[PCM2]

G’day darrenp and welcome,

Glad to see you’re finding the forum helpful, it’s always nice to have my efforts appreciated.

That’s correct, the only difference with the 27UK850 compared with the 27UK650 is the USB-C port (and the 600 includes a tilt-only stand, without any USB-C). A neater solution with the 27UK600 would be to make use of the 100 x 100mm VESA holes on the back and mount it to a different stand, although I appreciate a nice stand would be added cost and sometimes they can be tricky to source.

There isn’t really anything better than the 27UK850 for the same sort of price, no. And I agree that having USB-C can be a very nice addition if you’re looking to use a laptop – the convenience of being able to charge it is quite something. All in all I feel it could be worth the extra cost, but of course it’s not my money so it’s something you’d have to consider yourself.

[cignig2]

Sorry to admit that I really haven’t read through many threads, including this one, so I apologize for any repetition here.

I’m looking to buy a 4K monitor (tv?) for a new mini pc I built which is going to be used primarily for entertainment purposes, mainly movies. This will be on my desk sitting several feet away, and I was thinking of getting something within the 27″-30″ range. One thing I’d like to have is to be able to go into a portrait mode by rotating the monitor on the stand. Is an IPS monitor still the thing to look for in terms of quality? I’ve been seeing new things going on in the TV world and see “OLED” a lot. Is there anything in the monitor world in the size range I’m looking for that uses OLED technology? If not, what would be some recommendations for 4K monitors in the sizes I’m looking for?

To summarize what I’m looking for:
4K capable
Portrait mode
27″-30″ range
Picture quality

[PCM2]

You can track the latest OLED developments in our dedicated article. If there was anything of that sort available it would most certainly be covered prominently on our website. I’m afraid there are no suitable OLED panels of that sort of size that could or would be used in monitors. There was the Dell UP3017Q that was released a little while ago and was sold in small numbers. But nothing that has been mass produced. And that isn’t really expected to change until next year at the earliest.

So yes, at the moment you’d really be looking at a good IPS display that would fit your criteria, and there are suitable options discussed in this thread. The upcoming BenQ PD3220U has gained a lot of interest, although an exact release date and pricing information is not currently clear. If you’re looking for something really rather high-end and providing an almost OLED-like contrast performance (well, not really, but much better than any other LCD current available) then the ASUS PA32UX that is coming out later this year may be worth keeping an eye on. We don’t currently have a news piece as we’re still waiting for exact specifications to be confirmed, but it uses a ‘Mini LED’ backlight with over 1000 dimming zones. It will not be cheap.

[cignig2]

What about using a TV instead? The price difference between a monitor and TV are pretty significant. Are there differences in a 4k tv and 4k pc monitor?

[PCM2]

Which 30″ OLED TV did you have in mind? 😉

TVs typically have less stringent factory calibration (certainly vs. the usual ‘2.2’ gamma target for PC use), higher input lag, worse pixel responsiveness and other issues such as the use of chroma subsampling (reduces text clarity, very problematic on the desktop). There are exceptions, but we don’t specifically review TVs so can’t advise on them. Obviously if there was a ~30″-40″ OLED TV available and it seemed suitable as a PC monitor, that would be a rare exception.

[kadajawi]

There IS a 30″ OLED TV from Sony, the Sony BVM-X300. However that one sits at roughly 40.000 Euro.

The 55 inch LG B8 is, if you’re patient, available for 1.000 Euro.

[kadajawi]

I’m looking for a 4K monitor, ideally 32 inches (my eyes aren’t good enough). Prefered viewing distance is about 30-40 cm, however I could go to 70 cm at most (but then I’d have a hard time reading content at 100%… which I do want to use if possible). 27″ seems a bit small to me for 4K.

I do not wish to spend all that much, though having used an EIZO EV3285 for a while I might be a bit spoiled.

I noticed that you really don’t like the InnoLux panel used in most VA screens, are there any that do not use this panel? It’s usually quite hard to find information on which panel is used by which monitor. 🙁 At least to me. Samsung seems to use SVA, so… not the InnoLux? How are these panels? IPS is less appealing to me because of their price and their poorer black levels, though the EIZO was okay-ish. Wasn’t too impressed with black levels, but I could live with them if need be. Unfortunately I’m worried that I might sit way too close to any VA screen to not get VA glow, ruining the good black levels.

If necessary I might consider 27″, but then I would absolutely sit close to it.

Budget… I don’t want to exceed 600 Euro, though I’d be much happier to spend around 400… (which basically excludes IPS anyway unless I go for 27″, but for that I’d want to spend less). Of course, USB-C with PD would be very nice, as would be height adjustment that lets the monitor touch the table (though I could use my old monitors’ stand if need be).

