[matsmad]

That’s real annoying and makes me losing the fun to buy a new monitor.
Second monitor and also issues. Thought that IPS would do better than VA, but wrong thought.
Seems to be impossible to find a monitor without any issues.
Thinking about just keeping my old one and give up trying to find a new one.

[matsmad]

After a week trying to get used to the LG 32BN67U I decided to return the monitor. Another monitor crossed out from the list.

The colors look totally exaggerated on an IPS panel. I also noticed that I got a headache after a short time and it only got better when I moved away from the monitor. No idea if this is due to the panel as such.

In addition, the monitor does not look great and the stand takes too much space. The DELL looks more noble.

Besides that I have noticed that 32” is more comfortable when using a curved monitor. Without a curvation the 32” are damn huge. Really. That was definitely more comfortable and easier to use on an curved monitor.

Therefore I thought about getting the recommended Philips 328E1CA but to be honest: I don’t like the overall look of that monitor. Sure I know that should not be the main aspect when purchasing a new monitor but for me it is important that it fits into my workplace. Further no ergonomic options.

Therefore I’ll give the Dell S3221QS another chance. If it does not work out I am at the end of my nerves and at a loss.

[PCM2]

The “exaggerated colours” are nothing to do with the LG’s panel technology, which is indeed capable of more consistent and therefore accurate output than a VA panel. But rather to do with the generous (95% DCI-P3) colour gamut, which causes oversaturation of most content – designed for the sRGB colour space. As we explore in our reviews and this article, it can be tamed.

Either way, sounds like you prefer the curved VA options. I appreciate the importance of aesthetics and ergonomics. Hopefully your new S3221QS works better for you. Just be aware you can VESA mount the Philips to improve ergonomics and remove the included stand from the aesthetics equation.

[matsmad]

Thanks!
I also hope that the new Dell unit will work better than the previous one.

To be honest: I don’t know if it is a good idea to go for an VA panel for productivity work. Everywhere I find information about how bad the VA panels for productivity work especially when working with many text (for example in software development). The recommendation is always: Go for IPS for productivity usage.

So I am little bit torn back and forth.
32” without curve does not work out and curved 32” IPS panels are not affordable.

Considering a flat 27” IPS would not bring so much benefits because 4K would display the text to small which means I’ll need to scale down to QHD (sometimes called 2K – mod edit, incorrectly) and then I could keep my current one.

Finding a new monitor is more difficult than finding a partner.

[PCM2]

Curved 32″ IPS models are not only expensive/”not affordable” – they don’t currently exist. 34″ UltraWides do, but you’d be dropping resolution and vertical height there.

People like to over-generalise when making statements like “VA models are no good for productivity”. Utter rubbish. The reason they say that is because some VA models have particularly odd subpixel structure and that negatively impacts text clarity in an obvious way. This doesn’t apply to the ~32″ ‘4K’ models because they don’t use partial subpixel illumination and the pixel density is sufficiently high that the slightly squat subpixels don’t really matter. It’s more important to then consider other viewing comfort factors and with that in mind some people simply find VA models more comfortable. And for you the curve seemed to be an important one for example.

[matsmad]

The Dell S3221QS arrived today.
Went relatively quickly.

Well, what can I say:
It has exactly the same characteristics as the previous unit.
Means the white is not everywhere the same white.

BUT the same peculiarity had the LG 32BN67U-W (IPS panel) as well as the Huawei MateView 28″ (which I looked at in the store).

Compared to the IPS panel, I feel the image and text is not as sharp, but it is a lot more comfortable on the eyes for me personally.

I’ll also refrain from doing the Eizo monitor test on the unit now.
Otherwise, I only find any features or characteristics that bother me.

Furthermore, this VA panel does not have the peculiarity of the LGs that the edges become darker / blacker. Personally, I like the picture better than the IPS in comparison. It’s not so gaudy and not so sharp that it strains my eyes and gives me a headache.
I know that sounds a bit strange, but for me personally it is definitely more comfortable to work with. Probably because I am used to a TN panel.

Regarding smearing / ghosting with VA panels:
My MacBook with Retina display has exactly the same smearing / ghosting when application windows are moved.

The same applies to scrolling text. There was also a kind of smearing when scrolling on the IPS panel.

I’m going to play around with the settings some more now, and definitely keep the monitor. It just shows on the three monitors I tested in the price category (LG, DELL, Huawei MateView 28″) that there are always some trade-offs somewhere.

Another advantage is that I have now also saved a whole €80 compared to the LG. Hooray!

PS: I know that 2K is the wrong phrase, therefore I placed “sometimes called” before 😉

[PCM2]

I think that’s the right approach to take. Understand the compromises and what is ‘normal’ and try to enjoy the monitor with that in mind. No model is perfect and at least if you can have a comfortable experience (which the S3221QS offers for you), everything else is secondary.

