Comparison Asus TUF Gaming VG249Q1A 24 " black vs MSI Optix G242 24 " black

The time each individual pixel on the monitor takes to switch from one state to another. The lower the response time, the faster the matrix responds to the control signal, resulting in less delay and better image quality in dynamic scenes.

Note that in this case, the gray-to-gray method is used (the time it takes to switch from 10% gray to 90% gray). Pay attention to this parameter if the monitor is specifically purchased for fast-paced games, movie watching, or other applications involving quick screen movements. However, there’s no need to chase the fastest models. It’s not often possible to discern the difference between 1 ms and 5 ms. For most scenarios, monitors with a 4 ms response time will suffice. In any case, it’s best to rely on live impressions for a true comparison.

The maximum frame rate supported by the monitor at the recommended (maximum) resolution.

The higher the frame rate, the smoother the movement on the screen will look, the less noticeable jerks and blurring will be on it. Of course, the actual image quality also depends on the video signal, but for normal viewing of video at a high frame rate, the monitor must also support it.

When choosing this option, keep in mind that at lower resolutions than the maximum, the supported frame rate may be higher. For example, a model with a 1920x1080 matrix and a claimed frame rate of 60 Hz at a reduced resolution can give 75 Hz; but the 75Hz frame rate is only listed in the specs if it is supported at the monitor's native (maximum) resolution.

Also note that a high frame rate is especially important for gaming models (see "Type"). In most of them, this figure is 120 Hz and higher; monitors with a frequency of 144 Hz are considered the best option in terms of price and quality, however, there are also higher values — 165 Hz and 240 Hz. And monitors at 100 Hz can be both inexpensive gaming models and advanced home ones.

You can evaluate all the frame rates at which this monitor is capable of operating by the ver...tical frequency claimed in the specifications (see below).

Dynamic contrast provided by the monitor screen.

Dynamic contrast refers to the difference between the brightest white at maximum backlight intensity and the deepest black at minimum backlight. In this way, this indicator differs from static contrast, which is indicated with a constant backlight level (see above). Dynamic contrast ratio can be expressed in very impressive numbers (in some models — more than 100,000,000: 1). However, in fact, these figures are poorly correlated with what the viewer sees: it is almost impossible to achieve such a difference within one frame. Therefore, dynamic contrast is most often more of an advertising than a practically significant indicator, it is often indicated precisely in order to impress an inexperienced buyer. At the same time, we note that there are "smart" backlight technologies that allow you to change its brightness in certain areas of the screen and achieve a higher contrast in one frame than the claimed static one; these technologies are found mostly in premium monitors.

The colour depth supported by the monitor.

This parameter characterizes the number of shades that the screen can display. And here it is worth recalling that the image in modern monitors is based on 3 basic colours — red, green, blue (RGB scheme). And the number of bits is indicated not for the entire screen, but for each base colour. For example, 6 bits (the minimum colour depth for modern monitors) means that the screen is capable of producing 2 ^ 6, that is, 64 shades of red, green and blue; the total number of shades will be 64 * 64 * 64 = 262,144 (0.26 million). An 8-bit colour depth (256 shades for each base colour) already gives a total of 16.7 million colours; and the most advanced modern monitors support 10-bit colour, allowing you to work with more than a billion shades.

Screens with support for FRC technology are worth a special mention; nowadays, you can find models marked " 6 bit + FRC " and " 8 bit + FRC ". This technology was developed to improve picture quality in situations where the incoming video signal has a greater colour depth than the screen, such as when 10-bit video is fed to an 8-bit matrix. If such a screen supports FRC, the picture on it will be noticeably better than on a regular 8-bit monitor (although somewhat worse than on a full-fledged 10-bit monitor, but “8 bit + FRC” screens are much...cheaper).

High colour depth is important primarily for professional graphics and other tasks that require high colour fidelity. On the other hand, such features significantly affect the cost of the monitor. In addition, it is worth remembering that the quality of colour reproduction depends not only on the colour depth, but also on other parameters — in particular, colour gamut (see below).

Monitor colour gamut Rec. 709 or sRGB.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Nowadays, sRGB is actually the standard color model adopted for computer technology; This is what is used in the development and production of most video cards. For television, the Rec. standard, similar in parameters, is used. 709. In terms of the range of colors, these models are identical, and the percentage of coverage for them is the same. In the most advanced monitors it can reach or even exceed 100%; These are the values that are considered necessary for high-end screens, incl. professional.

