7 Settings I Change on Every Monitor

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A quick-fire guide for getting the best settings out of any gaming monitor.
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[@hipperooni383]

0:00 - Intro 0:27 - Brightness 1:06 - Correct White Point 3:09 - Correct Gamma 3:31 - Correct Colour Space 4:56 - Pixel Overdrive 6:20 - Backlight Strobing 8:08 - Adaptive Sync 9:42 - Black EQ

[@shooshooshooshooshooter]

Legend! Timestamping by the uploader should be the standard for all these types of videos.

[@zhaomiaomiao]

Please tell me the result of each setting, my English listening is not good! Thanks!

[@randomdude62568]

@@zhaomiaomiao it doesn't say the result it just says what needs to change after people change how they want what they're best for them

[@zhaomiaomiao]

@@randomdude62568 thanks

[@randomdude62568]

@@zhaomiaomiao you're welcome

[@Gandi2000]

This is why I subbed to you, you provide information I didn't know I want to know about computer gaming and computers in general, thanks Ali.

[@courier3567]

Thank you so much Optimum never really delved into my monitor settings but this helped me a lot. Have a AW2518H and noticed tearing a long time ago but thought it was just part of the monitor. Turns out the pixel overdrive in their settings is called "Response time" and I set my response time to Super fast obviously! Having it on Superfast caused trailing and murky images. Then looked up a professional color tutorial for it and after playing around with what they recommended the blues and colors on my monitor look really nice. Love your videos only found your channel like 4 days ago and been watching a ton of your videos!

[@heyflo1]

Just found this channel and this is gold mine when you're trying to do things perfectly for your needs. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge & recommendations.

[@krakentortoise7531]

This couldn't have come at a better time!! Just got a new monitor arriving in a few hours! You rock Optimum

[@egocd]

I've never understood why people want displays super bright. I run my LG monitor at 10% brightness. If I'm in the dark I'll sometimes set it to 0%. I don't think I've ever had it above 20-25%. Even on a bright sunny day I can still see it perfectly and comfortably. I also hate when my iPhone automatically switches over to HDR on KZbin or Reddit, especially if I'm in bed. it's blinding.

[@mso1ps4]

Why set the brightness to 0% when you could just turn the monitor off

[@Skrenja]

Well, there have been “studies” showing that brighter displays are more immersive. Meta has a prototype VR headset that does something like 10,000 nits of peak brightness in certain areas. People who’ve tried it say it’s the most immersive VR headset they’ve ever tried - even more so than the ultra high refresh rate or high resolution prototypes.

[@egocd]

@@mso1ps4 What a silly comment. 0% brightness still emits plenty of light in a dark room. It doesn't mean the same thing as off.

[@egocd]

@@Skrenja Were the "studies" funded by Meta? :D Jokes aside, everyone has their preferences, but I can't stand having a crazy bright screen that's in your face. Gives me a headache. I don't even want 1,000 nits, let alone 10,000.

[@OddNaud]

@@mso1ps4 🤣😂

[@Andreloooooo]

Keep in mind some people are very sensitive when it comes to ULMB/DyAcc/Backlight strobing and don't even know about it. When I turn it on, I get extreme eye-strain which eventually turn into a huge migraine. If you ever have sore eyes or some sort of headache while gaming, turn Backlight strobing off.

[@Lishtenbird]

I had to scroll for criminally long to find this comment. About 1 in 4 people (IIRC) are very sensitive to flicker, and will notice flicker on things like older OLED screens and LED car lights (and even poorly made smart bulbs), especially in peripheral vision when moving their eyes - as a sort of "stepped" afterimage. This causes high eye-strain and headache (because your brain has to process those abnormal afterimages all the time) even in general use, so intentionally turning it on for something intensive like gaming is definitely a bad idea!

[@AdvancedGamingYT]

A great video as usual, I love the effort you put into every single one.

[@uhZahn]

Thought I had my monitor fully optimized already, went and made a few adjustments and every game I play now feels brand new. Thank you so much for this!

[@dlsygaco]

I never regretted my sub for you. All videos posted were useful!

