Help me narrow down 32"+ 4K choices

[zCypher]

I should build a new workstation in the near future, and I'm pretty much set on going with two big 4K monitors. I thought about going with a bigger (40") 4K TV as a monitor instead, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice out there (at least for me in Canada), and I know that using a TV as a monitor can come with its own issues. That, and I would probably miss having more than one screen despite the huge size and resolution.

After looking around, I have seen:

Acer B326HK - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $999
Acer Predator XB321HK - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $1549
Asus PA328Q - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $1299
Asus PA329Q - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $1760
BenQ BL3201PH - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $899
Dell UP3216Q - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $2015
HP Spectre - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / AHVA / $939
HP DreamColor Z32x - 32" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $1900
LG 31MU97-B - 31" / 4096 x 2160 / IPS / $1149
Philips BDM4350UC/27 - 43" / 3840 x 2160 / IPS / $1299
Samsung U32E850R - 31.5" / 3840 x 2160 / PLS / $1581

Aside from those, the ultrawide offerings are pretty neat, but I want to upgrade from 1440p and I think most of the ultrawides are 3440x1440 (correct me if i'm wrong). I have a 27" 2560x1440 Dell right now and it has been great, but I want my next screen(s) to be bigger and better in every way. I like the standard 16:9 aspect ratio, so I'll stick to that unless I hear really compelling reasons not to.

Help me make sure I'm not missing any makes and models to make the best decision! I play games once in a while but I don't consider myself a gamer at all. I don't imagine 60Hz being problematic to me, so I doubt I would make a quality or size/resolution trade-off in order to get higher refresh rate or features like gsync/freesync. I'm into photography so the extra real estate for photo editing will be nice.

If you have experience with those types of displays, please share!

 

[4K_shmoorK]

For your uses (especially if not gaming), I would definitely go with the BenQ BL3201PH. My buddy uses one mainly for research and absolutely loves it.

pcmonitors.info review

We’ve now tested a number of ‘4K’ UHD monitors, each offering a slightly different experience to the last. From the humble 23.8” Dell P2415Q to the imposing ~40” Philips BDM4065UC and some 27” – 28” models in between. We felt that the 32” screen of the BenQ BL3201PT (BL3201PH) offered the most pleasant UHD experience. When using it for general desktop use we didn’t have to rely on scaling, which is certainly nice given that it can be quite hit and miss. Meanwhile the game and movie experience lived up to the ‘Ultra High Definition’ moniker, providing a similar level of detail and clarity to the smaller models we’ve tested. This is something lost from the experience on the ~40” Philips, which also excellent in many ways has a comparable pixel density to a 27” WQHD model. The screen size also provided an absorbing experience on games and movies without being too imposing.

Aside from the brightness and the cool tint, the image ‘out of the box’ on this monitor was quite workable and fairly well balanced. It was just the case of some slight adjustments on the OSD and things were right where they should be. Gamma tracking was very good, not necessitating switching to one of the other 4 gamma settings kindly offered by BenQ. We also found the ‘Low Blue Light’ modes to be well implemented and useful for relaxing evening viewing. With the OSD remote, too, it was very easy to switch between preferred daytime and evening settings. And if you prefer to simply adjust brightness in an easy to access way, you have the flexibility to do that with the controller as well. The overall build quality of the monitor was also excellent, with the super-solidly constructed stand of the BL3200PT making a welcome return.

We enjoyed the image quality offered by the AHVA panel, particularly impressed by how smooth the matte surface was. We have found a lot of the ‘4K’ monitors we’ve tested with matte surfaces to be a bit on the grainy side, so this was quite a relief. The contrast performance of the monitor was also pleasing overall. Whilst static contrast was nothing to write home about, although decent, the relatively low levels of ‘glow’ helped provide a more pleasing atmosphere in dark scenes. This was certainly no VA panel, but it was nice to see this much-maligned characteristic of IPS-type panels subdued a bit. Colours were appropriately rich and varied, with the generous but not excessive colour gamut giving a nice dose of extra vibrancy. This was complimented by the screen surface, too, which didn’t sap away the vivid look in the way that some matte surfaces do.

In terms of responsiveness the monitor was largely impressive, although not technically perfect. There was a little bit of overshoot in places when using the optimal ‘AMA High’ setting. This was eliminated by turning AMA off, but the downside was an unacceptable additional level of blur. On the plus side the overshoot was not at distracting levels, quite constrained overall and not something most users would find distracting or necessarily notice. The pixel responses were very snappy, too, letting the monitor make full use of its 60Hz refresh rate. In fact the BL3201PT (BL3201PH) comfortably outperformed those 28” TN panels with their hugely misleading 1ms response times, in practice. There were no pixel transitions that stood out as being noticeably slower than others, with the movement of the eye being the predominant cause of blur across a wide range of transitions. It is also worth mentioning input lag, which was pleasantly low on this model.

Overall this is a monitor worthy of praise. It is of a size that we feel compliments the UHD resolution very nicely and it offers a very solid performance without any nasty surprises. No monitor is technically perfect and this is no exception, but it’s undoubtedly one of the best UHD models we’ve tested.

 

[zCypher]

That is quite the in-depth review, thank you for that! Seems like a pretty solid panel considering its "low" price.

 

[Tweak155]

My dad bought the BDM4350UC 43" 4K Phillips but it was only $799 at MicroCenter. It was pretty nice.

