[PCM2]

Put simply, they don’t have the flaws that I mentioned in my first post. Colours are more consistent, screen surface is more agreeable (to me), they’re more responsive and better calibrated. On the other hand contrast is significantly weaker, there’s ‘IPS glow’ and they’re more expensive. You need to weigh up your own requirements and preferences, which is exactly what I explained in my first post.

I don’t mean to set you up for disappointment. The LG 32UL950 certainly is an interesting monitor and it might be nice to see how it turns out. But it is going to be significantly more expensive than the VA models you’re considering. So there might not be much point in waiting for it if you’re not comfortable spending the extra money.

[Crocodil]

@ PCM2: Thank you again 🙂 I guess there’s no use waiting forever so I’m going to have to choose between Philips 328P6VUBREB (latest technologies) and BenQ PD3200U (better screen)… 🙂

[meeotch]

Hi – I’ve been considering the monitors mentioned in this post, and I had a couple of questions I couldn’t find answers to here or elsewhere on the site. (A lot of good info here, though!)

Context: looking for a 32″ 4k monitor. Will be used for color-accurate work (visual effects), but not in Adobe colorspace – and also some gaming. GPU is currently an NVidia 1080 Ti, and will probably remain NVidia in the future. My shortlist is: LG 32UD99 / UD89, Benq PD3200U, Acer XB321HK.

1) What is the difference between the UD99 & UD89?
2) I believe you mentioned here or in another thread that the XB321HK has “issues” – what are they? I like the fact that it has G-Sync, and it currently has a higher rating on Amazon than the Benq, with twice as many reviews.

And a slightly weird one: I know the Benq has that puck that can be programmed for quick switching between inputs. (Though useless as a keyboard/mouse switch, sadly.) I have several machines hooked up to my monitor, and am often switching between them. Do any of the other options in this class have a one-button input switch? (My current Dell drives me nuts, as it’s 3-4 button presses every time, and the capacitive buttons take a second to wake up.)

[PCM2]

Hi meeotch and welcome,

Our news piece on the LG 32UD89 and 32UD99 highlights the differences. The 32UD99 adds (basic) HDR functionality, although it lacks any local dimming on the backlight so this isn’t really a ‘true’ HDR capability by any stretch of the imagination. It also has 2 USB 3.0 ports on top of the ports offered by the 32UD89. The core performance is otherwise similar, including the colour capability and overall response behaviour.

The issues I was referring to with the XB321HK include the fact that gamma calibration is not very consistent, there are (or were) common uniformity complaints and various issues related to quality control. It also has the same flickering issue as the BenQ, although I don’t believe this is anything to worry about with a GTX 1080 Ti or modern GPUs (incidents of the flickering would be few and far between). The feedback on the model is largely positive, though, and more recent feedback seems to be more favourable. A lot of the issues I am referring to (potential flickering aside) seem to have been things which plagued earlier revisions and could well have been cleared up with more recent revisions of the monitor. It certainly seems to be a model that has aged well in that respect, so try not to be too disheartened by my comments. It’s just unfortunate that I received quite a bit of negative feedback about the monitor back when it was first released, it doesn’t necessarily apply to all models and certainly not more recent ones.

Good question about the quick input switching. On the LG models the joystick only gives you quick access to volume control. You’d need press the joystick in to bring up the radial quick menu, then press the joystick left to get a list of inputs and select one from there. On the Acer there’s a dedicated input toggle button.

[sodoku]

Hello…
So basically I’m looking for 32 inch 4k HDR Gaming Monitor for Ps4 console only..
Looking for the Lowest Input Lag that is possible
At price range of 450$-550$ …

[meeotch]

Interesting that the Acer’s got the flickering issue as well. A quick search on amazon reviews did turn up some mentions of that: about 4% of reviews for the Acer, and about 11% (!) of reviews for the Benq. Though amazon also lumps reviews for a bunch of models together, which is super irritating and limits the usefulness of the whole system.

Looks like the Benq has gotten cheaper than the other models by $100 or so – and will presumably drop even more when its successor comes out. I guess I’ll keep an eye out through the holiday season for a deal, and then decide whether I want to play the panel lottery. I’d definitely throw an extra couple hundred bucks at a monitor that I was confident wouldn’t come with several rounds of return-and-replace – but it looks like there’s no such animal.