Colour gamut of the monitor according to the DCI P3 colour model.

Any colour gamut is indicated as a percentage, however, not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the monitor's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

DCI P3 is a professional colour model used primarily in digital cinemas. It is noticeably more extensive than the standard sRGB, which gives better and more accurate colours. Accordingly, the percentage values are smaller — for example, 115% of sRGB coverage corresponds to approximately 90% of DCI P3 coverage; in the most advanced modern monitors, coverage according to this standard is 98 – 100%. At the same time, DCI-P3 support is not cheap, and therefore it is found mainly in high-end monitors for professional and gaming purposes.

Display certification for safe blue light emissions and panel flicker. The presence of a certificate confirms the comfort of the screen for the eyes.

TÜV Rheinland is a large international concern headquartered in Cologne, Germany, providing a wide range of audit services. The company's specialists have developed and approved a number of tests for the compliance of the screens of mobile devices, monitors and TVs with the required level of eye protection from the harmful effects of display radiation on the user's vision on the other side of the screen. The authoritative opinion of TÜV Rheinland is respected in the tech community. Certificates from this body are issued to successfully tested electronics for the implementation of blue light filtering and screen flicker suppression technologies.

— KVM switch. The presence of a KVM switch in the monitor - Keyboard, Video, Mouse. This module allows you to control two or more computers using one monitor, one keyboard and one mouse, quickly switching between different PCs (for example, a desktop computer and a laptop). A KVM switch improves productivity when you need to use multiple computers at the same time or one at a time and eliminates desktop clutter. To switch from one computer to another, just one click of the mouse in the proprietary software or a programmed button on the keyboard is enough.

— Light sensor. A sensor that monitors the brightness of ambient light. It is mainly used to automatically adjust the brightness of the monitor itself to the specifics of the situation: for example, if the room gets dark, the image on the screen can also be made dimmer, and under sunlight for normal visibility, the brightness should be high. This provides additional comfort for the user and also contributes to energy savings.

— Presence sensor. A sensor that detects the presence of a person in front of the screen. Most often used to automatically control sleep mode: if there is no one in front of the monitor for a certain time, the screen backlight turns off, and when the user returns, it turns back on. This contributes to energy savings and increases the life of the matrix. In addition, the sensor can b...e useful for more specific tasks — for example, to control the presence of an employee at the workplace.

— PBP (Picture by Picture). Possibility to display two "images" on the monitor at the same time — from two different sources, each of which is connected to its own video input. This feature can be very useful in cases where you have to work with two devices at the same time — for example, with a laptop and the main system unit. The image from both devices is usually displayed side by side. Note that for PBP to work effectively, the screen must be quite large, so this function is found mainly among monitors with the appropriate diagonal — from 27 "and above.

— Flicker Free. Brightness control technology that eliminates excessive screen flicker. The idea of this technology is to reduce the brightness of the image directly by reducing the brightness of the backlight (whereas in monitors without Flicker Free, the brightness is adjusted by turning the backlight on and off at a high frequency). Due to the absence of flicker, the load on the eyes and nervous system is reduced, and working with the monitor (especially for a long time) becomes more comfortable.

— AMD FreeSync. Monitor compatible with AMD FreeSync technology. As the name suggests, this technology is used in AMD graphics adapters — so it's worth looking for a monitor with this compatibility if your computer has an appropriate graphics card. And the general idea of FreeSync is to match the frame rate of the monitor and the frequency of the video signal from the graphics card. Such a need arises in the light of the fact that in some cases the frame rate of the video signal can “float” (this is especially true for modern games and other resource-intensive tasks); and a mismatch with the monitor's refresh rate can result in jaggies, jerks, and other artifacts. FreeSync avoids this.
Note that in this case we are talking about the original version of this technology — support for FreeSync Premium and Premium Pro is indicated separately, for these versions, see below. A similar solution from NVIDIA is called G-Sync; it is also described below.

— AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. The most advanced (at the beginning of 2020) version of the FreeSync technology described above, formerly known as AMD FreeSync 2 HDR. As the first name implies, one of the features of this version is HDR support. In addition, FreeSync Premium Pro claims a frame rate of at least 120 fps at Full HD resolution, as well as low frame rate compensation (LFC). The essence of this function lies in the fact that when the frame rate of the source video signal falls below the minimum frequency supported by the monitor, the same frame is displayed on the screen several times, which allows you to maintain the maximum smoothness of the “picture”. According to the creators, FreeSync Premium Pro works especially well in games; and many modern games are originally designed to work with this technology.

