Changing from 144hz to 100hz

GHazy · 30 May 2017 at 10:24

I currently have a two monitor set up with my gaming one be the Acer XB270HU, second be a Dell. I was looking to maybe go with a single monitor like the Acer X34a or the new AOC 35". Question is, will there be a big difference due to the refresh or is this simply a bad idea?

Just looking if anyone else has done something similar or advice.

Scoren · 30 May 2017 at 13:33

i have the x34a and iv never looked back

Rroff · 30 May 2017 at 13:35

Going to depend from person to person - there is a noticeable difference from 100-144Hz but for most people it won't be massive - these days adaptive sync technologies take off some of the edge as well.

GHazy · 30 May 2017 at 13:40

Do you think it's an upgrade though? or more of a sideways change? I know there are new monitors coming out but FALD 4k 144hz are going to be so expensive and there is nothing really to drive them plus the haloing will be pretty bad I think.

Glanza · 30 May 2017 at 14:08

I did the switch when I went from the 27" to 34" and it didn't make much difference on the games I play.

sadbuttrue · 30 May 2017 at 14:31

You're not just losing hz, but pixel response times are slower too.

These are at normal settings as testing by TFTcentral (extreme introduces reverse ghosting, which you don't want).

Acer XB270hu - 6ms
Acer X34 - 9ms
AOC AG352 - 12ms (with overshoot)

Motion clarity will be substantially worse. Depends if that's important to you.

GHazy · 30 May 2017 at 14:48

I don't really play games in a competitive way any more (time and age is catching up lol). In reality 3ms shouldn't be noticed in general games as I am not playing twitch games like cs:go. I did notice that Acer have the Z35P coming out in the next 1-3 weeks, only thing is that this is a VA panel and as for the HDR screens these will just be stupid money I am sure.

Would it be a good idea to maybe reduce my refresh rate to 100hz and see what its like?

Evian · 30 May 2017 at 19:38

GHazy said:
I don't really play games in a competitive way any more (time and age is catching up lol). In reality 3ms shouldn't be noticed in general games as I am not playing twitch games like cs:go. I did notice that Acer have the Z35P coming out in the next 1-3 weeks, only thing is that this is a VA panel and as for the HDR screens these will just be stupid money I am sure.

Would it be a good idea to maybe reduce my refresh rate to 100hz and see what its like?

Yeah lower your hz and play some games, I tried to see if I could play with 75 but nope!

tyler_jrb · 30 May 2017 at 19:38

GHazy said:
I don't really play games in a competitive way any more (time and age is catching up lol). In reality 3ms shouldn't be noticed in general games as I am not playing twitch games like cs:go. I did notice that Acer have the Z35P coming out in the next 1-3 weeks, only thing is that this is a VA panel and as for the HDR screens these will just be stupid money I am sure.

Would it be a good idea to maybe reduce my refresh rate to 100hz and see what its like?

That's the best idea. Set it to 100hz and see if you can get used to it.

I have got used to it from going to 100hz but would really like an extra 20hz back as 120+ is miniscule gains. Hence me thinking about the new Asus monitor just announced.

21:9 is sheer awesomeness though. If anything the VA acer won't be a bad shout if you don't like/can't get on with 100hz.

Nexus18 · 30 May 2017 at 19:46

Don't go by doing the above, setting your refresh rate to anything but native will feel worse than a native display at said refresh rate, it is also like setting your display to anything but the "native" resolution, it always looks worse than a monitor with said native res. (although some displays have improved for this regarding resolution).

Don't forget as well that to get the "full" potential of 100+HZ, you also need to be getting 100+ FPS too, especially where motion clarity is concerned.

SHipsey · 30 May 2017 at 19:51

I am having the same argument with myself at the moment. I have the Asus PG28QR and love my 165hz goodness using a Titan XP (2016) & 7700k. My god I've been lusting over the PG348Q though, but I know the hit to the referesh rate is gonna hit me.