[PCM2]

The Sony BVM-X300 is a professional broadcast (mastering) monitor, not a TV. And 55″ is far too large for desktop usage as a monitor, for most users.

The only model I’m aware of that is a ~32″ ‘4K’ UHD and doesn’t use the usual InnoLux panel is the Samsung U32R590C. I have no user feedback on this and haven’t used it myself. It’s on the “would like to review when I get around to it” list, although Samsung are not easy to get samples from at the moment except for very specific models they have selected. All I can see is quite a few people have purchased it through one of our links and nobody that I’m aware of has returned it. That’s always a good sign. It doesn’t offer USB-C or height adjustment, but it might be worth it if you want to avoid the performance of the InnoLux panel. Which isn’ terrible, so don’t necessarily write it off – it’s just disappointing in some respects, to me.

By the way, there is a specific thread which explores various ~32″ ‘4K’ options, specifically, which you may or may not have read through. It’s worth a look.

[kadajawi]

Fair enough with the Sony OLED. As for the LG… agreed. It’s just a shame that they can produce those things at that price point, including all the TV electronics, but can’t get something that’s a third the surface area on the market for a reasonable price? And I’d prefer a WOLED over a RGBOLED due to their better durability and better viewing angles (I had the 12″ Samsung RGBOLED screen, and off axis the image would go nuts).

So not even Samsung and LG monitors have another panel. That’s a ton of choice there… 😀 If I recall correctly, it’s the off axis performance that bothered you. Unfortunately, that is what would bother me too since I have to sit relatively close to the display.

I was thinking of that particular Samsung, as I thought the curve might help with the viewing angles. It’s still quite new though… I’ll try to have a look.

I looked at the reviews by rtings, and they do measure how the black level falls off in respect to viewing angles. And according to them, between 3 different models there are big performance differences. They are all bad, but the way the poor viewing angles are distributed between the horizontal and vertical axis is quite different. No idea why that is the case. Panel variation? The BenQ EW3270U still seems to be my favorite so far (despite the issues it has), and some even say it has USB-C with PD (though no hub. And others say it doesn’t support PD). Maybe I have to order it to see if it works for me. I think in particular with VA panels it would be valuable if reviews mentioned the distance, at which (sitting right in front of the display) the VA glow goes away. Maybe together with a video, that shows how it looks like at different distances when looking at a black screen.

I did see that thread, but since I might have to pick a 27″ I thought this one was more appropriate. 🙂

[PCM2]

Panel variation, perhaps, or differences in how they are set up or possibly some inaccuracies with the methodology. I don’t personally agree with the way they test some things and present some of their data. Cameras and specific data points don’t usually tell the full story when it comes to monitors, which is why I like to do things differently. A useful and unique resource for sure, but you need to keep an open mind when it comes to some of their testing. If it can’t be explained logically, there’s often a reason for that. 🙂

With respect to VA glow, we mention the viewing distance that we sit (which is typically 70 – 80cm for a ~32″ model) and describe the effects of the glow in some detail there. Very few users are going to be sitting further away than that, so I don’t consider it useful or practicable information to suggest how far you’d have to be sitting for it to disappear. Furtermore, the actual distance you’d need to sit back from the screen for it to disappear would depend on the brightness set and is affected by other uniformity issues (backlight bleed, clouding) which can ‘carry out’ the glow more.

Perhaps seeing one of them for yourself, such as the BenQ EW3270U, might be the way forward? It might not be as bad as you’re thinking. I realise the Samsung is new and very much untested really, something I’ll happily change when they can sort their samples out.

[kadajawi]

That makes sense. I think it is useful to have data, however it needs to be put into context (to be fair they do that too). Also, it would be neat if they showed how they measured certain things. Or maybe they have and I haven’t found it.

I was fortunate enough (or not) to get an EIZO EV3285 review sample, which I was rather pleased with. However that made going back to my old monitor a bit hard. I will try to find the EW3270U (or something similar), however I have little hope of finding one around here. I imagine I could ask for a review sample and some manufacturer will respond, but right now I have two more reviews in the pipeline, so I don’t have the time for that.

Someone on Amazon did mention that the EW3270U needs about a meter distance for the colors to be stable. Unfortunately that’s a long shot away from the 40-70 cm that I want to (and am able to) put between me and the monitor. Although maybe at 60 cm it will be good enough to be acceptable? I mean I’ve been using a VA for a long time now, and I could live with it. It’s just I don’t want to spend much on a monitor I’m not fully satisfied with.

The alternative now is 27″. That means IPS (even though at this size VA would be more acceptable, I guess?), so sitting close to it wouldn’t be much of an issue (but also necessary, because the resolution is quite high).

