That gaming monitor/screen question

[KAC]

So I have been fascinated by the OLED for the longest time but never could afford one. Now lately the OLED has become quite cheap in my country. I can nab a CX 55 for as low as 1362$ and the CX 65 2000$ or thereabouts.

I personally can tell the difference between 60, 100, 120, 144 and 165 Hz easily. So much so that I have chosen to stay w/ 2K 165 for a few years over 3440*1440 100 that I had.

I am considering a new purchase of a monitor which can either be a 55 inch CX (the reviews I have seen still has only 60 Hz at 4K which to me wasn't good enough). I need a graphics card that will support the HDMI 2.1 standard for this to really work for me.

On the other hand Samsung is coming out with their G7 and G9 series. The G7 32" especially caught my eye, it is curved and has 240 Hz claimed refresh rate (even at 120-144 I will be fine). It also has HDR and QLED.

I have been sporting a curved QLED 65 inch since 2016 and it has been one of the best investments I made since it has exceptionally bright image in direct sunlight conditions, has amazing HDR, has possibly the best upscaling of images I have seen (even compared to latest OLEDs from 2019) and has just been a truly amazing experience. However, I have only used it for consoles.

Now I can either -> replace with a CX OLED 65 for my main room TV in prep for consoles coming out end of year OR I can replace CX 55 in my lounge which also has my PC near it.

Either way I am buying the new graphics and consoles but can't decide what to do about the screen. If I don't do the above screen upgrades then I will just go ahead and buy a G7 or G9 Samsung monitor at 800 or 1700 bucks a pop respectively.

Decisions?! I can only do one screen upgrade so it will either have to be CX OLED 65 in main room, CX 55 OLED in my lounge w/ option to connect both PC and consoles to it, or my main computer screen w/ a G7/G9 Samsung (G7 is 2K only though).

https://www.samsung.com/ae/monitors/...C32G75TQSMXUE/
https://www.samsung.com/ae/monitors/...c49g95tssmxue/
https://www.lg.com/ae/tvs/lg-OLED65CXPVA

[Hapatingjaky]

For me personally I wouldn't want to be attached to a TV for my PC. I know alot do but for me I like to be up close when I'm gaming on the PC.

I do have my rig attached to my home theater being in the same room and all. But its very very rare that I play on the 120". Only when my homies are over we will play Street Fighter V or Mortal Kombat 11, something along that nature. And when I am doing benchmarks and ****.

Now here's the downside, the Samsung screens are HDMI 2.0, where as the LG screen is 2.1. Also the USB Hub on the Samsung screens only comes with 2 ports. My Pred comes with 4 ports allowing me to plug in my mousepad and keyboard and then having 1 port on each of those for my mouse and SXFI Theater. The G7 only has HDR600, might as well be running 1080P. Most true HDR screens will be HDR1000, so the G7 is not "TRUE" HDR. You would need the G9 for the best possible picture quality.

Hope this helps you make the decision easier.

[Dave]

The OLED CX model does support 120hz at 4k using a lower color bit rate under hdmi 2.0

[KAC]

Didn’t see the HDR 600 part. G7 can eat a dick then.
LG documentation is really bad. Can you confirm the 120 Hz 4K since not a single review I watched mention it. Neither did the nV or LG websites.

[koralis]

Serious question... have you tried a Gsync/FreeSync monitor/setting, and if so, could you tell the difference between 60 Hz and 144Hz with it? Do you feel that it still matters at that point?

If the sync technologies fix your primary problem, that opens up some flexibility.

[KAC]

Yes I have tried Gsync at 60, 100, 120, 144 and 165. I am only indifferent between 144 and 165 and that too for shooters that may/may not get input lag at 165. 100 to 144 is quite noticeable. Even 120 to 144 is noticeable. 60 even with Gsync is a joke for shooters. Ok for 3rd person games.

Someone asked me the question that can I tell gsync on at 60 fps on a 144 vs gsync on at 60 fps on a 100 and the answer was yes I can. Call it placebo or whatever but I can. That is why I got rid of the ASUS PG348Q in favor of PG279Q that I have right now.

[Dave]

Didn’t see the HDR 600 part. G7 can eat a dick then.
LG documentation is really bad. Can you confirm the 120 Hz 4K since not a single review I watched mention it. Neither did the nV or LG websites.

The CX can do 4K 120 Hz 8-bit YCbCr420 today on HDMI 2.0 GPUs. The C9 can do 4K 120 Hz 10-bit RGB / YCbCr444 only on future HDMI 2.1 GPUs.

