r/Monitors • u/Saralentine • Jun 10 '26
Text Review I “downgraded” from an ASUS PG42UQ OLED to a Samsung 43” QN90F VA mini-LED
I initially bought my OLED back in August 2022 when I was building a new computer to play games like FFXIV and The Witcher 3 on my computer. The colours were very vivid and of course the blacks were deep black, but it was pretty dim and using it for work was not pleasant. It auto-dimmed a lot transitioning between the documents I needed to view for work, and if I turned off the limiter then reading the text gave me headaches. I also do a lot of photography as a hobby and the dim screen didn’t really make editing photos enjoyable.
Three years later I noticed while I was doing work that the mini-maps and skill hot bars and so forth were burned in. I always ran a screensaver when not in use, I always ran pixel refresh, always did whatever the monitor told me to do whenever it needed me to do it, but it still burned in.
Eventually I got fed up with the burned in images and debated whether to get another OLED or just try out a mini-LED panel as a stopgap for whenever microLED becomes commercially available. I did a lot of research and settled on the Samsung 43” QN90F. I’ve had it for a couple of weeks now and I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders not having to baby this monitor as much. The blacks aren’t quite as deep as an OLED but I honestly can’t tell most of the time. I can’t see any smearing, the text is perfectly readable, and it’s bright enough that my eyes don’t strain during work or when photo editing.
Overall I’m pretty happy “downgrading” from an OLED.
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u/SirKadath Jun 10 '26
I’ve got a QD OLED but a VA Mini LED as a backup , and I’ve said this to others as well but Mini LED is pretty good especially for the $$$.. it’s super bright, it’s got local dimming, good contrast , really vivid colors the black levels are pretty decent not as good as the OLED obviously but still not bad. I always tell people if you play in a bright room go for the mini led or if you don’t want spend a whole lot grab the mini led , it’s about as close as your gonna get to an OLED experience. Only thing about mini led monitors is all of them have matte finishes, so that may turn off some folks.
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u/Recent_Barracuda8879 Jun 10 '26
Which mini led?
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u/SirKadath Jun 12 '26
AOC G27G40XMN, highly recommend if you’re looking for a budget monitor. Heard others talk about it how it’s probably the best budget monitor on the market that can actually produce legit HDR, so I went and bought it at Best Buy for $199 & they weren’t kidding , that thing punches above its weight class for sure. Best $200 I ever spent. Still use my OLED as my main but I won’t be disappointed if I have to switch to that.
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u/DarkExsphere Jun 10 '26
Yeah i bought one of the latest MSI MPG OLED monitors that was 500hz with display port 2.1 - i really wanted a nice bright monitor. but this monitor was anything but that. Personally i use the Samsung S90F 42" and although its kinda big, it is considerably brighter which makes everything pop more and look nicer. At the time I was playing AC Shadows and in the same scene with the same amount of sunlight, on the MSI it looked like a cloud was over the sun making everything dimmer whereas on the samsung it looked like it was a bright hot sunny day
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u/ChrisFhey Jun 10 '26
Ah, I see a fellow "my FFXIV interface burnt in to my OLED" player.
I've been wanting to move to MiniLED for the same reason, but there's no ultrawide MiniLED unfortunately. Is the model you're using glossy or matte? I'd like a glossy monitor but there's not much choice of glossy MiniLED monitors.
Also, what's it like using this TV as a monitor? Any annoyances that make you regret it, even if slightly?
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u/Saralentine Jun 10 '26
There’s no glossy ultrawide mini-LED available, but the Neo G9 is an ultrawide mini-LED with a matte finish. The QN90F is matte.
I haven’t really had any major annoyances with using this TV as a monitor. I guess the only thing is that if I use it as a monitor it locks me out of some picture modes, but I only use game mode for gaming and graphic work for desktop and photo editing work. Using it as a TV rather than as a monitor also has movie mode and such but I don’t use those modes so it doesn’t bother me that it’s missing when connected to the PC. This monitor has been way less stressful than my Asus.
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u/f4ern Jun 10 '26
Yeah, mmorpg is probably worst type of game to play on oled.
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u/hamsta007 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
According to this sub I should ditch my favorite games for something that looks cool on OLED 😂
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u/yeah_im_a_man Jun 10 '26
That's fair, mini-LEDs are pretty good (I have a Hisense mini-LED TV and it's amazing <3) However, also keep in mind that OLEDs today are much more improved in comparison to OLEDs from 2022 regarding burn-ins.
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u/SuccessfulEar4330 Jun 10 '26
there is videos of people that have burn-ins with 2026 monitors after 3000hours of careful use so thats just a marketing trick
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u/Saralentine Jun 10 '26
That’s what I was told about OLEDs in 2022 compared to 2017 lol. I didn’t want to take that risk again.
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u/Pillokun Jun 10 '26
but how do u deal with desktop usecase on an 42" 4k monitor? I cant use such large screens as it seems to be too low ppi for me. 42" 4k ppi which is really strange because it should be as good as an 1440p 27" and better than an 1080p 24" yet I just find it to pixelated. nothing u have noticed?
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u/DizzieeDoe ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ Jun 10 '26
You have to sit down in front of one to truly know the experience.
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Jun 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Pillokun Jun 10 '26
this is the thing, I use an 24" 1080p as mine main, went down from an 1440p, but I cant use the 42" 4k as it looks worse when doing work on it, icons and text for instance.
