Kyle S.Kyle S.
As with any display, if you use HDMI, the colors likely appear faded. This is likely because your graphics driver is detecting the monitor as an Ultra HD display, and not a PC display. This can easily be fixed by opening NVIDIA Control Panel (Sorry, I don't use AMD cards so I wouldn't know how to fix this for them, but I assume the concept is the same), then going to Change Resolution under Display, and selecting 1920x1080 under PC instead of the native Ultra HD setting of the same resolution (See included picture for details). You can now enable 144hz, but at the time of writing this review, NVIDIA does not support G-SYNC through HDMI, which is disappointing because this monitor only comes with an HDMI cable, so you will need to provide your own Displayport cable to use G-SYNC.Now, lets fix the faded colors. Right below the region where you changed the resolution, you should change [Use Default Color Settings] to [Use NVIDIA Color Settings] and then set the Output Dynamic Range to full. This will eliminate the faded blacks and greys and desaturated colors.I gave this monitor 5 out of 5 stars because it is affordable and with some minor, simple tweaks, my only real complaints were fixed. However, the colors weren't especially accurate and needed tweaked with the NVIDIA control panel beyond simply enabling Full Dynamic Range, and as well because it arrived with an HDMI instead of Displayport cable, which I imagine has lead to much confusion for other buyers not familiar with the differences between these two hookups, I nearly gave it 4 out of 5. I reiterate however that the faded colors and lack of 144hz out of the box is not entirely the displays fault, as almost always, graphics drivers auto-detect HDMI input as an Ultra HD display, so the only real drawback of this display has been that it shipped with a cable that does not support all of its features.As for the display itself, it is very bright, but not so that it becomes irritating. One very minor complaint about the hardware is that it lacks multiple buttons for changing physical settings on the display itself, and instead has a sort-of button/toggle, much like the sticks on an XBox or Playstation controller, that acts as both the mode selection and power button for the display. I would have preferred the typical button array, but the toggle works just as well. After some tweaking, colors aren't especially off, and the display actually looks very vivid. The contrast is good, and the response time is nice. I have no real complaints beyond the choice not to include a Displayport cable.If you are looking for a monitor for anything more than hobbyist Digital Art or Photo Editing, look elsewhere. While this monitor is very good for its price for gaming or general use, the 96% SRGB alone makes this a bad fit for you if you intend to use it for anything where highly accurate colors are important. I would recommend if you are on a budget looking for something with a lower refresh rate, but don't stray any lower than 1080p resolution.EDIT: Apparently this problem is not exclusive to HDMI, as when I switched to Displayport the display reset itself to the default Ultra HD setting, so it seems regardless you will need to change the settings on arrival. As well, this monitor flickers noticeably when using G-SYNC but not too much to be unbearable. This is, as far as I can tell, an issue with G-SYNC, and not necessarily exclusive to this monitor.
Brandon
This monitor is far better than I expected it would be.When I placed the order, I didn't realize it had a TN panel until I was reading the product documentation while I was getting the monitor drivers set up. Upon first reading that, I was concerned the panel quality would be horrible, but after installing the drivers and playing with the NVIDIA Control Panel color settings, it looks great! Viewing angles are really good on this monitor and the color accuracy is also the best I've seen on a TN panel.As others have mentioned, setting the monitor's gamma preset to 3 and turning the brightness down (I prefer around 40-50%) also help improve the image quality and vibrancy of the displayed colors. The monitor is also certified as G-Sync compatible, so as soon as the monitor was plugged in, G-Sync was detected and enabled, which is nice. The monitor is great for gaming and the display is sharp enough to read text in all the IDEs and Text Editors I primarily use (Visual Studio, MS SQL Server Management Studio, Notepad, Notepad++, etc.)I suppose the only con to this monitor are the availability of 1080p IPS 144hz panels that are becoming more frequently seen in this price range. Although this panel is great for a TN, IPS just has better color accuracy and vibrancy all round. While color accuracy isn't as important to me, I know for many people it is a huge consideration.In all though, for programming, gaming, or general office work, this monitor is great for the price (~$190) and I have no issue recommending it! 5/5
Jae HarrisJae Harris
I love this monitor, so much so that after a month of owning one, I bought another, lol. It's fast, responsive, fluid, has 2 HDMI inputs, a DP input, and 1 3.5mm Headphone output. It can automatically switch to the another input if one is disconnected physically or a device is turned off, which I love. Even has a windows software you can control pretty much everything about each monitor, it isn't the best but it works well enough. I have both of my screens set exactly the same in the OSD menu, and they are exact twins. I use these for console gaming as well, which is fantastic. No speakers at all though, but who plays games without headphones? So I never cared for that, and actually ordered these with that knowledge. Great for a multi-monitor setup!