Pocah · 4 Jan 2018 at 04:56

I have not seen anything like icons being cut in half. Usually there is a band of darkness ( the gloom, I call it ) that spreads from the opposite side of the monitor and eventually covers the monitor. That may or may not be accompanied with bleed.
I think it is a misconception that IPS monitors have wide viewing angles. They don't really. They suffer contrast and bleed rather than colour issues and generally it all adds up to much friendlier when you change angle, but there are still issues. The real the answer is to get that monitor to within a few inches as the height of your eyes. I have mine set about three inches below my line of sight when I am sat bolt-upright and that works out as about one or two above then I am slouching in the my chair. But really if I go outside of that then the contrast on the opposite side of the screen starts to darken and if there is bleed it will start to become visible.
The amount of bleed you are getting is difficult to judge without seeing the monitor in the flesh so to speak. It certainly varies from monitor to monitor and changing the monitor is no guarantee that it will improve matters. I think it drives some people mad, but others seem to just accept it. I certainly think though that more people have returned IPS panels because of bleed than anything else.
Honestly regards the eye strain I don't know. That monitor is supposed to be flicker free so if it's flickering then you reason to complain. It's a 300cd/m3 monitor though which is lovely a bright in a very well lit office environment, so in anything less its almost blinding. But for a home environment you may find that 50% is a better setting. Or if you work in a dimmed room even 25%. Thing is that you need to give your brain a few days to fully adjust to the lower brightness monitor. At first it seems all wrong then slowly you accept the lower brightness.

Parchon · 4 Jan 2018 at 16:14

I am not talking about gloom, but solid black appearing in the most bottom of the monitor when you look from the center to the bottom and the more you move your head above the center point the more the task bar gets covered. My super old Samsung monitor doesn't have this.