[Ivanhoe]

Hi,
very interesting discussion here, more technical and not easy to follow for us newbies, but I see that people put a lot of data supporting their opinions here, so when you see reviews on 99% of sites are there just for the marketing reasons, it’s a great pleasure to see something different here, some real reviews and opinions about the intrinsique value of reviewed/discussed products.

I’m just the usual user, but for my eyes and pleasure willing to have the quality monitor, accurate colours and readable screen 😉

Like a driver willing to have the quality car , not driving up to the limit of 210km/h, pushing up 250hp, but it is good to have it as you know that this is some kind of the QC check.

I’ve just received one MSI PS321URV today (496e taxes included) and I suppose that after tomorrow I’ll receive the BenQ EW3280U (437e taxes included), as I has not been able to make my choice. The second one is highly recommended here, but as the first one is almost confidential, nobody talk about it, I am really curious to compare and decide which one to keep. So I’ve pushed the MSI PS321U to see how good or not it is for my usage. Good price for both so it will be more than tough to see which one to keep…giving it to my son in couple of months, as in fact it will be the temporary solution.
It is maybe stange, but I am looking for the the 43″ and nothing is there up to the reviewers.
I’ve found the Samsung NeoQled either as 43QN90a (ADS panel, RGB structure) or 50QN90a (VA panel, BGR structure). 50″ at 800e, but the smaller 43″ that I would like to test, still at 1Keur, so I’ll wait to see reviews, no PC monitor reviews for it?!
I’ve done some test with my 65″ OLED but it is the disaster for the text clarity. GREAT for video, HDR etc. WIndows looks really nice, but when you look the details in text, it is not acceptable (4:4:4, clear type on or off, etc.). Maybe the LG 42″ will have better text clarity but not sure with the WRGB…waiting for the new QD RGB oled from Samsung…or JOLED from LG under 1keur and 42″ at least.

My references are OLED, and the my previous Monitor Samsung S32D850, VA panel, that has been fired couple of weeks ago.

MSI PS321URV

WOW. how GREAT it is vs. S32D850 (I can not compare side by side as my old S32D850 is dead)…but COLORS are so alive on the PS321URV!
The first impression I have.
The panel is perfect. No dead pixels or subpixels. Great uniformity, no DSE…good job AUO/MSI.
one small “defect” : right upper corner has slightly higher luminance, if you really look to find it, in the pitch dark room.
I don’t know how you call it , you pro, but comparing to my BLACK oled panel, I notice it; nothing special as I will work under the ambient or artificial light, so under the light the 0 IRE is black, perfect uniformity. Ok when you look at 120° you see that it is back lighted.
The 5 IRE, perfect. At 100 IRE perfect too.
On 150° this white goes a little bit to rose/reddish…I’ve been surprised, so I would like to compare it to EW3280U. I don’t remember having it with the VA panel. But with the VA panel you loose all colors, here ALL colors are present, only if you have big white window it goes to reddish, but again I Has been really looking to find some weak points. In normal case no problem. Nobody from my family sees it. And here OLED is the KING, nothing can beat it at 150 – 170°

I don’t have the knowledge and spectro to do the technical test, but up to what I’ve seen today, Windows 10 text clarity, Web browser lecture, Excel and productivity tools…IMPRESSIVE. The screen is ALIVE. Photos/Video are GREAT.

HDR is great too with the youtube HDR…not at all at the level of OLED, but I am surprised about how good it is (except the black).

I ‘ll see how to test this low dimming that this panel has, I’ve noticed it when one open HDR window has been on one half of the screen, the second half has been dimmer (we see that the back lighting is off in this case). But I’ll not use the HDR windows mode, with the SDR there are many color modes and I can put on low brightness.

So if someone has questions or tell me what is interesting to test, I’ll found some time and try to do it, end of December, beginning of January.

Especially I’ll check the global picture quality PS321URV vs EW3280U, photos, videos, text clarity, robustness of the connectivity etc. For example, the PS321U has not been easy to activate for the USB-C DP. I don’t know why, DP has been working, HDMI also, HDR 10bit too, but in USB-C mode , only directly connected to the laptop USB-C. Not at all via the dock station. I’ve changed cables, tested the PC setting, and after reducing to 30hz, activating the laptop and MSI duplicate screens, I’ve succeeded to go over dock station, and later on I’ve only put it at 60hz, immediately the HDR has been activated at 10bit color…so all of this is important for the simple user like me, but Windows issue most probably.
There is sRGB, P3 but I can not measure how accurate it is. There is the calibration certificate with the MSI PS321U too.

