[MuttZeppi]

UPDATE:

The delay between my original post and this comment is not because the RMA process took a while but because I took a while to find a proper box to ship the monitor in. Anybody who might read this, keep your monitor boxes, if you have to RMA it will save you from a major headache.

I sent my monitor out April 18th and the replacement arrived yesterday. I have to give BenQ props, I expected to get a refurbished BL3201PH but instead, I’ve received what appears to be a brand new PD3200U. The monitor has no signs that it’s refurbished, it has all of the original paperwork along with installation disk and individual calibration report. Regardless, I’m ecstatic and will continue business with this company for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for your assistance both in the purchasing this monitor and your advice here. I now only have one question, what’s better for the PD3200U, the HDMI or DP it comes with?

[PCM2]

Oh yes, always keep monitor boxes! I am a massive hoarder of boxes, I’ve kept boxes for things I’m probably never going to sell or need to send back as well. Much to my wife’s annoyance. This thread really is testiment to the continued excellent service of BenQ – your experiences echo that of others. So I’m glad you’re having such a good time with the company and others should certainly bear this in mind.

I’d just use the DP cable it comes with. Unless you notice frequent flickering or something like that, in which case HDMI would be a good alternative and may alleviate that. Assuming that your GPU has HDMI 2.0, of course.

[gasdocscott]

I’d like to buy the 328E1CA but there seems to be a 3 month lead time on Amazon and struggling to find it anywhere else in the UK. Has it not been released into the UK yet? Is there a similar alternative?

Thanks in advance!

[PCM2]

Hi gasdocscott,

I’ve merged your thread with this one as it’s an appropriate place. Plus I wanted to re-invigorate this thread, since the Philips 328E1CA is a very interesting alternative to the much more expensive IPS-type models discussed here. And a far more compelling choice than the flat VA alternatives (with Innolux panel) I’d tested, which are mentioned a bit in this thread and compared a bit in the Philips review.

The 328E1CA is available in the UK and Amazon has had stock in the past. It’s a popular model, we’ve had quite a few orders go via our website so know this is the case. The lead time is actually 1-3 months, which is a standard way of Amazon saying they can’t guarantee stock will be ready in a few weeks. However; sometimes items go from such a lead time to being in stock even before that 1 month is up. This may or may not be the case here.

As for alternatives, there’s nothing directly comparable. There’s the Samsung U32R590C, but it doesn’t have the same backlight and has a much narrower colour gamut (less vibrant and saturated look to the image). Plus, I used one briefly and wasn’t particularly impressed with the image setup. It seemed to have some gamma issues and pixel responsiveness was perhaps not quite as well tuned as the Philips – although I only tested it quite briefly, so it’s difficult to say. It just didn’t inspire as much confidence or give the same positive impressions as the Philips. It still had similar contrast and colour consistency characteristics which I feel gives the curved VA models an edge over the flat VA alternatives.

[gasdocscott]

Thank you so much for the reply! I really appreciate it. Looks like I’ll just need to be patient then. I don’t game at all on my PC, but do a lot of work with spreadsheets and data manipulation, so multitasking in multiple windows is important. I also do 3d print work. Your review of the monitor makes me think this might be just the ticket – not too expensive with lots of space!

[PCM2]

No problem. It probably would’ve been best if you had explained that in your earlier post today. To me it looked like you made an unexplained U-turn and ignored the advice I gave you. But you’ve explained where your thoughts came from now, so it’s all understood. 🙂

[fun145]

Hi PCM2 (Adam), first of all, sorry for hijacking this topic thread, but i think my question falls within original post.
First of all, sorry for any typo’s, mispelled words or any other errors, although i will try to write everything grammatically correct, english is not my native language, so there might be some errors.

My current rig consist of 16gb ddr3 ram, xeon e1231v3 (basically i7-4770), gtx 970 along with 1tb hdd, pre2014 1080p (full hd) 60hz ips lg 21.5 inch monitor and win7 (yes i now i will have to replace win 7 along with ssd for faster basic system use in a near future as well as gpu when switched to uhd).
Most of the time i use my pc for web browsing, some youtube watching and office work (word,excel…), occasionally programming (when enough time) and light gaming (again when time to spare found, mostly rpg games, rts games, space-type games, sometimes racing types, minimum to none fps game (i do not find them fun most of the time), basically light sporadic gaming).