Good to know about the LG’s lack of toggle. I suppose I could work around it with a hard switch of some type – though I’ve got a motley collection of DVI / DisplayPort / HDMI coming in from my sources.

And it looks like the Acer’s only got 1x HDMI 1.4 and 1x DisplayPort. Which seems like it could become an issue, depending on the future config of my sources. The other two have 2x HDMI 2.0, I believe.

[PCM2]

@ sodoku,

I’ve merged your thread with this one (I’d always advise checking for similar threads before starting a new one. This one was literally right under the topic you started and the topic title matched extremely well. Have a look through this thread and in particular this post. Some issues you’ll come across:

1) Your budget means you’re restricted to VA models using an InnoLux panel, some examples are covered in this thread.
2) I’m not aware of any particular models using that panel which have low input lag. They all seem to have high input lag, but I haven’t tested them all myself so you’d be going in blind. Do you actually know you’re sensitive to input lag or is this just a desireable box for you to tick?

I’d suggest either increasing your budget, reconsidering your size requirement or input lag requirement. Otherwise you’re a bit stuck.

@ meeotch

Yeah, I hate the way Amazon collates monitor reviews for sometimes vastly different monitors. It can be very misleading and adds an extra filtering step when you’re trying to read reviews or weigh up ratings for a particular model.

[meeotch]

Ha – nice call. I’d completely missed the fact that you can filter by model (which Amazon calls “formats”, non-intuitively enough). Recalculating with my newfound filtering skillz: 11% of Acer reviews mention flicker, and 25% (!) of BenQ. Both are a sample size of only about 80, though. (And admittedly, there might be a couple of reviews saying, “There is no flicker! Fake news!”)

Too bad they amazon doesn’t seem to recalculate the ratings based on filters.

[sodoku]

@ PCM2 thanks for your reply…
I did mention the input lag because i have an old lcd that its not good for games (especially in terms of input lag) that’s why i mentioned it.

I did see some Monitors and interest about it..
One of these monitors are

View sonic xg3220
LG 32UD59-B

I’m Confused between them..

If you have any suggestions
I can rise up the budget to 700$
And for input lag..
Its will be better to get between 10ms-20ms..

[PCM2]

The LG model features DAS (‘Dynamic Action Sync’), a low input lag mode which should in theory bring things into the range for your uses. So that might be a good one to go far. But I haven’t used either model myself and I won’t specifically recommend a product using that panel, as I’ve explained in this post (which I linked you to already). You may enjoy the experience of the LG and assuming it has low input lag as promised then you won’t have an issue with that aspect. But with your raised budget you should also consider the BenQ PD3200U.

[kermy]

Hi all,

I’m looking to purchase a 32″ 4k display and would like to see if anyone would recommend one of these over another:
LG 32UD89-W
LG 32MU99-W
Dell U3219Q

My budget is ~$800 and would really like USB-C. The monitor will primarily be used for office type applications and programming. Maybe some movies here and there. No gaming.

Thanks!

[PCM2]

Hi kermy and welcome,

If you look back in this thread I’ve shared a few thoughts on the first and third option there already. But I’d recommend reading through this thread which covers them in a bit more detail. As for the 32MU99, it may work quite well for your uses and you might quite like it. But I am not a fan of the panel it uses for these reasons.

[MuttZeppi]

Hey all,

A few years ago I used this website as my primary resource in deciding which monitor I should purchase. I settled on the BenQ BL3201PH after a few weeks of research and the purchase has done me well up until recently. The monitor is great by all means, but the model I purchased appears to be defective as over time it had lost responsiveness in the control buttons and as of this last week the right-hand side has LED’s that no longer function.

With this topic I’m proposing two questions;
First, what is the best course of action when a monitor that cost about $700 has LED’s that no longer work? Is fixing this an option? (The LED’s work when I first power up the monitor but will turn off after a minute or so of use.)

Second, I realize fixing this monitor may not be an option and even if it is it will probably be costly, so what’s my second best bet? I could buy a new monitor but I want something with great contrast and vibrancy in the ballpark of $400.

