Where's all the G-SYNC monitors?

[5150Joker]

So I was thinking of getting a second 27" display that supports G-SYNC and 1440p + 144 hz. So I found a nice Asus display only it's sold out everywhere with no ETA. In fact this was true of most new high end G-SYNC displays. Are they simply not going to release them? I've got zero interest in AMD's FreeSync (or in anything AMD makes) and was hoping to get a nice G-SYNC display..


EDIT: 12/26/14

Got both of my Swift PG278Q's in and ran them both through the usual gamut of tests for inversion, gamma accuracy (both are near 2.0), back light bleed, dead pixels etc. Happy to report that neither has any issues, just very minor edge light bleed on one of them on a black background but it's not visible at all during normal use even in the dark.

http://youtu.be/jd0nZG51TcQ

System specifications:
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CPU: Intel 3770K@4.5 GHz
GPU: EVGA Titan SC SLI @ +216 core and +230 memory running a custom Tech|Inferno vbios.
HD: Samsung 840 500 GB SSD
Ram: 16 GB 2133 MHz

Initial impressions:
------------------------
NVIDIA G-SYNC: Pretty damn nice, even at high framerates in games like Far Cry 4, I instantly noticed the difference coming from my 10 bit LG display. With the LG, I was getting constant tearing and stuttering at 1440p with max details (fps from 40-60+) but with G-Sync enabled, it was smooth as butter with no tearing. NVIDIA really knocked it out of the ballpark with this one.

ULMB: As expected, it's decent but it didn't blow me away like G-Sync does. Furthermore it also dims the display too much for my liking so I doubt I'll be using it too much, even in FPS games.

Color reproduction: I lent my calibration tool to a buddy of mine so I haven't done any hardware calibration but based on visual calibration, I used the NVCP and adjusted brightness to 47% and kept contrast at 50% and raised DV up slightly to 55%. Next to my LG display, it doesn't look bad at all -- at least not NEARLY as bad as I was expecting it to be. No doubt the LG looks better but that's because it's a wide gamut panel so when it's set down to sRGB, there's not much difference between the two.

Viewing angles: Off axis horizontal viewing angles do shift if you move your head from right to left but it's really not too bad. It's a bit worse than my LG IPS but I sit in front of my display with a centered view so I doubt it'll ever bother me.

OSD: Wow..what a joy compared to my LG's capacitive buttons! The joystick makes navigating the OSD a breeze and I'm surprised most manufacturers don't take the same approach. The side of the panel also has a built in cheat crosshair function that you can toggle (though it's too big IMO) as well as some timer. I MIGHT use the crosshair in some game modes that have it disabled but I doubt I'll make use of the timer. It also has a button to quickly change refresh rates but again I doubt I'll use that since I'm going to set it at 144 Hz and leave it there.

Issues (possibly driver or firmware): The display gets stuck on G-Sync and I have to pull the power plug to enable ULMB from the OSD. While this isn't a big deal for me because I don't plan to use ULMB much if at all in the future, it would be very hectic to those that like it for competitive FPS play. So either ASUS or NVIDIA needs to get on the ball and resolve this.

Overall I think this is a very nice display and I don't regret buying these at all. I can already tell the difference in games vs my IPS display and I don't ever plan to go back to a display that doesn't have G-Sync for gaming. It really is a game changer and NVIDIA deserves a lot of credit for being first to tackle this long standing problem. The display design is fantastic, I love the red LED at the bottom that changes (something called color in motion).

 

[OlyAR15]

The Asus ROG Swift is in high demand. I ordered mine at the end of September, and received it near the end of October. Still listed as backordered on the site. As far as I know, there are no other high resolution, high refresh rate monitors that support G-sync.

Your best bet is to place an order for the Asus and hope your wait isn't too long.

 

[linster]

Use the site http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/monitors/asus/

It has helped many people acquire the ROG Swift

 

[Grooveriding]

There are only two options; the buggy Rog Swift with its B grade panel or the Acer 4K model which does not have much of a user base yet to make any assessments on its quality.

I think its still the best situation is to be running a holding pattern and waiting for more products to come to market before jumping in on a gysnc screen. Other wise there is always settling for the current state of affairs of taking a gamble on a swift and dealing with the likely possibility of one or several RMAs to get a halfway decent unit.

I'd like to think we will see some more options at some point soon, hopefully one that uses that new AHVA 144hz 1440p panel as its basis, and that if its that panel or another - that the panel is not B grade like the panel in the swift is.

