30-32" 4K for photo editing: what's the best choice?

Hi Floyd,

Thanks for your kind words. I would largely repeat what I said in this similar thread. The BenQ PD3200U is recommended and has been for a while, in spite of the potential flickering issue. If you’re looking for accurate performance within the sRGB colour space, it’s simply the best option of the size and resolution out there. And the majority of users don’t experience this flickering to a bothersome degree. It is usually very occasional and something you get used to, as per the review using our Nvidia GPU. If not, Amazon has a superb returns policy to fall back on and BenQ support is good as you noted.

The LG 32UD99 is an “interesting” alternative, but it has its own issues. The sRGB emulation is patchy and the native gamut is unsuitable by photography standards (no Adobe RGB support, weak sRGB performance). I’ve also had users complain of common uniformity issues and obvious static interlacing patterns, which aren’t attractive for photo editing (is the noise from the source of the photograph or just the monitor?) The BenQ PD3220U is likely better suited if you’re after Adobe RGB support, which could be useful as you’re print matching. But this isn’t something you will have used in the past from what you’ve said, so maybe that’s not relevant? Also note that the 32UD99 is set to be replaced by the 32UL950. Again, it’s targeting (in this case very) good DCI-P3 coverage as it is designed for HDR use and doesn’t support Adobe RGB, but it may offer better sRGB emulation and is hopefully free from static interlacing patterns or common uniformity complaints.

Edit 12/05/2022: – some quick feedback on the BenQ PD3205U was provided by a forum member here, which is a newer alternative to the PD3200U.

The product page for the PD3220U has only just been published. When more details are known about price and availability, the news piece will be updated to reflect that. My BenQ contacts are not sure on a release date, it doesn’t seem to have been confirmed. As I understand it, the monitor will probably be shown off at CES in January in released during Q1 2019 at earliest.

I’m not sure why you’re referring to me in the third person rather than addressing me directly. I’m the only one dedicating my time and effort to helping you here. 😉

And with that said, please consider how you can support the website. I have spent a tremendous amount of time and effort recently helping users like yourself who have turned around and said “thanks for the help, I’ll wait until Black Friday and get this great deal from X website”. That in no way supports this website nor compensates me for the time I spend sharing my time and expertise. As noted throughout the website and on the support page, donations are also appreciated. Just bear this in mind if you end up purchasing in a black Friday event in a way that doesn’t support ‘the little guy’ helping you out.

Yes, this forum is indeed very unique. On a forum you generally get many users chipping in, often with conflicting advice and not always with particularly helpful advice either. Here there are a few interactions from other users, which I always appreciate, but it’s more of a knowledgebase where people can receive expert advice or view that advice given to others in a public way. People love the unique nature of the forum, but it does take a lot of my time and is only one avenue where I offer this time and advice. Given the growing popularity of the website and its social channels, the number of people wishing me to open up my chest of knowledge can get quite overwhelming. My time is precious and as with other things in life, people aren’t always able or willing to spend too much time doing something “for free”.

With that all said, I’m not all-seeing and all-knowing and unfortunately don’t have experience with those other models. However; I will tell you that the more popular a model is, the more likely it is that you’ll come across negative feedback. That’s just the way of the world. Those models are not particularly well known (the Dell is too new) so feedback, both positive and negative, is limited. The only feedback I’ve seen with respect to the Dell U3219Q was largely positive but the user had what appeared to be very poor dark uniformity (clouding and backlight bleed). Yet this was just one unit and of course any unit can have this sort of thing happen, so I wouldn’t look too much into it. Dell have generally been excellent with their calibration of recent UltraSharp models and they’ve really hit the spot for all-round performance. I reckon this could be a good one. Plus, as you know, they’re one of the better manufacturers out there for customer service should something go wrong. You won’t be without a monitor if it does – they send you a replacement and pick yours up at the same time. Should it come to that.

As for the ViewSonic VP3268-4K, as I said people are more likely to post negative vs. positive things so it can be difficult to compare feedback of products with differing popularity/feedback volume. But there is still a decent volume of feedback on Amazon and it is largely positive. I can’t recommend the product not because it’s bad, simply because I don’t know enough about it. ViewSonic are also generally good with factory calibration and don’t generally royally mess anything up. I’ve reviewed a few of their smaller UHD models in the past and they were both pretty solid in terms of calibration and overall performance. As with AOC, ViewSonic do have a large number of budget models which are designed to be pretty much as cheap as possible. And that can be reflected with their overall build quality. But they also have plenty of models which I consider to be well-built and as I’ve mentioned well-calibrated. That certainly includes their VP (‘ViewSonic Professional’) series as you’re considering here. Their aftersales support is generally well-liked as well, they’re a decent company overall.