[@viniteplagueis3139]

I absolutely love your content. Helped me on a lot of purchases. Always a pleasure to watch! ^^

[@BUCCIMAIN]

While a bright monitor might not damage your eyes permanently, it can screw with your vision for days and in extreme cases up to a few weeks. If you play in a dim room with a really bright monitor for 8 hours a day it can cause problems with recognizing depth, focusing on objects further away and it can cause pain in general. You really don't need to have a super bright monitor as in most cases it won't actually help you see enemies better, try to find a good balance between bright enough and not too bright, on most monitors its around 40-70, I personally use 45. Other settings like contrast affect the perception of brightness but always try to balance things out and find what feels good for you and not copy whatever settings some pro player might use as they were already better than you without them.

[@willuigi64]

yep. I set separate brightnesses for different lighting conditions. early morn/ evening are a middle ground, midday is brighter, and night is darker.

[@crossbolt27salt88]

personally the area I use my screen in is pretty well lit, and if not I have one light on. If all lights are off I have a monitor light bar on to prevent eye strain

[@aquanos]

Oh so that's why sometimes late in the night my depth perception becomes horrible. Thank you for informing us!

[@ElendielPlaysEU]

so do you want more contrast or less

[@NesWarzone]

Just make you got bright lights on ceiling

[@McVilla1N]

Best video I've seen explaining this. Much appreciated after searching through the swamp of mis information.

[@WigneyR]

I was just sitting at my desk fiddling with the settings on my new monitor after purchasing a 3080ti and was wondering what settings would be best, and here you are again reading my mind with uploads as per usual 😅😌

[@LBenn302]

perfect video. just got a new pc and an acer xv272u 170hz monitor to go with it. this helped tremendously. I already had the settings at a good point, but this video helped me with getting the settings perfect. thanks so much brotha, you earned another sub. keep it up

[@zorthie6755]

DUDE you've been pumping out so amazing content lately (as always) thanks for the consistent content!

[@EternalTotem]

This is what I needed so bad! Thank you. Going to fix my settings when I get home

[@Bimboms]

Great vid. After years of using a Colorimeter for Pro + Personal use I think people get lost in the weeds thinking you should use the same setting for both. I advocate that personal use should be subjective. I calibrate to the native gamma curve of the display at 6000k for personal use. Native gamma curve reduces color banding and 6k feels slightly more cinematic and warm. If users do not have a colorimeter, putting up a white wallpaper and turning the brightness down to where the white wallpaper is comfortable to your eyes is a good brightness baseline.

[@dukesy7093]

Good tip 👍🏽

[@Sacred-Lotus]

The White Paper trick is tremendously helpful. I forgot it. Thanks for reminder.

[@absolutehuman951]

​@@Sacred-Lotus I think he was talking about the desktop background wallpaper, not a real sheet of paper though.

[@grqfes]

@@absolutehuman951 i also thought he meant IRL because of how he said "putting up" a white wallpaper. if you didnt reply i would have thought so still

[@sandh1k]

This video could not have been out at a better time. Just got the mobiuz ex2510. Thanks Optimum

[@Blade__susi]

I was just having this thought today as I was thinking of upgrading my monitor. Really helped :)))

[@pigeonman7355]

This video is amazing, recently got a new monitor, just want to say this was greatly appreciated. :)

[@gabrielybarra6233]

You deserve way more Subscribers. The video production alongside the highly accurate details is truly insane. Thank you so much.

[@amirkhanSM]

Naah every second video is a monitor ad

[@mataznuiz]

really comprehensive video. will reference this when i get a better monitor

[@GrimReaper..]

What I found really helpful is that having some bright light behind the monitor, like an RGB strip will help prevent eye strain....

[@kaiw2x]

Much needed vid as usual. Ali the goat

[@DankTank374]

Man I needed this mor my new monitor bro thanks

[@bikewrecker1000]

Great video as always! One thing you didn't mention, probably because it's so basic, but that I think is super important is making sure in the advanced display settings in windows, that the monitor refresh rate is adjusted. With my monitor, windows set the refresh rate to 60hz by default and I didn't notice for a long time. Figuring this out and fixing it made a world of difference in my fps aiming ability.

[@shawnhits704]

im not sure how people cant notice the difference between 60hz and above 60hz when moving the mouse. When i first set up my monitor it defaulted to 60hz even though its 170hz, and you can immediately tell its so slow on 60hz and that somethings off

[@rtxa]

@@shawnhits704 Yeah, you can clearly tell that your hz are the same as the old monitor.

