ViewSonic XG270 Review

The 240 Hz ViewSonic XG270 is a new competitor for the VG279QM, but this one comes with a Blur Busters certified backlight strobing mode, and spoiler, it's good!
Text review:www.aperturegrille.com/review...
Calibrated in Custom mode. Color Temperature: USER R94 G100 B96, Gamma 2.4, Color Saturation 50, Black Stabilization 11, Contrast 70, Brightness 40.

[@starflame]

Get this man all the monitors, stat

[@idyllsend6481]

Absolutely! He missed nothing and the video is shorter than 30 minutes!

[@Taha-fw7ey]

The most underrated channel Ivs seen Great review 👍

[@joebourgoin6554]

Take this crown, Monitor King.

[@adamcern2501]

Dude, your reviews are legendary :) and this is another one of these. More people should know about this channel and your reviews. As for the monitor, it's really only a shame about the quality of strobing at

[@ApertureGrille]

I'm with you about the lower refresh rates; I tend to play a lot of older games, but there are some that run into hard CPU bottlenecks, even with 5+ GHz CPUs. I'd love to see a selection of fixed refresh rate modes in the OSD that would lock the monitor via EDID to 60 Hz, 75 Hz, 85 Hz, etc, so they'd only show up to the OS as a 75 Hz panel or whatever. That would give ViewSonic the ability to tune just those selected frequencies without having to worry about getting strobing looking acceptable over such a broad range. Do you know the model name of that Samsung with the segmented backlight? Seems like they had the right idea, but just too early. I was playing around with a scanning backlight, but reading the VSYNC signal reliably was too much trouble: hardforum.com/threads/has-anyone-replaced-leds-or-strips.1942203/post-1043175921 Even with the advances in OLED tech, LCD is going to be with us for a long time, so I'm putting some hope into mini-LED backlights. Even with a paltry four of five segments, the whole screen could look as good as the XG270 does at the center. But you're probably right to be skeptical.

[@brett20000000009]

@@ApertureGrille I have a XL2540 with hacked single strobe 60hz. it's on the blurbusters forum it's 99% crosstalk free and 100% from a normal viewing distance. 240hz scanout with a fast tn is enough headroom for 60hz bliss.

[@adamcern2501]

@@ApertureGrille The monitor in question is the CFG70 which I'm sure you've heard about already (famous for it's purple overshoot). Samsung claims the segmented backlight here: news.samsung.com/global/interview-how-samsung-achieved-a-1ms-response-time-in-the-cfg70-curved-gaming-monitor But then you wouldn't tell from the reviews, sadly... None that I've found speaks of it in terms of reduced strobe crosstalk, there's different versions too, 27 and 24 inches, maybe they differ in this way. Here's a review of the cHg (not- cFg) 32 inch- scroll just a bit down- www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/samsung_c32hg70.htm#hdr it's got an 8 zone dimming layout, maybe the cFg versions have something more like this- a local dimming mode that they've intended to use for strobing/scanning at some point, but then didn't? Here forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?t=3098#p23385 someone claims its crosstalk is "zero" another review mentioning crosstalk: (although vaguely, and you can't even tell if it's really CT they're talking about) pcmonitors.info/reviews/samsung-c24fg70/ (also I'm not sure where I got that "400nits in strobing mode" it seems from reviews that it's just over 200, which is still good either way. But I could swear I've seen it somewhere... There's a polish review that speaks of 280nits in one strobing mode and 230 in another, it doesn't go into any additional details though) Either way this monitor was plagued with bad ghosting from the panel, so... The new odyssey series (g7 I think) have way faster panels, but their backlight is set into vertical columns for hdr... so no use for strobing (maybe in portrait mode :)

[@ApertureGrille]

@@adamcern2501 Ahh, yes! Thank you! I remember a big thread about its purple trails on overclock.net. Falkentyne is pretty reliable, and he's been banging on the 60 Hz strobing drum for longer than I have! I feel like I need to start testing some of these older models... just for fun.

[@BlurBusters]

@@ApertureGrille I have posted a PSA about this: forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7951 The good news is 4 monitors with 60Hz single strobe is coming in 2021, hopefully with Logos (if they pass muster). Keep tuned. Bad panels caused Blur Busters to refuse logo to a few panels, but some good panels have arrived at my lab, tuning them now -- and 60 Hz single strobe is a beaut.

[@davidjohansson1416]

I crave MOAR!! Love your new test methodology.

[@jduvel]

Next year I'm moving on from 1080p 144hz and unquestionably reviews from this channel are going to be my number one source as to what i end up getting (and a few lesser informed buddies). Keep up the outstanding work a5hun.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you!

[@SilverStarGG]

Your content is so good it leaves me speechless

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you!

[@Urfin1313]

In times when even very tech-heavy reviews are just another kind of native ad, finding such competent and complete research is really heartwarming! The fact that I'm watching this with great interest _after_ deciding on and buying my next monitor proves it :) Please do more of this!

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! Hopefully more coming soon!

[@wangxiao1982]

One of the best monitor review I’ve seen. You convinced me. This shall have 1MM likes. Guess not everyone is that technical to fully understand and appreciate this levels of details. Well done!

[@ApertureGrille]

Haha! Thank you so much! If you're interested in this monitor, the newer XG2431 might be a better option. I don't think either is quite at the level of CRT levels of motion clarity, but at least Blur Busters and ViewSonic are trying.

[@akkkarinn]

So glad to see a new video in my feed

[@sellers737]

one of the best monitor reviews I've ever seen. hope the algorithm gods bless your channel soon. you deserve it

[@AnRovik]

This was an excellent review and introduction to your channel. Critical, but fair and giving much appreciated informed recommendations. I will happily come back for more. :)

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! I really liked how this video turned out. :)

[@idyllsend6481]

I am genuinely wasting time at the airport waiting for my flight using public computer and I came across this video, I logged in to like and comment. You're good, I would love to have every monitor reviewed by you, from low end to high.

[@rjtastic]

saw a post on reddit about this review, now i'm subbed!

