Very interesting, thanks KeiKei. Quick question, have you tried the ulmb on that new monitor (you didn't actually specify if you had or not)? I know that the Asus V278HE suffered from some bad ghosting, especially noticeable as grey ghosting in 2d lightboost. I actually tested the H and HE versions side-by-side and went with the H for this very reason. The H's is not noticeable at all when gaming but the HE's was very annoying and visible. The trouble with trying to decide which technology is right for "insert_your_name_here" is that it really requires trying for oneself to truly appreciate/understand. For myself, i love the clarity and absence of motion-blur when using 2d lightboost. The greatest benefits i've received from it were in first person shooters where my bf3 kdr average quite literally doubled to tripled in an instant (as shown by stats, from average 2kdr to 4-6kdr per game). For that type of game, I'm fairly certain g-sync is not a contender to ulmb for having the edge in competitive fps games because the advantage there comes from the lack of motion blur/pixel smear where the scene is changing/moving across the screen very quickly and all the time (being able to instantly recognise and identify targets as you constantly turn is a humongous advantage in fps games). The best G-sync can offer if I'm not mistaken is tear-free and silky-smooth (i.e. non choppy/stuttery) gameplay? Which is nice in of itself but something that doesn't seem to be an issue for me (at least in fps games) and so i would expect a benefit over non g-sync ofc but a big disadvantage over the 2d lightboost/ulmb advantage. In all honesty, I'm pretty surprised by how impressed you are of g-sync KeiKei, enough to drop lightboost. Couple that with the 23ms input lag vs 32ms input lag you recorded of lightboost + adaptive vsync which on paper at least seems like it would be near indistinguishable. But from your experience with the new g-sync monitor, are you saying that it is? Also do you not miss the motion-blur-less clarity of 2d lightbosst (or ulmb in your new monitor's case)? Would you be willing to perform one more test by any chance please with your new display? ULMB + adaptive vsync (and non adaptive if you have the time) in rf2?
My H, yes but not the HE because it didn't have a built in receive for the glasses that come with the H. Why do you ask?
Because I'm thinking of getting HEs as a sort of temporary stop-gap until prices go down on the ASUS ROG Swift PG278Q / Acer Predator XB270HU. The HE can be found for less expensive (especially used) than the BenQ XL2720Z, and the H is more rare. I heard that the H has slightly less input lag, although the HE is still very good in this department (then again, these were 2D, non-strobing tests rather than 3D, who knows how/if things change relative to eachother while in 3D mode), and I also heard that the H has slightly less crosstalk/ghosting in 3D mode, but then again, I've seen a ton of reviews from people talking about how good the HE performs in 3D. So was just trying to get an as direct comparison as possible.
Thanks! Tried ULMB and also made sure was getting similar input lag readings as from VG278HE so measurements would be comparable between each others. Luckily they were so didn't mention about it in the opening post. You're right about first person shooters etc where one could benefit more from less motion blur than from smooth playback. But one person would want to maximize his gaming performance while other would want to maximize his gaming experience (graphicswise perhaps). So it's a difficult question and I can only answer from my point of view - which is only simracing as I don't have time for other gaming at the moment. So yeah, I'm biased. Guilty as charged! Simracing has quite slow horizontal panning (during cornering) so probably that's why I'm not giving much value to ULMB. When you have high refresh rate then motion blur is really not an issue in simracing at least with this monitor. About difference of 23 and 30 ms input lag I'd say it's pretty indistinguishable - at least for short tests which were the case. From my previous experiences 6 ms input lag difference is not something which one can distinguish by eye. Probably you could see the difference in stats like what happened to you with BF3. It could be little bit more consistent racing and less errors during long races. Maybe tiny bit quicker qualifying lap when pushing to the max. Of course lower input lag is lower input lag. It's always better to have less lag than more lag. But at some point it may be better to focus on improvements elsewhere. At least this is the case of 23 ms difference to 30 ms when racing with URD EGT mod. With 30 ms you don't feel like you'd gain anything more with less lag - you're already up to the task so to speak. Maybe with some very fast handling car you would start to benefit from lesser lag. Maybe then you would also start to benefit from less motion blur too. Difficult topic! I would want to do those tests too but can't give timetable. I'm quite busy at the moment and need to finish few things first. Until then do the same and order one from a store where you could take it back under 14 days if you're not satisfied. That's how I ended up having one and now can't let go.
Thanks for replying and i understand. You've done a lot already. hahaha, that's exactly what caused my wallet to be permanently short of £500 with my current monitor. With very little to no intention of keeping it, 5 mins in and i cracked like and egg into keeping it because of the 2d lightboost! So if i'm not mistaken, the reasons for your preference of g-sync over ulmb (at least for racing) are the following: - Ability to maintain the lowest input lag possible, almost completely regardless of how low fps goes as well. - Consistently smooth and stutter free visuals even when the fps drops very low, thereby allowing you to increase graphics settings. Is that about right? The trouble for me is that it sounds like it could in fact be something i would use over 2d-lightboost/ulmb for racing (for the very same reasons you explained why ulmb, whilst visually very nice in racing, could be less advantageous to ones racing performance hence your willingness to drop it for g-sync advantages) but i'd have to purchase one to see for myself.
I must admit, i really didn't like the HE. The ghosting in 2d lightboost was a horrible grey ghosting effect that was most apparent in fps games (from memory) but in rfactor 2 i think this was less of a visible issue. However having said that, comparing the ghosting of 2d lightboost to 3d lighboost is not the same because you will get the certainty of seeing the ghosting effect in the crosstalk. This is speculative ofc and i can't be certain because i never tried 3d on the HE. What matters though is how it compares to what you're using now.
Yes, exactly. For offline racing against AI don't mind if it goes even down to 50 FPS. It's still perfectly drivable. For online series, those where we really try to win (rf2vec.net at the moment), I'd say no lower than 80 FPS at any circumstances so depending on track I may need to lower settings little bit from max. Yeah could imagine that could very well be the case. But ofc solution is very simple. You have your current monitor on your desk for BF3 and your new G-Sync model at you sim rig for rF2.
lol, indeed. But despite that i can't truly judge it or know what it will really feel like, i can't quite shake the idea that i would still prefer ulmb over it. For racing it is less of a competitive advantage than fps games but to me in racing i also find it adds to my gaming experience (i.e. graphically) being able to see things with crystal clarity. And I'd maybe be willing to compromise rf2 graphics over the monitor visuals of ulmb. I forgot to mention that by the sounds of things, you were quite annoyed by the lowering of the overall brightness with lightboost/ulmb which is another reason why you prefer g-sync? Personally however, this not something that bothers me enough to stop using lightboost though. Sorry for playing "20 questions" with you. I'm just trying to see if i can deduce whether i would prefer it or not without having to purchase one.
Based on your priorities I believe you might want to stay with ULMB instead of G-Sync. But if you're still unsure then at least test first before making decision.
