Large, Sub-$500 Excessive Refresh Gaming Monitor

Key Takeaways

• The InnoCN 39G1R is a steal for its value, providing excessive refresh, excessive distinction 1440p gaming on a big display. Good for PC players.
• PS5 house owners ought to word that the monitor doesn’t help VRR over HDMI 2.0 ports. There are additionally some minor uniformity points.
• The low pixel density could also be an issue for these working with 4K movies or detailed design work, however it’s appropriate for on a regular basis use and gaming.

In terms of displays, dimension does matter. However the excellent news is, you don’t must pay Samsung costs to get an honest, large picture with a excessive refresh price.

The InnoCN 39G1R is a fantastically good purchase primarily aimed toward players, although everybody can profit from an even bigger show. You will get this 38.5” 165Hz behemoth of a monitor for as little as $500, and should even discover frequent offers that carry it nearer to $400. At that value, it’s a steal. So, certainly there should be a catch?

Unboxing and Meeting

Meeting is comparatively easy, on condition that it solely is available in three items: the show, the stand, and the legs. The show arrives in a molded polystyrene kind, and because of the distinctive delicate curvature, I would advise leaving it in there and attaching the stand relatively than the extra conventional technique of laying it flat on a desk.

Nonetheless, I will admit I had issues getting the stand to latch securely onto the rear. I narrowly prevented disaster when lifting it again up, realizing it wasn’t really hooked up appropriately. Partly that is because of the massive cylindrical shroud that covers the attachment level; it is unimaginable to see when the latches are flush. Hear for the mechanical clicks and take a look at earlier than confidently declaring the development step accomplished!

As soon as the again is latched on securely, place the legs on and safe them with a single screw from beneath.

As for cable administration, there isn’t any channel within the stand to run the cables, however there’s a small round cutout in addition to a port cowl.

You will discover two HDMI 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports. Sadly, in case your cabling is a bit massive, the port cowl barely matches again on. I discovered angling the monitor utilized simply sufficient power on the port cowl to drag it off once more. I will in all probability depart it off–it’s not important, particularly if the again of the show is not seen.

Design and Specs

The InnoCN 39G1R is a uncommon breed of white electronics. It even ships with a choice of white cables; one HDMI and one DisplayPort.

Though it is bought as a curved gaming monitor, technically, it has a 3000R curve. The bigger the quantity, the extra delicate the curvature is. On this case, it is barely perceptible to me. This may really be a very good factor, making the 39G1R appropriate for each gaming and on a regular basis workplace work the place folks are inclined to favor a flatter profile. It is a balanced possibility, and the 16:9 display ratio mixed with delicate curvature actually will not go well with use as an immersive cockpit for racing or flying video games.

On the rear, you will discover a diagonal line of LEDs. They’re not vivid sufficient to function bias lighting (within the picture above, the blue reflecting on the wall is coming from my PC followers, not the monitor), nor do they synchronize with on-screen content material. You possibly can manually configure them to considered one of seven totally different static colours, a couple of totally different scene kinds, and alter the brightness (although the utmost “vibrant” brightness setting could be higher described as “nearly seen”).

You may admire this little customizable aptitude in case your monitor is positioned in the course of a room. But when not, you will not even discover they exist. They’re actually not vivid sufficient to mirror again even off a white wall, in order that they’re greatest turned off normally.

The 39G1R product specs declare to be VESA mountable, however that may be a mistake. I do not see any mounting factors, and it might be difficult given the massive cylindrical space into which the bracket inserts.

The legs have a large footprint, nonetheless, and the choice to VESA mount would have been appreciated. In contrast to the small, stable steel bases of most displays, the 39G1R depends on a tripod leg construction. It is secure, however it requires a few foot of depth. When you in all probability wouldn’t attempt to cram a 39-inch monitor onto a tiny desk anyway, that’s nonetheless a big footprint for any desk dimension. The awkward tripod form additionally means you’ll be able to’t slide a mini-PC in there, or tuck your keyboard out of the best way when not in use.

OSD and Controls

The show is managed with a single nub-like thumbstick beneath, within the middle. Faucet in any course or click on to open the primary menu, and click on once more to show off the show. You can too navigate proper to the total on-screen show menu, left to manage the lighting, or up for “sport mode”, which provides a customizable crosshair within the middle of the show.

It’s a considerably complicated system, and I usually turned the monitor off unintentionally till I would gotten used to it. Enter swapping was a notable ache level. Whereas one may count on enter swapping to be on the fast menu, the one technique to swap is to navigate the total OSD menu construction. For example, swapping from HDMI 1 to DP 1 requires a sequence of button presses extra akin to a Avenue Fighter particular transfer: proper, proper, proper, down, down, proper. Alternatively, for those who shut down one enter, it should mechanically change over, so it’s a minor nuisance.

