[Mihle]

I just looked at the photos, the Philips and the one you linked to seem to just work differently, the Philips seem to just dim all parts of one of the colours in a pixel like normal monitor would but the one you linked to turns off part of pixels but let others stay on, weird.

(dont have comment on this, its just a comment not a question, just one thing I noticed and for some reason wanted to post here)

[PCM2]

That’s correct. It’s partial subpixel rendering and it’s what causes imperfect clarity on text (and other fine edges) on quite a few VA models. The large gaps between rows of pixels is a separate issue, which makes ‘static interlace patterns’ more likely – especially on models with a less than amazing pixel density. Neither issue applies to the 328E1CA.

[Mihle]

You know how the delta E of color/saturation was like? didnt see it in the review, or if it was there, I didnt notice it.

[PCM2]

DeltaE values for colour accuracy can be an extremely misleading metric to use, especially if you’re not using a spectrophotometer or similar device to measure such things. And even that does not take into account viewing angle related perceived changes, which is crucial to understand on VA models. Our subjective assessment is very detailed and offers a much more applicable idea of what to expect from a monitor in actual use than (potentially very misleading) figures. I don’t go into as much detail as I do in the colour reproduction section for my own amusement, it’s to provide useful information. And the omission of any colour accuracy data is intentional.

And why would you care about such figures? Because you’re interested in colour accuracy? Then you’d need your own colorimeter or similar device, considering such measurements on somebody else’s sample is largely irrelevant. Individual units differ, things change over time and there is simply no substitute for calibration and re-calibration with your own calibration device. Especially on models like this with an extended colour gamut, which will upset colour accuracy and require profiling to overcome. This is mentioned in the review.

[Inova]

Hi, thank you for the monitor reviews, i read them all but i still cant decide.

I prefer 3 Monitors now : Philips 326M6VJRMB, Benq ew3270u, Lg 27uk/ul(650,850)

i had a 27k ips monitor but i dont liked the black levels and the contrast, i am playing in a dark room most of the time.
Which one is the best va 32 inch monitor to buy now with freesync/adaptiv sync and picture quality.

The Acer XB321HK would be n1 too but im not sure about the panel, its kinda old and i read about alot of BLB.

Which one is the best for playing rdr2 in a dark room with some rgb lights, with the best picture quality and a decent input lag.

with best regards

[PCM2]

Hi Gagapa,

I’ve merged your thread with this existing one on the topic. As covered here and as per the recommendations section, I’d recommend the Philips 328E1CA. You said you’ve tried an IPS model previously and didn’t like it, so it makes no sense to stick with that panel type. Unless you specifically need it for colour accuracy (photography etc.) The 328E1CA is a superior choice to the flat BenQ model. You need to forget about “HDR” being an attractive feature in these models if you want an atmospheric look to the image and good depth to dark shades. Especially if viewing in a dark room. It’s just not what they deliver, so it’s best to consider models without that and weigh up performance elsewhere.

This post plus this post (and deeper into that thread) are worth reading. But I’d highly advise spending some time reading the Philips review as comparisons are drawn with the ‘flat alternatives with the InnoLux panel’ (two of which you listed). The panel used by the Philips is simply better in many respects.

[Inova]

Hi, thank you for the replay and advice,

i will read your Review about the Phillips 328e1ca, i dont care about hdr, i just want the best va = contrast black levels for a dark room
with the best picture quality.

i prefer flat displays, but i can check the curved too :).

btw if i go for flat monitor , is the Philips 326M6VJRMB way better than the benq ew3270u?

yeah i will read your 2 links now thank your for your help.

[PCM2]

The flat Philips and BenQ use the same CELL (panel, minus backlight). The advantage of the Philips is the more powerful backlight and 16 dimming zones. This won’t deliver you a nice atmospheric dark scene HDR performance, particularly if sitting in a dark room. But the bright scene HDR performance is impressive. If you also use the monitor in a brighter environment or observe content which is mainly brighter it works very nicely. The OSD has more options than the BenQ and the input lag is a bit lower from what I understand. So it is the better option in my view.

[Inova]

Hi Pc Monitors, i still cant decide which Monitor to buy :=), since you are a good reviewer with alot of experience, which 27/32 inch 4k Monitor offers the best Picture quality and colors at the moment, i saw a video about the benq pd3200u and its looked amazing.

I think AH-IPS, Nano-IPS offers the best picture quality at the moment but im not sure, are there AUO Panels and Innolux Panels with better Pictuar quality.

Which Monitor should i pick , besides the curved one :=)

[PCM2]

Hmm… In your earlier posts you made it clear you “want the best VA” and you wanted respectable contrast and dark room performance. So how come you’re considering IPS-type panels instead now?

Some threads I’d advise reading through which are relevant to this, bringing some IPS-type options into the equation:

https://forum.pcmonitors.info/topic/color-consideration/
https://forum.pcmonitors.info/topic/new-32-4k-display-help/
https://forum.pcmonitors.info/topic/27-4k-uhd-ips-vs-315-4k-uhd-va/

[Inova]

HI, cause a guy who is known since years in monitor forums bought almost all pc monitors since years above full hd , va and ips returned them about 100x or more times. He told me, it doenst matter about va 3000:1 contrast , the contrast is not the real contrast ratio , cause messurement tools dont count VA Glow and viewieng angles, the Va Glow and Clouding are worse than the low contrast on IPS.

