Monitor Upgrade (1440P OLED) Help!

My 27" MSI IPS is currently showing striping when I start loading windows, no problems within windows itself or playing games but after a bit of reading it looks like it could be on it's way out and it's out of warranty.

To that end, this seems like a good time to jump onto the OLED cart and get the same one as the OP as the price seems very reasonable. I mostly game, rarely watch movies and don't do any work as I'm a man of leisure now. However, I do surf a lot so the only thing that's holding me back is the text clarity and my eyes aren't the greatest now in my advancing years. I might just bite the bullet and buy one though.
 
superleeds27 said:
Any thoughts on the Gigabyte MO27Q28G or the LG GX7?

@t2na
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Both tandem panels so latest WOLED tech - but both are also matte so worth considering that if you're remotely tempted by a glossy display.

Gigabyte model uses it's newer stand design which I think is as good as Asus' current XG stands - although a pointless positive if you're just going to mount it on an arm anyway!

I didn't like Gigabyte's OSD or OLED care suite when I had the MO27Q2, found it unclear when it was running pixel cleaning and the OSD was just poor in comparison to Asus, LG or Dell/Alienware.

LG's OSD and OLED care is better from my experience - although the LG stand (whilst flat) is absolutely massive.

A weird one - but my favourite part about the LG GX7 was the ports facing straight out at the back rather than down. Made plugging things in worlds easier! I actually still have the GX7 that I bought when it launched, was tempted to sell it but I quite like using it for checking certain WOLED specific things at the moment.

One downside of the Gigabyte model is it has gimped HDMI ports - so you can't run non-DSC over HDMI. Not a massive concern if DSC related theories don't bother you but always irked me a bit that they'd provide a lower spec HDMI port on a monitor of this price.

You'll also see comments and threads online about grey banding with these tandem WOLEDs, I could barely notice it on my GX7 although I don't really look for it. @Baddass has a really good article on TFT Central about it (www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/exploring-the-grey-banding-issue-affecting-some-tandem-woled-panels) but ultimately I think a lot of the 'noise' around this your usual vocal minority.

General summary, both are good monitors if you want a 280hz 1440p OLED monitor. I'd genuinely just buy whichever was cheaper, you're not getting a hugely different experience between them and they're the 2 of the 3 tandem 280hz WOLED options right now (these 2 are matte, the Asus model is glossy).
 
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t2na said:
Both tandem panels so latest WOLED tech - but both are also matte so worth considering that if you're remotely tempted by a glossy display.

Gigabyte model uses it's newer stand design which I think is as good as Asus' current XG stands - although a pointless positive if you're just going to mount it on an arm anyway!

I didn't like Gigabyte's OSD or OLED care suite when I had the MO27Q2, found it unclear when it was running pixel cleaning and the OSD was just poor in comparison to Asus, LG or Dell/Alienware.

LG's OSD and OLED care is better from my experience - although the LG stand (whilst flat) is absolutely massive.

A weird one - but my favourite part about the LG GX7 was the ports facing straight out at the back rather than down. Made plugging things in worlds easier! I actually still have the GX7 that I bought when it launched, was tempted to sell it but I quite like using it for checking certain WOLED specific things at the moment.

One downside of the Gigabyte model is it has gimped HDMI ports - so you can't run non-DSC over HDMI. Not a massive concern if DSC related theories don't bother you but always irked me a bit that they'd provide a lower spec HDMI port on a monitor of this price.

You'll also see comments and threads online about grey banding with these tandem WOLEDs, I could barely notice it on my GX7 although I don't really look for it. @Baddass has a really good article on TFT Central about it (www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/exploring-the-grey-banding-issue-affecting-some-tandem-woled-panels) but ultimately I think a lot of the 'noise' around this your usual vocal minority.

General summary, both are good monitors if you want a 280hz 1440p OLED monitor. I'd genuinely just buy whichever was cheaper, you're not getting a hugely different experience between them and they're the 2 of the 3 tandem 280hz WOLED options right now (these 2 are matte, the Asus model is glossy).
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Excellent summary. Appreciate that. I think Matte is probably a must for me.

Worth holding out for the proper RGB panels or?
 
superleeds27 said:
Excellent summary. Appreciate that. I think Matte is probably a must for me.

Worth holding out for the proper RGB panels or?
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No worries!

I think it depends on how sensitive you are to the text fringing and what you're using the monitor for - and also if you want a new monitor right now!

I don't think we're too far off getting proper RGB panels at 1440p 27". The new 34" UW 1440p (QD OLED) monitors that have just come out are all proper RGB stripe layout - and apparently those are now just a complete like for like text clarity vs. an IPS monitor, and better in some instances because of the glossy panel. Realistically that panel can 'easily' become a standard 1440p 16:9 27" - it just depends on what Samsung Displays is prioritising.