So yes, I think these are viable alternatives to the BenQ if you are worried about the flickering issue. Which I do understand. And also if you’re unable to wait for the BenQ PD3220U or unwilling due to its release price. It’s tricky to choose between the Dell and ViewSonic above because there isn’t really any substantial test data on them. Of course I’d love to test them myself, but that would have to wait until next year now and I’m likely to be spending my time testing other models like the PD3220U and LG 32UL950. They’re more interesting to me as a reviewer, but they’re both going to be higher priced products, at least when initially released. Also note that the key difference between the Dell and the ViewSonic (and BenQ) models above is that the Dell has 95% DCI-P3 coverage and an sRGB emulation mode. And I’m not sure how good that emulation mode is. They can be quite hit and miss. If you’re just going to be using the sRGB colour space for your work then perhaps the ViewSonic would be a better choice. Whereas some users prefer to use the native colour gamut on a model like the Dell so things look more ‘vibrant’ outside of photo editing and colour-critical usage.

DCI-P3 is a Digital Cinema Initiatives standard colour space and is the current preferred (near term) standard for HDR content. It is why it is becoming popular for monitors, with HDR support becoming increasingly common. It is not generally used for photo editing, the preferred gamut for that would either be sRGB or Adobe RGB. For digital distribution sRGB is generally used because it is the lowest common denominator that most screens will support. Adobe RGB can be preferred if the photos are printed in the end as it usually matches the capabilities of the printer better than sRGB.

An sRGB emulation mode means that a monitor with a wider colour space (such as ~DCI-P3 or ~Adobe RGB) has a preset or other feature on the monitor that restricts the gamut so it is closer to sRGB. This generally improves colour accuracy for work within the sRGB colour space. If you just use the native colour gamut (~DCI-P3) then your standard content which is designed with sRGB in mind (includes photos edited/distributed digitally most of the time) will look oversaturated. Monitors don’t intelligently convert between one colour space and another. So you need to control (tame) the gamut appropriately or select a model with an appropriate gamut to start with.

In the case of the ViewSonic and BenQ their colour gamut is closer to sRGB natively so they don’t give so much oversaturation. The Dell’s native gamut would give significant oversaturation. This would be toned down with the sRGB emulation mode as the colour gamut is restricted. But you’ll often find some undercoverage of the sRGB colour space with emulation modes like that and sometimes there is a drop in contrast.

And not to add too much complexity, but the colour gamut restriction with an sRGB emulation mode is achieved using filtering and careful tone remapping on the monitor. But it’s actually the backlight that controls the native colour gamut. The filtering/remapping isn’t perfect – you’ve basically got a wide gamut light source that is artificially restricted. The shades don’t look quite the same as if it is the backlight itself that’s providing the more restricted colour gamut. It’s something that’s quite difficult to explain/understand unless you’ve actually seen such a setting on a monitor and compared to a native sRGB monitor. It quite a subtle difference in how the shade is perceived and isn’t picked up by a colorimeter (not all users really notice it either), but it’s there and it’s something to consider.

Well it’s a bit complicated really. Many users still use sRGB for print matching and some prefer it. It sort of depends on the content itself and your preferences. There are actually very few choices if you need good Adobe RGB coverage, and they’re not cheap. One example being the BenQ SW320. The PD3200U is a standard gamut monitor, it comes nowhere near Adobe RGB. So it isn’t even specified, but I believe it is under 80% (i.e. not supported). You’d really need to be looking at 96%+ Adobe RGB coverage to consider it acceptable to use the colour space.

Well yes, that’s a tough one. If you really can’t wait because you actually need a monitor then surely that makes your decision for you, though. The PD3220U is also going to be more expensive than the PD3200U.

I have been building a Mac Mini for photo editing, and the most difficult component to select has been the monitor. I’ve got it down to two options and wonder if anyone has experience or opinions about them. One option is the HP Z32, and the other is the ViewSonic VP3268-4K.

Any thoughts or recommendations between the two?

I am an architect and I also design hand printed scarves. I have two laptops on which I do my work using Windows 10: Dell Precision 5530 2 in 1 (with Dell Premium Active Pen PN579X ) and an Alienware 15 R3 and am in the market for buying a monitor. I am lost with all the terminology and would appreciate your help. I promise to buy from your link if I get the right product. In plain English this is what I am looking for:
1) A large monitor with which I can view my entire 32″x 21″ CAD generated PDF drawings without zooming in. I would like to mark up the drawings for my drafts people. Besides just the monitor I need to know if I need an accessory or if I can use my 2 in 1 to mark up the PDFs.
2) Color accuracy is very important to me and I need the widest range of colors possible. Brightness hurts my eyes and so I prefer something that does not shine. However I can live with shine if all other criteria are met.
3) I am looking to spend a maximum of $1,600.
In my own research I settled upon Dell UP3216Q but there are so many people with defective monitors complaining about their buy that I have refrained from purchasing it. Need help. Thank you.