32 inch for DCI P3 and RGB work with good text clarity

Hi jens and welcome,

I often like to merge threads together to avoid potential overlap. I had this thread and this thread in mind as potential candidates. However; you’ve been so thorough with your initial post and very specific about what you’re looking for, so I feel this deserves its own thread instead. I think you’ve made a very good case for ~32″ ‘4K’ UHD and I agree that it’s a very nice and indeed very practical screen size and resolution combination. It seems you’ve done a lot of good research on these models already and I don’t have a whole lot I can add, simply due to lack of experience or detailed user feedback on some of the models you’ve highlighted. I do have some general impressions based on the panels used and you’re absolutely correct to focus on that aspect to try and get some ideas of general characteristics and to set expectations. Some thoughts:

– The LG panels tend to be more prone to uniformity issues than the AUO AHVA panels which are less commonly used. There are no guarantees in either case, but it seems that complaints about poor uniformity are quite common on models which use the LG panels you’ve highlighted.

– The specified static contrast for the LG models is a bit ambitious as an ‘after calibration’ target. Usually it drops to ~1100 – 1200:1 following calibration. This isn’t bad and slightly stronger than your ‘average’ IPS panel. But it’s hardly a huge difference from one that’s ~1000:1. Especially when you factor in actual perceived contrast following ‘IPS glow’ and likely dark uniformity issues that can exacerbate that.

– I’ve also had users complain of static interlace pattern artifacts on some of the models with LG panels, including the 32UD99. Not sure if it’s a universal issue or just some dodgy units that have this, but it’s more than one person who has fed this back to me. It’s not something everyone would notice either way, which is why it’s tricky to work out whether it affects all units or whether it’s fairly isolated.

– The BenQ PD3220U uses the LG LM315WR1-SSB1 (reference). The contrast is lower simply due to the level of calibration applied, if you measure it with everything in the ‘neutral’ position it should be closer to the ‘expected’ 1300:1 for the panel. As noted in that Twitter thread, the red corner issue can also apply to these 31.5″ LG panels, at least some of them!

– Hardware calibration with a programmable 3D LUT can be a nice touch, but I don’t see this as essential if you have a colour-managed workflow. As you do if you’re using Adobe Suite programs. Most of these models should work nicely with regular software-based profiling.

– sRGB emulation settings aren’t something you’d need to rely on in a colour-managed workflow. You can profile the monitor using its native gamut and this gamut information is then tied to the ICC profile you create. You’d then be free to edit in sRGB if you like and select that as your workspace in the program, or DCI-P3 as your target if you want to use more of the gamut. Colour-aware applications such as Adobe Suite programs can read that gamut information embedded in the profile and will make appropriate corrections based on the colour space you want to work within. This is my understanding of it, anyway, I don’t actually have a tightly colour-managed workflow myself so it’s not really an area I have much practical experience in.

– I agree that the recent Nano IPS models are a bit of an unknown and that some other recent Nano IPS models have been quite a bit weaker than promised in terms of contrast. But that may just apply to the 27″ WQHD models rather than being a more general observation. The 34GN850, for example, offers contrast that’s largely in-line with expectation and specification. Some early feedback on the 27GN950 suggests it’s decent as well, but that still remains to be seen. As does how the 32UN880 and 32UN650 would fit into this.

– The AOC U32U1 is mainly interesting due to its design and VESA DisplayHDR 600 support. However; it has been available in some Asian countries for a while now so I have seen some feedback on it. And it doesn’t seem too promising from a uniformity perspective, perhaps in part because of the backlight arrangement trying to fit in edge-based local dimming in a slender package. The panel family is the LG Display LM315WR2 with this one, which are Nano IPS parts with KSF phosphors. It does offer 98% DCI-P3 and the 100% Adobe RGB specified is likely achieved as well.