I viewed many of your videos, and read some of topics you recommended to others (like 27 uhd ips vs 32 uhd va, or which recommended uhd 32, and so on … ) asking similiar question, so i have some idea now, and i bet you would like to recommend the phillips 32e1ca as a best of the monitors within my budget. (Btw. for which -reviews and videos- i am really greatful, there are not many monitor reviewers, doing great in depth reviews, that are easy to understand, while there are so freaking many monitors out there in the market, so i would like to say you big Thanks and that you are doing a great job.)
As i live in europe, i am constrained by local market, and my mental budget is up to 500-550 euro tops (around 550-650 usd , based on specific monitor and local tax+ retail margin) I would not feel comfortable to pay more for monitor.

I think uhd monitor (2160p) would suit my use case nicely and 32 inch seems a sweet spot for that resolution (tested on 21.5 fullhd with dsr to increase to qhd -simulating ppi to 136 and could read many things within system comfortably, without scaling, increasing it higher to around 164 – simulating 27inch uhd -had a hard time to read anything without scaling, and scaling has its own problem on win 10, let alone win7).

So within my budget, there are not many choices for 2160p 31.5 inch monitors, mostly va panels, which when viewed directly (well informed about color, gamma and brightness shifts when off angle on all va panels – worse viewing angle) with high contrast might be a good choice for work with a lot of text, multitasking and light gaming (almost none fps game types). I know that high refresh rate could be a benefit for racing type game, but i am a light gamer, not playing racing games that much and i can be ok with 60fps. At that lower refresh rate and fps (freesync -because cheaper technology) might come to play, eliminating tearing (which i am sensitive to and can see it so it bothers me) and stuttering/juddering ( right now i am using fastsync to eliminate tearing and input lag) with a low input lag are the gaming features i am interested in most (i can see ghosting and inverse ghosting as well, but ghosting bothers me less than tearing, because it is part of percieved blur)

So here i ended, 31.5 inch va uhd screen. I am slightly afraid of curved panel so i think flat panel might be better for me (again slightly worse viewing angles and worse response time does not bother me that much than on better curved phillips 328e1ca).
Also i like the wide colour gamut monitors and might like and use hdr later (might buy used ps4 pro later for console expirience) as well, as i am planning to buy monitor for the next 5-10 years, if it still works. Also i forgot to mention the monitor should be flicker-free( as from using my current one, i know i am sensitive to that), and power brick for me is rather advantage, than disadvantage.

Although i am not definitely decided yet, i found these interesting and my question ties to them:
Lg 32uk550 – 300-310-340euro (base on seller) base model with ‘fake-none’ hdr and adjustable stand, mediocre speakers

Benq ew3270u – 363-370-390 euro (base on seller) – worse stand (tilt only-has to buy vesa arm in this case, need height adjust.) + b.i.+ not much of use, + usb-c (maybe used in future) – bad speakers
Confirmed -both using same innolux m315djj-k30 panel 8bit +hiFRC (10bit sim.), lg should use custom enhance colour backlight filter (ksf i think), benq should use too custom filter as well (pfs i think)

Phillips 326m6vjrmb – 490-540euro (base on seller) +similiar but metal stand, +better speakers (dts, same watt, in mind for future ps4 pro, have basic speakers for pc already), + hdmi 2.0 (1 more, than in other models), +hdr 600 (usable hdr experience in bright room), +16 local dimming zones (for hdr), +usb-hub (1upstream 3.0, 2x 3.0, 2×3.1 fast charge) not much use yet

Both lg and phillips 326 have joystick menu control which is plus, benq has mutiple buttons. Now your suggestion:
Philips 328e1ca 360-385euro (base on seller) ?curve 1500r, +has wide color gamut, -bad stand (only tilt), -? brightness stated only 250 nits (so mostly for a darker room), ?ports as lg, ?no hdr at all (not even fake), ?speakers as benq, ?worse contrast (2500:1, does it matter?), ?freesync 48-75 hz ? (75hz uhd?).

I can use monitor in dark/light room, i can customize ambient light, so that should not be much of a problem as i can tweek brightness of monitor as well (except hdr).