— AMD FreeSync Premium. An intermediate option between the basic AMD FreeSync technology and the advanced FreeSync Premium Pro. Both of these versions of the technology are described in more detail above; and FreeSync Premium does not have HDR support (unlike the Pro version), but works at the same frame rate (at least 120 fps at 1920x1080 resolution) and also uses LFC low frame rate compensation technology.

— NVIDIA G-Sync. A technology for matching the frame rate of the monitor and the frame rate of the video signal used in NVIDIA video cards. The need for such coordination arises due to the fact that in some cases the frame rate of the video signal can “float” (this is especially true for modern games and other resource-intensive tasks); and a mismatch with the monitor's refresh rate can result in jaggies, jerks, and other artifacts. A similar technology from AMD is called Freesync (see above).
Note that in this case it means support for the original G-Sync technology, which was originally incorporated during production. Support for the more advanced G-Sync Ultimate, as well as G-Sync Compatible compliance, are listed separately (see below).

— NVIDIA G-Sync Ultimate. A variation of the G-Sync technology described above, which provides not only for matching the frame rate with the graphics card, but also for a number of improved characteristics of the monitor itself. So, models with this marking necessarily support HDR (and according to a very high standard — not lower than DisplayHDR1000), and also have an extensive colour gamut, often measured by DCI P3 (see above for both). Most of these monitors are gaming monitors (see "Type").

— NVIDIA G-Sync compatible. This feature is indicated for monitors that were not originally designed for use with G-Sync technology (see above), but according to the results of testing, they turned out to be compatible with it. All such devices are models with the AMD FreeSync function (also described above), which were tested by nVIDIA and showed the ability to fully work with G-Sync as well (however, we emphasize that FreeSync support by itself does not yet guarantee compatibility with G-Sync) . Anyway, from the user's point of view, the difference lies in the fact that G-Sync Compatible monitors are much cheaper than their counterparts with G-Sync, but may be inferior to them in picture quality. This is due to the fact that these monitors do not undergo additional image quality tests that are required for devices with native G-Sync support. In addition, in G-Sync Compatible models, correct frame synchronization when working with NVIDIA video cards is guaranteed only if the graphics card is based on the GeForce GTX 10-series and GeForce RTX 20-series GPUs — these are the adapters that compatibility testing is carried out on.

— Adaptive Sync. Screen support for VESA Adaptive-Sync technology. The feature aims to synchronize the display's refresh rate with the GPU's frame rate to reduce latency, minimize artifacts, and eliminate visual tearing. Adaptive-Sync certified screens should run at a default refresh rate of 120Hz, but should be able to drop the frame rate down to 60Hz. The actual response time of such displays should be less than 5 ms. It is important to note that VESA Adaptive-Sync technology is only available for DisplayPort version 1.2a or later.

— CalMAN certification. The monitor has a CalMAN Verified certificate. This certification is given to high-quality screens after they have been tested and calibrated using CalMAN, a professional suite of software tools used for colour manipulation and sensor colour adjustment. The accuracy of these tools is such that even Hollywood filmmakers use them; and in the case of monitors, CalMAN certification is an additional sign of high quality — it means that the colours on such a screen will be displayed as faithfully as possible. Such models are intended mainly for professionals working with colour, as well as for connoisseurs of high-quality video content.

— Pantone certified. The presence of the monitor certificate "Pantone Validated" — that is, a certificate of compliance with the Pantone colour system (PMS). This is a professional colour system created by the company of the same name and widely used in design and printing. One of Pantone's basic ideas is that each colour should remain the same at all stages of work — from agreeing on a general idea to printing / releasing the final product; To do this, all shades covered by the system are assigned code names, which are used in the work. In the case of monitors, Pantone certification means that when working with materials and software tools that use a given colour scheme, the colours on the screen will match the actual Pantone hues as closely as possible. We emphasize that there is no question of perfect correspondence (LCD matrices are not physically capable of adequately displaying some shades); in addition, monitors with such certification may have different colour gamuts — both in percentage and in the systems used for designation (sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI P3 — see above). However, even if the colour is beyond the capabilities of the screen, it will be displayed as accurately as possible. Therefore, for professional tasks associated with intensive use of Pantone, it is worth choosing monitors with official certification; An example of such tasks is the printing of image printing.

The screen is 90° rotatable on a stand, from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical). The vertical orientation of the screen ( portrait mode) can be useful, for example, when working with large documents made in portrait orientation.