The new 4k 27" dual mode WOLED coming out this year has a standard RGB layout too - so it's not like we're a million miles away.

Use case should be the main factor - and then it comes down to how sensitive you are to the text fringing. The fringing differs on QD vs. WOLED too so you can suffer with one panel type but be fine with the other. QD benefits from the glossy/semi gloss finish being almost 'standard' which helps with text look a bit clearer - so whilst I don't think a 1440p 27" QD OLED monitor should be used for a 5 day work from home job, I think you could probably get away with it.

WOLED 1440p is a bit wobbly - because I actually think the newer glossy tandem panels with the RGWB layout are pretty good for working on and I'd be happy using one for work. Text is better than QD OLED at 1440p here - but I do think the matte coating doesn't help on the other models for text clarity.

At 1440p, for text clarity, for me I'd go:

Glossy WOLED > Glossy QD OLED > Matte WOLED

But if I only worked from home 1 or 2 days a week max and it was mainly playing games, watching films/YouTube and posting nonsense on OCUK I'd buy whatever was priced the best and hit my refresh rate target!
 
t2na said:
No worries!

I think it depends on how sensitive you are to the text fringing and what you're using the monitor for - and also if you want a new monitor right now!

I don't think we're too far off getting proper RGB panels at 1440p 27". The new 34" UW 1440p (QD OLED) monitors that have just come out are all proper RGB stripe layout - and apparently those are now just a complete like for like text clarity vs. an IPS monitor, and better in some instances because of the glossy panel. Realistically that panel can 'easily' become a standard 1440p 16:9 27" - it just depends on what Samsung Displays is prioritising.

The new 4k 27" dual mode WOLED coming out this year has a standard RGB layout too - so it's not like we're a million miles away.

Use case should be the main factor - and then it comes down to how sensitive you are to the text fringing. The fringing differs on QD vs. WOLED too so you can suffer with one panel type but be fine with the other. QD benefits from the glossy/semi gloss finish being almost 'standard' which helps with text look a bit clearer - so whilst I don't think a 1440p 27" QD OLED monitor should be used for a 5 day work from home job, I think you could probably get away with it.

WOLED 1440p is a bit wobbly - because I actually think the newer glossy tandem panels with the RGWB layout are pretty good for working on and I'd be happy using one for work. Text is better than QD OLED at 1440p here - but I do think the matte coating doesn't help on the other models for text clarity.

At 1440p, for text clarity, for me I'd go:

Glossy WOLED > Glossy QD OLED > Matte WOLED

But if I only worked from home 1 or 2 days a week max and it was mainly playing games, watching films/YouTube and posting nonsense on OCUK I'd buy whatever was priced the best and hit my refresh rate target!
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Cheers.

Not in a massive rush, tried a few different IPS panels to upgrade the aging Gigabyte I have at the mo, but they've all gone back because the uniformity was absolutely horrific.

Can hold out until we see something more like for like with the text clarity. I'd be mainly using it for work (design/web)
 
@Gilbert89 I ordered one yesterday but didn't get the 20% off so rang them this morning only to be told my order was cancelled with no explanation. As if that wasn't enough it's showing as now £329 but it's out of stock - aaaarrrrrggghhhhh!

That's not the end though, my current monitor is being picked up for RMA today so I'm going to be without a monitor. Time to panic buy something that I'll end up regretting :(
 
zom247 said:
@Gilbert89 I ordered one yesterday but didn't get the 20% off so rang them this morning only to be told my order was cancelled with no explanation. As if that wasn't enough it's showing as now £329 but it's out of stock - aaaarrrrrggghhhhh!

That's not the end though, my current monitor is being picked up for RMA today so I'm going to be without a monitor. Time to panic buy something that I'll end up regretting :(
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It’s back in Stock but at £399.99 - Not sure what they are playing at!
 
I am finding OLED such a game changer, games look incredible, and HDR on something which is actually capable of HDR is superb.

Just played through “The Forrest” Chapter in TLOU2 Remastered, it looked so good because of the perfect blacks, really immersive, more so than my previous monitor.

Text is pretty good, yes I do notice some fringing but have become more and more used to it, to the point I have to look for it now. Certainly a none issue for my usage, but certainly will consider an upgrade in a couple of years time as the tech develops and higher end OLED’s with the new text layout drop in price.

Asus True Black Gloss Coating, well it’s amazing!

Major774 said:
It’s going to be a WOW!
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It certainly is WOW! - No buyers remorse here :D

Very happy for £360.
 
For gaming it is one thing but OLED is still far from good for a mixed use monitor in my opinion.

