[monitornerd]

Do you have other recommendations beside the AOC Q3279VWF? I’m looking for similar decent, budget 32-inch VA monitors which provide a great movie-watching experience.

Unfortunately, the AOC Q3279VWF cannot be easily found as it is an older model, and I feel that its’ successor, AOC Q3279VWFD8, won’t quite deliver the same experience.

[PCM2]

Yes – look back a few posts or refer to the recommendations section for some alternatives, such as the Philips 328E1CA.

And having recently used the ASUS CG32UQ for a fair bit of Netflix HDR watching, if you’re watching a lot of HDR content I actually feel this is a nice choice. It’s good for ‘atmospheric scenes’ in SDR movie content due to the strong static contrast. For HDR content the effective RGB LED lighting feature makes a nice difference to the perceived contrast levels. I wouldn’t say it’s wonderful for dark scenes even so, but it’s decent enough that it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment there in my view. And for brighter HDR content (daylight scenes, bright elements in darker scenes) it really delivers a very pleasing experience.

[gui]

I am looking to buy a 27 inch monitor that will be used for productivity and for watching movies (in a fairly dark room).
I want USB-C and at least QHD.

From what I read so far a VA panel would be good for watching dark scenes, but I havent really found VA monitors that I like.
I dont want a curved monitor!

So far I have two monitors that look good to me both IPS, so Im a bit concerned about backlight bleeding.

Dell P2720DC
Samsung S27H850

The Dell I could get for 340€ and the samsung for 290€ (I’m in Germany), but I do prefer the Dells look and its newer (does that make a difference?).

I would really appreciate any advice between those two monitors or a recomendation for an alternative one.

[PCM2]

Hi gui and a warm welcome to the forum,

Whilst I would agree that VA models are better for viewing dark content than IPS models, modern VA models tend to focus more on stronger responsiveness than contrast. The ‘on paper’ differences (if you compare specified static contrast values) may seem huge, but in practice the difference isn’t so profound between the two panel types. There’s an interesting thread which focuses on the fact that the contrast performance on VA models isn’t always as stellar as you might expect. If you’re sitting in a fairly dark room then the 27″ 2560 x 1440 VA models simply aren’t going to offer you the sort of deep and atmospheric look you might be after. You’ll notice some ‘VA glow’, ‘black crush’ and blacks that still look more greyish than black overall. They aren’t immune to backlight bleed and uniformity issues, either. Whilst I consider the overall contrast expereince an improvement over what an IPS-type alternative would provide, it’s still not going to be amazing and cinematic – so adjust expectations away from that.

With the IPS-type alternatives you also benefit from a smoother (less grainy) screen surface, superior gamma and colour consistency and a lack of ‘static interlace patterns’ in most cases. This is coupled with the weaknesses in pixel responsiveness, factors which are all covered in our reviews, which are certainly enough to turn people away from VA models. It’s highly subjective, though, and both panel types certainly have their strengths. Weighting all of this against your uses I feel you’d be more comfortable sticking to the IPS-type route. The Dell P2720DC is a nice option in my view. It’s quite similar to the U2719D we’ve reviewed, or more specifically the U2719DC with USB-C functionality. Although it doesn’t offer quite the same tight factory calibration (it’s far from bad according to user feedback and should be fine for your uses), has a thicker bottom bezel and is generally a bit cheaper.

The Samsung S27H850 isn’t a model I’ve received much user feedback for, although I briefly used it a while back and have seen fairly mixed feedback on it. It seems largely comparable in terms of core performance to the Dell models and I wouldn’t obsess over the fact it’s an older model. The panels these products use are all of similar age and performance characteristics are really rather similar. It seems that the quality control of the Samsung may be poorer and you’re perhaps more likely to receive a defective unit, including random signal dropouts and significant uniformity issues. Their aftercare service isn’t as good as Dell’s, either. So It’s probably worth spending a bit more on the Dell and I consider that a slightly more solid product overall.

[gui]

Hey, thank you so much for this detailed response.
That’s what I needed to hear to resolve my doubt about IPS vs VA panels.
I will propably get the Dell P2720DC then.