So given all of this, I tend to prefer models using the 32″ AUO panel over the 31.5″ LG panels. As I mentioned above, there are no guarantees when it comes to uniformity and I know this is something you’ll be aware of from your own research. But it seems with these comparisons the AUO panels tend to fare better. Given that it uses such a panel and it’s a capable all-round performer with emphasis on colour performance, I’d still mainly recommend the BenQ EW3280U for your purposes and with your preferred budget range in mind. A slight preference of mine towards the panel used there also stems from the fact the screen surface is slightly less grainy. At least compared to some of the LG panels I’ve seen (they may differ slightly in that regard). The haze value is perhaps slightly lower as well, but it’s tricky to assess given that I’ve only used models with the LG panels quite briefly in fairly dim lighting conditions. I appreciate you wanting to support the website. The EW3280U if ordered from Amazon UK should come with a UK power adaptor (straight AC ‘kettle lead’ with 3 pins). A basic UK to Switzerland power adaptor should work just fine for this for plugging into your mains electricity, Amazon also sells these.

The panel list is very much in the spirit of this forum. It’s important to raise awareness of the panels used given the key characteristics it gives to these monitors. It’s particularly important for setting expectations and allowing people to get a flavour for models that aren’t covered based on the the panel used, which may be shared with models that are covered in more detail. I added in panel manufacturers just for reference, so it’s easier for people who aren’t familiar with panel designations to see at a glance. The Lenovo ThinkVision P32U uses the AUO M320QAN01.2 from what I understand. As for the P27U, it seems to use the LG LM270WR4-SSA1. This is based on findings on various Asian forums from sources that are usually very reliable at panel identification. I wonder if the review site that reported a much lower colour gamut had an emulation setting of some sort applied and didn’t realise? The panel should certainly offer excellent Adobe RGB coverage.

I’ve had a bit of fun with the ICCView website myself. I loaded in the ICC profile from our EW3280U review and compared to ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc (as provided on the website) and I don’t see significant undercoverage of yellows there, just a sliver and quite some overcoverage for some yellows. The undercoverage is so slight (below) that it’s unlikely to cause any issue at all in practice. It was so flat against the measured gamut that the wireframe wasn’t really visible from most angles, meaning it’s very slight undercoverage. It’s possible a few re-calibration runs would get rid of that as well, I’m not sure exactly how accurately it can be determined based on the readings provided by a colorimeter rather than spectrophotometer. I’ve called the BenQ’s profile ‘PCM.icc’ in the image below just as I had uploaded the standard EW3280U profile provided by BenQ for comparison as well and needed to distinguish them.

Hi xellos,

I’ve moved your post over to here as it’s a suitable place and most of the ‘4K’ models you’ve mentioned are covered here already. The ViewSonic VP3268-4K isn’t really discussed in much depth here, but it does get a passing mention. I’d recommend making use of the forum search facility in the footer as it’s certainly discussed in some other threads. Whilst it doesn’t offer complete or near-complete Adobe RGB coverage (neither do most of the other models you mentioned, though) the BenQ EW3280U is my very clear recommendation in this thread, other similar threads on the forum and the site more broadly.

The Acer X34 seems rather misplaced here as it only offers a looser pixel density and ~sRGB colour gamut with just a little extension beyond. If you’re drawn to the idea of gaming on the monitor as well then you should consider some of the newer Nano IPS UltraWides instead – plenty of discussion on those ones elsewhere on the forum. But they’d offer you good DCI-P3 coverage and much better Adobe RGB coverage than the X34.

As I mention earlier in this thread, I have my reasons for preferring the AUO panel used in the EW3280U over the LG panel used in the PD3220U and quite a few other models. Refer to my first post if you need more details.