[PCM2]

There aren’t any 27″ ‘4K’ VA panels, so that would be a no-go. Could you not buy a model from Amazon and simply return it if you don’t like it? Their returns policy is excellent and you wouldn’t be left out of pocket. So you’ve only got time to lose.

[anasmmkh]

Hello all,

So there are many monitors out there, and I am confused which one is the best for me.

I have been searching for a long time trying to pick the right one, but this market is not like choosing a new ram or ssd.

I will be using the new monitor for at least 10 years, so it should be powerful and lasts long.

Please I need your help guiding me to choose the monitor I need under the following standards:

-nice and crisp 4k, IPS panel, and 27 inch (no more no less)
-for everyday work, comfortable to my eyes
-great and very beautiful when handling colors, hdr, browsing, movies, and games (i am not a true gamer)
-under 800$

There are many great monitors that I looked for, so please help me choose from these following monitors or please suggest a better one:

LG 27UK850-W
Dell P2715Q
BenQ PD2700U
ViewSonic VP2768-4K

Thank you.

[PCM2]

I’ve merged your thread with this one. Your options are discussed here. Also refer to the recommendations section . So the LG 27UK850 would be a good option, although consider the ‘650’ variant if you don’t need the USB-C port. We specifically recommend the 27UL650, which offers a slightly enhanced HDR implementation and slightly better factory calibration.

[hiczok]

Figured out it would be nice if I dropped by and shared my opinion on LG 27UK650 (ul not yet available).
I was searching for a monitor for a long time. tried ew277hdr (va gamma shift is not for me), 144hz 1440p monitors (like the new gigabyte monitor or new acer nitro both with horrible bleeding and/or ips glow) and so on.
Finally I’ve decided it might be a good idea to just invest in normal 4k IPS if I really care about image quality and not so much about competitive gaming.
I only play single player games both on pc (rtx 2070) and ps4.

And let me say – the lg 27uk650 is very good. My unit have no serious backlight bleeding and only minimal ips glow in all 4 corners(as opposed to other ips monitors I’ve tried which had HUGE blb but in 1 corner). It’s barely visible even on whole dark field straight on. Having seen a lot of monitors, I think I’ve managed to find a good unit.
Here is an not overexposed photo at 120cd: https://i.imgur.com/NWdm3uK.jpg and bonus photo of dark souls 3 https://i.imgur.com/V5EPbCv.jpg

Positives:
-Gamma is good at 2.2 (measured on eizo test site),
-no banding, 10 bit can be selected in nvidia control panel.
-Freesync 40-60 works perfectly fine. Just have to force vsync constantly ON, in nvidia control panel and best to use RTSS to limit fps to 58 or even 60 just to minimalize vsync lag or (with 58) to stay in freesync range all the time. I’ve tested it with gsync demo and sekiro game.
-Stand is very tall and I can finally have a monitor that I can use at proper height.
-4k Looks are good! Everything looks like vectors. Love it now that I have reasonable power to drive it.

What is bad:
-3.5mm audio output is terrible quality. It cuts off left or right channel unless You hold it in place straight. It’s just a bad port. Guess I will need to get usb soundcard for ps4 if I want to play with speakers… it should have better quality than any monitor digital to analog converter anyway.
-Included DP cable is so short, that it cannot reach a PC standing NEXT TO THE MONITOR. I’ve had spare 1.8m COXOC cable and used that. Not sure if it’s any good brand but it seems to work ok.
-Power adapter cable is extremely thick and hard to hide but it’s not that big of a deal.
-Coating looks very light but have some visible grain on white shades. I’ve had glossy hp 27ea before and maybe I am spoiled. It is much lighter than on my very old u2312hm for example but it’s not glossy.
-HDR suuuuucks but it is to be expected with just global dimming IPS. I will never use it and do not plan to use it until we have Oled monitors. Benq Ew277HDR had an ok HDR but it was so bright all the time it was unusable

tl:dr – Sekiro plays great

[PCM2]

Awesome. Thanks for your feedback and I’m glad you’re enjoying the monitor overall. I’ve not come across a supplied DP cable that’s that short before, that sounds comical (but annoying). The screen surface is indeed a bit grainy on all of the 27″ ‘4K’ models – it’s not just you. It’s very light matte but still has some underlying graininess (a rough finish). You’ll see this mentioned in our reviews of all 27″ ‘4K’ models (we’ve reviewed several). Some are worse than others though. 🙂

[Teapot]

Hi gang,

I’m back, having lurked for the last few months waiting for the market to refresh and some new products to release.