[@darkl3ad3r]

What an outstanding video. The amount of work on display here is truly exceptional among KZbin channels. You deserve much more views and following. I'll be sure to subscribe and check in on your videos going forward. Great stuff.

[@ApertureGrille]

Wow. Thank you!

[@janpavlova]

this channel really is a gem, and so is your meticulous monitor testing there are too many channels saying "panel is good and fast" without any statistics to it

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you!

[@faiyazhassan9240]

Damn, this is how you review a monitor. Criminally underrated channel

[@tw0707]

This is exactly what I wanted

[@captmaverickable]

This was a fantastic review! Hope you produce more content soon.

[@snowdawn]

Very detailed and informative review. Very useful for us Pc gamers looking for 240hz monitor. Thank you man great job. 🙂

[@seamon9732]

Incredible review, gratz mate.

[@CubanLegend561]

FINALLY! I COULDNT WAIT FOR THIS REVIEWWW :D

[@leonardobaeza5338]

By far one of the most comprehensive monitor reviews I've ever seen if not the best. Get this man every monitor model on the planet so he can review them for us.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! I'm looking forward to more monitors tuned by Blur Busters... that gives me plenty to talk about in the videos! The XG2431 has been delayed a bit, but it should be coming out soon.

[@louisanore6309]

Glad that you are making vids again

[@FluorescentApe]

Dude, you earned yourself a sub! Love the way to test monitors.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! The ViewSonic really had a lot to talk about.

[@FluorescentApe]

@@ApertureGrille Yeah and every minute was entertaining! I bought that monitor a couple of days ago, arriving soon!

[@tomas352frano]

Thanks for another amazing review

[@holmiumh]

Damn, pure nerdy stuff, I love it, please do more.

[@beanfiend5118]

Discovered this channel last night, helped me pump the brakes on a purchase. Like everything about how you make videos. Keeps me from upgrading my Asus VG248QE until the 240+hz 1440p wave hits.

[@josipreponj1928]

Maybe will alienware AW2721D suit you.

[@beanfiend5118]

@@josipreponj1928 wow that thing is a beast but will probably wait for 27 1440 240 to not cost a grand

[@josipreponj1928]

@@beanfiend5118 That could take a while

[@ApertureGrille]

@@josipreponj1928 I was pretty excited for the next wave of 240 Hz QHD screens, but then... the prices totally killed that excitement. :(

[@josipreponj1928]

@@ApertureGrille Nothing would excite me more than OLED right now since it's a unexplored area. But those monitors are too far away. TNs are dead and we already know whats up with IPS.

[@jdiversjivrzn3787]

this was such a fast subscribe. keep it up, seriously.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! For my videos, I want to go into a little more detail than most reviewers. :)

[@nc-oy6qu]

BenQ should sent him a XL2546K to do the review, to check how the best MBR tech "DyAc+" perform.

[@ApertureGrille]

That's one I really want to review; that would allow me to see how modern TN panels compare to these "fast IPS" displays, and I haven't yet see DyAc+ in person.

[@CubanLegend561]

@@ApertureGrille I recently (last week) purchased a used BenQ XL2720Z, the only 27inch TN panel from 2014 that can 60hz single strobe (they make a 24 inch version called the XL2420Z), there's like ONLY 3-4 monitors that can access 60hz single strobe, all from BenQ from back in 2014 (it was one of the FIRST monitors in the XL##20 series to support Strobing after the "Lightboost" era, then called MBR/Motion Blur Reduction), there's a thread about it on Blurbusters. And i will say this, not only is the panel supported by the BlurBusters Strobe Crosstalk app to help you tune strobe persistence and strobe duty cycle, and to unlock 60hz single strobe without the service meny (YAY!), and it has a hidden "AMA Low" (low overdrive) mode to almost completely eliminate ghosting, and it also supports VT tweaks for reducing crosstalk ranges further, and it's overclockable from 144hz up to 250hz (yes, you read that right) at native 1080p (WITH STROBING).. @a5hun..the best part is.. I played the trial of The Crew 2 on this monitor at 60hz with single strobe enabled and compared it to my CRT.. and it was so glorious on the XL2720Z and smooth in motion.. that I bought the game lol. xD You should totally do a review of either the 27" or the 24" version! (FYI from my reding up on the forums, the 27" version had less crosstalk and ghosting than the 24" version, surprisingly) And then also do a review of a newer BenQ with Dyac+ (the grandson tech of MBR). Then youd have old TN and new TN Strobing covered. I LOVE this monitor and I will soon take it to my friends house to compare it to his XG270. So far, at 120hz with a VT tweaked resolution, and the AMA low mode it looks to be on par with the XG270. :D This thing even has support for custom resolutions like 1440p, 1800, and 2160p. All of these little mods and tweaks to it are due to its moderately early firmware nature as BenQ was still figuring strobing out.. and its all doable by copying the simple timings and instructions posted on the Blur Busters forum thread about it.

[@substancednb]

How do you not have more subscribers? These videos are brilliant!

[@ApertureGrille]

Hah! Thank you!

[@substancednb]

@@ApertureGrille please keep going mate! Look forward to your next upload :)

[@kaddasixseven3581]

perfect analysis

[@ghostdog4330]

Great review. Thanks 🙂

[@musicxxa6678]

Talking about purely aesthetics and build, Viewsonic nailed the design with these Elite monitor line up.

[@MM4646]

Came for the review, stayed for the absolute quality content, watched all of your monitor videos by now haha. I'm surprised you don't get more viewers, underrated channel definitely. Do you think I should go for the 280hz XG250 model (it's cheaper in my area) or play it safe and go for this one? Asking for the strobing performance mostly.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thanks! How much do you care about the Blur Busters tuned strobing? I don't know much about the XG250, but if it's anything like the ASUS VG259QM (another 280 Hz model), it should be plenty good. I was hoping at some point to review the XG2431, mostly for the 60 Hz strobing, which is something I really care about. Still playing The Crew 2. :) I do wish these FHD panels were cheaper, though. At $300, QHD should be standard.