[@shawnhits704]

@@rtxa Even from 144hz to 170hz you can still tell the difference in smoothness

[@mttrashcan-bg1ro]

@@Ditty-pc9pe Like one of the others said, at no point do you think "oh it looks the same" then question it? It's probably why so many people say 60hz and 120/144hz look the same, it's probably not even set correctly. If you're a PC enthusiast then you'll likely check, and if you're not then you don't need a high refreshrate monitor.

[@Minecraftrok999]

​@@shawnhits704I don't think you understood the issue correctly. It can be hard to tell if you've only just got a new monitor with a higher refresh rate than 60hz. You can only easily tell it apart after having seen the difference.

[@alarik95]

What a treat, monitor settings and Optimum Tech’s example monitor happens to be the same model I use

[@brandoncleary6793]

love your content man keep it up!

[@michaelschwarz5907]

this is literally my go-to channel now. even though i have ancient gear, i still learn a lot that's pretty useful!

[@patrick8899]

Haha Same here

[@the_otd_arash2128]

Awesome video Ali 🔥🙌🤩

[@JamieR]

Highly recommend linking research cited in the description. Great video regardless 👍🏻😊

[@ivovass195]

Great info, when many settings are available it's easy to get lost or confused aswell as thinking its all properly setup out of the box. Great video

[@Xtra94]

thank you so much i had my pixels on od and i finally got it fixed, you are a absolute legend!

[@aeis0]

thansk for this i love these kinda videos

[@Simpleanglers]

Loved the info. I can't wait to see the full review of that asus xg27 as it's on my wishlist currently

[@pishni259]

I have one I'm selling if you're interested

[@pishni259]

FINALLY a review using the xg27aqm! What color settings did you use on Racing Mode? This monitor has been out for a while now and still has no tested calibration settings recommendations from the likes of something like Rtings or Tftcentral (only Display Ninja and Bijan have reviewed it so far, still good they did at least but still don't know best calibration settings)

[@Eyemahere]

Hey man. Thanks for the videos. I’m looking to buy the absolute best monitor for FPS gaming on PC. What’s your current recommendations?

[@michaels8469]

Hi bro Absolute Top channel !! Really..none better imo What are the best gaming monitors with eye care features? 33in to 40+ inchers Cheers

[@danw7864]

This was a really excellent video 👍

[@rugby187gaming]

Great video dude, cheers

[@NDSIser]

thank you so much for this video!

[@mistergaur]

played around with all kinds of settings for months and i gave up on trying to remove the ghosting and figured that my monitor was just shit and had too much ghosting and i couldnt do anything about it and then i find the overdrive setting and it fixed everything its so stupid how hard it is too find such simple solutions thx alot

[@abalanceddiet]

Something to consider, at least on the XG27AQM (featured in the b-roll a couple of times and the main talking point when first discussing color temps, and is also my main gaming monitor) is that you can enable the sRGB mode and change brightness if u know what you're doing. By default the srgb mode is locked to 43%, which for me is way too bright. You can force override the brightness by entering service mode. The displayninja review has a how-to. I'd assume this is going to be similar on most ASUS monitors. Additionally, it has readouts on how to adjust the RGB values to get certain color temps.

[@unkempt7235]

I have the same monitor and modified the 'SRGB BRI' setting but found the gamut a bit lacking for some content. I ended up settling with a 'User mode' game visual, warm (6500k) color and adjusted the saturation setting to my preference.

[@Jesticles85]

Great tips! Thanks

[@KenanYusufTemel]

This video is so informative. Thanks.

[@deeeekoh]

Right on the money with this upload

[@JK3___201]

I was just thinking about these and how on earth would I find a good video on this. Thank you. You're something else.

[@4bangerkovaaks]

holy shit really needed this! Changed my gaming experience

[@angrybruce4770]

your tracking is insane !

[@malderoni]

You're really one of a few reviewers that is actually playing on a high level in competitive games, so you know what you're talking about. Also great quality content as always!

[@davidopitz972]

i wouldnt correlate those 2 things

[@unrequitedlove_]

@@davidopitz972 every reasonable person would tho

[@zona-rizz]

did this on my VG259QM asus monitor, stuff worked! Very nice video!

