Chromatic aberration/color shift for high contrast text.

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ElevenFingers

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 30, 2008
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So I got a new 4k ips monitor (asus pg38uq).

Using my personal desktop with a RX 6600 GPU, I have no issues via HDMI or DP. It's a great work/gaming hybrid, and jumping from the benq pd3200u is a noticeable upgrade.

However, when I hook up my work-supplied laptop via HDMI, I get weird color shifts when viewing text at smaller scales. Some letters turn red, others get a slight yellow background etc. The issue arises when viewing high-contrast text (black + white). When I scale the text up so letters are thicker and more spaced apart, the issue goes away. It's a little like when the colors of a printer aren't aligned or the chromatic aberration you get with some lenses in photography.

I've tried changing UI scales and swapping HDMI cables.

Any idea what I might try next?
 
Firs thing you should try is turning Vivid Pixel to 0. Assuming it has that setting, which most Asus models do.
 
try that ^^ and hopefully it helps as there are no other settings i see for text on this gaming monitor.
 
Thanks for the tips. I tried multiple settings in addition to those you suggested. I think the issue lies in the laptop, not the monitor.

Maybe I'm missing a driver or something. I'll update if I manage to fix the issue, for the next person having a similar issue.
 
ElevenFingers said:
Thanks for the tips. I tried multiple settings in addition to those you suggested. I think the issue lies in the laptop, not the monitor.

Maybe I'm missing a driver or something. I'll update if I manage to fix the issue, for the next person having a similar issue.
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pretty sure its the nature of those gaming monitors, the focus on image not text.
 
Do you wear eyeglasses? Have you gotten new ones lately?

I've had a couple sets with some terrible polycarbonite lenses and it's pretty ugh. Gotta spend more and get trivex or glass.
 
toast0 said:
Do you wear eyeglasses? Have you gotten new ones lately?

I've had a couple sets with some terrible polycarbonite lenses and it's pretty ugh. Gotta spend more and get trivex or glass.
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good point too, mine do it.
 
toast0 said:
Do you wear eyeglasses? Have you gotten new ones lately?

I've had a couple sets with some terrible polycarbonite lenses and it's pretty ugh. Gotta spend more and get trivex or glass.
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Second on the Trivex thing. It is the best optical quality material you can easily get your hand on in glasses and has the lowest chromatic aberration. It is better than some kinds of glass and if you can even find glass these days, most vendors won't tell you anything about it so you have no idea how good it is. Also get yourself aspheric lenses as those reduce various visual distortions.

Both cost more, of course.
 
Armenius said:
What is the make and model of the laptop?
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Lenovo Thinkbook 15 G4 IAP
toast0 said:
Do you wear eyeglasses? Have you gotten new ones lately?

I've had a couple sets with some terrible polycarbonite lenses and it's pretty ugh. Gotta spend more and get trivex or glass.
Click to expand...
Yes, yes and I have trivex. I switched to Essilor lenses about 7 years ago. It's like having 8k IPS glasses when I previously was using HD TN ones.

But like I said in my OP:

with my desktop GPU via HDMI, no artifacts.
with my laptop via HDMI, artifacts.

Hooking the laptop up to other 4k monitors, no artifacts.

So it seems to be a specific issue between my Thinkbook and this new monitor.
 
ElevenFingers said:
Lenovo Thinkbook 15 G4 IAP
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Looking up the specifications it says that the HDMI output only supports up to UHD 4K resolution at 60 Hz, so despite it being a 2.1 output it doesn't support all the 2.1 features. It may effectively be operating at 2.0 specification.

I would try a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable and try hooking up the laptop that way. The specs say it supports DisplayPort 1.4 up to 40Gbps.

https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/ThinkBook/ThinkBook_15_G4_IAP
1713879443768.png
 
Armenius said:
Looking up the specifications it says that the HDMI output only supports up to UHD 4K resolution at 60 Hz, so despite it being a 2.1 output it doesn't support all the 2.1 features. It may effectively be operating at 2.0 specification.

I would try a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable and try hooking up the laptop that way. The specs say it supports DisplayPort 1.4 up to 40Gbps.

https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/ThinkBook/ThinkBook_15_G4_IAP
View attachment 649603
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Thanks, I will try this.
 
Update:

The USB-C to DisplayPort cable works. 144hz, 4k, no artifacts.

Only issue now is that I thought I had more than 1 DisplayPort input with my monitor pg38uq, but I don't.

I just ordered the PNY 4080 Verto GPU which only has one HDMI out, which I plan to use for another older monitor that doesn't have DisplayPort.

I don't really want to replug the DisplayPort cable on a daily basis and risk damaging it over time.

Any ideas on what options I might have?

I could cancel the GPU order and get a 4080 with two HDMI ports for 150-200 euros more which seems a tad insane.

Alternatively maybe try a USB-C to HDMI cable instead of the USB-C to DP 1.4 one I just got?
 
Last edited:
ElevenFingers said:
Update:

The USB-C to DisplayPort cable works. 144hz, 4k, no artifacts.

Only issue now is that I thought I had more than 1 DisplayPort input with my monitor pg38uq, but I don't.

I just ordered the PNY 4080 Verto GPU which only has one HDMI out, which I plan to use for another older monitor that doesn't have DisplayPort.

I don't really want to replug the DisplayPort cable on a daily basis and risk damaging it over time.

Any ideas on what options I might have?

I could cancel the GPU order and get a 4080 with two HDMI ports for 150-200 euros more which seems a tad insane.

Alternatively maybe try a USB-C to HDMI cable instead of the USB-C to DP 1.4 one I just got?
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You can get a switch, but the trick is finding one that actually works with DP 1.4 and 4K 120 Hz. I don't have any experience with those, so perhaps another person could chime in.
 
Armenius said:
You can get a switch, but the trick is finding one that actually works with DP 1.4 and 4K 120 Hz. I don't have any experience with those, so perhaps another person could chime in.
Click to expand...
I had a quick look thinking the same thing, but quickly realized it was a rabbit hole I could spend hours in. I've ordered a usb-c cable to 4k/144hz HDMI cable now.

Will try that out and return the DP 1.4 one if it does (sorry mother earth).
 
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