 

[boed]

I want a big ass 4K monitor too but I'm holding out for DP 1.4 on the unit. I could be in for a very long wait (or it may just feel like one).

 

[zCypher]

My dad bought the BDM4350UC 43" 4K Phillips but it was only $799 at MicroCenter. It was pretty nice.

Nice. That sounds much better than $1299 lol. I was just reading the review on it, it sounds excellent with the exception of the (possibly very minor) judder issue. Presumably it's not even noticeable in most use cases, I guess, but something they noted in the review.

There is also that OLED is eventually coming. Dell has a 30" 4K OLED that will be out soon but that will be around $5k, so it's probably still a few years away before reasonably priced OLEDs are available.

So far there only seems to be three choices for 32" 4K available under $1k in Canada, the Acer B326HK, BenQ BL3201PH, and HP Spectre. I can look at Asus or LG if I spend just a little more. Decisions decisions...

I feel like I must be overlooking some other options or something

 

[4K_shmoorK]

Pretty sure the B326HK, BL3201PH, and HP Studio all use the same AU Optronics M320QAN01.0 AHVA panel. You should expect relatively similar performance from the displays. You could go with whatever is cheapest, although, I am partial to the BL3201PT's OSD controller and stand.

Hope you find what you are looking for and enjoy 32". I've had my S32D850T for awhile now and love the size.

Also from the pcmonitors.info Philips review, the IPS panel had a pretty low measured contrast ratio compared to other modern day panels. ~750:1 using their test settings.

 

[dillhole]

Late reply, but...

I just picked up a used 31MU97-B and am loving it (mostly) so far. I'm sort of similar to you - don't really play games any more and thus don't care about gsync/freesync. The fact that the monitor is 4096x2160 vs "consumer" 4k (3860x2160) was highly appealing to me - even though it's not a lot of extra space, I guess I'm just a resolution whore at heart. The AG coating isn't intrusive and the factory calibration was better than I expected (assuming the report is accurate). Looks fantastic next to my U3011.

My two main complaints are the stupid joystick for the OSD and the fact the stand doesn't swivel.

I went from 27" 25x14 Korean IPS -> 30" 25x16 U3011 + 20" 16x12 2007FP (both Dells) -> 34" 3440x1440 LG 34UM95 -> back to the Dells -> 31" 31MU97-B, for reference. I was originally gonna go with a UP3216Q, but Dell couldn't get their crap straight and cancelled 3 of my orders without notice, so I gave up on them.

Dunno what else to say, but I'm happy as a clam, especially for the price I paid ($500). I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, though.

Do you want (need) HDMI 2.0 support?

 

[zCypher]

The deals on the BenQ dried up, I ended up going with (2 of) the Asus PA328Q and the Intel Skull Canyon NUC. So far everything is beautiful! Except for one little hiccup. The primary display over HDMI at 3840x2160 is nice at 60hz. The second display, connected via minidp from NUC to DP at the monitor, will only run at 30hz at 4K, or 60hz at 1440p, even if it's the only connected display. So this leads me to believe that it's either a limitation of the NUC's minidp port itself, or with the minidp to DP cable (which was supposed to support 4k at 60hz).

I'm debating whether to order another cable to test with, maybe a minidp to HDMI or something. The monitor has USB, but that doesn't seem to work for display output.

Any ideas? lol. 30hz is painful to look at right beside 60hz, the difference is way too noticeable!

otherwise, very happy with this little NUC, doesn't seem to break a sweat powering two 4K displays. For normal desktop use anyway. hehe

 

[zCypher]

nevermind, i figured it out lol. the monitor has a setting for displayport and it was set to displayport 1.1 by default. now set to displayport 1.2 and I have both screens running at 3840x2160 nice and smooth at 60hz! Sweet!

it's hard to believe this experience is being delivered by something so damn tiny.

 

[zCypher]

I also wanted to add that I was quite pleased to find the Asus panels pretty nicely calibrated straight out of the box, unlike so many other screens I've seen in the past that seem all jacked up or just way out of wack and need major adjustment. Plus tons of features/settings, very nice. Can't wait to play around more with this setup.

 

[Slug]

I just got the acer predator 32". Pretty sweet. No dead pixels. G-sync. Got it on sale for less than $1100 from newegg. Love it.

 

[Irenicus]

I want a big ass 4K monitor too but I'm holding out for DP 1.4 on the unit. I could be in for a very long wait (or it may just feel like one).

Now that we have the graphics cards, I give it a year or less before the korean off brand panel makers start shipping them with dp 1.4 and 120Hz.

If the standard players release anything like that at all it will cost well over 1k, the korean off branders should still be sub 1k.

That entire monitor list is an abomination above in the OP, so much money for so little.

 

[zCypher]

lol @ "abomination"

I don't disagree, the options are few and overpriced - but it's all I could find for those types of screens. Did I miss any other good ones for 32"+ 3840x2160...?

 

[alcoholbob]

If you aren't into gaming the question should be what do you value more, a semi-glossy display or a grainy matte anti-reflective coating? These two display types will look very differently depending on lighting. Semi-glossy does best in darker rooms where are no light sources whereas grainy matte does much better in a brighter room.

Samsung UD970 and I believe the Dell will have a grainy matte coating; most of the rest will have semi-glossy displays and would probably be slightly reflective in a bright room.