 

[Flapdrol1337]

I guess asus underestimated demand in the states. Here in the netherlands the swift is in stock in over 15 shops.

 

[JoeRambo]

I guess asus underestimated demand in the states. Here in the netherlands the swift is in stock in over 15 shops.

But spotty in other EU countries, I had to wait 1.5 month to get mine.

 

[tidy]

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[5150Joker]

There are only two options; the buggy Rog Swift with its B grade panel or the Acer 4K model which does not have much of a user base yet to make any assessments on its quality.

I think its still the best situation is to be running a holding pattern and waiting for more products to come to market before jumping in on a gysnc screen. Other wise there is always settling for the current state of affairs of taking a gamble on a swift and dealing with the likely possibility of one or several RMAs to get a halfway decent unit.

I'd like to think we will see some more options at some point soon, hopefully one that uses that new AHVA 144hz 1440p panel as its basis, and that if its that panel or another - that the panel is not B grade like the panel in the swift is.

Yeah that's what scares me about Swift is seeing all the reviews of shoddy panel QC in the reviews. If the numbers are so scarce, getting an RMA would be impossible. Guess I'll keep holding out for a bit longer.

 

[tidy]

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[Grooveriding]

Can you give us an overview of the known issues so far? I haven't been following the threads.

The owner's thread on OCN, http://www.overclock.net/t/1509599/official-asus-rog-swift-pg278q-owners-club, or the official ROG forums, http://rog.asus.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?175-ROG-Swift-%28PG%29-ASUS-Gaming-%28VG%29-LCD-Discussion&, would be the places to start. Fast forward through the OCN thread to around the time the monitor released and read the commonalities of issues many users experience with the screen.

The well known issues that are seen on faulty units are

• dead pixels, as many as 5+, making the panel B grade
• 'pixel inversion' a visual artifact seen when the image is in motion, usually on white or light colours, seems to be on every panel
• excessive backlight bleed
• white 'blotches' - some units have big bright spots that appear as a blotch
• overheating gysnc module on some units, the gsync module in the swift is apparently overclocked to account for resolution/refresh rate

Those are the issues seen with the model its self, then there is the fact it is a TN screen and has the associated gamma/colour shift and poor viewing angles.



I bought a unit from Amazon and it had 2 dead pixels and really bad backlight bleed. As an IPS user I am used to a 'glow' coming through on blacks from the backlight, but on the swift what I had was excessive bleeding of light in all four corners coming in towards the center. I sent mine back for refund because I don't want to deal with returns to Amazon and then trying a new unit. Then there is the issue with Asus of terrible customer service/RMA support and if you end up outside your return window and having an issue with the screen, you'll have to deal with Asus' RMA support fail.

Gsync is the real deal. I noticed the difference in almost every game I tried it in. Battlefield 4 was so much better with gsync and the high refresh rate that I almost kept the monitor. Otherwise though,the deification of the screen I've seen is unwarranted outside of specifically gsync and 144hz. The colour reproduction and consistency of the image across the screen was significantly worse on the swift than my U3011. There was no missing that the screen is a TN either dead on or from an angle.

I don't think Asus is really at fault here. The swift is using an untested 1440p 144hz 27" panel. It's the first product using this panel and it's obvious that the panel its self is primarily the issue. If you're getting units with such excessive BLB and ones that have 4+ dead pixels then I would guess the reason for using what qualify as B grade panels with those levels of defects is that they are having a hard time getting anything decent off the production line.

I am holding out for the 1440p 144hz AHVA panel. It's from the same manufacturer that the panel in the swift comes from, so I'm hoping Asus will deliver another gsync capable monitor with that panel at some point and that the AHVA panel does not have the issues the TN panel in the swift has.

 

[Whitestar127]

And where on earth is the Benq XL2720G?

 

[Rakewell]

I have a PG278Q, and it's the best thing I bought for my PC since an SSD.

I don't have any of the issues mentioned in this thread - no blotches, no bleed, no dead pixels. Nothing.

Gaming is now a whole new experience - colors, quality, 144 RR, G-Sync - It's absolutely incredible.

These monitors are exceptional, and tearing is a thing of the past. There's a reason why they're in such high demand.

Why wait?

There will ALWAYS be something better, later. Always.

 

[kasakka]

I have a PG278Q, and it's the best thing I bought for my PC since an SSD.

I don't have any of the issues mentioned in this thread - no blotches, no bleed, no dead pixels. Nothing.