I've got an Aorus FO27Q5P along side a Dell S2716DG currently and to be honest I would probably still take the Dell if I had to choose between one or the other, the Aorus tries really hard to compensate for the downsides of OLED but it isn't quite there yet. Despite it being really good at certain things - the motion clarity and responsiveness is something else and noticeably better than the Dell but the Dell already provides a good starting point for that so it really doesn't feel like a downgrade switching between them.

Though the Aorus is the first display I've used where I feel like HDR provides a good experience - I've a few other HDR displays including some good ones but they all either suffer from elevate shadows or muted highlights, visibility of the dimming zones, even HDR1000, etc. displays no matter how you configure them.

The Aorus does text very well - if you get really close you can see some slight graininess but at normal viewing distance it is sharp and clear - way better than the older OLEDs. The pixel orbiting and brightness management to protect the display even with the monitor trying to do it subtlety is a little annoying, fortunately this panel doesn't force pixel cleaning during use but queues it up for standby - but that is still less than ideal.

To be honest though the Dell is doing far better here than it has any right to.
 
Gilbert89 said:
Good to know - I did know that the MGR was a refresh over the DMG but it’s never as easy as it should be to find the actual difference's and improvement's listed.




I must admit coming from IPS I did notice the text clarity not being as good but since my eyes have adjusted to the new screen I don’t really notice it much now.

For my usage it isn’t an issue, I’m mainly using it for gaming, viewing gaming content and movies from streaming services with only a small amount of working from home.



Agreed with the Asus appeal in terms of their OLED Care and overall form factor, the monitor feels premium.

I was tempted by XG27AQWMG as it was definitely the one to have, but I have only ever been used to buying fairly basic cheaper monitors, so for me this was already splashing the cash on a monitor :p

The XG27AQDMGR still ticks all boxes for me and ultimately it came down to price difference which was £360 due to being on sale and a further discount code vs £520 for the Tandum WOLED version.

You are quite the OLED connoisseur :D
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Don't feel like you're missing out by not having got the 4th gen tandem XG27AQWMG model. You basically traded slightly worse text fringing (many ways to minimize this with Windows tweaks) vs not having to deal with incredibly bad grey banding to the point most casual users would think the monitor is broken if unaware of the issue unless they win the panel lottery, all 4th gen tandem panels have this issue until LG finds a fix/reduces it (they all come from LG - same as the screen coating. Asus didn't make true black glossy - Gigabyte's MO27Q28GR glossy 4th gen WOLED is identical screen coating and panel as the Asus coming straight from LG factories - just marketing fluff by each vendor). The grey banding and mura/DSE is not being exaggerated by Reddit hardcore nerds this time around as you would think, it's very obnoxious and noticeable in fog or shadowy games like Silent Hill 2 remake or Silent Hill F and obviously in Windows settings menu on dark theme - which most won't care about/get used to.

I came from the Asus xg27aqdmg semi glossy model prior (same panel as yours) and was happy with it besides it being some weird fake glossy that still had the normal matte grain ruining it, that and it had a bunch of OSD quirks/bugs as most WOLED monitors have atm. These new LG true black glossy screens are so good at handling reflections there's little need for matte outside of extreme conditions now, you got the main benefit of the latest models with that screen coating unless you're a brightness junkie needing to squeeze out every last drop of HDR brightness or trying to do heavy text work on it. Always better to pay way less on good OLED's to save for a future upgrade, as the differences are going to be minor between the generations of the same tech for these, that and knowing the longevity is nowhere near that of an IPS, best to pay less to upgrade sooner as most the OLED monitor issues will probably be solved in another 5 or so years.

OSD quirks to look out for that most likely weren't fixed on your true black glossy version:

1. The user saved full settings presets (User 1 or User 2 - forget what Asus calls it) doesn't apply your RGB colors or gamma settings correctly when you switch between the full osd saved user presets, you have to manually change a single RGB value in color and will instantly load it all up/snap in properly, this makes it not really usable if you want a separate quick switch for a gaming and a desktop preset look. Basically just use the neutral presets calibrated to your liking instead (Racing and User presets).

2. If using manual HDR and setting brightness to 100 in gaming or console HDR you have to adjust a single digit value in the 6 axis color setting back and forth to instantly fix the completely messed up color saturation, and have to do this every time if using manual HDR for the highest brightness. Absolutely ruins movies if you don't do this (everyone's face will be max sunburnt and orange with extreme oversaturation), for games it's whatever. The difference will be so significant you will be able to instantly tell if it the bug still exists as the screen will snap back into normal look, it's not a minor nerd slight adjustment issue, well documented bug in Asus forums - they released a firmware update to fix the ridiculous gamma bug after mass complaints for the same scenario but didn't fix the color bug. Some other quirks can't recall now, ALL manfacturers seem to have buggy firmware like this atm and why there's so many firmware updates, it's on most models pretty much.
 
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