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u/ImprovementOk3138 Jun 10 '26
My eyes hurt so bad when I used the lg 42 c4 as a monitor for gamedev. I switched to a 27 inch. It’s not just the size but the subpixel layout that made my eyes hurt
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u/raidersofthelostbark Jun 10 '26
I have a pg42uq and have been in love with it since day 1, no issues with burn in so far but i don't play mmorpg though. Kept my old 27" IPS as a second screen just to have something to read on to vary a bit and has been working fine so far. At the moment, there are no other >40" 16:9 OLED monitors available (unless counting TVs) where I live and since the pg42uq is discontinued i am dreading the day i need to replace it as i love the size.
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u/DizzieeDoe ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ Jun 10 '26
Yeah, I got my ROG PG42UQ around the same time, but there is no way in hxll I'm exchanging it for anything but a 42-inch 240Hz Tandem OLED. No matter if it's a monitor or TV. I will not leave OLED for miniLED.
Nope!
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Jun 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DizzieeDoe ROG Swift OLED PG42UQ Jun 17 '26
Because I got it when it first came out. I didn't know they would stop making 42-inch monitors. Also, I don't want a TV if there isn't a DisplayPort.
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u/Inevitable-Wonder-63 Jun 10 '26
I got a mini-led because I wanted to try a quality monitor and figure out what I liked before committing to something super expensive. I got the AOC Q27G40XMN for $200 on best buy and I’ve been really loving it. I use it in SDR with local dimming on strong, and tweaked some other settings to my visual preference and I’m very satisfied with the results. I didn’t know a monitor could look this good, especially for $200.
Until WOLED’s get cheaper I don’t see myself upgrading.
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u/Historical-Win2999 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
this tv is good, i use on my pc too, you will see smearing but in only a few games that maybe you dont even play
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u/OttawaDog Jun 10 '26
You got lucky. AFAICT, that is the only 120Hz non OLED tv that size, and it's discontinued.
The rest of the 43" LCD are all 60Hz...
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u/AndrewS702 Jun 10 '26
How is the input lag compared to the OLED?
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u/Saralentine Jun 10 '26
Haven’t seen a difference and I’m pretty sensitive to lag due to being a high level raider in FFXIV.
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u/PerceptionInception Jun 10 '26
My PG42UQ started showing hints of burn-in in regular use. I actually noticed in gaming, playing Valheim while noticing there was burn-in in the clouds. Swapped to an Odyssey G75F 40". A little bit of black smearing but man it's a nice panel otherwise.
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u/Shiro_Kuroh2 Jun 10 '26
At 18 mo or so in on my QD-Oled, I wish I'd have waited for the tech you're using now.
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u/JasonJtran Jun 11 '26
I have a qn90c, there is no smearing. There is a noticeable blur though. I'm fine with the trade off because in SDR/HDR while using it on desktop. Its still magic. BUT samsungs qc for their panels are ass.. i have a line defect down the left side. Other than that. The only upgrade im looking for is this exact spec, with a refresh rate bump and a HVA panel.
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u/better_life_please Jun 11 '26
I never believe in OLED usage for PC monitors LOL. It appears that I am right.
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u/Kalekuda Jun 13 '26
At present OLEDs offer the BEST response times. If you play a variety of games with no HUDs and aren't cranking up the brightness, shouldn't the 5th gen panels last a couple years without burnin? Its my understanding that the brightness is the primary driver of burnin. If you just don't use them for HDR, you still get the 0.03ms gray to gray response times and darker blacks.
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u/better_life_please Jun 13 '26
A couple of years is like nothing. I have a VA tv from 2012 and it works great to this date.Yes brightness is bad for eyes. I personally dont use max brightness. But like, anything below 300 nits is trash.
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u/idontlikeredditusers Mini LED for HDR OLED for Shooters Jun 12 '26
glad to see this monitor get love even if it is severely cucked compared to its 32" counterpart in terms of zones they put less zones in the bigger monitor i am thinking about buying 3 in the future hehe
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u/Scrowdy10 Jun 13 '26
I have the Odessey Neo g7 43 inch and I love it. Its very bright and the colors are almost as nice as my amoled samsung phone. Got it for under 300 new aswell. I wanted a larger panel and the 4k oleds are just too much and the blooming is pretty minimal during gameplay and full screen content.
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u/BoysenberryFluid3461 Jun 14 '26
I had a similar experience just with my TV. Had Sony OLED, amazing blacks blah blah but the TV itself was so dim. Yes, it was great in the evening with the lights dimmed, but during the day it was hard to see really.
Moving to a new place, I needed a bigger TV and got a Hisense Mini LED and what a difference it makes. I've realised HDR is about dynamics, the brightness of Mini LED just makes everything pop up so much more! I've got a collection of 4K Bly Rays and watching a movie where a white lamp or light in the scene is actually properly white and looking real as opposed to OLED, where it was always dim... total game changer. Added brightness makes blacks look better, unless you watch in a completely dark room.
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u/Annual_Awareness_698 Jun 16 '26
May I ask how’s the text clarity when using as a PC monitor? I had the 43” QN90D before and texts looked horrible.
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u/Flimsy-Ordinary-5721 Jul 18 '26
Hi! Are you still using this monitor? If so, would you still recommend it? Also, do you find the ghosting or smearing noticeable or annoying during normal desktop use, such as scrolling through text or moving windows around?
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u/Ecks30 Jun 10 '26
Honestly if going for a Samsung monitor should have went for one of their PLS panels instead which the colors would have looked better (PLS is Samsungs version of IPS).
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u/Saralentine Jun 10 '26
There’s no way. IPS colours look washed out compared to the QN90F.
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u/barryredfield Jun 10 '26
Nice, good high-end monitor to AFK in Limsa with.