[@MM4646]

Well, I mostly play rhythm games, so I'd like to have either 240hz and/or the least blur possible, if the XG250 can perform as well as the 27" model I think it would be a great 1080p option, but there's almost no info about it anywhere. With a 3080ti I can hit very high fps no problem in any e-sport title and 120fps on any other triple A game. I'd love to go 1440p or 4k, but these monitors with high refresh rates are super expensive over here, we haven't caught up with the prices yet :( Anyways, hoping for more content in the near future, good luck and thanks for your opinion man 👍

[@TheFastestSrbin]

The God of monitor reviews!

[@ApertureGrille]

Haha. Thank you!

[@yukegaming8788]

Quality content again. Wished this would be a bit smaller at 1080p ...

[@8dragonquest]

This review is incredible. I own this monitor and agree with the trouble to figure anything out. I still haven't figured out how to properly update the monitor firmware. I have the elite controller installed at least on the desktop. 😂😂

[@pacman8689]

You are the Gamers Nexus of monitors.

[@N0N0111]

Respect for playing racing games :D

[@mm-rw3hi]

Nice ,if only this was available in Europe without the 200$ premium

[@GammaLyrae]

I emailed you months ago to request this review, haha! Glad to see it, especially after you changed your testing methodology. I am similarly hoping we get a 60hz strobe since so many games are locked to or behave better at 60fps, and being able to use purexp on consoles would be awesome too. If you have any insider connections, please wink wink nudge at viewsonic or the chief @ blur busters to make this happen.

[@ApertureGrille]

Did I respond to the email? If I didn't, I'm sorry! I'm really hoping someone at ViewSonic sees this; I'm small potatoes as far as reviewers go, but surely they look at reviews.

[@GammaLyrae]

@@ApertureGrille You did! I think you said I was even the first person to contact you through that email. It was awhile back at this point.

[@BlurBusters]

@@GammaLyrae Four monitors with 60Hz single strobe is coming 2021. I've finally convinced a couple of manufacturers but please keep spreading the word: forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7951

[@dadadada6822]

You best!

[@KindOldRaven]

My God man, I'm happy I stumbled upon your channel. I find many reviewers just do not go in-depth enough on stuff I value dearly. This has lead to my biggest buyers-regret sample yet with my current TV (finding out that all sites tested the stuff I care about.. but... not in any game-mode or with VRR enabled.... which, apparently, can make a screen do some pretty insanely crazy things). So any time I come across someone who loves going in-depth, that's instant sub and thumbs up from me.

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! The XG270 seems to be for a very specific buyer, so I wanted to cover it in a lot of detail.

[@azethegreat958]

Regarding adjusting brightness easily, you can use DDC/CI software to alter the monitor's brightness easily. I use ClickMonitorDDC, but it looks like its website has gone down (though you can still find downloads), so you may be better off with an alternative. Also, do you have any thoughts on the M27Q? It looks really promising, but there are no big reviews right now.

[@KaledTV]

You should review the Asus PG27AQN with ULMB 2, it would be one hell of a video!

[@Baorihs]

Thanks for another amazing review, how would you describe flickering at 119hz vs crt at 120hz or 100hz for the eyes? I remember crt to be relaxing enough at 100hz and above but that was rolling scan vs full frame white/black strobe that lcd do.

[@ApertureGrille]

The rolling scan on the CRT definitely helps, but I didn't find the 119 Hz mode bad at all. Just tried the 75 Hz mode in a pitch black room, and it's fine. Years of CRT use may have made me impervious to strobing headache, though. :)

[@boblablaw4857]

Liked the video! and subscribed! Do you have any ultrawide recommendations? Also, would love if your video titles for monitor reviews had either the refresh rate or resolution for the monitor. It is so hard to remember individual monitor specs, worst naming in the industry!

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! I've never actually used an ultrawide, since they've been so expensive. I'm hoping I can review a greater variety of monitors in the future. Stay tuned. And good suggestion on the titles. On the website, I put the main specs right at the top: www.aperturegrille.com/reviews/ViewSonicXG270/ That even helps me figure out quickly the general specs of the display.

[@Golde2Good]

Holy shit this man is the literal god of monitor reviewers. I thought about buying this to replace my aging LG 27GK7560F (240hz TN with strobe) that is now nearing 10,000 hours, before it inevitably dies. It was a great monitor but sadly it's no longer being manufactured and the newer 240hz TNs seems more gimmicky and flimsy in every way possible compared to what I had. This review solidified it for me to touch grass with IPS.

[@ApertureGrille]

Haha! Thank you! ViewSonic's new XG2431 might be a better version of the XG270. Haven't tested it myself, but people on the BB forums seem pretty positive about it. We may be at a point where TN is no longer necessary. IPS panels are still pretty slow on falling transitions compared to TN, but I don't think I'd buy any TN panel on the market now.

[@Golde2Good]

@@ApertureGrille Update: Contrary to my expectations, I actually had a very bad time with the XG270. I almost use my monitors exclusively with strobbing, it was very disappointing to find out that most if not all of the color and image options are grayed out the moment PureXP is enabled. And while it's enabled it resets any and all grayed out settings to the default value, to the point where I literarily have to just sit there and deal with the extreme amounts of ghosting because even something as trivial as being able to set overdrive is disabled in that mode. Eventually I found a workaround from BB forums that is to underclock the monitor using nvidia custom resolution to 224Hz, to give the panel some more leeway between frames, and it worked quite well. Then I started noticing random blackframes that would happening anywhere from once every few minutes to an hour. At this point, the level of gimmick is beyond what I'm willing to put up with for slightly better contrast ratios than my TN. :(

[@Stoddardian]

The motion clarity of a CRT is truly something else. Its persistence is less than 1ms. 240fps@240Hz has a persistence of around 4ms, which is what most plasmas had. I do wonder what the persistence of the 120fps@120Hz backlight strobing one is.