WEAK point : I’m really surprised that there is no ambient light sensor?! No speakers.

So the EW3280U will probably has the advantage on those two points. Especially as I don’t’ need the brightness that I see the PS321URB has. Really bright. I put the brightness on 20 (it was on 75, for sRGB, P3 etc.)

to be continued if you would like…

[PCM2]

Thanks for posting your thoughts so far on the MSI PS321URV, Ivanhoe. It sounds very positive so far and sounds like you’ve got a good unit overall, which is great to see! To answer one of your questions, TVs aren’t reviewed here simply due to lack of time. I’m so uniquely thorough in how I review that I can only average 1 review per month. I like to spend a lot of time using each screen I’m reviewing, using it as a normal user as much as possible rather than simply rushing through and ticking or crossing certain boxes. There are more than enough monitors to keep me busy without introducing TVs. 😉 I don’t really get on with the current 43″ monitors, either – BGR and other subpixel issues are part of that, even though I find that fine on 27″ WQHD models. There’s just something about them which makes me put them right near the bottom of my ‘want to review’ pile and other screens always end up taking priority.

[Ivanhoe]

Hi, thanks, I didn’t want to say “TV”, as today some “tv” panels have teh quality panels (maybe even better vs. Monitors). For example the OLED is so great in HDR video field. Not important for many users but could be considered. The LG oled has the problem of the WRGB pixel structure “only”. What about mini leds Qled…and those costs 3 times less compared to “monitors” equipped with the same mini led tech.

The 43QN90a seems to be VERY interesting. I don’t know if flicker free tech, but if yes, all cases might be checked (expect the DP / USB-C DP ports…and again I don’t understand why we don’t have the USB-C in 2021 TVs).

Especially it will be perfect for Monitor if it has the RGB structure (even if some experts are saying that the GOOD BGR panel has no text clarity issue, the issue is that many BGR panels from the TV field are just not good enough for the monitor usage)

One weak point of the PS321URV is that there is NO added value with the HDR mode up to me, at least with Windows 10. I can check with the streaming box, but I know that I’ll not use the streaming box with it, that HDR “value” of the PS321UV is just the marketing for me. Saying that, in the SDR mode of Windows, if you need the strong brightness, it is possible to push VERY high, impressive, and the videos are even BETTER in the SDR CINEMA mode comparing to the HDR mode. In HDR mode the black level is TOO high, the pain for the eyes, and at the end the contrast is worst comparing to the SDR where the balance is VERY nice…MUCH better for my eyes. And I don’t like this rudimentary local dimming. It’s a joke…really stupid to put it, you have the impression that something wrong happen to the panel and back lighting. OK, black are deeper on some parts of the panel, but you perceive it like a halo effect on the other part of the panel, so maybe disturbing.
Ridiculous compared to OLED (but here I’m the problem and the oled reference level 🙂 )

Let’s see the EW3280U in couple of days 😉

If we can find the quality of the panel like this one in the 43″ range, it will be the good BIG monitor.
I really don’t understand why they use old ips panel tech for the 43″, and no advanced IPS like the one we see in the PS321URV?!

Up to you, the same panel tech as well as in EW3280U, if I’m not wrong.

cheers

[PCM2]

Sounds to me like the dimming algorithm used for HDR on the PS321URV isn’t great. It sounds like it is ‘hyper-aggressive’ and decides to blast out very high luminance levels if there’s even a bit of brighter content being displayed, at the expense of darker areas. A gentler approach can work better, where it tends towards lower brightness unless there’s a significant amount of very bright content covering a particular zone. I felt the Acer XB323U GP got this balance right as mixed content tended to have the dimming zones staying at intermediate to dimmer levels instead of pulsing about all over the place. Even though it ‘only’ has 16 zones so is quite limited (twice as many as the PS321UV, still). You might prefer the tamer brightness level and lack of local dimming on the EW3280U compared to what the PS321URV offers, I’m keen to see your thoughts on that and the monitor in general. 🙂

[Ivanhoe]

Hi, I’ve just wanted to put my first thought but you are great, you’ve resumed all in “you might prefer the tamer brightness level and lack of local dimming on the EW3280U compared to what the PS321URV offers”…so even before I’ve received the EW3280 and I’ve seen your post ha ha ha. great! yes my impression is that the PS321 is GREAT in term of brightness for people really need it. I do not. I don’t have any more my xrite i1 , I’ve never used it 😉 so sold to someone who needs it more than. So not done properly but my eyes are quite good, so when I’ve put the P3 on PS321, and standard mode on EW3280, adjusting the brightness, I’ve obtained the same Picture Quality…absolutely the same…running the same videos, photos at the same time…BUT when I’ve checked the simple black clipping, I’ve seen that the EW3280 is MUCH better, starting from 17, teh PS321 only from 19-20 pattern, so I have to check the shade details etc. again. but as it is the IPS and not OLED, it will never been so fine tuned, so maybe not so important. or maybe to play more with the brightness and maybe contrast but EW3280 is the winner.