Did debate on waiting for the new HDR screen ect but I know my set up wont be able to push the full frames on them anyway.

The PG348Q does make into shopping cart a few times each weekend though.

GHazy · 30 May 2017 at 21:39

Plus it's going to be crazy expensive and not out till q4 2017. Just don't know what to do, the Aoc 35" is good value but a VA panel and do is th new Z35P.

Decisions ggrrrr

tyler_jrb · 31 May 2017 at 15:32

Nexus18 said:
Don't go by doing the above, setting your refresh rate to anything but native will feel worse than a native display at said refresh rate, it is also like setting your display to anything but the "native" resolution, it always looks worse than a monitor with said native res. (although some displays have improved for this regarding resolution).

Don't forget as well that to get the "full" potential of 100+HZ, you also need to be getting 100+ FPS too, especially where motion clarity is concerned.

Having set my 144hz swift to 100hz I noticed exactly the same differences on that panel as I do on my pg348q at 100hz. While it may not be 100% accurate it sure is a near as damn it experience of what to expect.

SHipsey said:
I am having the same argument with myself at the moment. I have the Asus PG28QR and love my 165hz goodness using a Titan XP (2016) & 7700k. My god I've been lusting over the PG348Q though, but I know the hit to the referesh rate is gonna hit me.

Did debate on waiting for the new HDR screen ect but I know my set up wont be able to push the full frames on them anyway.

The PG348Q does make into shopping cart a few times each weekend though.

I'm interested in the new one if the 200hz is true. It's likely to be expensive but it's a monitor that's going to last a while. Sure you won't push those frames now, but next few years? With later to come gpu releases?

Rather than just hitting a dead stop on frames.

GHazy · 31 May 2017 at 15:52

I thought the new ones will be based on VA panels? If so the smearing might be there plus I honestly don't see how HDR will work long term on PC use. Reason I say this is that i have a 65" DX902 tv which displays approx. 1200nits ultra HD certified. This is mega bright even when sitting 10 - 12 feet away, imagine sitting less than a foot away with 1000nits, it will blind you!!!!! I just don't know what to do.... I can sell my xb270hu for 350 now and then get a X34A, new AOC one or the new Z35P or just leave it for now.

Nexus18 · 31 May 2017 at 15:53

tyler_jrb said:
Having set my 144hz swift to 100hz I noticed exactly the same differences on that panel as I do on my pg348q at 100hz. While it may not be 100% accurate it sure is a near as damn it experience of what to expect.

It may give you some idea but it is far from ideal, a lot of fine tuning is done to achieve the best from a display's "native" refresh rate and pixel response time especially where motion clarity/ghosting is concerned. Some combinations work better at certain refresh rates. That's why some 60HZ monitors are a lot better for pixel response time/motion clarity than another monitor which uses the exact same 60HZ panel, same goes for every other monitor that uses same the same panels, some manufacturers can get a better results than others. A bit like TVs too, despite most using the same panels, they all vary as the manufacturers handle things like gamma, frame/motion interpolation differently.

In fact, sometimes even lowering the refresh rate as well as adjusting the pixel response time/overdrive setting can be more beneficial than setting the advertised refresh rate i.e. for the acer 200HZ screen, taken from tftcentral's review:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/acer_predator_z35.htm#response_times

We felt the screen was ok at up to around 100 - 120Hz without the overshoot becoming distracting and noticeable. At these levels there was little excess blurring or smearing introduced due to some slow pixel changes in most cases, although some scenes showed problems. The overshoot was kept at fairly low levels and not really a problem though up to 120Hz. Sadly we felt the panel was not capable of achieving low enough response times to reliably support anything higher, including the 144Hz native maximum refresh rate, and the overclocked range from 160 - 200Hz. The smearing becomes more obvious and the overdrive impulse starts to get applied too aggressively to try and keep up, and so the resulting overshoot is a big problem. You might want to experiment with different settings above 120Hz perhaps, although we felt the performance at 120Hz gave a better overall appearance.