So here is my question, is it worth (if i can afford it) to pay +200€ more for phillips 326m6vjrm than that lg 32uk550 (lg seems better offer than benq, cheaper, same display, better stand) for better hdr used in future (on ps4 pro, win10 with supported games,…) or is it just a waste of money and lg is a better price/perf. product (i think hdr can complement uhd nicely, but not sure at all), or is the phillips 328e1ca much better for my use case than any of those monitor i mentioned before.
Thanks for answer, and have a nice day (night here already).

[PCM2]

Hi fun145 and welcome,

I’ve had to make a few modifications to your post, including adding some paragraphs (spaces between lines). Otherwise it makes things very difficult to read. Also note that the curved Philips model is the 328E1CA, not 32E1CA. Just small things, not to worry about, but things to bear in mind for future posts. 🙂

Note that none of these models support anything significantly above 60Hz at the native UHD resolution or anything close to it. That’s specifically mentioned in our reviews, including that of the Philips models: “Note that we will not be including a section on overclocking, as the monitor lost signal when set much above 60Hz at its native resolution or indeed lower resolutions such as Full HD.”

As I’m currently reviewing the ASUS CG32UQ, which is similar in many ways to the Philips 31.5″ Momentum screen (don’t want to give too much away before the review) I can certainly share some thoughts. The colour and gamma consistency differences between the flat Innolux panels and the curved Samsung SVA (328E1CA) are noticeable to me, much as highlighted in the Philips reviews. The flat models have significantly more ‘black crush’ and the saturation shifts from a normal viewing position, seated at a desk (~60 – 90cm away) are much more pronounced. This may or may not bother – you suggest it won’t and it’s something you can look past. The screen surface is a bit grainier on the flat models, that’s something you didn’t mention – perhaps you don’t care about that. The contrast difference is slight but noticeable, but only really in certain lighting (i.e. dim lighting where both are imperfect).

So there are certain advantages either way. But really, this ASUS is reminding me how much I personally enjoy the VESA DisplayHDR 600 experience with some local dimming. I’m actually finding I use it quite extensively and it really brings content (including Netflix, games and other HDR-supporting content) to a new level that you simply don’t get under SDR. Even with the dark room weaknesses, which I feel are easy enough to look past if you’ve got a good ambient lighting solution. Given all you’ve said, I feel the Philips 326M6VJRMB would be worth paying extra for and will give you the sort of experience you’re after.

P.S. I may move this into a 32″ ‘4K’ specific thread, just to give it a bit of love. Don’t be surprised if you see your content disappear from here suddenly, it hasn’t gone completely.

[fun145]

Hello PCM2,

Firstly thanks for so fast reply, i really appreciate your time, you put in it, i know you are probably busy most of time.

Sorry for wrongly stated phillips 328e1ca, it was a night, i wrote it purely out of my head recalling 32 inch and e1 line with ca suffix, but do not worry, i do not mind any corrections you did. As for 75hz uhd in phillips 328e1ca i mentioned, i read it on one seller site and it seemed weird to me, so i ask you to recheck and confirm with your review.

Looking forward for your review of asus cq32uq, as i am still in the market for a new monitor, did not bought anything yet. As of black crush and colour shift, i understand that they are to some degree on all va panels, but at my budget, i do not think there are many options, even though it would bother me to some degree, it is the tradeoff that has to be taken in case of overall product and limited budget. As of graininess, it is hard to tell if it would bother me, as in work i use old fullhd tn 22inch benq ET-0026-n 9H.L3RLN.1BE, and at home i am using old fullhd ips lg 22ea53vq.Both has matte 3h coating A.F.A.I.K.

I will be using monitor at typical viewing distance 60-90cm (2-3 feets),maybe slightly more so i feel 31.5 (’32’) inch be maximum usable screen size.

Anyway i was surprised that you recommend me philips 326m6vjrmb even with its tradeoff, but i feel i might use its hdr capabilities later on. Still not 100% decided, but at least you ‘gave me a last drop of water to the bucket and’ helped me to filter out lg32uk550, benqew3270u, samsung32e590 and similiar, with only remaining both phillips 326m6vjrmb and 328e1ca to make decision between, or soething new if it would cone out in a few next months.

Still a lot to think of.
But anyway a lot of thanks for your patience with me and for your time and keep going on doing a great job, you did so far…
Best regards and a lot of good things to you.
Libor (fun145)

[PCM2]

My pleasure. I find Philips naming very confusing and usually forget the full model codes myself, so don’t blame you at all for forgetting that! Just a few notes:

– The 75Hz refresh rate listed by the retailer will stem from a misunderstanding from the specifications. Philips states 75Hz is supported for the 328E1CA, but not at which resolution. If you look at the manual you’ll see it only applies to some very low resolutions. It most certainly doesn’t apply at the native resolution, as covered and tested in the review.

