[mareSLO]

Hey guys, so i’m looking into buying a 32 inch monitor, has to be 4k, non oled or QD-LED. It would mainly be used as a productivity monitor with occasional gaming on top, that’s why i’m excluding oled’s ect… Mini LED’s with dimming zones are also still rather pricey so i’v decided to exclude that also.

KVM and PD is a must cause i would be using it with own pc and also plugging in my work laptop via usb-c, and occasionally switching between them. It has to be 90 PD+, because that’s what the work laptop needs in order to charge properly. It also has to support 144+ hz refresh rate, occasional gaming and all that. The budget recommendation in this site, kinda ticks all the boxes, MSI MAG 323UPF, if anyone has other recommendations please say so. I would love to have an oled or QD-led’s but i’m still skeptical about burn in and also staring at text all day is not optimal on those screens.

Hey if someone is using those types of screens for work everyday, please respond, i’m kinda curious what your experience has been like.

[PCM2]

Yup, I’d stick with the MSI MAG 323UPF. I don’t think you’ll find a more suitable option, but if anybody has any similar models they’ve got personal experience with please feel free to share them.

[mareSLO]

You know what, i just went ahead and ordered one. I might write my impressions in here. The thread can still be used if someone else is looking for the exact same things in a monitor. I’m sure new ones are on the horizon.

[jyot]

Your thread is exactly what I am looking for however the MSI MAG 323UPF is not available in my country and after loads of reviews I have narrowed down to PD3205U & EW3280U. I know these are 60hz but there is nothing available in 32″ with such a superior IPS panel in this price range.

This forum has made me really incline towards the EW3280U but there is no comparison of it between the PD3205U. It ll be good the have a detailed comparison specially when it comes to text clarity / uniformity and eye care. I am a hobbyist photographer but really am spoiled by my Macbook 16″ Screen. My original Monitor for the PC was a Panasonic 100hz 32″ 1920×1080 IPS TV. (pc is used only for gaming, movies and web browsing)

Other options I am considering are in 27″ but might not go ahead with are:

Dell U2724DE( 27″,120hz,QHD)
Benq PD2705U (excellent panel but limited contrast and HDR)
Benq PD2706U (improved version of the PD2705U with higher contrast and brightness, better HDR, but no support for Freesync)

Even though LG was my first priority, the build quality of the new models are a concern. Specially with their ERGO series where the USB C falls in the panel

Dell U2724DE seems too good to be true specially for the price point and several users have reported IPS bleeding

Additionally if anyone can also has any experience on connecting my Z906 with the monitor by using SPDIF out or eARC out or a usb hub that will be great.

[PCM2]

Hi jyot,

A key attribute you need to consider as a hobbyist photographer is the colour gamut (see also), which is a key differentiator between several of the models you’re looking at. Do you wish to work in (or towards) extended colour spaces or are you going to be distributing photographs digitally and will be wanting to stick to sRGB (the common standard for that)? For example, the EW3280U offers relatively strong DCI-P3 coverage (~95%) whereas the PD3205U (and PD2705U) target sRGB without support for extended colour spaces.

When it comes to uniformity that varies significantly between individual units and I don’t think you can reliably separate the EW3280U and PD3205U based on that. The latter includes a Uniformity Compensation (UC) setting which should help iron out some of the natural brightness inconsistencies in the panel, but that comes at the expense of contrast as usual for such a setting. And there’s not a lot of that to begin with, so when you’re dropping it by perhaps 30-40% it’s not ideal.

[jyot]

Hello

Thanks for your prompt reply

Most of my editing will be done my Mac and the reason I mentioned being a photographer and using Mac was because occasionally working on my PC or playing games shouldn’t feel like a huge disappointment after my MacBook 16″ XDR promotion display.

The PD3205U looks brilliant but the contrast and brightness are my concern.(I have seen the PD2705U in person but it has higher contrast). Your review and replies on several threads regarding the EW3280U are mesmerising. There was also a comment by you that the 32″ AUO Panels are more uniform and have crisper text than the 31.5″ LG panels but since that was from 2020 and I don’t know how true that stands for PD3205U vs EW3280U.

Also the fact you mention the input lag & responsiveness for EW3280U is great considering its a 60hz 32″ 4k panel there is no information like that for PD3205U

In short I was inclined for the PD3205U (except for its contrast & brightness) until I read your review and responses to some thread here strongly recommending the EW3280U

Another compelling launch by Benq is the MA320U but we ll have to wait till the units ship out.On paper it looks great but how it feels to the eyes is yet to be seen.

Is there a PD3206U in the pipeline just like the PD2706U?

[PCM2]

The overall panel characteristics do change between particular panels from a brand, and certainly for newer generations of LG Display panels it seems that some of the characteristics I was initially critical of have been improved. It’s also difficult to recommend monitors just based on specific panels because it’s not unheard of for manufacturers to change to using panels from different manufacturers. Or simply use them interchangeably depending on what they can get supplied (so may use a mix of LGD, BOE, AUO, Innolux etc.) for the same model.