[@jonskeee]

I really do miss my old school Sony Trinitron CRT's responsiveness and clarity. I wonder if ever LCD's will match CRTs in this aspect.

[@Emem0r]

Fantastic review, great job! I saw you mention in the comments that you are/were using a Lenovo Y27q-20 and an Asus VG27AQ and I was wondering if the inferior strobing, compared to the Viewsonic monitor(s), does not bother you when gaming? I expected you to use the XG270 - is it not bright enough? The reason why I'm asking is that I'm looking to replace my current monitor, a LG 24gm77-B. It has (subjectively) really nice strobing at 120hz and still manages to be quite bright at the same time, but at this point I would really like to upgrade to a bigger monitor with a higher resolution. Long story short, do you have any upcoming reviews (it's been a while) or recommendations for 27"+ monitors with good strobing, preferably 1440p+ and a relatively bright image with strobing enabled? Whether you can help me or not, I hope you are going to review more monitors in the future, you are very good at it. Thanks!

[@ApertureGrille]

Thank you! I'm still using the Lenovo and ASUS, but I've sold everything else off, so those are the only two monitors I have. Right now is not a great time to be a strobing enthusiast. I've heard some good things about the ViewSonic XG2431, but it's both small (24") and FHD. Displays that use LG's nano-IPS panels have the red phosphor decay problem, OLEDs can't get bright enough to reduce the strobe duty cycle down below 2 ms, and most manufacturers have simply stopped caring about strobing. I think we may just have to wait for monitors to start routinely coming out with 500 Hz refresh rates. That would give 2 ms of persistence blur, which is not far off from some of the backlight strobing modes. I, luckily, also still have a few CRTs I can use. :) Sorry for no recent reviews! I'd love to do more, but I just can't afford it. $300 is a major purchase for me, but now everything is even more expensive than that. I may have something interesting coming soon, though.

[@Emem0r]

I've been looking at the blurbusters forum recently and was wondering why there were basically no posts for new monitors with strobing or discussions about strobing in general. I guess people really don't care anymore or just don't know what they are missing, which is probably a good thing for them - can't miss something you don't know. I might stick with my current monitor for a little while longer, maybe/hopefully higher refresh rate monitors will become more common in the near future or someone takes pity on us and releases a good new display with strobing. :) Companies should be sending you monitors to test for free. There aren't many people out there putting in the time to create reviews as detailed as yours. I haven't owned a CRT in ~15 years and I honestly never want to deal with their size and weight ever again. :P Anyway, I'm looking forward to whatever you have coming up next!

[@fuzii.7064]

Companies really need to start sending you monitors!

[@OCPyrit]

I wonder if there is a way to actually solve the pixel overshoot problem, instead of hiding the overshoot by turning off the light while it's happening.

[@qsw4kchips827]

Could you do a review on the ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD, and or the LG 27GL83A. Both are 1440p 144hz monitors under $380

[@elesinalex]

I'm really hoping for an OLED panel in a monitor with a good implemented strobing.

[@nadoo4137]

good view~

[@BlurBusters]

@a5hun FYI -- for this model; strobe tuning was performed at checkpoints 75Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 180Hz, and 224Hz (there's a hidden easter egg 224Hz strobe tuning that looks better than 240Hz). Also, I just emailed you this information -- let me know if you got this email. And all future 2021 Blur Busters Approved logo will make 60Hz single-strobe mandatory. Four monitors are in the 2021 Blur Busters Approved pipeline (Hits market mid 2021 and beyond).

[@pacman8689]

Fantastic news

[@vgamedude12]

Jeez I don't know if it's the coating or what but when you compare the crt to this monitor in the strobing section the CRTs flat colors looked SO much better and clearer.

[@doctordothraki4378]

Have you heard that Blurbusters has a 2.0 certification for monitors? The first monitor to get it is the Viewsonic XG2431, and only the XG270 got the 1.0 certification.

[@AobaNegs]

So which Pure XP mode do You Recommend For Competitive Players . With good and playable brightness lol

[@Zentennen]

"Because most people find overshoot more visually distracting than a non-overdriven slower response, I'm now increasing the CAD cost depending on how far the overshoot goes above or below the target" YES! YES! YES! I'm glad you're improving on your already fantastic testing methodology. When I say your 10% to 90% video, I instantly subscribed. It was so good, but I kept asking "Isn't it better to have a slower response than overshoot, even if the area of the deviation from the target is the same?" I'm happy you're making improvements (in my opinion 1.2x cost might be too low). It also seems to me that a deviation of 50 from the target RGB value for 15ms is worse than a deviation of 25 for 30ms, even if the area of deviation is the same, but I don't know what the best way of adjusting the formula to accommodate this is. Maybe applying an exponent to the distance?

[@ApertureGrille]

Thanks! The new overshoot penalty has a linear increase as the overshoot gets worse. That 1.2x multiple at an overshoot of 12 turns into 1.4x at 24 overshoot and so on. That's the reason for the crazy high 920 CAD in the example I showed in the video. Because that's overshooting by 125 RGB values, the penalty for those highest values is at around 2.08x. I played around with various penalty values, which is part of the reason creating the new method took so long, but I think that the linear increase is enough. A power of 2 was much too much, but then I'd be using a decimal power like 1.5 or 1.3. It's easier for me, and easier to explain, using the linear increase, and I think that does a good job to capture how most people see the responses.

[@Zentennen]

@@ApertureGrille I think your current linear increase is very good! I was thinking maybe you could apply a similar increase (but with a much lower value) for regular pixel response (not overshoot)? Let's say we are measuring pixel response from 0 to 127. We have graph A: gyazo.com/482f4db837a7bb676afd56d22f2c3c28 and graph B: gyazo.com/01f02a8b788b1781f429a790e0a74a61 let's assume the area under the curve is the same,the graphs I drew probably don't reflect that but I did my best :( Graph A gets close to the target fast, but actually reaching the target takes a long time. Graph B is almost linear and gets close to the target value slower, but reaches the target faster. I think A would visually look better than B, but both have the same CAD value (if I understood your testing methodology correctly).