[@celeryystick]

unboxing my monitor today so perfect timing

[@CyphexFPS]

yessir been waiting on this one

[@archierobertson5426]

Huh, were you on the A1 server for your bf1 clips? I spend a fair bit of time on that one and it's one of the friendliest online gaming communities I've come across.

[@rusty_man]

thx this helped make my office monitor look a little better than before

[@Itshomski]

Needed this a lot thank you

[@tylerschoen]

Been using the XG27AQM for almost a year now, great panel. Looking forward to your review on it!

[@hf8547]

Bet he would have done it sooner, but its still not available to buy in Australia he would have given in and order this from amazon US delivered to AUS

[@lakshmanshiva1686]

Hey Ali! Maybe once the next Gen gpu launches, can you review your custom loop experience in the Asus Prime AP201 matx case? More room than itx but still not too big I guess...

[@ProgramKiraTV]

Number one thing I change is the display settings in windows to the max refresh rate available for the monitor

[@AlongTheBorderSide]

What do you think of the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9? I keep gravitating towards it as the monitor I want to get or waiting for their next one, but I've seen such a drastically contrasting opinion on it that I'm not sure what to think myself. Split between love and hate, issues or working perfectly, etc.

[@Archytype]

Great video

[@69jut]

in a world full of overly saturated, mid gaming/tech youtube content, this man stays delivering top quality.. even for monitor settings lmao

[@kerryjohns1485]

I got the titan army 27 4K 144hz hdmi 2.1 and after a cod session my eyes are bleeding it’s got too many features I don’t understand what’s what but your video helped me understand a bit I don’t use HDR it makes the colours look washed out looks better with it off

[@hokiexeto]

amazing video thank you

[@temporaltomato3021]

I feel that one other angle for this type of content would be dual-monitor setups and the challenges involved. I had a mismatched dual-monitor setup for a while with a Gigabyte 1440p monitor on one side, next to an Acer 4K monitor on the other (I had bought and used the 1440p monitor by itself for some time first). And BOY, did the Gigabyte (M27Q) look bad color-wise next to the Acer. There was no amount of Nvidia nor monitor settings that could resolve it either. Even when I was able to get the color balance looking somewhat reasonable on the M27Q, the contrast and brightness still looked awful when set directly next to the Acer, and reds especially looked faded. I eventually just sold the M27Q even though smoother gaming at 1440p was preferable at times and two monitors made some things more convenient. Lesson being that either monitor seemed fine on its own to the untrained eye, but using them together was just unbearable for someone who values visual experience highly.

[@animetune4475]

i use the m27q.

[@severouspearous2757]

Ali, did you keep Backlight Strobing active on your XG27AQM? Do you think it is implemented well?

[@_yet_8457]

Thx for da upload

[@fynball1235]

The quality of your videos never disappoints

[@iparallx8171]

so true

[@technologicalelite8076]

Personally, I would appreciate an 8K option, but the quality of the video is still good. (I'm joking, making a play with words here.)

[@akiraishu4453]

Techless is a great channel for monitor reviews and calibration!

[@vintage0x]

my LG 27GP950 has got a great, easy on the eyes colour setting called "Reader" which I work on for 90% of the day, and then for gaming I enable a custom "Gamer 1" profile to get the most vivid and bright experience when gaming.

[@BobertRads]

Thanks for another great video! I also have the ASUS XG27AQM (270hz 1440p) but am unable to find any good settings online for things like setting color temperature (setting white point, gamma, etc) and sadly no colorimeter. I was wondering if you could share your recommended settings for the XG27AQM? Thanks a lot!

[@joshuaeah]

Look up an ICC profile for said monitor. That said, generally gaming monitors do not have good color.

[@BobertRads]

@@joshuaeah Unfortunately haven't found one :(

[@frantic3223]

@@joshuaeah💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@pishni259]

THIS. Yep there's nothing online yet from any of the review sites for this monitor's settings, bugs the hell out of me lol

[@kevinb8401]

You shouldn’t have to change much out of the box with this monitor color wise. I suggest racing mode and adjust brightness color to your liking for best results. I have this monitor and the color are fantastic

[@cezannee]

super helpful

[@Taima_the_lion]

Just got a Dell 4K monitor and am loving it so far however I noticed right out the box it was pretty dim looking. Put the brightness at max and it still looks about average which is fine with me but don’t want to mess up my already bad eyesight lol.

