HDR or contrast ratio

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considering 2 monitors. One has 1000:1 contrast ratio + HDR 600. The other has 700:1 ratio + HDR10+.

Primarily for use playing games such as Hell Let Loose.

Which is the better option?

Thanks

Hood
 
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What kind of monitor nowadays has a 700:1 contrast ratio?!

HDR10 is an input signal source and doesn’t tell you anything about the screens ability to handle that content and do anything to actually display an HDR image.

the HDR600 screen is almost certainly the better option here but can you share details of both options so I can look a bit further and provide more advice?
 
Soldato
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What kind of monitor nowadays has a 700:1 contrast ratio?!

HDR10 is an input signal source and doesn’t tell you anything about the screens ability to handle that content and do anything to actually display an HDR image.

the HDR600 screen is almost certainly the better option here but can you share details of both options so I can look a bit further and provide more advice?
A large amount of them have a real contrast ratio of between 700:1 to 900:1 unless its a VA which has better contrast but suffers from blur/smearing in movement. 700:1 to 900:1 seem to be common real contrast level for some types of screens.

I would say real contrast matters more then HDR. Without good contrast HDR is useless then again with how badly windows handles HDR even good HDR screens can look terrible.
 
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I'm not familiar with that game but a quick Google search suggests it doesn't support HDR.

Unless a game is specifically coded to support it (e.g. Red Dead Redemption 2), then playing a game on a HDR monitor is no different to playing it on a non-HDR one - it won't actually use the HDR capability.

Of course a true HDR capable monitor might also be better in general than one that isn't, but that's not certain by any means. I'd suggest checking if both monitors you are considering have reviews at rtings.com and see which one they rate best for Gaming - their reviews are really good.

Otherwise there isn't enough information here for us to give a certain answer, but I'd be inclined to go for the 1000:1 contrast ratio + HDR 600 one - it might not necessarily be better than the other one for the game you mentioned, but it would certainly be better for certain other things (watching HDR movies).
 
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A large amount of them have a real contrast ratio of between 700:1 to 900:1 unless its a VA which has better contrast but suffers from blur/smearing in movement. 700:1 to 900:1 seem to be common real contrast level for some types of screens.

I would say real contrast matters more then HDR. Without good contrast HDR is useless then again with how badly windows handles HDR even good HDR screens can look terrible.
Yes I realise that but the vagueness of the original post suggested he was referring to a listed spec so I was curious to see which model was being looked at here. Something didn’t sound right…
 
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The 2 monitors are:

LG 38WN95C-W

or

LG 38GN950-B

Hood

Ok thanks. Much easier. Those two models are based on the exact same panel from LG Display and have the same specs. Both are listed with HDR600 support, and both have a 1000:1 contrast ratio spec. I think the confusion around a 700:1 spec is because the 95C model also bothers to list a “minimum” contrast ratio spec, whereas LG didn’t bother including that with the 950, even though it would be identical :)

the 95C is more aimed at general office and productivity uses while the 950 is a gamers screen So you can probably base your decision on what your requirements are. The gaming screen for instance will have additional gaming features and may be optimised for better response times and input lag as an example. But in terms of contrast ratio, and HDR performance they should be very comparable given they are based on the same panel
 
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Of course a true HDR capable monitor might also be better in general than one that isn't
There's nothing making them automatically better.
Because some "true HDR" is marketing BS to hide that there's no advance in flat monitors with LCD panels still having same old broken contrast. (compared to self emissive pixel displays)

True high contrast like in OLED is what would automatically improve image quality in all content.
 
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There's nothing making them automatically better.
Because some "true HDR" is marketing BS to hide that there's no advance in flat monitors with LCD panels still having same old broken contrast. (compared to self emissive pixel displays)

True high contrast like in OLED is what would automatically improve image quality in all content.
By "true HDR" I meant a display capable of a suitably high brightness level that meets one of the standards set by VESA - as opposed to the ones marketed as "HDR10" which is not a form of HDR recognised by VESA. Also you quoted only part of my post, I qualified that statement with "but that's not certain by any means".

Yes, OLED will be better quality, but also typically more expensive and can potentially suffer burn in, if you aren't careful in how you use it.
 
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Why is the 950 a gamers screen and the 95 isn’t? They look very similar in specification and function to me.

Edit: are there any better alternatives for gaming with some work?


Hood
 
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Why is the 950 a gamers screen and the 95 isn’t? They look very similar in specification and function to me.

Edit: are there any better alternatives for gaming with some work?

Hood

You are right, they are almost identical in terms of specs:

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/38wn95c-w
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/38gn950-b

As far as I can see, the differences are:

The 38WN95C-W has USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) input as well as the DisplayPort/HDMI available on both
The 38WN95C-W has slightly better stand adjustment - some swivel as well as tilt, the 38GN950-B only has tilt
The 38GN950-B has an overclocked refresh rate of 160 Hz available, compared to 144 Hz for the 38WN95C-W
The 38WN95C-W has some speakers built in
The 38GN950-B has some gamer features - RGB lighting projected from the back, and a crosshair feature

I actually own the 38WN95C-W and use it for both gaming and for work - I have my gaming PC connected via DisplayPort and my work laptop via HDMI since both of these monitors only do up to 75 Hz refresh over HDMI - you need to use DisplayPort for the full 144 or 160. I do actually use the built in speakers for work too, they beat the crappy ones in my work laptop, but my gaming PC uses a 5.1 speaker setup instead.

Personally I like it a lot
 
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Ahhh now the Alienware AW3821DW enters the ring.

So frustrating having to decide which flippin’ expensive monitor to get!

Hood
 
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Ahhh now the Alienware AW3821DW enters the ring.

So frustrating having to decide which flippin’ expensive monitor to get!

Hood
Also the same panel as those two LG screens. The specs will be the same on all but the features will vary. Good explanation about about why the 95 is more aimed at office users and the 950 more at gamers :)
 
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