ASUS silently downgrades monitor panel after it reviews well
The VG259QM 280hz IPS 24.5inch monitor released in late 2020 with a Qisda Panel to excellent reviews from rtings and toms hardware. Asus then silently changed the panel to what users regard as an inferior AUO panel. This change happened around the same time Asus appears to have released the VG259QM as a new product (with identical product number) for Japan in 2022.
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2020 |
| Product Type | Monitor, Display |
| In Production | No |
| Official Website | https://www.asus.com |
Consumer-impact summary
There was no indication on any website or the packaging that this change happened. The product retained the exact same model number after the panel change, the only indication of the panel change is in the service menu.
The user-reported inferior performance of the new panel, the lack of any indication of a change (except service menu), combined with the glowing reviews of the original monitor, has led some people to make the unsubstantiated claim that it's possible that Asus may have kept the exact same model number to intentionally deceive consumer who read reviews and discourage reviews of the new panel. However there is no direct evidence that Asus deliberately intended to deceive the consumer or review sites.
The same model number also meant that while no one seems to have actually tested the 2022 AUO panel version, techspot made the monitor "best of 2022" without appearing to review it themselves, instead directly referencing the 2020 toms hardware review of the VG259QM with the old Qisda panel.
Details
On 23 Nov 2022 cmdrgod sounds the alarm about the panel change on blurbusters.com. He provides a comparison of service menus between his old VG259QM and a new one. He claims the new panel is much worse, and that Asus support told him there was a shortage, and that this kind of switch is normal.
On the previous page of the thread user djexpert mentions that in Japan, the VG259QM was released as a "new" product in July 2022. His service menu shows an AUO panel.
Guru3d also mention VG259QM as a 2022 "new" product: https://www.guru3d.com/story/asus-vg259qm-280hz-1ms-24-5-inch-fast-ips-gaming-lcd
Due to the unfortunate Asus woopsie of releasing two different products with identical model numbers, no one properly tested the AUO version, so there's no technical proof that the motion clarity is actually as bad as it looks to the human eye.