Agree with the OLED suggestion above, its the gold standard for those deep blacks. If you want to avoid OLED anxiety tho, Mini-LED is a great alternative that fits your budget. Ive been really satisfied with mine.

• Look for high local dimming zone counts to stop that grey glow.
• The Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 49-inch Mini-LED is killer for immersion.
• The AOC Agon AG344UXM 34-inch Mini-LED is a solid 21:9 option.

Saw this earlier but just getting back to it. You really might want to consider saving some of that 1200 bucks because some of the best panels are actually cheaper than you think right now. I spent years being super cautious about OLED burn-in but finally bit the bullet on a deal and its been a game changer for my late night sessions.

• Alienware AW3423DWF 34-inch QD-OLED is basically the king of value right now and fits your budget easily
• MSI MAG 341CQP QD-OLED 34-inch is another solid one to watch if you catch a sale I actually ended up spending the money I saved on a massive rug for my office because my PC was making the floor vibrate so much it was driving my downstairs neighbors crazy. I ended up getting this weird shaggy thing from a garage sale that looked cool at first but now I keep losing my guitar picks in it. Spent like twenty minutes yesterday digging through the fibers trying to find a medium tortex pick that just vanished into the void... anyway but yeah just make sure you check for sales before dropping the full 1200.

This. Also, I would suggest being really careful about your room lighting before you drop that much cash. Are you playing in a completely pitch-black room or do you have some bias lighting behind the screen? I have seen too many people blame the panel for glow when their ambient lighting is just making the perceived contrast look terrible. Also, are you set on keeping the ultrawide form factor, or would you consider a different aspect ratio if it meant getting a superior panel technology? I just feel like if you are coming from a bad IPS experience, you need to be sure about your workspace ergonomics before jumping into a new ecosystem.

Like someone mentioned, you really gotta ditch that old IPS glow if you want that 4090 to actually shine. I have no complaints about the extra cost since it finally looks right. Honestly tho, speaking of the 4090, I had to move all my plants because the heat was literally wilting my monstera. Spending way too much on a new plant stand was worth it tho... anyway lol sorry went off on a tangent there.

Just saw this thread and honestly, @Reply #3 - good point! That whole reliability thing is exactly what kept me up at night when I was building my last rig. It actually reminds me of this buddy I had who was so paranoid about his gear failing that he bought three different surge protectors and daisy-chained them together because he thought it would make his setup invincible. We were right in the middle of a massive raid when his cat knocked over a glass of water right onto the power strip. All that planning for internal reliability and he didnt account for the chaotic energy of a calico. We spent the next four hours trying to blow-dry his carpet while the rest of the guild was screaming at us in discord... total disaster. Kinda makes you realize that no matter how much you spend on the perfect tech, something random is gonna happen anyway lol.