[@ApertureGrille]

​@@Zentennen Yeah, currently everything under the target (for rises) gets counted the same, so in your case, those would get the same CAD. Because of the way the liquid crystals respond to voltage, they mostly have smooth, continuous curves as they rise, but I was able to find one that behaved a little differently: www.aperturegrille.com/reviews/ViewSonicXG270/Images/0to127-CAD-comp.jpg The TN panel on the LG is the odd one here. It has close to the same shape that you drew, with a slightly faster initial rise than the XG270. But then it sits on an RGB 108 shelf for a while before finally reaching 127. At the 10ms mark, the XG270 is much closer to 127. I think the XG270's better CAD for this response actually reflects a better looking response; that long shelf on the LG is visible as a distinct trail behind moving objects. I could add in the same type of graduated penalty for the initial rise, but one problem is that all the responses start far away from their target by nature. It seems odd to penalize a response for being at RGB 20 at a 1.8x rate when it just began at black! That would, of course, apply to all the responses, so it wouldn't change the relative standings, but it would globally increase the CAD scores. Another issue is a measurement issue. At low values, measurement noise limits how precisely I can measure where RGB 0 is. For the IPS panels, they're remarkably noisy when displaying black, but the TN is super clean. That would hurt the TN's CAD, since I'd be accumulating that large initial difference at a 1.8x rate. I'm still accumulating that value now, but it's only at 1x, so it doesn't make a large difference. I think using unmodified area works pretty well for the initial rise. Most displays now perform best with some overdrive applied, so the under-the-target responses don't vary much. To even find a good example, I had to select the LG with overdrive set to off, which isn't a good setting to use. Let me play around with the idea a bit, and I might have to take some pursuit shots of these to show how they look. I'm glad you're asking about this stuff, because most people don't care!

[@Zentennen]

@@ApertureGrille Yeah thinking about it, it might be problematic and probably undesirable. As you say, most monitors behave similarly at the initial rise, so it's usually not going to be a big deal, and in the few cases where it does make a difference, it might not not be a good idea since monitors with non-standard rise look weird and shouldn't be artificially given lower CAD values. Also, as you say, it makes measurements hard since black levels can be noisy. Also, adding more modifiers to the data based on subjective estimates might also be a problem, since the more of those you add the further you get from the raw objective data you directly measure. The current thing you do with overshoot I think is a worthy exception, as overshoot really does look awful and deserves a CAD penalty. Also, what's the formula you use for overshoot penalty? It's non-linear, obviously, but what are the exact modifications?

[@ApertureGrille]

@@Zentennen I''m actually using a pure linear increase, so that ratio I mentioned in the video holds proportionally for any overshoot. 0.20/12RGB = 0.40/24RGB = 1.50/90RGB. I then take the decimal, add one, and multiple it by the RGB difference to get the higher penalized difference.

[@gabrielst527]

What CRT monitors you recommend to buy? Fighting games are locked at 60fps that's why I want one. That or the best TN monitor for 60hz locked games would be nice to know.

[@Dutchj]

I had been hoping that you would cover this monitor. I share your frustrations at the lack of strobing at 60Hz. That being said, it's great to see the results this monitor can produce at high refresh rates. Awesome video as always, your reviews are amazing.

[@BlurBusters]

I've now convinced two manufacturers to release four monitors with 60 Hz single strobe in year 2021. See forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7951

[@KyoukiDotExe]

This was amazing, I thought this monitor was the best clarity monitor out there but this opened my eyes that it only really works best at 119 Hz that's a shame. Would you recommend this monitor regardless if I want to use it on 240 Hz?

[@ApertureGrille]

If you're going for 240 Hz+, I'd stick with the VG279QM or the VG259QM. I haven't tested the VG259QM, but it shouldn't be too different from the VG279QM, and ASUS does a better job at those higher refresh rates.

[@KokoroKatsura]

a n i m e n i m e

[@KyoukiDotExe]

@@ApertureGrille Thanks! Looking forward to future videos.

[@adamwissenz9]

ViewSonic XG2431 is this the same results just different size? Amazing work you do thanks

[@yosoy1loco]

Maybe a little late: It does not officially count as the "elite series", but it is also tuned by blurbusters and has their certificate. In terms of its strobing utilities it does not only allow better tuning than the XG270, but also strobes at 60hz. When I understood the chief on BB forums correctly, it is even better in regards to strobing than its older brother, maybe even better than those new Asus and Acer monitors that support ULMB2, at least on lower refreshrates.

[@nir300]

Hi, Thanks for the amazing review. I got this monitor and I mainly play Apex Legends. I tried 119hz with strobe and i cant enjoy Apex that way. also it feels like I'm having trouble detecting enemies that way. Maybe you can help me with out with a good settings for games like Apex Legends(Apex is capped at 190fps). also color settings and such. because I'm really disapointed going with this monitor and thinking about buying a new one

[@ApertureGrille]

Backlight strobing is ideal for games where you can maintain glass-smooth framerates that match the monitor's refresh rate. I love the strobing for racing games where I can keep a perfect 120 FPS, but for something like Apex, because your framerate won't always be at 190, just using the regular G-Sync mode would be best. But since you're not strobing, the VG279QM is probably the better monitor: cheaper, higher max refresh rate, and its OD 120 mode is amazing at those high refresh rates.

[@f6billytse]

how did you update the firmware to get the option for pureXP? I looked everywere and failed to find how to update it. My monitor only has "on" and "off" for pureXP. Thanks!

[@dimwillow7113]

Glad you piced up on the coating.. still makes no sense to release a HOME monitor with thick anti glare.. or any anti glare.. at home you can controll your lightning no need for anti glare.. isnt funny that big TVs have glossy panels..that often located in big living room and bigger windows.. but our much smaller gaming monitors have anti glare coating.. i want a glossy gaming monitor right now..

[@ApertureGrille]

If I hadn't spent so much on these, I'd be tempted to try to remove the AG coating, but knowing my luck, I'd just ruin the screen.

