IPS or VA

I've had all of them for work and gaming, a lot of the retouching specific monitors I use tend to be VA, Eizos mainly. They're great for Photoshop but not really any better than a good IPS. None of them are particularly accurate until you've run a calibrator over them.
For gaming I've used an LG OLED (but a TV rather than a dedicated monitor) and enjoyed that but I still think they're too dingy and similar to VA the shadow detail seems tricky to get right (probably just me). I ended up this time with a Dell 27" IPS 165hz, nothing fancy (£220ish) but works perfectly for both Creative Suite and gaming, colours good, Freesync works, motion is fine and I don't worry about burn in or text fringing etc. I'm sure that there's better out there but it's 100% a law of diminishing returns with this stuff.
My favourite all timer was the original Asus Swift, (the first 1440p 27" 144hz monitor I believe), that was 8bit TN, a world away from the usual 6bit ones, amazing gaming screen, once I'd calibrated it there was very little difference (apart from viewing angles) to the previous IPS I had except much better motion clarity.
 
Arcane said:
I've had all of them for work and gaming, a lot of the retouching specific monitors I use tend to be VA, Eizos mainly. They're great for Photoshop but not really any better than a good IPS. None of them are particularly accurate until you've run a calibrator over them.
For gaming I've used an LG OLED (but a TV rather than a dedicated monitor) and enjoyed that but I still think they're too dingy and similar to VA the shadow detail seems tricky to get right (probably just me). I ended up this time with a Dell 27" IPS 165hz, nothing fancy (£220ish) but works perfectly for both Creative Suite and gaming, colours good, Freesync works, motion is fine and I don't worry about burn in or text fringing etc. I'm sure that there's better out there but it's 100% a law of diminishing returns with this stuff.
My favourite all timer was the original Asus Swift, (the first 1440p 27" 144hz monitor I believe), that was 8bit TN, a world away from the usual 6bit ones, amazing gaming screen, once I'd calibrated it there was very little difference (apart from viewing angles) to the previous IPS I had except much better motion clarity.
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The best monitor you can buy is that Apple Pro Display XDR, or the LG branded version that 'only' does 4K and not 5K like the Apple branded one, that IPS is something that you really have to see for yourself, and it blows out of the water pretty much anything, and it's 'only an IPS'...
www.displayspecifications.com

32" Apple Pro Display XDR - Specifications

Specifications of Apple Pro Display XDR. Display: 32 in, IPS with Oxide TFT, Direct LED (Full-Array Local Dimming), 6016 x 3384 pixels, Viewing angles (H/V): 178 ° / 178 °, Brightness: 500 cd/m², Refresh rate: 47.95 Hz - 60 Hz, Dimensions: 718 x 412 x 27 mm, Weight: 7.48 kg.
www.displayspecifications.com
 
Teknobry said:
So what's the answer if you want a decent gaming monitor? So far every type of panel has been slated :cry:
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OLED.
Rob_B said:
There was a 34" Philips OLED recently for £400 which is nuts. I'm sure it was the best OLED ever but looks like pricing is getting better and I wonder if it would beat £400 IPS ?
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It would **** all over a £400 IPS in gaming. That Phillips deal was a steal, they're all using the same panel anyway.
 
Darujhistan said:
OLED.

It would **** all over a £400 IPS in gaming. That Phillips deal was a steal, they're all using the same panel anyway.
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So was I right previously then? It's just an LG screen if it's an OLED, patented and licensed to be used in other brands via paying a fee to use the tech/screen?
 
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Arcane said:
My favourite all timer was the original Asus Swift, (the first 1440p 27" 144hz monitor I believe)
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They were a pile of crap build quality wise unfortunately* (I went through 3 before cutting my losses and buying the Dell version, I know people who RMA'd 7 times before giving up), the Dell version was a much better monitor build quality wise and I'm still using it for gaming. That said they can suffer with non-permanent image retention with static content. Viewing angles aside quite hard to beat as a monitor which managed to be both an all-rounder and good at gaming.

For gaming I'd probably buy a high refresh Dell IPS these days but Philips also make some pretty decent monitors these days as well albeit not quite perfect.


* It seems like they went through some kind of last minute revision internally - half-arsed some of the PCB modifications and just slapped things into place with silver tape and badly positioned some of the electronics which caused heating issues and high current leakage to ground which eventually destroys them.
 
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Darujhistan said:
TN and VA ought o have gone the way of the Dodo by now.
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Nah, we still need competiting panel types so improvements / cost reductions can happen across all offerings.

I still think there's a place for TN. The current 'e-TN' panels are really only esports focused but it'd be interesting to see what would happen if someone like BenQ/Zowie introduced a competiting 1440p high hz option at a competitive price point. If it forced OLED monitors to drop pricing (right now the cheapest 1440p 240hz OLED you can find is around 470-500) then it just gives us more options.

I don't personally like VA monitors (for the games I play they just feel too slow) but the rapid VA panels we've seen introduced in the last few months are starting to address this. More options the better!
 
The VA screens are a lot better than they used to be. I have a new(ish) AOC 1440 ultrawide VA and there is no noticable smearing or delay like the one I had years ago. You wouldn't know that it was VA.

IPS has much worse blacks than VA so that will make a big difference if you play games with dark settings (e.g. Elite). It can't really black, more like dark grey. The professional quality ones are different, but you wouldn't want to game on those.

A cheap OLED is probably not going to be as nice to use for gaming as a good VA or IPS tbh. A bit like the cheaper 4k monitors can be quite awful.
 
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Seeing a lot of hate for VA here.

Personally I think VA was the best choice for my 60 Hz HDR 4K TV. I can fire up one of those HDR 4K Youtube demo vids meant for OLED, and it basically looks like an OLED as far as I'm concerned.

For a PC screen it's a bit of a different story. I had a first gen IPS Ultrawide. I only realised how greyed out it looked in non-colourful scenes when I got a VA Ultrawide.

I've now upgraded that VA ultrawide to a larger IPS ultrawide, but the big difference is this ultrawide has HDR and FALD. This is a bit of a game changer over that original IPS. For me going IPS -> VA -> IPS was an upgrade each time.

These were all ultrawide monitors with RRPs >£600, so fairly high end in their respective times. I don't know how the panel types are faring on the lower end.
 
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IPS for all my monitors, been like that for years and years.
 
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I liked VA for dark games and watching movies but it never sat right for normal browsing and work related, IPS was just better.

Having got an OLED TV in the living room now though I'm keen to upgrade the monitor in a year or so. Darks on OLED look incredible and getting HDR would be amazing.
 
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