I’d also add that the darkening effect you observed on the 32BN67U is sometimes referred to as ‘vignetting’ and isn’t a universal characteristic of IPS models. In this case it’s related to its BOE IPS-ADS panel (MV315QUM-N20) which isn’t as strong as some others when it comes to colour consistency and viewing angle performance. With such a large screen, these weaknesses are observable even from a normal viewing position, towards the edges of the screen. It’s something I’ve brought up on the forum before, including earlier in this thread. And one of the reasons I tend to tell people to consider alternatives such as the BenQ EW3280U. Which does still come at a premium and has the ‘fussier’ styling elements and fixed stand that doesn’t suit everyone. 🙂

And I’m pleased you personally know not to use the term ‘2K’, haha! I just had to add that in to make sure I highlighted this for others reading through the thread.

[matsmad]

Thanks for the clarification!

I have also noticed the ‘vignetting’ on the Huawei MateView 28″ (which has a nice screen ration for productivity, but 28″ is IMHO too small for 4K).
And also the white uniformity, which I noticed at all three monitors.

As I have seen these characteristics on all three models, they do not bother me anymore because it seems like it is normal.
Further, what I forgot to mention, the corners on both IPS Panels (LG & Huawei) were also ‘darked out’ / vignetting.
For me that was a strange experience because I thought (and always read) that IPS Panels were superb.

So I was somehow disappointed because for me, It was no improvement in the general “view” compared to the S3221QS (as always – my personal opinion! Don’t want to start a discussion, VA <-> IPS). In that case, I could have kept the first S3221QS unit without the need to return it. Seems like I needed to learn that first and make my own experience regarding panels to encounter my personal needs.

I have also had a look at the BenQ EW3280U which ‘just’ costs €90 more than the S3221QS.
But due to the lack of ergonomics (at leas height adjustment is important for me!) I would need to buy some VESA stand for my table, which will also cost some money. At the end, it would add up to over €150 (I think). Further, the color of the monitor does not fit into my room ;). But that is not a point which should have some weight.

At the end I am happy that it finally worked out for me due to the fact that I had to order and test some monitors or to go to local stores and compare other competitors.

[PCM2]

The Huawei MateView 28 is a bit of an oddity. It’s based on a 28.2″ panel which I believe is also manufactured by BOE. That doesn’t automatically make it ‘bad’, though in general BOE IPS-ADS isn’t the pinnacle of IPS technology. You can also get ‘vignetting’ on monitors with very slender panel borders as they can cause too much pinching at the edges – the MateView 28 certainly has that going for it, too.

At any rate, I feel you’ve made the right decision for yourself based on what you find appealing in the image. I don’t think there’s much point in considering ‘higher-end’ IPS models in your case given the S3221QS ticks your boxes and makes compromises which you can live with. 🙂

[EsaT]

Welcome to world of “Mura”.
https://www.radiantvisionsystems.com/blog/mura-mura-wall
Amount on uneven brightness/colours etc defects is one way how panel manufactures bin panels to different price categories when selling them to monitor makers.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100420053658/http://www.behardware.com/articles/589-1/panels-a-carte-mura-components-dead-pixels.html.

[matsmad]

These are interesting links. Thanks.

But what does that exactly mean in terms of purchasing a new monitor or in my specific case?

Does that mean that the chance is near to 0 to find a panel with zero “Mura” and that you Implicitly accept errors / “Mura” in that price range?

The second link also says on the last page that, if you are affected of “Mura”, you should return the unit.

But in my opinion this is useless because according to the articles it is impossible to avoid encountering Mura again.

Or do I miss something here?

I had four different units of different manufacturers and all have some kind of Mira.

[PCM2]

I think the take home message was really that ‘mura’ is to be expected and, as you’ve discovered yourself, the ‘normal’ way of things. The mass manufacturing of panels and array of options available has increased massively since that second article was published, too. And for the mainstream market, paying more doesn’t really improve your odds of escaping such things. So I think the relevance with the current market in mind is simply that you should accept some issues (as you seem to have come around to) and settle on something which still works well for you – like the S3221QS.

[matsmad]

Thanks,
that is an interesting topic to be honest.
Never dived so deep into this technology.

So to make this whole thing clear for me:
Let’s say Dell released a monitor called S3221QS-Premium-Gold for around three times the price of the S3221QS with the same features and so on, would that mean that the Premium version uses the same panel as the non-premium version but with a better classification than the non-premium version?

[EsaT]

Some amount of imperfections will be always there.
Or whole lot of parts would have to be cherry picked making price tag super high.

Eizo ColorEdge is example of line with tighter checking of parts.
And still those use techniques for masking unevenness of panel.
(panel is basically mapped at factory and RGB values of pixels adjusted to counter color tints etc)

[PCM2]

It wouldn’t just require the panel was checked over to be top tier before put into the monitor, it would also require that the monitor is constructed extremely carefully and thoroughly checked over. Furthermore, it would require that the monitor is very carefully handled, because even if it is free from issues when they build it that doesn’t mean it will stay that way!

As EsaT points out, even for higher end products from the likes of EIZO they will need to make up for some deficiencies of the panel by making certain corrections. For example, including a Uniformity Compensation (UC) algorithm which evens out brightness and colour temperature at various points of the screen. Which comes at the expense of contrast and depending on the conditions the monitor is later exposed to may only be of limited success. So a very expensive ‘higher grade’ version of the S3221QS, even if it were possible, would not likely be attractive to most consumers.

[Author]

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