[@Rosaslav]

While I believe, that strobing at fixed refresh rate looks great it has a few major drawbacks that make it less user friendly: 1)I cannot change brightness, which I usually do a few times during the day. 2) It is very difficult to keep stable framerate and low input lag at the same time. It is much easier to setup proper framerate cap with VRR.

[@ApertureGrille]

The locked brightness thing is odd. Seems like it would be easy enough to implement. Having to maintain a consistent and stable framerate and finding a way to do that without VSync lag are two of the biggest problems with strobing. I'd really like ASUS get to get their ELMB-Sync technology working properly, but they're not there yet.

[@BlurBusters]

There's a reason why there wasn't a Brightness slider: The brightness-vs-crosstalk/blur tradeoff. Users try to brighten; and ruin blur/crosstalk, ruin strobing. So ViewSonic decided on a compromise to do 4 levels (minimum number of levels to get Blur Busters Approved) with intentional names that make user realize brightness-vs-clarity tradeoff.

[@ZuckerbergDaReptilian]

Any idea on how to get into the secret menu on these Viewsonic Elite monitors? I got the 1080p 280hz version and I'm curious on what panel this one is using. Weird, but there's no reviews/info on this monitor anywhere.

[@zwebb]

Hi, slightly confused on the downsides to using the strobing modes, other than brightness, how does it affect response time?

[@Phil_529]

Hey really great review. Do you think the upcoming Viewsonic ELITE XG320U will be providing the same backlight strobing quality? They advertise it as having PureXP.

[@ApertureGrille]

I'd hope so, but probably not. I think ViewSonic is using the PureXP name for backlight strobing modes regardless of whether or not they have Blur Busters certification. And without real effort being put into the strobing modes, they usually end up being mediocre.

[@Phil_529]

@@ApertureGrille Yeah I have an XB271HU that has ULMB but it's not great. Also have a C9 but the strobing is limited to 60hz and I can't use it for very long. I hope more Blur Buster certified monitors come out. A 1440p 27" panel would be great. How do you feel about the XG270 overall? Do you actually use it or does it leave too much to be desired?

[@ApertureGrille]

@@Phil_529 Mark Rejhon has mentioned he's working on a new monitor that can strobe at 60 Hz, but he didn't mention any particular specs about it; I hope it's QHD. I thought we'd hear at least something about it at CES, but... nope. :) I'm not sure I'd totally recommend the XG270. it's a good product for the first iteration of Blur Busters certification, but I think we're going to see better results some time this year; and I still kind of hate recommending FHD screens in the year 2021! Gaming monitors right now are in a weird, pre-HDMI 2.1 spot. We have quite a few QHD IPS 144 Hz monitors at or around $350, but everything new and interesting is $700+. I've sold off all the monitors I have except for the VG27AQ to save up for some new review purchases, but nothing is really standing out right now.

[@Phil_529]

@@ApertureGrille Yeah I hear ya, 1080p at 27" just isn't enough PPI or screen real estate for desktop use. The AW2721D, Predator XB273U GX, and Predator XB273U NX are all somewhat interesting to me but the Viewsonic 32" 4K could be a winner. Gonna have to keep playing the waiting game I think. Thanks for the insight and perspective.

[@HyperSlayer72]

After seeing the disappointment that was the VG279QM at 120hz strobed with its locked overdrive its relieving to finally know that there is an ips that delivers super clean results. A couple questions. I've been waiting for an ips that can do this because I was hoping to use it in portrait mode. I never even though about it but can you run black-light strobing on monitors in portrait mode? If so does it impact anything visually? Does this display allow for changing the overdrive value at various strobed refresh rates?

[@ApertureGrille]

It can strobe in portrait: www.aperturegrille.com/reviews/ViewSonicXG270/Images/XG270-Portrait.jpg But I wouldn't recommend it. Because the crosstalk was tuned to be the cleanest in the center of the screen, when you switch to portrait, the left and right sides now get the all the crosstalk that would have been at the top and bottom. It's still an improvement over no backlight strobing at all, but it really wasn't designed for that :) Overdrive is locked when PureXP is enabled.

[@HyperSlayer72]

@@ApertureGrille ah, I was planning on emulating arcade games in portrait. Guess nothing matches crt hardware for that still. Other than oled maybe.

[@TheWeirdPianist]

@@HyperSlayer72 There's a 165hz Nano-IPS monitor coming out next year that will allow 60hz strobing. It also has wider color gamut which is close to what CRT displays had. The red phosphor in the backlight is slow which will cause a bit of red smearing but for arcade games it's the best one you can get. It'll look like a CRT with a slow red phosphor. XG270 isn't really useful for it since it can't strobe at 60hz. forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7694

[@theedstv]

viewsonic xg240r they say is one of the best TN panel monitors. check it out!

[@an-slayer1192]

Hi can i ask is it better with strobing better than benq and wich level of strobing is that

[@Warptenlololol]

Ahhhhh yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis

[@kinenicodecler]

hello !! Purexp its 1ms? or you have to use the response time?

[@jonis7989]

I like to imagine this is Patrick Bateman reviewing high tech products.

[@CubanLegend561]

would you please link to which posts you used to make your 119Hz mode? I found some posts on BlurBusters XG270 thread showing settings for a CUSTOM 119Hz refresh rate that actually improved the crosstalk for my case considerably (even better than a normal 119hz mode), it had to do with using CRU to make a custom 119Hz refresh with a higher vertical and horizontal total pixels IIRC, (i helped a friend install his XG270 a few weeks ago. )

[@ApertureGrille]

For reviews, I want to stick as much as I can to the standard out-of-box configuration, so I didn't modify any of the timings. There shouldn't be an expectation for users to have to mess around in CRU; that's what the Blur Busters certification is for! :) What settings are you using? I can test out a few configurations to see if it improves the crosstalk.