It would be up to you whether you prefer the wider screen format and lower pixel density of a 3440 x 1440 UltraWide like the LG 34GN850 or the taller and more pixel dense 32″ UHD experience. Remember that a 34″ UltraWide of this sort is a similar height to a 27″ 16:9 monitor and you get 1440 rows of pixels. With a 32″ UHD model you have significant extra height and 2160 rows of pixels. Horizontally, your 34″ UltraWide would give you more width but fewer pixels (3440 vs. 3840). This page is useful for visualising the physical size differences, but pixel density is a personal choice – in my view the higher pixel density is more useful for your needs than an increase in horizontal space.

P.S. Not that it makes much difference, but I measured 86% Adobe RGB coverage on the EW3280U and 96% DCI-P3, so slightly above specified.

Hi Pauline,

I appreciate the kind words and I’m sorry you had issues with 3 consecutive EW3280Us. Unfortunately this is a sad reflection of the monitor market more broadly and could have applied to many models really. Issues with uniformity, internal wiring (speaker wires disconnecting) and housing issues can all be caused by rough treatment of the monitor in warehouses and during transport. The manufacturers are now under increased pressure to decrease the amount of packaging they use for monitors (and everything else for that matter) and with how hectic and rushed modern logistics are accidents do happen. Modern bezel and monitor designs are generally less robust as well, you could argue the EW3280U is more prone to such issues because the stand is relatively unsubstantial. And if I recall correctly, the EW3280U has a relatively slimline box design which doesn’t offer much protection either!

Regardless of this, I totally understand you wanting to avoid that model. And as identified in this thread I feel the PD3220U could be worth trying. I haven’t sat down and reviewed that model, but I have used it at a few events in the past. And I don’t recall being annoyed by the screen surface in terms of graininess, which is a good sign. But I wasn’t in control of the lighting or even the content being displayed and my use of the monitor was very brief. So it wasn’t ideal for assessing such things. The colour reproduction and other aspects I’m sure you’d get on with as well, it’s excellent in that respect. I’d also like to think the monitor is more robust in general and that would, if nothing else, require more substantial packaging to be used! Which might help reduce the chance of some of these issues occurring.

I have to say I’m intrigued by your comment that one of your EW3280Us had no backlight bleed or clouding but did have “heavy IPS glow”. Assuming the same panel is used (I have no evidence it wouldn’t be) in all cases, and the brightness was the same, ‘IPS glow’ in isolation shouldn’t change. It can be brought out more strongly by clouding, backlight bleed and other dark uniformity issues. There can be exceptions I suppose, related to some quality control issue on AU Optronics end when they manufacture or assemble the panel or some variance in the backlight units. How did you assess ‘IPS glow’ in isolation whilst taking other uniformity issues out of the equation? I assume you moved backwards whilst keeping as centrally as possible so you’d see everything but the ‘IPS glow’ remain?

I haven’t heard anything further from LG on either the 32″ OLED monitor (32EP950) or 42″ OLED TV. As you’ll be aware their PR team is next to useless here in the UK so it’s unlikely I’ll test these products myself unless I purchase them. Regardless of its pixel responsiveness, a 60Hz (sample and hold) monitor can never replicate the performance of a good 120Hz monitor. It doesn’t matter how fast pixel responses are, it’s outputting half is much visual information every second. The perceived blur due to eye movement is double and the ‘connected feel’ simply isn’t anywhere near as good. I use a 60Hz OLED myself frequently (laptop) and I’m afraid the 60Hz refresh rate is a definite barrier to visual fluidity. Not a problem for everyone, of course, and having the screen make full use of the 60Hz refresh rate in a ‘clean’ way can be just the sort of experience some are after. Without any overshoot or trailing from pixel response weaknesses whatsoever.

I suspect $1500 will end up being too optimistic for the price of the 32EP950, but we’ll have to see. I personally wouldn’t be surprised to see it around twice that given that it uses a low production rate professional panel from JOLED. The Dell UP3017Q was hamstrung by high price and panel availability issues and I think the LG will remain a niche product for the same reasons. I hope this doesn’t just end up being a technical showcase and does gain some actual consumer interest and traction, not least because I’d like to see other manufacturers using this and similar panels in the future!