[PCM2]

No problem. Please feel free to share some thoughts if you do go for it as well. 🙂

[PCM2]

As prompted by discussion on another thread, the AOC CQ27G2(U) has proven itself to be quite a nice option for watching movie content.

[clantan]

Hi and welcome all!

I have a 300$ budget (up to 400$ if deserves it) and I’m struggling to choose a good 4K monitor to watch movies.

Specially looking for VA panels since I happen to watch many movies in a complete dark room to preserve that cinema sensation. Colors are important since old Technicolor movies from the 50s had a lot of contrast between colours and some kind of SDR to HDR technology could benefit from that source tho barely old movies had been remastered in digital with HDR tech. Furthermore, blacks are important too since I usually watch black and white noir movies too (honestly, a lot). I’ve been using IPS panels for years since I also used them for gaming around 50/50, now it’s barely a 10% of use for gaming so I don’t really care about 120-144hz refresh rate, but it could be a plus to match 24fps movies since 60hz doesn’t really work at it best here. I want to change to a VA for once and I think a 60-75hz 4K 10 bits panel with some sort of 24-48hz film option would be my best bet.

In any case, I’ve been reading some reviews and comments here so I have in my target both of the IPS panels and . I would prefer a flat panel over a curved one, but I would like to know if I could do the jump to VA if there is any out there (flat or curved) which could satisfy my cinephile needs.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I’m too picky about the matter!

[PCM2]

Hi clantan and welcome,

Have you sat at a desk and used a curved monitor before? Or will you be sitting some distance from the screen and off-centre which is why you’re put off the curve? As covered in the review the curve is generally something to embrace, not fear. You shouldn’t be put off by preconceived notions or what you see from images and videos if you haven’t experienced such a model before. The Philips and how it compares with various flat alternatives is discussed extensively in this thread. It doesn’t offer a 24Hz mode and I do appreciate this can be nice for 24fps content. If you really prefer a flat alternative, want to stick with ~32″ and contrast is particularly important but you don’t mind a drop in colour quality then the BenQ EW3270U would be worth considering.

[amf78]

Not sure if I or anyone else brought this up before, but is PA32UC suitable for movies (including fast paced 30-60 fps flicks)?
I’m particularly worried about the input lag and the dimming zone latency you’re describing in the review. The slight halos wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me (what else is there except +3000 euro monitors?), provided they don’t take seconds to die out.

[PCM2]

I hope there will be more affordable solutions with good FALD on the market in the not too distant future, or solutions with an even greater number of dimming zones than even higher end models like the PA32UCX offer. But for the moment you’re either compromising on performance or price. It was really too long ago since I used the monitor, so I can’t add to what I’ve said in the review. This forum doesn’t have a large user base and the PA32UC is a bit of a niche product really, so you’re unlikely to receive a reply to this from anybody else.

From memory the reactivity of the dimming zones could be an issue for movies in certain scenarios just as with gaming. You can see the fade out time could probably be measured in seconds rather than milliseconds in some cases, so clearly you could still have some issues even with 30fps content. But these sort of slow transitions for the FALD were observed for transitions between very bright and very dark content. Black to white or very close to that. Just transitions are actually pretty rare in practice. So most movie content would be fine just like game content; the reactivity is fine in most cases. At this stage it might be worth trying out the PA32UC yourself and seeing how you find it.

[PCM2]

Since this thread was first published some changes have made to categorisation for the recommendations section and there is now a dedicated recommended movie monitor section. For those with the budget and who are happy with the ultrawide experience, I can personally vouch for the Dell Alienware AW3423DW as I’ve now used this monitor extensively past the review period. It provides a very enjoyable movie watching experience under both SDR and HDR. I don’t always view such content in a dim room, either, and would reiterate that if you have at least reasonable control over the room lighting then it can be very enjoyable throughout the day.

[PCM2]

A worthy addition to this thread and the recommendations page is the AOC Q27G3XMN(/BK), which really sets the standard for HDR on a budget and provides a strong contrast experience in general.

[seriong_hoo]

how about the Electricity consumption of AOC Q27G3XMN(/BK)?

[PCM2]

Not something we measure, but specified by the manufacturer as 54W typical (190W max).

[Author]

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