[@CubanLegend561]

@@ApertureGrille ok sorry for the late reply, the 119 Hz mode is compared and talked about first in this post forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5998&start=470#p52146 and here: forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5998&start=480#p52338 but the ADVANCED 119hz VT tweak is mentioned here: forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5998&start=590#p55320 the VT is 2269 and screenshots of the crosstalk reduction of the new VT 119hz is here: forums.blurbusters.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5998&start=590#p55376 ENJOY! Please let me know if they work for you.

[@cakeyfm6437]

Fantastic video and review. Thanks for making it! Unrelated, but did you ever look into text clarity in general across different panels (or especially text clarity on shadow mask CRTs/slot mask CRTs vs. aperture grille CRTs)?

[@ApertureGrille]

I do have a few more 17" CRTs that aren't Sony Trinitrons, but since the P1130 is better, I haven't used them in a while. Based on the macro shots I took for that CRT review, I don't think there'd be much clarity difference... at modest resolutions. What were you thinking, in particular?

[@hayd3517]

First of all great video, but is 240 hz with no PureXP better than 240 hz with PureXP?

[@ApertureGrille]

Backlight strobing works best if you can maintain a framerate that exactly matches the display's refresh rate. But that's really hard to do at 240 Hz. I'd probably turn it off and just use VRR instead. But for games that can keep a nice, steady framerate like 120, strobing looks amazing.

[@vilius230]

Does the back of the monitor crackle when adjusting the monitor? My XG270 does and it even crackles when it's changing temperature...

[@ApertureGrille]

On mine, the internal speakers are loose and clunk around, but I haven't heard any crackling.

[@BlackThunder888]

i wish asus would release a firmware update to fix the strobing on the VG279QM

[@YourCRTube]

Any plans for MSI MAG274QRF-QD. Hardware Unboxed think it has the best BLS.

[@Rasyad95]

Yep, this one chief.

[@TheWeirdPianist]

What would you say looks better in games, 119Hz with Extreme strobing or 120Hz with Ultra? Also I've read somewhere that 119Hz shows up as 120Hz with no decimal digits on UFO test. Is this true?

[@ApertureGrille]

For me, the 120 Hz mode has the excessive overdrive no matter the PureXP setting. I checked to see if the refresh rates were actually different on testufo.com/refreshrate, and I got 119.997 Hz for the 120 Hz mode and 119.875 Hz for 119 Hz. I only have an NVIDIA card to test with, though, so that may be different on AMD.

[@TheWeirdPianist]

@@ApertureGrille Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know. One more thing. Is not being able to use display software with a dual monitor setup too much of an issue? Does it work if you temporarily disable the second monitor?

[@ApertureGrille]

@@TheWeirdPianist I'll check this on a different PC tonight when I get back from work. For my testing PC, I have a receiver hooked up via HDMI for 5.1 audio (not while testing!), which unfortunately shows up as a second monitor. The software was crashing on load until I unplugged the receiver.

[@ApertureGrille]

Tested on a different PC, and now the software is crashing there even without another monitor connected. AxeTheGreat recommended ClickMonitorDDC to change brightness, so that might work to at least adjust the brightness. I'll have to dig in further to figure out what's happening with the software.

[@rodrigofilho1996]

Can u do your CAD test on your P1130? Just for us to have a comparison of a LCD vs a CRT

[@ApertureGrille]

The CAD computation only works for displays that are continuously lit like LCDs or OLEDs; it doesn't work for strobing modes, and since CRT phosphors excite near instantaneously and then decay pretty fast, Octave would spit out nonsense. But I might be able to use the gamma-corrected data to see how long the phosphor trail on the CRT lasts.

[@Airbear640]

Will you review the xg250?

[@shanegillette8547]

Is the xg250 the same monitor just smaller size?

[@AlienGreen7]

does anyone know if the viewsonic XG250 has the same tech or is it upgraded?

[@FluorescentApe]

I fiddled around with the settings and i'm not 100% sure what settings you ended up using. Could you give a full list of the options that you used in the OSD?

[@ApertureGrille]

From the website: Calibrated in Custom mode. Color Temperature: USER R94 G100 B96, Gamma 2.4, Color Saturation 50, Black Stabilization 11, Contrast 70, Brightness 40. For strobing modes, calibrated Color Temperature set to R97 G100 B100. But without a colorimeter, you won't know if those will makes your calibration better or worse. For instance, RTINGs also reviewed the XG270, and their OSD recommendations differ from mine.

[@musicxxa6678]

Why backlight strobing is so underrated compared to gsync i don't understand. I hope they can achieve gsync and backlight strobing working at the same time and less input lag penalty from backlight strobing.

[@DanielHeretic]

Maybe i'm too dumb but can you explain "G sync and Gsync compatible" work with amd gpu?

[@KyleJohnsonVA]

True G-Sync uses proprietary hardware in the monitor itself, "G-Sync Compatible" is nvidia slapping their brand on top of AMD's FreeSync. Due to recent-ish driver updates, you can now use FreeSync with nvidia GPUs, but the "Compatible" list is one where they took an extra step to test and validate monitors on the market to determine which would behave correctly (as FreeSync does sort of have loose restrictions on quality control).

[@sexntuna]

Should I buy this or the Alienware aw2721d? Money doesnt matter

[@joshtrue467]

Do they have a smaller version?

[@rsrsrsrsrs618]

At 18:38 he says that it has the best backlight strobing on any monitor but only at 119 Hz. I am confused, is there no backlight strobing at 240 Hz? Oh so going a bit further he says that 240 Hz strobing doesn't create a single clear image so he recommends to sticking to 119 Hz. That's okay, I played a lot of COD Warzone and am only reaching about 140 fps. Should I limit the framerate via RTSS scanline sync? I'm still doubting a bit about this monitor. My goal was to buy a monitor with much better clarity. I'm swapping my 1440p 144 Hz Samsung CJG56 for this one. I'll finally have a monitor with good pixel response times in dark scenes (from 18 ms to 5), G sync compatibility and hopefully an amazing clear image.