Gaming is now a whole new experience - colors, quality, 144 RR, G-Sync - It's absolutely incredible.

These monitors are exceptional, and tearing is a thing of the past. There's a reason why they're in such high demand.

Same here. They do seem to have QC problems based on how many people have had issues even with replacements. I'm happy I got lucky and received a display with a very uniform panel, no dead pixels and any issues I had were fixed by Nvidia's driver updates.

Of course it's not perfect - the portrait mode is largely useless due to TN having bad vertical viewing angles (in portrait mode this becomes even more troublesome as now top/bottom are left and right), the "gameplus" features (crosshair and timer) are really poorly implemented and the bezel is kinda strange as there is a little bit of empty panel on the sides making the overall bezel size larger than needs be.

But seriously, as far as image quality and performance goes it's fantastic if you get a good one. The viewing angles are largely a non-issue in the regular landscape mode and this is by far the best TN panel I've seen. Calibration is great out of the box.

Side by side with the Dell 3008WFP I had the Swift looks rather pale, but that is because it's sRGB instead of wide gamut. If you want "popping" colors, use Nvidia's digital vibrance controls to get your oversaturated look.

I don't think other panel technologies will match the panel on the Swift for a while. I don't know if VA panels have improved in the recent years but the only thing I remember is annoying black crush.

 

[Teizo]

...the Acer 4K model which does not have much of a user base yet to make any assessments on its quality.

FWIW, Linus gave it a great review. Then again, he gave the Asus Swift a good review too I think, but all things considered I imagine the Acer 4K is nice even though it is TN.

I too, was expecting there to be more GSync monitors out there by now. Guess adoption is going slower than predicted.

 

[bystander36]

FWIW, Linus gave it a great review. Then again, he gave the Asus Swift a good review too I think, but all things considered I imagine the Acer 4K is nice even though it is TN.

I too, was expecting there to be more GSync monitors out there by now. Guess adoption is going slower than predicted.

The ASUS Swift is a great monitor, as long as you don't have quality control issues. Reviewers, as long as they don't get a bad unit, don't get to review quality control. Instead, they review a working product.

 

[5150Joker]

Update: Managed to get a few from Amazon before the scalpers had a chance to snipe them. They shipped out today and will be here on Friday. I'll update the thread with some impressions + pics. I'm currently using a 27" 1440p LG IPS (10 bit) so I'm hoping the colors + viewing angles of this TN panel doesn't disappoint too much.

 

[tweakboy]

thats too big..

 

[Keysplayr]

I have the ACER XB280HK. So far so good. No dead pixels, no bleed. Nice color production. A lot of real estate. Any questions I'll do my best to answer.

 

[KaRLiToS]

You'll be a little disappointed with the color if you already had an IPS monitor. But having G sync is gold.

 

[5150Joker]

You'll be a little disappointed with the color if you already had an IPS monitor. But having G sync is gold.

Yeah I got the two ROG Swift's so I'm sure the viewing angles and colors won't be nearly as nice as the LG I have and that's fine. I mainly need it to have good enough color for games and I'll use my hardware calibration on them to get them just right. Just hoping for no BL issues or dead pixels.

 

[Bateluer]

Gsync is long dead. Best to wait for the Freesync/Adaptive sync monitors coming out in 2015.

 

[tidy]

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[ShintaiDK]

Gsync is long dead. Best to wait for the Freesync/Adaptive sync monitors coming out in 2015.

Until Intel and/or nVidia supports adaptive sync, its equally as dead.

 

[Keysplayr]

How long? I was impressed by my unit's lack of bleed when I got it, but it gradually developed it to the point where I returned it.

I want to know how a LED backlit LCD's bleed status can 'evolve'. Is it because of inferior materials, ie. the diffuser sheets can't handle thermal cycles without shrinking or shifting, with the edges working their way inwards slightly? I've seen Swift owners complaining of gradually increasing bleed also.

A model being prone to static anomalies is one thing: you get your monitor, and it's either good or it's not. But the second I see complaints about issues that develop gradually (over the short term), then that's when I completely write off that monitor. The idea that you can get a perfect sample only to have it deteriorate over a few weeks? Screw that.



Is Nvidia supporting that now? The last I heard (from Tom Petersen on PCPer) Nvidia wasn't interested.

I'll let you know. Downloading Elite Dangerous and I'm psyched to see it in 4K with G-Sync.

 

[Black Octagon]

G-Sync monitor in stock: http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16824009658

Get it up ya