Review on BenQ XL2546K - Adjustable Height, Tilt, Pivot; Flicker-Free Gaming Monitor by Ronald Martin

I had a BenQ XL2411z which I have been happy with for many years. However, the panel lottery is very bad. I was lucky enough to get a pretty good XL2411z after the previous RMA. I just wanted to "upgrade" because this monitor didn't have the display port I needed for my new AMD 5700. I read that the Viewsonic XG2402 was better than the XL2411z so I got it as a replacement. I was very dissatisfied with the horrible viewing angles to the point where there is no distance or angle you can sit from the monitor to view it correctly. The contrast ratio was also noticeably poor. So I decided to pay more for a better monitor. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case yet. I've seen a list of the best 240Hz monitors and #1 was the $500 Acer Nitro XV273 IPS. Well, the IPS glow on it (and the replacement monitor) was so awful that it pissed me off that people even recommend IPS monitors. You can see from a web search that IPS glow is normal for IPS monitors. I've found that if you're willing to sacrifice maximum TN response time for better image quality, VA is the way to go. Well the VA I got (AOC C27G1) was really good but due to the slow response time it has noticeable blurring/flickering in high contrast areas which ruins its dark/black capabilities. So back to BenQ, right? If I was happy with my XL2411z then this much newer monitor should be an upgrade right? Unfortunately there aren't any. It has the same terrible viewing angles as the XG2402, but it has worse response times and worse black and backlight levels. You can see terrible viewing angles and even backlighting in images. In terms of response time, I noticed a significant spike on logs in a busy Tomb Raider fireplace scene on both high and premium AMAs. I didn't notice that with Titanfall 2 or Arabel (high contrast, dark game). I chose my VA monitor. High contrast blur/flicker doesn't occur in enough areas to make it a bigger problem than problems with these other monitors. And the average motion blur on this TN (similar to IPS 240Hz) has the same impact as a smear/flicker as it forces you to be out of focus when panning, potentially negating/compensating for the VA issue a bit. FYI, you don't need a TN monitor for competitive gaming. The slower G2G time is only noticeable in a few high-contrast areas, such as black letters on a white background. 240 Hz are also not required. I could not find any significant difference between 144 and 240 Hz. --- VA, TN and IPS. Conclusion: There are no more perfect monitors, you sacrifice one for the other. **VA** = good blacks but still a bit of backlighting that varies with each monitor type which still degrades black levels. Worst response time. The best current VAs I could find - the AOC C27G1 or C24G1 - have a blur problem in high contrast areas like black text on a white background and vice versa. This causes it to smear/flicker in some areas like a dark fence or bookshelf. This is fairly rare in games, but can contribute to the destruction of dark scenes, and therefore any advantage VA has over Black is pretty much nullified. This prompted me to try TN again. **TN** = poorer blacks and overall image quality, but no streaking/flickering. Best Response Time. I've been playing competitive FPS for many years and now I'm playing casual games. TN/response times are overkill and you can easily go pro with a VA monitor. If you choose TN, just try to find a monitor with the best viewing angles, black tones, and fewest blemishes. I have no idea what it is, but it's not the highly rated XG2402. Differences in response times are negligible even for hard-fought FPS players. This only matters if it shows up as obvious phenomena such as blurring/flickering of high contrast areas while moving around the VA monitor I tested. **IPS** = Scam. Only a tiny percentage of users should buy if they need super accurate color for anything. And even then, 1/3 of their monitor will be inaccurate due to the IPS glow. Some say IPS has better viewing angles, but my $220 VA (C27G1) has way better viewing angles than my $500 IPS (Acer Nitro XV273). All 144Hz and 240Hz monitors I tried had the same motion blur.