The HDR on PS321 is not useful for me, even worst in my opinion if you don’t need to light up all the street around. The HDRi simulation on Benq us MUCH more useful and looks nice, if someone will use it. My eyes can support this level of brightness for PC use. Saying that I don’t have the HDR Playstation or whatever to see if it is worth or not.

MY PROBLEM, that might push me to send EW3280 back to Amazon is that first of all I can not drive 60hz over the USB-C???!!!
60Hz works over the DP and HDMI, but no way over the USB C. And HDR is working over the USB-C?! but 60hz not?! I’m lucky to have the PS321 here as the same USB-C cable works perfectly on it at 60Hz, so not a cable issue, not the the PC issue or dock station issue. It seems that the issue is in the FW of the EW3280!!! WHAT A SHAME as Benq claims that it has to work on 60hz. But trying to find on the net, I’ve seen that Benq has done the FW update for MAC users having the same problem I am facing with my Windows, with the Lenovo X280. STRANGE.

And here the interesting point. The PS3210 has the option to update the FW over their OSD software. It seems that Benq claims the return of the Monitor to their Service for the FW update, as there is no USB, or maybe I didn’t understand well

And second, I’ve tried a lot of things, I’m not able to drive the sound, DP, HDMI or USB-C are not driving it even if all drivers seem to be OK, but it is maybe something faulty with my unit.

What a pity. No dead pixels, great uniformity, perfect black clipping, no DSE. Great Color accuracy for the eye…color space is not defined as “P3” or “SRGB” like it is in the PS321 with so many options to adjust, but for me EW3280 seems to be the better balanced monitor.

So you’re probably right…even without testing the PS321 over the EW3280 by yourself.

when I’ll be back end of december I’ll do some more tests in order either to fix the 60hz on USB-C (that works like a charm on the PS321) and sound issue, or to send it back. 427eur it is the nice price but 60hz on USB-C and the sound are also important to be working

cheers

[PCM2]

I’ve split this into its own thread so it’s easier for people to find – this is a useful reference for people and I thank you for sharing all this feedback on both models. 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying the BenQ, at least when using its DP and HDMI ports. Regarding sound – odd question and I’m sure you’ve already adjusted this, but is the volume turned up in the OSD as well as the system?

It is indeed weird that you’re not able to use the EW3280U‘s USB-C at 60Hz on your Lenovo X280. It should provide the same functionality as DisplayPort (via DP Alt Mode). I hope you manage to get to the bottom of this, but I’m not sure what you can really do on the monitor side and what you could change on the system to make that work. The S2722QC I just reviewed had a few USB-C settings you could tweak and gave a reassuring amount of information about exactly what signal capabilities were being actively used. The EW3280U doesn’t seem to have any such options, so nothing to set in the OSD. It might be worth trying another cable just in case the BenQ is somehow fussier about that than the MSI. It would also be worth power cycling the monitor – keep it connected via USB-C to your laptop (laptop on, no additional devices connected to the monitor), unplug the power from the monitor and leave it for at least 30 seconds before plugging the power back in. You should hopefully only have to do this once and it will work correctly when your laptop is connected up in the future.

[Ivanhoe]

no way to fix sound:
– all drivers are updated,
– of course that in the system and osd it’s up 😉
– I’ve tried HDMI, DP and USB-c and no sound out
-I’ve also pugged the external speakers to the sound connector of the monitor just to see if the sound signal travels in the digital way over the hdmi or DP and it does, on both PS321 and EW3280
– switched the cables of course ;-). both are working
– the sound works on my oled tv too, over hdmi from teh same laptop, and when travels over the hdmi to EW3280 there is nothing.
the conclusion = the el board for the speakers is probably dead ew3280.