Diving into the total menu additionally reveals a myriad of settings to tweak, although nothing sudden. Image-in-picture mode is supported for productiveness (or watching soccer).

Specs

The InnoCN 39G1R runs at a most of 2560 x 1440 (WQHD). Provided that that is for primarily PC players, I feel that’s greater than enough. Whereas 4K gaming is interesting, many do not have gaming PCs able to dealing with such excessive resolutions.

With such a big monitor, working at 1440p means a pixel density of round 76DPI. Relying in your viewing distance, you may typically spot jaggies or pixelation. That mentioned, I have been utilizing this as a major monitor with a Mac Mini for writing, and shopping, for not less than eight hours a day. Apart from barely blurry video previews in Last Lower, it has been positive for each day use, however it will not go well with anybody working primarily with 4K video or detailed design work.

The 39G1R boasts 99% sRGB gamut protection and helps HDR10, however with a peak brightness of 350 nits and no native dimming, the HDR is restricted and never on par with TV HDR—to the extent that I would not hassle enabling it.

Nonetheless, SDR content material appears unimaginable. The panel makes use of VA know-how with a 3000:1 distinction ratio, which permits it to ship deep blacks. The shiny display end additionally helps with total shade richness, although it is susceptible to reflections from ambient gentle sources.

The utmost refresh price is 165Hz, which is able to profit any high-motion gaming (although provided that your machine can push the frames that quick). However as with many VA panels, there may be some ghosting. You possibly can alter the response time within the on-screen menu for those who discover this problematic, however it will not get rid of the issue totally. In real-world utilization, I did not discover any ghosting.

Efficiency and Gaming

Utilizing the DisplayPort linked to my gaming PC I used to be capable of choose 165Hz and the total 1440p proper from inside the Home windows settings. No mucking round—it labored off the bat, and I turned overdrive on excessive.

Assuming you may have {hardware} that may even ship these kinds of body charges, you’ll get excellent visuals.

In Cyberpunk, I managed about 120fps max with medium settings, however even that appeared unimaginable. I did not discover any lack of sharpness from the decision, however perhaps that is as a result of I’ve by no means been capable of play it in 4K decision anyway, given how demanding the sport is. The brightness appeared good, the colours had been well-defined with loads of particulars within the shadows, and the black ranges had been excellent. The advantages of VA panel tech are apparent in a sport like this.

To check the excessive body charges, I loaded up Lego Brawls, which is fundamental sufficient to run on the full 165 frames a second—and promptly got here first in each match I performed. I am not saying the excessive body price was an enormous profit when weighed in opposition to my apparent elite abilities to compete in opposition to random youngsters on the web. Nonetheless, it in all probability performed a not insignificant function.

I additionally needed to attempt one thing strategy-based to see if the low pixel density was extra irritating, so I fired up Firm of Heroes. The added dimension of the map greater than made up for any lack of element. Nonetheless, we must always acknowledge that displays will be extremely subjective—chances are you’ll be extra delicate to low pixel densities than I’m.

Sadly, regardless of being FreeSync appropriate, VRR is not supported on the PlayStation 5. The utmost I may get out of it (over HDMI) was 1440p HDR 120Hz.

Now that’s adequate for most individuals, however don’t purchase this particularly for VRR help for those who’re on PlayStation. This isn’t unusual, I ought to add. Sony has carried out a really restrictive type of variable refresh which wants HDMI 2.1, and the 39G1R doesn’t present that. For the best refresh charges, you’ll want to make use of the DisplayPort.

I additionally ran by way of the usual assortment of Eizo monitor assessments, and a few factors stood out that I hadn’t seen throughout common use.

Firstly, the uniformity was a bit off, with some barely darker streaks across the decrease left. This is also seen slightly within the gradient take a look at wherein the underside left was brighter.

Switching over to a thermal digicam view reveals why: the panels are illuminated from the underside, and the interior reflections imply slightly unevenness within the backside left. Once more, in real-world utilization, I will emphasize that did not discover any of this.

Secondly, on the response price take a look at, there was some particular ghosting, most evident on darkish blue, which led to purple ghosting on the gray background, and vivid purple with brown ghosting.

The ghosting is to be anticipated from a VA panel, as are minor uniformity points on one thing at this price range.

Finest left unstated are the built-in 2W audio system. They’re purposeful, however no surprises there: they’re monitor audio system, and just about the rest could be higher.

Ought to You Purchase the Innocn 39G1R?

Within the sub-$500 value vary, the 39G1R can’t be overwhelmed. It’s not the best pixel density round, however the sheer dimension, the excessive refresh charges, and the excessive distinction ratio greater than make up for it. When you did need 4K decision, the closest various could be the 38” ASUS ROG PG38UQ, at virtually 3 times the worth.

For worth and affect, the Innocn 39G1R is a unbelievable purchase. It won’t go well with probably the most discerning of parents, however for most individuals, I feel you’ll be actually happy.