– ‘3H’ for a screen surface refers to hardness, or more specifically scratch resistance to the ‘pencil test’. It tells you nothing about the haze value or texture of the screen surface. Old E-IPS models like the 21.5″ LG you mentioned have a similar screen surface to these flat InnoLux panels, so if you found that fine or didn’t notice any issue then it’s likely not going to be an issue for you. I’ve certainly seen worse examples of grainy screen surface than on these panels! 🙂

[Zaguer]

Very interesting what you say as I took from previous post that you enjoy the 328E1CA more than the 326m6vjrmb.

I have a technical question, why do we always say that the 326m6vjrmb gives a good enough HDR experience in a bright room? why is it not good for a dark room?

Thank you.

[PCM2]

The 328E1CA does have a superior panel, with the strengths I’ve highlighted above. However; a good HDR implementation really adds something that goes beyond what any SDR screen can offer. And that includes the 328E1CA. It is something some will love, others not so much. Ideally you’d have both the superior image quality characteristics of the curved Philips with a nice HDR performance – but no product currently offers that. I feel the appropriate section of the review and accompanying video explains very well why the Philips offers good bright scene performance but is less impressive for dark scene performance. Note that ‘bright scene’ refers to the content being displayed and not the room lighting, which is a separate consideration. Any weaknesses in terms of black depth are naturally more obvious in a dimly lit room than a brighter room – that’s how contrast perception works and the natural effect of competing ambient light vs. absence of it in the room or around the monitor.

There will be an interesting take on things on the upcoming ASUS CG32UQ review, by the way, which will reinforce the importance of appropriate lighting. This isn’t just something I’d suggest when using these monitors under HDR, it’s good advice in general. It just happens to be particularly important when the black depth can be drowned out by very high luminance levels, as with the VESA DisplayHDR 600 implementations being discussed here. Either way, using a model with a nice effective HDR implementation, again, makes me realise how much I’ve missed not having it. In my view it really does add a lot to the experience, but you’d need to weigh that up against the added cost and drawbacks compared to opting for the curved Philips model. HDR isn’t something you’ll use all the time, either, whereas the benefits in colour reproduction and some other aspects of performance on the curved Philips can always be enjoyed.

[Zaguer]

Thank you very much. I am really looking forward to the ASUS CG32UQ review and see what it adds to the table.

In my case tho I think it is between the 328E1CA and the 326m6vjrmb, as I want to get something on the Black Friday and I am currently checking for any potential price drops (using your link of course!). The CG32UQ doesn’t seem to be available here in the UK for now so it is not an option for me.

Once again, thank you.

[atomicus]

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this as I’ve been on somewhat of a stressful monitor journey of late… I tried the following 32″ 4K monitors…

BenQ EW3270U
Acer ET322QK
LG 32UK550
Philips 328E1CA
LG 32UL750

My biggest issue with them all has been backlight bleed. Coming from IPS, I was fed up with low contrast and IPS glow, but I found bleed was very noticeable on every monitor I received, some were just appalling. The Philips was probably the worst tbh, although I did like the curve. The Acer ET322QK is HDR-600, but I found the bleed on this to be severe also, plus I don’t think it has the same zone back-lighting as the LG, but I can’t be sure on this. It didn’t feel like it did though.

I did not try the Philips 326M6VJRMB or 328P6VUBREB which I believe would be very similar to the LG 32UL750… with the expected backlight bleed lottery.

The Philips 43″ 436M6VBPAB with HDR-1000 was tempting me, but I was uncertain about its use for productivity given the text issue. I’ve not seen it in person though, and some people seem fine with it. I’d be curious to see one for myself.

Anyway, the monitor I am keeping for now is the LG 32UL750, as it was actually the best for bleed (still some though), but the reason I am hanging on to it is because of the HDR-600 and overall HDR experience, which while far from perfect definitely adds something to gaming. HDR-400 on the others is a joke and worthless. This standard needs to be scrapped because it’s really good for nothing in my experience, and consumers are just being scammed into thinking otherwise.