[@ApertureGrille]

I typically only recommend using strobing when you can maintain glass-smooth, consistent framerates. That's why I was showing Grid 2 in the video, which is easy to keep at 120 FPS, but even more modern games like Forza Horizon 4 can hit 120. I'm not sure how consistent your framerate is in Warzone. If you can (most of the time) keep above 120, the 119 Hz mode would look super clear in the center, but you'd have to limit the framerate somehow. Does Warzone have an internal limiter? RTSS is a pretty good option, but it does introduce more lag than internal limiters, and it doesn't behave well when your GPU is at high utilization. Check out my Input Lag video for more on that. I'm worried that the 4 ms strobing lag coupled with RTSS lag will bother you in a competitive shooter like Warzone. You can still turn on strobing at 240 Hz, but here's what it looks like at the center of the screen: www.aperturegrille.com/reviews/ViewSonicXG270/Images/Crosstalk-UFO-240Hz-Mid.jpg Better than non-strobed, but I'm super picky about CRT-like clarity, which is why I didn't recommend it. If you run strobing at 240 Hz, you'll get some clarity advantage and less input lag, but you'll have to deal with tearing, and you give up the huge advantages of adaptive-sync. But the VG279QM can strobe at 240 Hz as well, and it looks essentially the same as the XG270. So I think for a high refresh rate IPS, the VG279QM is probably the better choice for competitive gaming. I'd only spend the extra money for the XG270 if you're like me and really care about those lower Hz strobing modes for non-competitive stuff.

[@rsrsrsrsrs618]

​@@ApertureGrille Thank you for your thorough answer. I've watched your videos multiple times and I think I'm just now understanding all of it. I watched this XG270 review and was convinced this was the best monitor to get. But now having done some more research, it kinda depends and it probably isn't. It's disappointing to see that no perfect monitor exists, and the steps forward are very clear, but we are getting closer each year. My friend is upgrading his whole setup after his GTX 780 died and I recommended him to get this monitor. But now, I'm gonna recommend him the Asus instead. He plays a lot of CSGO (over 6000 hours) and will be easily getting 300+ fps with his new setup (Ryzen 3600 + RTX 3060 Ti). I think this will be the perfect scenario for the Asus VG279QM + ELMB Sync. The ViewSonic is currently on sale for 349 euro, while the Asus is 369 but has been as low as 299. Warzone does have an in-game limiter. I just tested how much I can achieve at 1080p but I'm not running 119 fps stable sadly (Intel 5820k @4.646GHz + 4x8 2133MHz DDR4 + RTX 3060 Ti, 1440p low settings). I play a lot of different games: Some games run terrible (like Escape From Tarkov) and others potentially run above 400 fps (Minecraft). So focusing on 119 Hz is not the right play I feel like. I cancelled my XG270 order. I was ready to sacrifice 1440p for 1080p with better motion clarity, but I think I'm going too extreme for what is still not perfected territory so it will only leave me disappointed. I got an RTX 3060 Ti now, but I don't have a G-Sync monitor to pair it with and my current monitor has noticeable smearing/ghosting. Here are its response times: i.rtings.com/images/reviews/monitor/samsung/jg50/jg50-tables-max-large.jpg These days, I'm sitting behind the PC a lot (15 hours a day) and I can get rid of this monitor because my mom could use one and it still has good value in the second hand market. Taking these things into account, would you say an upgrade would be good right now? I'm also comfortable waiting for another year to wait for any new releases. But I'm not comfortable dropping 500 euro on a new monitor. I do have another question for you: Do you recommend G-Sync? I've never been convinced by adaptive sync. My current monitor has FreeSync but it is implemented poorly. It locks overdrive to "Standard" and has a window of 48 - 120 Hz. Now I'm running the monitor at 144 Hz in "Fastest" overdrive which is the recommended overdrive by Rtings. I also don't notice tearing on 144 Hz monitors, so I'm not really looking to fix an issue I don't have. But people have sworn that any gaming monitor should have adaptive sync. Would you say it is a must-have for me since I play such a large variety of games that can have very low to very high fps?

[@MuseR.]

I have the xg2431 and i think it strobes at 60hz

[@UnfinishedDeath]

Is this monitor good for call of duty warzone? Or is the strobing not worth it?

[@ApertureGrille]

The newer XG2431 has better strobing, but it may not help if you can't keep a consistent, locked framerate while in game. Strobing has the most clarity benefit when FPS = Hz. I haven't played much Warzone, but if the framerate is fluctuating, you may be better off with a higher refresh (360 or 390 Hz) adaptive sync display.

[@giappone2012]

I think that my old benq xl2411z is still the king regards bfi (50hz to 144hz bfi range). Also with the "low overdrive hack", ghosting is virtually imperceptible from 60hz to 50hz and very very low with 60hz bfi with custom enlarged VT. I've done a lot of comparisons with my pc crt (Sony GDM-400PS) and it's still better regarding black level, backlight uniformity but regarding motion, with the right settings, my benq is really close :)

[@ApertureGrille]

I missed a lot of those early days of Lightboost/backlight hacking, but I'll take your word for it since you're a fellow CRT nerd! My 24GM79G, annoyingly, double strobes at 60 Hz, but there was potential at 100 Hz: www.aperturegrille.com/reviews/LG24GM79G/Images/Frog-Strobe-100.jpg I really want to see how BenQ is doing now with their XL2546K, but it probably doesn't strobe at 60 Hz.

[@pigu8734]

any plans to review the current crop of LG 120hz BFI oleds?

[@ApertureGrille]

I would love to get one, but they are still a bit too expensive for me.

[@nestaash]

@@ApertureGrille hey i have a question concerning the input lag of the vg27qm at 60hz, I've seen other reviews which line up with your result its around 40ms but I've heard that at 240hz if you enable g/freesync and let the application take over its not so bad you know if thats actually true?

[@ApertureGrille]

@@nestaash Correct. The lag is only bad if you restrict the monitor to 60 Hz via the control panel. Letting the monitor run with its normal adaptive sync range, 60 Hz, other than the slower frame times, won't have that large amount of lag.