Hi all,

A big thank you for the detailed and professional answers and conversation in this thread. I wanted to share my input on the topic, as I’ve been hunting for a 32″ screen for my use: I need to both for professional and personal use, but gaming characteristics were not high on my list.

I ended up getting the BenQ PD2720U, which was great but slightly too small for my use. I would have wanted to get the BenQ PD3220U, but as it was out of stock I needed to find a different solution. The store had the Lenovo Thinkvision P32U-10, which is mentioned in one of the posts above. And that was what I ended up getting, I’m using it right now while typing this.

As the BenQ 27″ and 32″ are similar in specs but size, I’m obviously comparing the Lenovo P32U to them. The more I use this, the more I love it: it’s got really good uniformity across the entire panel, no colour bleed that I can notice and DPI/PPI is good. I calibrated both the BenQ and this one with SpyderX, and with Lightroom Classic things look good. The Lenovo is connected to a (M1) Mac Mini and (Intel) MacBook Air: I’ve a single keyboard and mouse shared across them, and switch sources on the fly.

Visually the BenQ seemed a bit more deep in terms of colour (I do love Display P3), but the Lenovo has been created with AdobeRGB in mind. As much of my personal use is in Lightroom Classic, this seems like a good solution for me and I do think I’ll keep the Lenovo. Also, with the BenQ my M1 Mac had real troubles with mouse lag: with this Lenovo they’re gone (USB 3.0 vs USB 3.1 issue, that).

Where the BenQ wins hands down is ergonomics and usability. The Lenovo is horrible in that sense, but as I only need to touch two buttons daily (power and source) I don’t mind.

I hope this helps someone considering the same. Just wanted to give a shout out for the Lenovo, that it’s a really good screen once you’ve set it up.

Thanks for your reply.

Concerning the IPS glow of the EW3280U, I did exactly what you said (moved backwards whilst keeping as centrally as possible so you’d see everything but the ‘IPS glow’ remain), it seemed heavier, but I didn’t really inspect it any further as I’m not really that concerned about it.

Anyway, in the mean time I bought a Philips 278E1A 27″ 4K. I’ll put some user feedback about it in the relevant thread, but I’m happy with it.

Thanks jens, for your kind words and also support. Both when you bought the BenQ and by sharing your extensive long-term impressions. I was hoping you would come back with some feedback for this thread and you didn’t disappoint! It’s good to see you’re enjoying the monitor overall and, despite its limitations, feel it does enough to justify its price with your colour-accurate workflow in mind. I like your tip with the 5000K lamp and using the strongest LBL setting (‘Reading’) on the monitor as well. That’s a good idea both to kill two birds with one stone – getting an appropriate colour temperature for the task whilst also enhancing viewing comfort!

This sort of long-term feedback is very welcome on the forum and helps shape my own recommendations whilst also being the sort of thing readers love to see! 🙂

Hi. 🙂 I’m doing photo as hobby (for the moment) and I’m looking for a budget screen to start with. And since is mostly for web, I don’t want to go all out with full Adobe RGB coverage, specially because I need 32″ and 4k for my day job.

I’ve read this post and my doubt is because around here:
– the LG 32UN88A-W currently goes for 480€ (black friday)
– the BenQ EW3280U goes for 600€ but add extra 80€ for an adjustable arm
– the PD3200U goes for 600€ as well, but it’s older, even though it should be better for graphic work

Then one step up in price, might not be worth it:
– didn’t find info on the Asus PA329CV (not the “C” version) which is around 800€
– the ViewSonic VP3268-4K for 900€
– MSI Creator PS321URV for 850€

But without printing being an issue and not doing professional work yet, might be better to just save and then buy proper 100% everything next year.

More detail: I own a Datacolor SpyderX and graphics card is a Nvidia GTX 1650.

What’s your advice?