I have a while until I have to return this LG, so I’ll keep an eye out for the CG32UQ review, although I get the impression it will be on the expensive side. The only thing I don’t like about the LG is the bleed I have in the bottom corners, which I do still notice in some scenes. Other than that though, it’s a good monitor and coming from IPS, I think the colours are very accurate. I do notice some colour shift, but this is acceptable to me. Contrast is VASTLY improved over IPS, that’s for sure.

I need 4K for productivity, and am a casual gamer, so I have no choice but to sacrifice high-refresh at this price point. I’d obviously love to see a 32″ 144Hz option with these specs available in the near future… at a sensible price of course. I believe Philips do have a potential solution with the 328M1R 120Hz, but I don’t think anything about this has been confirmed yet so very much wait and see.

At around the £500 price point, I don’t see anything else on the horizon that has potential with HDR-600 or above, but from my own personal experience, I’d gladly pay a SMALL premium for HDR-600 over the utterly useless HDR-400.

[PCM2]

Excellent and very useful feedback there, atomicus.

I agree with you that the backlight bleed lottery is annoying. And it’s a shame it affects VA models and can draw one away from some of the key benefits of the panel – strong contrast and good dark-scene performance. I’m glad you’ve settled on something you’re happy with and completely agree with you that VESA DisplayHDR 400 is misleading and provides an HDR experience that’s far from dynamic. A good VESA DisplayHDR 600 implementation, on the other hand, adds a whole new dimension to the experience. HDR without local dimming is really just SDR with enhanced tone mapping and better use of the colour gamut – but manufactures often manage to mess that up as well. And it seems VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification is meaningless as to how well-implemented the whole thing will be.

The 328M1R is certainly interesting. It’s a model I’m looking forward to testing out next year for sure. 🙂

[atomicus]

Do you have any info on the release of the CG32UQ? The Amazon link on your news piece has one seller (at an expensive price it seems), but they’re in Germany.

I also noticed your article states that “8-bit colour is supported”… shouldn’t it support 10-bit if it’s HDR-600?

When will your review drop?

I guess you’ve heard no more info on the 328M1R? Monitor news/progress does seem to trickle out a snail’s pace.

[PCM2]

The 328M1R is still due Q1 2020, nothing more specific. As for the CG32UQ, I’ve simply been told to expect it “this year” in the UK and Europe. Nothing more specific I’m afraid. Monitors can be VESA DisplayHDR 600 compliant even if they only offer 8-bits per channel and offload a 2-bit dithering stage to the GPU. This is common, actually, and has very little impact on the image. However; the review will clarify all of this further.

[bg]

I’ve been on the lookout over the past 24 hours for a new monitor (hoping to grab one on the current sales)

Based on the sales, I managed to narrow down to the following

• SAMSUNG U32J590
• Philips 328E1CA
• benQ EW3270U
• LG 32UK550

I checked out your very extensive review on the Philips 328E1CA and based on that managed to eliminate the benQ and Samsung, believing the Phillips to be superior.

I’m finally just left with trying to understand whether the LG outperforms the Philips…

I’m using this in a work context, so not interested in gaming-centric features. I am a cross-discipline designer and engineer, so work across software development (UI), graphic design, and CAD software. I’ve previously been pretty unsure about curved screens, and how that may affect my ability to perceive things on-screen (for CAD and graphics).

Could you provide any further insight to help inform my choice?
TIA

[PCM2]

Hi bg,

I’ve merged your thread with an existing topic which covers this sort of comparison. The LG 32UK550 uses exactly the same CELL (panel minus backlight) as the other flat models, including those you listed. The Philips 328E1CA offers superior colour and gamma consistency (lower saturation shift, less ‘black crush’, more appropriate detail levels towards edges of screen), slightly better pixel responsiveness and has a less grainy screen surface. The static contrast is somewhat weaker on the curved Philips, but still strong. For your uses I understand the curve could be a concern, but generally users find they adapt to it just fine and it’s something they quite enjoy using. The superior image performance will be more important I suspect.

[bg]

Hi PCM2

Many thanks for your quick response – you are right that superior image performance is crucial for me, and I have heard of examples where people in my field have adapted to a curve. I think for my purposes I’ll aim for the Philips then.

Thank you so much for the excellent in-depth reviews and support; I will definitely be looking to use affiliate links for my upcoming purchase.

[Author]

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