[pax]

But isnt the cx newer?

Mesa confused. Pricing on these oled's is nuts. Bring on some good 40-43" models with 120hz 10 bit hdr and more affordable panels.

[bill dennison]

LG has contacted me today to say that contrary to initial communications, and in a turn around from the HDMI 2.1 situation introduced with its 2019 4K TVs, none of its 2020 4K TVs, OLED or LCD, will carry ‘full bandwidth’ HDMI ports capable of handling HDMI 2.1’s maximum 48Gbps data rate. The good news is that this almost certainly doesn’t matter in real world terms.

The 48Gbps rate is required to handle uncompressed 12-bit 4K at 120Hz with RGB 4:4:4 chroma sampling. LG tells me now, though, that while all the HDMIs on its premium 2019 TVs were indeed full 48Gbps examples, all four HDMIs on the WX, GX and CX OLED TVs will instead handle 10-bit (rather than 12-bit) 4K at 120Hz with RGB 4:4:4 chroma sampling. This implies a likely 40Gbps data rate.

“While LG covered most of the HDMI 2.1 related specs in its 2019 TVs, including full bandwidth support in all of the HDMI ports for its 4K and 8K TVs, the market situation evolution indicated that real content that requires 48Gbps is not available in the market.

Based on market situation, LG decided to re-allocate the hardware resources of 2020 chipsets optimizing for AI functions including CPU&GPU and supporting full bandwidth in only 2 ports of 2020 8K TV series (ZX series, NANO99, NANO97, NANO95). And the rest of the ports of 8K TVs and all HDMI 2.1 ports of 4K TVs have lower bandwidth than 48 Gbps but support up to 4K 120P 4:4:4/RGB 10bit. We apologize for not flagging this earlier to you.”

Even if a game was potentially able to up its output to 12-bit, it’s highly debatable that you would see a visible difference given that all TVs are currently only 10-bit. And as we’ve seen, LG (along with, I suspect, other brands taking a similar not-quite-full-48Gbps-approach to HDMI 2.1 this year) can reasonably argue that it can make a more visible difference with the extra power it’s making available to its video processing systems by limiting the HDMI 2.1 bandwidth.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarc.../#ade01236276c

[KAC]

I don’t believe any graphics card outputs even 40 GB ps today but in the future this 10 bit only support might be a bummer. I intend to keep TVs all the way for 4-5 years so I think CX is a no buy for me then.

Damn seems I am not upgrading my screen anytime soon until we get new graphics at least.

[bill dennison]

could be 10 years before gaming need 12 bit color if my partially color blind ass can even tell the difference

and the CX looks amazingly good now

i can live with it

[KAC]

Ok let me see if I can sell my existing screens and recoup some cost to afford a CX. I am still not convinced that I will replace a monitor w/ a TV anytime soon.

[KAC]

Ok final call. Get a 55 inch CX or a 65 inch C9? I don’t have home theatre setup.

[Nunz]

C9 65" if you aren't using it for a PC monitor.

[mizzer]

Ok final call. Get a 55 inch CX or a 65 inch C9? I don’t have home theatre setup.

Get the E9 if you can. Much better sound.

[mizzer]

You could take a chance on this:

https://evedevices.com/pages/spectrum

The Spectrum 4K 240Hz model hits the end of this year.

There is also a 48" OLED48CXPUB that is G-Sync and FreeSync compatible.
https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled48cxpub-oled-4k-tv

[Nunz]

I was looking at the Eve line, but it's difficult for me to put money to a company that has no real history for me to trust. The 240Hz is only 1440P.

The 4K variant will be 144Hz. The monitor does look good, as well as the price, but for the reason above I can't get myself to do it.

For a normal monitor and not a behemoth, I'm looking at the LG model coming out in July; https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27...gaming-monitor -- 4K, 160Hz, HDR600, and 1ms response rate, and G-Sync+FreeSync capable.

[Dave]

anything below HDR1000 - nope.

[Trunks0]

Nah the EVE monitor doesn't look that great when you dig into the specs. Especially given the marketing is trying to talk it up.

- HDR400-HDR600 depending which you choose
- 8-Bit IPS panel with A-FRC for 10-bit color
- No Local dimming
- 1000:1 static contrast ratio

That's not really an HDR monitor. It's more like an HDR compatible monitor. It's a pretty damn decent SDR monitor though if you look at it that way.

