Question Picking the Best 4k Monitor for flight simulation

[Caveman]

$600 max budget, $450 tops would be even better.

Monitor is for flight simulation with target FPS at a CONSTANT 60hz, so I think Gsync capability s required. It's infinitely more important to have inky blacks and a great image quality than refresh rates above 60. Response rate should be great but doesn't have to be stellar.

30"-33" size range

No issue with using a TV - in fact, I understand that may be my best choice if going for pic IQ.

Any recommendations or insight?

 

[SKORPI0]

Here's a Sept/2018 article.

The Best Monitors for Flight Simulators – NerdsPick

www.nerdspick.com

 

[Caveman]

Thanks for the article link - I'd seen that one and thought it was a little light on technical detail. One primary question I have is with regards to framerate. My understanding is that even if I have a rig that can push out 70 fps to a 60 hz monitor, I will see stutters without gsync. Is that true or a false idea?

 

[Feld]

Thanks for the article link - I'd seen that one and thought it was a little light on technical detail. One primary question I have is with regards to framerate. My understanding is that even if I have a rig that can push out 70 fps to a 60 hz monitor, I will see stutters without gsync. Is that true or a false idea?

Freesync and Gsync are for when your system is producing less frames per second than the monitor's refresh rate. It dynamically reduces the monitor's refresh rate to match what the GPU is putting out to eliminate screen tearing, and has to be supported by the monitor as well as the specific video card.

In the scenario you're asking about, you want v-sync. That limits the maximum framerate coming from the GPU to the refresh rate of the monitor. Every GPU can do v-sync regardless of what monitor you have.

 

[Feld]

Double post

 

[mikeford]

Not having done that much sim, but was a pilot, seems like a dual side by side display would "feel" more realistic.

 

[ZeroRift]

You can try looking here for a more technical comparison of monitors.

TFT Selector Tool - Now Retired - TFTCentral

After many years we have decided to retire this tool as it is becoming increasingly time consuming and difficult to maintain. We will instead aim to maintain various “recommendations” pages....[click link for more]

www.tftcentral.co.uk

It sounds like you're mostly interested in static contrast ratio, so I suggest looking at some of the VA panels.

The main downside to this resource is that they don't index very well across performance metrics, so it can be hard to find what you're looking for.

I usually end up starting with something like newegg to see what's available to me, then use stats from TFT Central to compare them for my uses.

 

[biostud]

Why not get a 49" 32:9 screen?

 

[CropDuster]

Not interested in VR? I've been simming for 20+ years and my HP Reverb is the single most amazing device in that time

 

[Fallen Kell]

I too was going to mention VR, but depending on your setup, that might be less realistic (i.e. lots of flight sim enthusiasts have built consoles with gauges, warning lights, switches, and control arms). The VR glasses can not be beat for immersion in the visual sim, but connecting the VR to your physical controls is what is missing in most flight sims unless you can configure the virtual cockpit to match what you have physically in terms of controls and locations, it is hard to deal with hitting a toggle switch on the dash in front of you if you have a VR headset on that doesn't have that toggle switch in the exact same position in the game.

 

[Majcric]

You could try the Viewsonic XG3220 it has Freesync and a VA panel for some decent blacks and nice uniformity.

 

[Caveman]

Thanks all for the replies!

Actually, flight simulation has been a hobby of mine for about 36 years... I know all about VR and love it. I could only imagine not using it if I had an exact replica of the actual cockpit with a perfect monitor projection on each visible window to the outside world... I've got a Rift S, and hoping all the Gen 2 HMDs starting with the Reverb G2 due later this year do not disappoint. My son also flight simulates but gets a little sick from VR and likes a nice monitor image with a TIR (better spotting, etc...). And... Any guests I have "try out flying a plane" would best start from a standard screen (rather than VR). For me though, the immersion goes through the roof with VR and I doubt I'll do much more flying on a monitor from here on.

I found this post by "Luke Hall" regarding monitors and thought it was pretty interesting and wondered what you folks thought:

Real performance is NOT high frame rates.

Much has been said about this over the months and years, but I’m going to add my few quid because I’ve had a huge degree of success with it. Therefore, perhaps some of you can benefit from my experience. Firstly, simmers tend to be obsessed with frame rates, in the mistaken belief that higher fra...

forums.flightsimlabs.com

If I understand him correctly, he's saying that dropping the monitor's refresh rate to 30Hz is essentially a poor mans gsync (no variability of frames if the video card feeds the monitor above 30Hz). The logic made sense but 30Hz is too low. Higher framerate for flight sims is always better, and if I could sustain 100 fps out my video card/monitor, I'd take that any day over 30Hz. That said, I've found 60Hz to be blissful enough at creating a sense of flight and as long as the framerate stays constant (with no microstutters) then I'd be as happy as a pig in slop.

At any rate, I'm using an old 24" monitor now so even going to a 27" gsync monitor would be a big step up. That said, I'd like to get the best I can for ~$500. A really good OLED TV with Gsync that small might make the most sense too.