[@XenonG]

Older monitors used PWM to dim the backlights, so some people max their brightness as a habit. Newer monitors should be using DC based dimming so should be fine.

[@reedarledge354]

Just got a new monitor. Several tips I didn't know about. 👌

[@Carlostry]

I use my monitors “game mode” only because it relaxes my eyes even when it sets the brightness to 100% automatically. When I use custom settings with brightness all the way high it’s really terrifying for my eyes might use dynamic brightness with custom settings, hopefully that works

[@redacted999]

cant quite get ghosting to get as good as yours but it did reduce it thank you brother

[@Stalonage]

dude, your videos are incredible. I have been a building pc's and such since i was 12 and i never thought to really change other monitor settings like this other than refresh rate settings. I have homework to do and things to check when i get home! lol. \m/

[@beffrey8890]

Hey, I have the benq zowie xl2546k and I was wondering what settings you suggest. there are a million different options, and when I turn up nvidia vibrance combined with modes i found online, it can never be right.

[@hf8547]

Bro I’m assuming you ordered this from overseas? Been waiting for it to drop in Australia for too long now, I actually ordered the Acer xb273ugx yesterday.... I’m down waiting :(

[@GiLLyMGL]

Can you please share the settings you used on your Zowie XL 2546K? maybe here in the comments if possible

[@DaltonP386]

Whats settings for that exact monitor do you run (XG27AQM)? I have the same monitor but was wondering what you run.

[@westoncroye643]

Hey optium, would you say a used almost brand new shure sm7b (only the mic i believe) for like 289 on ebay is a good deal?

[@acy1392]

Why havn't you reviewed the AW2721D?(love your reviews) :) Would you say the XG27AQM is much better?

[@jalencarrion7627]

Just got a new monitor yesterday good timing

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

Hey man, do you stream battlefield? Would love to know when to watch you play

[@Gidrah]

8:41 This the best example I have ever seen for why you should keep VRR off in competitive games.

[@UnsettlingDwarf]

Cap your frame rates with rtss to 3 hz under monitors maximum then you won’t get screen tearing and it’s more responsive than overloading your monitor with frames. Your gpu has a smaller render queue which means your frame time doesn’t move and is stable and it’s actually more responsive.

[@josele844]

Underrated coment! I would reccomend though doing it in game settings if you can, as well as v-sync if you have to. It reduces input latency. Battle(non)sense channel has very deep analysis and latency measurements.

[@UnsettlingDwarf]

@@josele844 doing it through the game does not give you perfect frame times.

[@julio1823]

Whete can I see more info about this

[@UnsettlingDwarf]

@@julio1823 google. KZbin. The internet

[@pietroalessandrini]

Extended color gamuts for games that are created using the srgb standard would just over saturate the colors right?

[@gracekekw]

hi i own a msi mag251rx and i was just wondering if you could review that monitor again and let us know what are the best settings for that monitor since there are not alot of reviews on that particular monitor

[@methhead56]

What purexp settings would you recommend for tacfps? Ive been using the 30, 11, 45 mode recommended in your review but heard it can introduce input latency

[@noidsuper]

I don't know if its been said but screen brigtness will not damage your eyes. The absolute worst you'll get is eye strain, but that is only temporary.

[@ipressdatofu]

My AW2521H just arrived last night. What insane timing hahaha

[@nemer1111]

Thank you

[@Alexander-dc4kf]

Good guide, i like the BF1 gameplay too lol, great game

[@Kunaives]

haven't been using OD since the start cause i couldn't figure out a good setting. of course the ufo test is how...im such an idiot. thank you

[@Drew_HBK]

So I’m on the hunt for a new 240hz/360hz monitor and I’m confused by your logic (don’t mean it rudely) how is the viewsonic the best 240hz but yet with ULMB mode the brightness is virtually unusable? So what do you recommend

[@JohnBog]

looking aesthetic af lately brah ;)

[@tannercoons8399]

Thank you! I just bought my first gaming monitor and was completly lost