LG Ultrafine monitors

xenu

Has anyone got experience with the LG Ultrafine monitors who can comment on whether they have PWM or other quality issues?

I'm considering buying the LG 27UP650K-W because I vaguely recall I used a similar LG 27" Ultrafine at work for some months and I think it was fine.

My first choice would have been the LG Ultrawide 29", which I once owned. It was very easy on the eyes but those are no longer available.

photon78s

I use 27UN850-W with only minor eyestrain. Not perfectly comfortable but usable, more so than any of the Macs I've tried (M2 MBP touch and mac mini) and two super high end 10 bit Eizo pro monitors.

According to display specs website, it is still 8 bit + FRC with BOE panel.

https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/a58c3f2e

xenu

photon78s 8 bit + FRC with BOE panel.

Is there any way to disable FRC in the monitor's settings? Or maybe by changing the computer's color gamut to sRGB?

photon78s

xenu

I would feed at most an 8 bit signal from the computer but this depends on os, drivers, gpu etc. It is not a "nano IPS" (ksf phosphor?) display so might be one reason it is more tolerable.

This article shows that nano IPS spectrum is more pure compared to traditional ips but imo it might have side effects.

https://www.arzopa.com/blogs/guide/what-is-nano-ips

Gurm

There are a few LG's that have no FRC - I both owned a 1080p and own a 1440p model. They're not as stable as my Dell U2715h but they're close. The 1080p model in question was 27GQ40W and the 1440p model is 27G610A.

You do have to very specifically turn off the adaptive brightness and aggressive color management settings.

xenu

Gurm 27G610A

I just called LG and the tech support lady said the 27G610A has 8 bit + FRC = 10 bit.
The lady said this is what showed up on her screen (in their "internal tools").
She also said regarding the 27GQ40W it is 6 bits + FRC = 8 bits.
She confirmed that 27UP650K-W is 8 bit + FRC = 10 bit.
I asked her if she could search her internal tools for an LG monitor that doesn't have FRC and she said it just shows OLED monitors, which of course have PWM therefore eye strain. She agreed this would contradict my goal of an eye safe monitor.
And sadly the LG 29" ultrawide, which was once the best monitor I ever owned, its current variant the 29WQ500-B is, according to their records, also 6 bit + FRC = 8bit.

xenu

Looking through the specs for all of the readily available monitors, I see virtually everything uses FRC flickering now, usually 6 bits + 2 faked bits using FRC flickering. The LG 27UP650K was also using FRC with 8 bits + 2 faked bits.

DisplaySpecifications is claiming that the BenQ GW2790T, GW2790TC, and GW2790QT don't have FRC but they've been wrong before:
https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/a7be3bd6

Another possible exception is: BenQ XL2540X+. It's a 280Hz TN monitor allegedly also without FRC. Maybe if I could get the panel specs on Panelook I'd know for sure.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/BenQ-XL2540X-Plus-New-24-1-inch-TN-gaming-monitor-debuts-with-280Hz-refresh-rate.1076696.0.html

JTL

xenu DisplaySpecifications is claiming that the BenQ GW2790T, GW2790TC, and GW2790QT don't have FRC but they've been wrong before:

I don't know how they source any of the specifications they display on their site, and they're certainly not transparent about it.

xenu

JTL
I called the BenQ tech support line and they confirmed that the GW2790T/TC/QT should all be non-FRC and 8 bits per channel. They also don't use PWM.

xenu

Here's a Lenovo monitor that has a contradiction in the Lenovo specs:

It says "true 8-bit" and 16 million colors.
It also says it supports HDR10 i.e. 10-bit HDR.
This suggests it is really 8-bit + FRC = 10 bits.

DisplaySpecifications.com says it doesn't use FRC.

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/Lenovo_Monitors/Lenovo_N27q_Monitor/Lenovo_N27q_Monitor_Spec.pdf
https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/cde23c37

xenu

Another monitor that I found that doesn't have FRC is the Asus ProArt PA278QV, however it does have PWM at 20kHz.

The Dell P2725D allegedly uses neither FRC nor PWM, but it's impossible to get through to Dell's tech support to verify this without buying the monitor to get a "service tag".

The same goes for the 24" P2425DE, P2425D and P2425H. None of these are sold in-store and the Dell website has no mention of either "true 8-bit" or FRC.

photon78s

This Z-Edge U28I4K UHD IPS monitor is advertised as 8 bit, 16.7 million colors.

https://www.amazon.ca/3840x2160-Response-Speakers-U28I4K-Technology/dp/B0CSSQ8JWT/ref=nav_ya_signin?sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY

xenu

I spoke with Dell pre-sales and they said:
Their only true 8-bit monitor is the SE2726H.
He said the P2425HE is 6 bit + FRC.
He said their records don't say whether P1917 is 6+FRC or 8-bit.
It seems like a carnival fun-house of mirrors where every turn shows a new false reality.

Sunspark

xenu SE2726H

Gamut of 72%? That's a pretty poor backlight.

simplex

No it seems good, upto 95% of sRGB means no KSF !

Good to try

xenu

Update on BenQ: Their customer service just verified that the GW2790T uses FRC to achieve 8-bit color.

simplex

SE2726H is <50% low blue hardware

https://dl.dell.com/content/manual82252138-dell-27-monitor-se2726h-user-s-guide.pdf?language=en-us

While P2726H is <35%

https://dl.dell.com/content/manual11572167-dell-pro-p-27-monitor-p2726h-user-s-guide.pdf?language=en-us

It does mean, blue peak in P2726H shifter more to 460nm zone than SE2726H have

But only Dell's 5 star TUV rating is "real" flicker free

It also has 120hz refresh rate. Perhabs, 120hz refresh rate mask pixel flicker more than 60hz, in Dell point of view?

( i.e. temporal smooth ) ?