I tested all the features of my gaming monitor and at least one should get me banned

Cheating is a big problem in a number of games. A well-functioning anti-cheat system is mandatory these days. But what if the cheat cannot be detected because it is not a downloaded software but a function of the monitor? MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller has tested the special functions of his gaming monitor for you.

Which monitor is it? The monitor tested is the M27Q from Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer Gigabyte. In addition to special gaming functions, the monitor is characterized by the following aspects:

• Image quality: QHD
• Resolution: 2560x1440p
• Screen diagonal: 27 inches (68.58 cm)
• Panel type: IPS
• Refresh Rate: 170Hz
• Response Time: 0.5ms
• Not curved

What unfair features does the monitor have? Technology is constantly evolving and gaming equipment is also getting more and more unusual functions. This also applies to monitors. I’ll show you 3 unfair features that the tested gaming monitor has.

• The Crosshair
• The Aim Magnifier
• The black balance

In which game were the functions tested? The three unfair features have been tested in games where PvP is played. The test should show whether the functions are actually unfair in PvP duels or prove to be useless. The test was most meaningful in the following games:

The Crosshair

What is the crosshair? A well-known and accordingly widespread function of modern gaming monitors is the integrated crosshair. This is a simple crosshair that appears in the middle of the screen.

The integrated crosshairs are not affected by the movement of the in-game character and are always perfectly centered. Plus, it’s also available in games that don’t normally have crosshairs.

How did the crosshair test go? In Valorant and Rainbow: Six Siege, the crosshair is useless because there are crosshairs in those games. However, in Hell Let Loose, the crosshair proved very unfair.

Hell Let Loose is a hardcore shooter and is characterized above all by the fact that the game does not use any tools. Because the shooter wants to be particularly realistic and that goes down really well with players on Steam.

There are no crosshairs, and the large, chaotic World War II locations set in Hell Let Loose provide few clues to accurately predict the height of an opponent’s head.

The crosshairs proved to be a powerful tool, especially in moments when an enemy suddenly jumped out of the trenches in front of me. I was able to quickly aim for the enemy’s head without targeting them. Then all I had to do was glance through the sight and fire the shot.

The crosshair gave me a noticeable unfair advantage in Hell Let Loose. If you want to play fair, you should keep your hands off this function. I contend that if the existence of the crosshairs were verifiable, it could lead to bans in many games.

Why is the crosshair unfair? If a game doesn’t have crosshairs, some players may find it difficult to focus and keep track of enemies, points of interest, cover, or other targets.

As a rule, in shooters you want to aim for the head of your opponent. But your opponent wants it too. In a battle, not only the precision of the shots but also who is faster on the head of his opponent is important.

In many games it is therefore important to know the height of the opponent’s head. You place your crosshairs at this height even when nobody is around.

If an enemy player then appears in front of you, you’ll be on the enemy’s head faster than having your crosshairs pointed at your feet. The center of your crosshairs is also the center of your sights.

If you don’t have a reticle, however, then it’s a lot harder to judge what height to aim at before looking through the sight. This results in many players having to readjust after aiming.

If you have crosshairs through your monitor in a game without crosshairs, then you have an unfair advantage. Prime examples of affected games are hardcore shooters like Escape from Tarkov, Hell Let Loose or Squad.

The Aim Magnifier

What is the aim magnifier? As the translation reveals, the aim magnifier is a magnifying glass. More precisely, this function is a magnifier for the sight.

Unlike the Windows screen magnifier, the Aim Magnifier does not magnify the entire screen by X-hundred percent, it only increases the zoom in a rectangular area where your sight is displayed in shooters.

There are 4 setting options for the magnifying glass

• The amount of zoom (x1.2; x1.5 and 2.0)
• The size of the zoomed rectangle (small, medium, large)
• A frame that separates the enlarged rectangle from the rest of the screen so that you can see red boxes on your screen (either red or white) without software
• The position: If you don’t want the magnifying glass to be in the center of a game because the crosshairs or something similar isn’t in the middle of the screen, you can easily move it.

How did the test go? In Valorant, contrary to my expectations, the magnifying glass turned out to be a disadvantage. The advantage of the magnification was barely noticeable in long-range fights and a severe disadvantage at short ranges.

In Rainbow Six: Siege, I had the impression that it can be an unfair advantage, especially with the already nasty spawn peeks. However, there is no need for a magnifying glass in Ubisoft’s tactical shooter.

Everything that works with the magnifying glass in Rainbow Six: Siege also works wonderfully without it. But the usual movement and the thoughtless orientation through the map suffered from the increased zoom.

I found myself running into small objects on the ground because distances and speeds seemed completely different and harder to judge.

Why is the magnifying glass unfair? However, in Hell Let Loose and other long-distance games, the magnifying glass proved extremely unfair. Since the shooter is set in World War II, sights with a 2x magnification are not the standard.

I now have this magnification on weapons that don’t have sights. Through the magnifying glass, I was able to see across wide fields and see enemies much better. Not only did I see this as extremely unfair, but also my teammate, who had to laugh out loud with every kill.

I became a sniper through my monitor even though I was playing the medic. I could even see enemies hiding in the tall grass like wild Pokémon, while some of the enemies didn’t even have the luxury of a visor.

When playing, I deliberately avoided classes with stronger weapons, such as wielding a machine gun. Since I could already see how powerful the magnifying glass was with the Medic’s single-shot, I couldn’t reconcile the test with an automatic weapon with my conscience.

I am sure that if the admins of the server we played on in Hell Let Loose had known about my test, this would have been my last day on the server. I couldn’t have complained about the ban.

The black balance

What is black balance? The black balance or black equalizer is a feature that aims to make dark objects, people and corners more visible.

For example, in a shooter, if an opponent is sitting in a dark, poorly lit corner, using this feature should make them more visible.

How did the test go? It is positive to note that with the black balance, dark areas actually become lighter. But I can also do that on Instagram by playing around with the controls for contrast and brightness.

Black balancing does exactly the same thing. Logically, my amateur image editing on Instagram is of no use to me in a shooter on the PC. In addition, the black balance works equally “well” in almost every game.

However, the black balance is usually not useful because it always has an extremely negative effect on the game’s contrasts. Nonetheless, you can use this feature to get a minimal benefit.

However, the situations in which it helped me in my test were extremely rare, since good lighting of the maps is mandatory in many games these days and the developers consciously pay attention to it.

Why is black balance still an unfair advantage? If you’re playing a game where there are a lot of dark corners on the maps and opponents like to be overlooked in the dark, then all players will suffer from poor lighting.

However, if you make the darkness of a game lighter with black balance and accept the poorer contrasts in order to perform as well as possible, then you have an advantage over the other players.

You suddenly see enemies where they don’t see you, allowing you to play angles that surprise your opponents. It’s an unfair advantage.

Cheating is one of the biggest problems in many games and a challenge for the developers, especially when the unfair tools are not discovered.

In addition to special functions such as crosshairs or magnifying glasses in gaming monitors, there are also hardware cheats that players built themselves. MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann reported, for example, on an Overwatch player who combined a Lego motor with his mouse.

User improves most popular gaming mouse with LEGO, creates a monster – “This is incredible!”