60hz, is the similar story over the USB-C.
– all works on MSI PS321, and even on my oled TV via the usb-c /hdmi adaptor.

so with ALL drivers updated for the BenQ, as you have to do it manually, it does not work.
and you can not update…up to some forums it has to be sent back to BenQ,

so for me this monitor will be returned.
I’m not teh pro but quite used to fix windows and electronics setups, so I think that I’ve done the most important checks

advantage MSI PS321 : all works like the charm, and CINEMA mode is VERY bright, like the TV vivid mode 😉 if you want to use it as the TV.
all other HDR setting are nothing special. and of cours P3, sRGB, Adobe etc for people needing it are there.

advantage Benq: balanced monitor with great PQ, not as bright as MSI, but for the OFFICE work there is no difference between two in “normal” usage.
maybe the backup lighting of the Benq is less aggressive.
and if the sound/speaker works it will be nice. there is the ambient light sensor, nice too.
the HDR mode is the marketing tool, nothing special but looks nice if we like the processed image…I’ve put OFF everything on my TV Oled, so I’ll never put it ON on the monitor either.

so it depends on the price too…but they are in the same price range, MSI slightly more expensive (60eur in my case), so if no extra nits are needed, the EW3280 is the winner for me…if Benq does better QC…
cheers

Edit: GREAT, the 60hz is on with the USB-C…I’ve just done in the way you’ve recommended “It would also be worth power cycling the monitor – keep it connected via USB-C to your laptop (laptop on, no additional devices connected to the monitor), unplug the power from the monitor and leave it for at least 30 seconds before plugging the power back in” it seems that like this it opens more width for synchronizing?! GREAT THANKS a lot

but no sound 🙁

[PCM2]

Some great points on the two models there, Ivanhoe. I’m glad you were able to get the USB-C to work correctly following a power cycling of the monitor. This is a trick I picked up with some models I tested a while back where I had to do that to get DP to work normally (actually, at all in some cases). Shame it didn’t kick the speakers into action, though it must indeed be a hardware fault for those. There’s always something, isn’t there? 🙁

[Ivanhoe]

I’v tried to kick out the sound over the HDMI with the streaming box…no sound
also with the phone over USB-C forcing the sound over external unit…no sound
so this EW3280 will be returned.
cheers

[Anonymous]

On reddit I found an interesting comparison between ew3280 and ps321.

[PCM2]

Thanks for sharing, svkap. I didn’t realise the PS321URV had a floor of operation for Adaptive-Sync of just above 30Hz, which is a nice bonus for that model. Though I’d reiterate that even dropping from 60fps to 40fps is a system shock if you’re at all sensitive to reduced frame rate (increased perceived blur and decreased ‘connected feel’) – but this can be unavoidable in some situations, particularly for less powerful GPUs. 🙂

I know you asked a pricing question to Ivanhoe as well, but such discussion isn’t allowed on this forum. We make this and how people can support our work very clear in the ‘rules’ thread, which users are encouraged to read before posting. With that said, Amazon does often have good pricing on such models but stock levels are not sustained well at this time of year. Supply has been extra unstable this year due to chip shortages and additional supply chain disruption (factory shutdowns etc.)

[Ivanhoe]

thank you svkap for sharing the link. very interesting comparison and I agree as I still have both monitors on my desk hesitating 🙂
In the meantime, I’ve sent and received back the EW3280U from the service, and they have even not tested the sound, sending back the non working sound on my ew3280u, so i will have to send it back the 31st of January.

some more thoughts, considering the equivalent SDR PQ on both there are some + & – for both:

– for me great + for ew3280u is the ambilight sensor!
it’s very comfortable to have it automatically adjusted over day/evening/lighting.
saying this, I’ve found that you can easily preset some CUSTOM shortcuts, either with MACRO physical key available on monitor or keyboard custom shortcut combination, also great, and you can manually switch to what do you need and when ever do you need! But you have to do it by yourself. After that I don’t go into color curve as when you touch the backlit/contrast you touch the profile (it seems that benq is adjusting this too in auto mode…but I don’t see the difference benq/msi for the office work). So for the night you reduce the backlit light to 0 on msi, even the contrast from 50 to 30, and you get the lowest setting/equivalent to ew3280u light sensor running on. you can switch easily between whatever you want. For me auto benq mode is good enough and more easy but less PRO probably.