[Nunz]

anything below HDR1000 - nope.

The price difference for HDR1000 over HDR600 - nope. I'm not sure how heavily I value HDR nit over features like 160Hz and G-Sync+FreeSync compatibility at a $799 price point.

[Trunks0]

It's not even HDR1000 thats the big deal. It's having FALD that is the big deal with most HDR1000 monitors. Hell the Samsung 49RG9 technically has HDR1000.... but it only has 10 local dimming zones. Which means it really isn't going to deliver what your expecting for HDR.

[Nunz]

Yeah I completely agree. High nit is important, but I would prefer full screen dimming at HDR600 than local zoning at HDR1000.

Overall though, I don't find HDR a crucial feature for a gaming monitor. For TV and movies though? Very much so.

[KAC]

Ok ordered a 55 CX.

[Trunks0]

This channel has done allot of breakdowns on the CX. Including directly comparing to the LG C9.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcC...PnG-21WDOWdwew

[KAC]

The dude never gives a definitive answer. He is the reason I went with CX lol.

[Trunks0]

Well he mentions the bandwith bit in the CX vs C9 comparison at 2:07. The CX has 40Gbps.

C9 can do 12-Bit 4k, 4:4:4 @ 120Hz
CX can do 10-bit 4k, 4:4:4 @ 120Hz

I really doubt that almost any game is going to do 12-bit in any meaningful way, so it doesn't really matter.

[KAC]

Word is why I went with CX. I need 120 Hz 4K more than 12 bit colors. I can’t even tell color differences lol.

[Nascar24]

He said C9 for gaming. Wonder why the 2.1 ports were cut down on the CX.

[Higgy10]

are there any c9 or cx models that low 40" range? I dont really want a tv on my desk. My 34 ultrawide now is pretty decent but i wold move up a few inches but not 20

[KAC]

CX is available in 48” but not in my country.

[KAC]

He said C9 for gaming. Wonder why the 2.1 ports were cut down on the CX.

Not willing to have poor sound as I don’t have a sound bar. Gaming difference does not exist tbh. The real difference is colors which I don’t care about as nothing used 12 bit and won’t anytime soon.

What nudged me was Dave’s comment that 120Hz @ 4K works on HDMI 2.0.

[Nascar24]

That’s short term, new consoles and new cards are going to be 2.1, no idea what kind of difference you get from 10 bit to 12 bit. Still seems listening to him that the CX lost more then it gained.

[Dave]

I dont think we will truly know until we get cards that support 2.1

[KAC]

Got it in. Calibration is very involved. Wtf. I can’t watch 20 min videos so any nub articles to go about setting this up. Not liking the IQ so much.

Also how are you making the TV hit 4K 120 Hz. I can't do it.

Even at 60 Hz there is tearing in MW at 4K so GSync doesn’t seem to be working. Already did the software update. Not sure if there is a separate firmware update button. This is a nuisance lol. I think I will just disconnect my primary monitor and then try to configure it. Otherwise it keeps messing around.

[Dave]

You know what, no. Not helping. You literally bought this without doing any research on your own, and kept asking us to provide it to you on a silver platter. Can't believe you can't either watch a 20 minute video to learn how to calibrate it or do a google search on calibration settings. Personally I had to do zero calibrating to mine. You'd think by now you would have learned to do some research on large purchases; clearly that is not the case. Remorse thread in 3...2...

[KAC]

I already calibrated it.

Pending Gsync to run properly now.

[Hapatingjaky]

You will have to enable 120Hz through the NVIDIA CP for it too work at the native, it won't automatically run at it.

The screen is GSYNC-Compatible, not GSYNC or GSYNC Ultimate. Therefor you will have to be using Nvidia 445.51 or newer. So its not 100% GSYNC and you could notice issues.

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how...g-sync-monitor

The CX is shown on Nvidia's page as G-SYNC compatible.

[KAC]

You will have to enable 120Hz through the NVIDIA CP for it too work at the native, it won't automatically run at it.

The screen is GSYNC-Compatible, not GSYNC or GSYNC Ultimate. Therefor you will have to be using Nvidia 445.51 or newer. So its not 100% GSYNC and you could notice issues.

https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how...g-sync-monitor

The CX is shown on Nvidia's page as G-SYNC compatible.

I enabled 4K 60 Hz and Gsync for LG but still see tearing. I am going to try again at night.

[Exposed]

[Trunks0]

Make sure your using an HDMi 2.0 cable?