There isn’t currently a PD3206U available – their most recent release in that segment is the PD3225U which is on the more premium end in terms of product positioning and pricing. But there seems to be some relatively recent references on BenQ websites to “PD3206U” (example) so it may be released in the near future. It seems to have undergone certification with various organisations at the same time as the PD3225U (which was released back in March this year) – so hopefully we’ll shortly see it pop up.

[mareSLO]

Hey jyot the MSI MAG 323UPF was not available where i live either, at least not directly, but thankfully amazon saved the day. So do check there if you have not yet.

[mareSLO]

Well i got my mag 323upf monitor yesterday. Man this thing is beautiful, even out of the box. Have not played with any settings yet, apart from setting game mode to user and doing the same for the pro mode. Hey PCM do you by any chance know why i can’t set my refresh rate to 165 hz. In win 10 it caps at 160 for me. Could it be the dp cable ? Used the one i had before since i have the monitor on an arm, and did not want to redo the previous cable run. Will have to buy a new dual monitor arm aswell since the current one can’t support the weight of this thing properly… Managed to DIY a solution for now 🙂

Oh one other thing. Will probably be buying another 32 4k, but this time without all the bells and whistles like KVM,PD and high refresh rate, since one monitor with all that is enough. I would like to keep it IPS tho and afcourse it has to be flat, not curved. Any suggestions there ? If it were MSI, that would look the best, but its not a requirement.

[PCM2]

I’m glad you’re really enjoying the monitor overall! It’s a 160Hz monitor, it doesn’t support 165Hz. It will also only use the last preset you’ve selected, whether it’s a ‘Game Mode’ or a ‘Pro Mode’ – and the ‘User’ setting is the same whether you select it as a ‘Game’ or ‘Pro’ mode. I always thought this was an odd and confusing way of doing things, but it’s what MSI has gone for.

The pricing of the MAG 323UPF is so aggressive that there aren’t really any competing models that I’d recommend which cost significantly less. Perhaps the Gigabyte M32U, but depending on regional pricing and sales it might not be any cheaper anyway. The AOC U32G3X is another alternative to consider, depending on pricing.

[mareSLO]

Thank you. I’ll look at those 2, to see what’s what.

[jyot]

Hello

Thanks for the reply

Since everyone is so confident about the MSI I did enquire about the MAG323UPF but that is not available

However a newer model strangely named as MAG 322UPF is available for about USD 750.

EW3280U at USD 500

PD3205U at USD 530

PD2706U at USD 430

Pricing for MA320U is still not disclosed here but is scheduled to be launched on 30th September

[PCM2]

As you can see from our articles, the MAG 322UPF has a less powerful backlight without specified local dimming. It’s VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified rather than VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified as a result. It’s likely the panel used is the same and you can expect similar performance outside of brightness and HDR.

[jyot]

Thanks PCM2

I was out shopping Access points for my home but I also ended up pulling a trigger on the PD3205U and this monitor is something! yeah was feeling frisky haha!

I thought because of the sRGB or the poor refresh rates / lower contrast I am making a compromise but after using the monitor for a few hours all I can say is I am IMPRESSED! Using uniformity mode, HDR mode and brightness at 5% at night and at about 15% during the day so my concerns about brightness are also invalidated

No eye fatigue, the screen just looks like a paper. I haven’t done any gaming but since I am a casual gamer I think I ll be fine. The only downside, I ll have to upgrade my PC haha! the GTX 1080 Sea Hawk can easily handle 4k but my CPU cant handle HDR videos at 4k. its an ancient Intel 3570K

Kept color mode at 10bit (59.997hz) instead of 8-bit+Dithering (60 hz)- didn’t see any difference but not sure if it’s even a true 10 bit panel?

In short I am enjoying my monitor, the KVM & type c allows me to use my work Macbook at home and the “hot key puck” is handy! Some tinkering around with Mac scaling to prevent burdening my Mac gpu to upscale and downscale is required but I ll get there eventually.

unless one is serious about gaming (or really professionally needs DCI-P3), I can really vouch for the monitor. If any tests / photos / questions about the monitor are required please feel free to ask! Paid USD 530 ( INR 44,600) inclusive of all taxes

[PCM2]

I’m glad to see you’re really enjoying the PD3205U and I appreciate your feedback on it. 🙂

The monitor is an 8-bit + FRC monitor on the panel side so it’s always using dithering. It’s probably just that the ’10-bit’ resolution option is using the panel’s dithering stage and the ‘8-bit + dithering’ mode is offloading the dithering, perhaps to the GPU. It shouldn’t make a clear visual difference either way, but if you want to make sure the monitor itself is handling everything for 10-bit content then it’s right to select the 10-bit option. 🙂

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