[PCM2]

Hi MuttZeppi,

I’m sorry to hear that your BL3201PH has developed a fault. How long have you had the monitor for? My suggestion would be to contact BenQ and see what they say. It’s almost certainly going to be out of warranty now (unless you purchased an extended warranty of some description), but they may offer you a solution for a price.

You aren’t going to get an experience anywhere near like what the BL3201PH offers for $400. You’d be making a compromise one way or the other. If you liked the image quality of the BL3201PH overall and were willing to settle for a 27″ screen, perhaps consider something like the Philips 276E8VJSB. It’s fairly no-frills and a budget option, but user feedback has been that it’s very good for the price. We’ll be reviewing it very shortly.

[MuttZeppi]

Thanks for the response. I bought the monitor two years ago exactly as of this month. I contacted BenQ and am now in the RMA process. Apparently, the monitor is under warranty for up to 3 years and all I need to provide is proof of purchase. BenQ is actually being really good about this; even though I bought the monitor on Amazon, BenQ is going to either fix or replace the monitor free of charge. They even sent me a paid shipping note so all I have to pay for is the box I’m shipping it in. I never would have guessed that they would be so good about this and will definitely be purchasing from them again.

In the off chance that something were to happen to the monitor while in transit or if they back down on the offer I’d still like to look into other options.
Say my budget is 800$ not counting tax or shipping. What monitor is going to be the best transition from the BL3201PH? I’ve been looking at ultrawide monitors and they are tempting but I’m not sure if the resolution drop will hurt. I’m mostly looking for vibrancy and clarity, I wish I could wait for OLED but it will seemingly never come.

[PCM2]

You seemed very happy with your previous monitor and I think as you’d grown to really like the pixel density and size, it might be tough to move on. Although you can adapt either way. The most logical option would be the BenQ PD3200U. But if you weren’t super-attached to the size, ergonomics and other features then that Philips I mentioned in my previous post. Well, let’s just say I’m impressed by what it offers – especially given the price.

It’s really nice to see such a positive story about customer service, people are all too quick to post negative experiences. BenQ really do seem to have gone the extra mile there and that’s great to read about. 🙂

[jim85]

Hi,
I am in the process of exploring options for my new work monitor. Currently after considering my needs I am looking for a 32″ 4K Monitor – as I review alot of architectural drawings with small writing, I think the larger screen will be the ideal way forward.

I see that the PD3200U is still the recommended monitor here, however the widespread reports of the non-fixable flicker has turned me off dropping $1100 on it. The only other monitor out there that I see regularly recommended is the LG 32UD99.

Are these the only 2 worth considering for a good work 4K monitor in or around this price bracket? The PD3200U sounded perfect however an intermittent flicker would bother me regarding the longevity of the monitor. It seems every PD3200U is afflicted with this issue.

Thanks, and once I purchase a monitor I look forward to making a donation to this great site

[PCM2]

I’ve merged your thread with this one, because alternatives are discussed including the LG 32UD99. However; the flickering issue of the PD3200U is also discussed. It is indeed a nuisance, but is very occasional for most users and largely alleviated entirely by connecting via HDMI 2.0. If I really thought it were a serious issue, I wouldn’t recommend the monitor. Although if I had reviewed an alternative which was otherwise as good in every way without the flickering it would undoubtedly be recommended instead. The LG 32UD99, as discussed, is certainly a decent monitor and should work well for your purposes.

[jim85]

Thanks PCM 2. Have you ever come across the Acer PE320QK – currently it is close in price to the Benq and seems to not have any reported issues with flickering . Other reviews indicate a promising panel. Do you have any thoughts on this one ?

[PCM2]

I haven’t used or received feedback on the Acer PE320QK I’m afraid. But it seems to be a solid bit of kit from what I can see and it does indeed get positive feedback overall. So it’s probably a good choice.

But if you look at the reviews on Amazon.com there is a mention of flickering on one of the reviews. Maybe an isolated issue or the user had a faulty unit, it doesn’t seem to be widely reported and I’d imagine it would be if it was an obvious or common issue.

[Author]

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