So now its harder for me to decide which Monitor :=)

[PCM2]

I’m sorry, but as an experienced reviewer I can tell you that is utter rubbish. Or misleading if left unqualified. If you’re sitting a normal viewing distance from a decent VA panel, the level of ‘glow’ is significantly reduced compared to an IPS-type panel. That would mean at least 60 – 70cm, depending on model, sitting quite centrally. And the stronger static contrast from there is clear to see. This is explored in detail in our reviews – not just using colorimeter measurements, but also plenty of subjective observations using human eyes. Monitors of all panel types can have uniformity issues, IPS-type panels are far from immune from such things. ‘VA glow’, perceived gamma and saturation shifts etc. can certainly become problematic if you’re sitting too close to the monitor or viewing off-angle. Although the intense bloom of ‘IPS glow’ will be bothersome to most users in such scenarios as well.

[Inova]

Well i dont believe it , i wrote it to hear your opinion about it, but since you are more experienced than this guy, i will stick to VA.
Thank you for the links and the help 2 days before :=)

Yeah i just wanted your opinion about his opinion :=), no reason to discuss

[occam49]

I’m looking for a 28″ 4K monitor that I can scale the resolution on so that I can scale to HD resolution to keep the display items from being too small to read (old eyes) and get sharper display. In other words i don’t want to get fuzzies from changing from native resolution.

Windows 10

I don’t do a lot of graphics, mostly text. I have an older graphics card Nvidia GTX 750 Ti which is good enough for my purposes.

Looking to get a sharper display but not make everything smaller.

Any recommendations?

TIA

Occam

[PCM2]

Hi occam49,

I’ve merged your thread with an existing one on the topic. What you might be looking for is a monitor which offers a good interpolation process. I’m afraid no ‘4K’ monitor offers perfect scaling of the 1920 x 1080 resolution – there’s always a degree of softening compared to running the monitor at its native resolution. You’re talking about using the monitor on the desktop, though, so you’ll be better off sticking with the native 3840 x 2160 resolution and using scaling in Windows. Or application-specific zoom. That maintains good clarity in most cases and the high pixel density is put to good use even though text is enlarged.

There is no difference in how monitors handle this as it’s got nothing to do with the monitor itself. You should therefore follow our clear recommendations. Was there any specific reason you were focusing on 28″ models, which usually always use TN panels and have a moderately grainy screen surface? Compared to 27″ IPS models which sometimes offer a smoother screen surface and is superior in many other respects. Including colour consistency, and despite what the misleading specifications may suggest, responsiveness. Hence we don’t and won’t recommend one of the 28″ TN options where there are similarly priced and in most respects superior 27″ IPS-type alternatives available.

[Varest]

Hello everyone,

browsing through this forum, I’ve got the impression that there are some very knowledeable individuals around and I was hoping, someone could point me towards the monitor that best fits my specific preferences. This is what I would be looking for:

Necessary:

27-32 inches (32 preferred)
16:9 3840×2160 resolution
VA panel
Black level of 0.11cd/m² or lower
Priced no higher than 600€

Important:

Color accuracy / sRGB coverage 95% +
Peak brightness 260cd/m² +
Good brightness- and color uniformity (from a straight viewpoint, uniformity from an angle not important)
HDR10 (DisplayHDR might be ok if other specs make up for it)
Freesync / G-Sync

Nice to have:

Local Dimming
144Hz
Overall reaction time around 16ms or lower

Thank you in advance for any reply!

[PCM2]

Hi Varest and welcome,

There are several threads on this topic already, so I’ve merged your thread with one of them.

My own recommendation is clear and that’s the Philips 328E1CA. It doesn’t offer a local dimming solution, HDR or a high refresh rate. If that’s particularly important to you, I’d suggest waiting for some models that will be released next year that will offer that. One example that seems to tick your boxes being the Philips 328M1R. The only alternatives currently available that offer decent HDR and some local dimming use the flat Innolux panel, seen in the likes of the Philips 326M6VJRMB and ASUS CG32UQ. As covered in the reviews, the curved Philips offers significantly better gamma and colour consistency – about is good in those respects as you’ll find from a VA panel.

[Varest]

Thanks! The missing HDR aside, the Philips 328E1CA looks wonderful, even though I’ve always been a little skeptical about curved screens.

Out of curiosity, what’s your opinion on the BenQ EW3270U? This has been the previous front runner after doing some research on my own.

[PCM2]

It uses that flat Innolux panel (it’s mentioned earlier in this thread and also in this thread). So it doesn’t compare with the 328E1CA in terms of colour consistency (as above), responsiveness is a bit worse and the screen surface is a bit grainer. It certainly provides a nice contrast performance, slightly better than the curved Philips. But the difference in contrast doesn’t really outweigh the colour performance differences, in my opinion. And the HDR performance is weak, it offers no local dimming nor sufficient luminance to even reach the lowest VESA DisplayHDR certification level (DisplayHDR 400). As covered in the review, the curve isn’t something you should be afraid of on the Philips, either.

[Varest]

I will most likely be ordering the Philips 328E1CA and use it with some ambilight solution. I care about the black level / contrast almost to an unreasonable degree, so much so, that my current PC “monitor” is actually a 2017 LG Oled Tv. But the static content has taken its toll and despite avoiding to run many things in full screen and manually shifting around windows from corner to corner of the screen, I have to deal with a visible amount of burn-in at this point. Should I switch to a newer generation Oled Tv, I definitely need to have a (genuine) monitor around for regular PC use.

This is already off-topic, but I can’t think of someone else approachable who has comparable knowledge when it comes to monitors, so I’d like to ask another related question: Maybe you have some advice on what would be the cheapest reasonable colorimeter (or device of any sort) I could buy to calibrate my displays on my own? I’m starting to feel silly spending increasing amounts of money on quality displays only to use them with suboptimal white/color balance. 🙂

[Author]

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