– Sound is still important for me, but I see that MSI has some kind of the preset connection for the sound bar maybe?! but there is no sound bar available as an option. Maybe choosing the urv321 as it is + adding the sound bar is MORE performant final solution. I have to check, but also maybe small answer for svkap, in this case the price of msi goes up vs benq, as today the price point is the same for both, if you buy negotiating (don’t look the price list where the msi has the higher list price),

at the end I’ve ordered the LG 43UN700 to see what about the 43″, as I need bigger screen. I’ll receive it next days and will compare for office work mainly. The BGR pixel substructure afraids me, I’am even considering the Samsung 50QN90A, teh 50″ tv as the monitor, but here moreover the BGR issue we have the PWM Dimming Frequency at ONLY 120hz in PC mode (vs 960hz in TV mode), so not the best for the monitor use.

there is the Sony flickering free range tv 43 and 50 X80J series…so if I found it on good price, I’ll consider it too as up to RTINGS, those are the very good PC monitors option…to be seen by my eyes 🙂

The problem CAN BE easily resolved with TWO 32″ monitors vs. 43/50″ but I don’t have enough space in width on my desk, and going vertically (as Samsung on CES 2022) might not be the best in term of ergonomy. Seems to me that the 43/50″ in 16/9 4K might be the sweet spot for Universal PC monitor and office work, when we have to scale to 125-150% Windows and better visual comfort. I know a mixed bag all of those of my considerations, but it’s what I need 😉

[PCM2]

I’m glad you like the ‘B.I.+’ ambient light sensor functionality of the EW3280U. I personally dislike the ‘one size fits all’ approach as everyone has their own sensitivity to brightness. I also wish you could decouple different functions as some of the adjustments it makes to colour temperature can be a bit sub-optimal in my view. Nonetheless, it’s a nice feature to have and if you’re happy with the adjustments it makes it can certainly act as a nice ‘set and forget’ setting. 🙂

[Ivanhoe]

hi,
Benq ew3280u has been sent back based on sound issue.
Now, i’m asking myself to keep or not the ps321urv, I prefer to go to 43″ or 50″ panel. I’ve tested it on my 65″ oled and big screen looks awesome, 32″ too small.
waiting for the good 43″-50″ monitor maybe it will be OK to keep the MSI 🙂

does someone know what this support is; on the bottom of the screen? maybe for the sound bar attachment?
If yes I have to look for something compatible.
Thanks

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[Ivanhoe]

Hi, and at the end after all tests, Benq, MSI and LG43UN700, Samsung M7, I’ve not been able to find the monitor compromising my my needs…EXCEPT that there is ONE interesting product: the Sony 43x81j. Tested by myself and finally kept as the PC monitor waiting for the 42″ QD OLED in 2023/24. It can not fight, I’ve done display to display comparison, in the high specs field vs. some of the best 32″ pro monitors (having 98% DCI p3, 140 pixel density), but hands down wins over the 43″ actual monitors range (2021/early 2022) , equipped with old tech ips/va panels. And comparing to the best 32″ it has the wide color gamut, relatively accurate (out of the box dE<2, can be Calman calibrated to <1 for who need it. So resuming all advantages and inconveniences, to make the long story short, it is VERY good 43″ monitor when setup in the right way (4:4:4 rgb , graphics mode, expert 6.5K Color mode etc.), used with the deep deskspace (in my case wall mounted so I have 90cm between the screen and my eyes, 100 pixel density is good enough), and moreover with the scaling of 150% it gives great desktop workspace. It’s absolutely great and i’ll never go back to the 32″, 34″ wide or even 40″ wide. The gamut is good enough having the options to work in graphics mode either in 100%SRGB, or in DCI, 86%, Adobe or even rec2020. No flickering panel with DC, so no PWM like LG or Samsung 43″ monitors that I’ve found flickering. Other 43″ are the shame in 2022. Sony has the quantum dots panel, so helps in term of color gamut too. The only thing that 43x81j is “missing”, if you don’t want “deep” blacks and prefer less glow, is the matte panel (if you want to put it face to some strong light or window behind your back). Semi-gloss gives nice “blacks” over the day light, many of people prefer this kind of panel, but I prefer anyway the matte panel for the PC monitor, I don’t care for “deep” blacks. And if one day it will be curved, 1800r panel… Anyway I would like to say BRAVO for BRAVIA from sony, and the budget of the43x81j is acceptable too (400 in my case). And who needs it has RJ45/Wifi/Bluetooth for Google TV (Netflix, Youtube, Amazon prime etc.), remote control, not having the DP/USB-c, but HDMI 2.0 is great and also compatible HDR. Cheers

[PCM2]

I’m glad you’ve settled on something that works nicely for you. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing QD OLED models myself, not just for TVs in desk-friendly panel sizes (such as 42″) but also for monitor screens of various sizes. I’ve certainly got a keen eye or two on the AW3423DW as the first monitor to use the technology. The price is astonishingly good and lower than many (including me) anticipated, which bodes well for future products using the technology. I suppose it’s to be expected given that Samsung took the brave step of cutting off LCD panel production completely and pivoting to QD OLED. They’ll want to see it spread into people’s homes as fast as possible and provided it lives up to the hype I’m all for that.

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