Question 4K monitor for causal gaming//watching movie/anime: 27" IPS or 31.5" VA?

Sandbo

Guest
Sep 10, 2013
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With the incoming GPUs, I realized it maybe a good time to consider an upgrade to 4k monitors.
I don't really game a lot these days, plus I still believe the above-60p gaming with 4k maybe a couple years away, I want to keep my budget on those 4k60p monitors.

Apart from some choices from LG, I found those new Dell monitors pretty interesting, and I am torn between two options:

Dell 27 4K UHD Monitor - S2721QS (IPS)

and

Dell 32 Curved 4K UHD Monitor - S3221QS (VA)

What I am not sure about them is the part of IPS versus VA panel.
I have heard that the higher contrast ratio of VA panels can give better details on dark for movies and so;
but people also argue that VA panel's color can look washed-out if not viewed at the right angle, which maybe concerning as I will sit relatively close to the monitor.

How would you choose, ignoring the price difference for now, from the above two options?
Apart from them, I am also happy to hear other alternatives in the similar price range.

Thanks!
 

dlerious

Golden Member
Mar 4, 2004
1,769
717
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I've only had IPS and TN monitors. Not a fan of curved monitors. I'm happy with my 27" 4k60 IPS (LG 27UK650) , but wish I would've gone with 32" for 4K.
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
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I have a non-curved 4k 32" monitor which is about as small as I'd want to go. At a normal seating position my eyes do have to move a little, but it's more immersive in games. I find that the 27" 4k is just a little too small to use as the main monitor.
 

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
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I bought a 27" 1440p monitor because I don't have the space on my desk for larger, and though I wanted a 4K initially, most people said the same as is being said here, you need 32" to start to enjoy 4K while being usable for more than video and gaming.
 

richaron

Golden Member
Mar 27, 2012
1,357
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That isn't a choice of VA vs IPS. The 27" monitor is simply too high PPI.

I mean... of course you could use the 27" 4k monitor and use some hacks to make text OK (if possible). And since the PPI is much higher than necessary for gaming it will run correspondingly slower in games. So for the 27" you'll need to increase text size to see properly and the games run worse (per unit screen size), but you wont see a better image quality in either case. 27" 4k simply isn't the sweet spot atm.

VA is more than fine, especially for "casual" anything.

...but people also argue that VA panel's color can look washed-out if not viewed at the right angle, which maybe concerning as I will sit relatively close to the monitor.
This is mostly the opposite of how it works. Sitting closer will generally reduce viewing angles and make off-angle color shift less of a problem. When they talk about off angle color shift they usually mean viewing extremely from the sides or above/below. Of course this can happen to a lesser degree on the sides of a large VA panel from close centre, which is partially why curved monitors exist. But it's not the major problem with big VA panels.
 
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dlerious

Golden Member
Mar 4, 2004
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717
136
Hello,

There are lots of good monitors are available in the market for gaming purposes. Currently, I am using Asus VG278QR monitor and it works very well for me.

It comes with a 144hz fast refresh rate with a 4K display. Also, it is budget-friendly. There are lots of alternatives of this monitor is also available. You can check them as well.

Thanks,
Jeffer James
The VG278QR is a 165Hz 1080p TN panel.
 

daveybrat

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jan 31, 2000
5,725
943
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Hello,

There are lots of good monitors are available in the market for gaming purposes. Currently, I am using Asus VG278QR monitor and it works very well for me.

It comes with a 144hz fast refresh rate with a 4K display. Also, it is budget-friendly. There are lots of alternatives of this monitor is also available. You can check them as well.

Thanks,
Jeffer James

Wrong. That Asus monitor is not 4K, it's a 1080P model.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
6,271
323
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I prefer IPS for consuming more vibrant media, like anime. I haven't seen a VA panel on a monitor that I would use for media consumption personally.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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For media.. i would probably go with QLED from the Oddessy G series from Samsung with HDR1000.
For gaming i would also go with QLED from the Oddessy G series with 240hz.
Honestly the G series is the perfect monitor in my eyes with only real competition from LG's Nano IPS and OLED.
The only thing holding me back is that its a 1440p double wide monitor and i did not buy a watercooled 3090 to play games on anything less then 4k.

So i am in limbo waiting for the 43inch LG OLED C1's to hit the market before i finalize on what monitor setup i want to move forward with as i am sort of wanting to go back to normal wides for games i play as i am playing more non FPS and top down dungeon crawlers like baulders gate, and Divinity, and having a ultra ultra wide is sort of annoying as it cuts your top and bottom FOV.
 

aigomorla

CPU, Cases&Cooling Mod PC Gaming Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 28, 2005
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Wrong. That Asus monitor is not 4K, it's a 1080P model.

Davey ASUS has this beast that came out reciently.

I am actually considering it now heavily if i do not hear more about this legendary LG 43' C1 OLED that is supposedly supposed to grace us with its presence in the mortal realm.
 
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sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
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For media.. i would probably go with QLED from the Oddessy G series from Samsung with HDR1000.
For gaming i would also go with QLED from the Oddessy G series with 240hz.
Honestly the G series is the perfect monitor in my eyes with only real competition from LG's Nano IPS and OLED.
The only thing holding me back is that its a 1440p double wide monitor and i did not buy a watercooled 3090 to play games on anything less then 4k.

So i am in limbo waiting for the 43inch LG OLED C1's to hit the market before i finalize on what monitor setup i want to move forward with as i am sort of wanting to go back to normal wides for games i play as i am playing more non FPS and top down dungeon crawlers like baulders gate, and Divinity, and having a ultra ultra wide is sort of annoying as it cuts your top and bottom FOV.


OLED for computer is doomed to burn in.
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
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OLED for computer is doomed to burn in.
Not if you do some basic mitigation. Hiding the taskbar, and removing the icons on your desktop will take you far. The LG C1 has it's own ways to prevent burn in. The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger is this 43 inch LG set that people are talking about. That's more suited for my desk. I can make the 48 inch fit, but I'm not sure I can live with it.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
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Not if you do some basic mitigation. Hiding the taskbar, and removing the icons on your desktop will take you far. The LG C1 has it's own ways to prevent burn in. The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger is this 43 inch LG set that people are talking about. That's more suited for my desk. I can make the 48 inch fit, but I'm not sure I can live with it.

I don't like the pixel shift lol.
 
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postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
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Neither will work without scaling.
First one has DPI of 163 and second one 138.
Somewhere around 100 is what makes text readable, when not using scaling. So 200 or so would work fine (retina displays, more or less) at 200% scaling.
27" is bit small, but it will handle scaling bit better since pixels are lot smaller, so you won't notice artifacts much.