Still on the market for a 4k, preferably high (and wide, 30-100+) refresh monitor and I’m wondering if the Acer Nitro XV273KP might be the one and would value some insights from much more knowledgeable opinions than my own.

The reasons for this monitor –

1. The freesync version seems pretty good value (mod: Amazon links or donations are good ways to support our work, we aren’t supported by any purchases made elsewhere).

2. If I’m reading the specs right, you can use Gsync with it and have Freesync or Gsync and HDR working together if your happy with 120hz and 8bit colour (please correct me if I’m wrong with any of this!). Having the option for Gsync on the freesync version alone saves £200 on the Gsync version and seems worthwhile for the added flexibility in future system builds…(here’s hoping Navi is good and cheap!)

3. Its pretty much the same panel as the much more expensive Acer Predator X27 – just without the FALD light. Colour and responsiveness seem good and there’s 4 inputs so you can have a console hooked up for 4k/freesync action which is handy.

I recognise that not having the HDR1000 certification means the HDR results are mixed – but this still seems like one of the better monitors for HDR (without having to sacrifice freesync/Gsync). The other negative from online reviews seems to be severe IPS glow/backlight bleed. I’ve got a Dell IPS gaming laptop which isn’t very uniform but I’ve not really noticed any issues so hoping I either get lucky on the screen lottery or am not particularly sensitive to this issue…

So, what do you guys think – is this a good monitor or are there better alternatives I’ve not considered? Look forward to your thoughts!

[PCM2]

I’d advise spending a bit more and getting the Acer XB273K instead, which we recommend if you’ve got an Nvidia GPU. The Acer XV273K (no need for the P or the rest – just part of the extended model code) is gimped by a poor pixel overdrive implementation. More specifically, you would have to put up with extreme overshoot at lower frame rates (and hence refresh rates) with Adaptive-Sync active. And that’s going to be a common occurence given how difficult it is to run the resolution. If you use the ‘Normal’ overdrive setting, there is a lot of ‘powdery’ trailing from slower than optimal pixel responses. The maximum refresh rate supported with Adaptive-Sync active is 120Hz rather than 144Hz – hardly a huge problem unless you’re running games at >120fps anyway.

The pixel responsiveness simply isn’t anywhere near as polished as on the G-SYNC model. The pixel overdrive is superbly well-tuned over a broad range of refresh rates on the G-SYNC variant (30 – 144Hz). Users commonly report issues with excessive backlight bleeding on the XV variant as well and I’ve had direct ‘complaints’ of this nature by email even. Of course there are no guarantees on either model, but the design of the G-SYNC model seems to at least reduce the liklihood of that sort of thing. Another slight advantage of the G-SYNC model is that it at least has some local dimming. Nothing amazing, but just enough to give a slight situational benefit to contrast. If you’re going to spend ~£1000 on a monitor (or a few hundred either side), I’d highly recommend going for gold rather than silver. It’s something you’ll be looking at most days and it should last you a good long whilst. But getting it from somewhere with an excellent returns policy is always advisable. Which, hopefully, you’ll not even have to use as you’ll really enjoy the product.

I appreciate that it can be nice to have the flexibility to go with either an Nvidia or AMD GPU in the future. But I don’t personally see AMD suddenly significantly outperforming the raw grunt of Nvidia’s high end offerings. Price to performance ratio is another matter. And I think you’d be giving up too much based on your experience now as well as in the future just for a bit of flexibility with the GPU vendor.

[Teapot]

“I’d advise spending a bit more and getting the Acer XB273K instead, which we recommend if you’ve got an Nvidia GPU. The Acer XV273K (no need for the P or the rest – just part of the extended model code) is gimped by a poor pixel overdrive implementation.”

It is for exactly this reason that any monitor purchase should be required to consult with this website first!

I’d not picked up on any of those issues from other reviews (but had read the very good write up for the XB273K here!).

My dilemma now is the price though – I could just about stomach the £899 for the XV variant (there’s something psychologically satisfying about being under £1k for any purchase – but only when you think you’re getting a £1700/£1800 product for that!) but the XB27 is £1200 on Amazon at the moment. Is there also an argument for going for the full hog X27 at that price? It’s £500 more for the full experience?

[PCM2]

Yes, there is certainly something to be said for spending an extra £500 any going for the X27 instead. But ultimately, that gives you a similar experience to the PG27UQ. Which is not a product I recommended primarily because I felt the price was too steep. The prices have come down just a little compared to the time of review, but I’m still uncomfortable recommending that monitor (or X27) at the current price. The FALD backlight solution and superior HDR performance is certainly nice, but there are a few things to be aware of when comparing it to the XB273K:

– The FALD backlight of the higher end models draws a lot of power and generates a lot of heat. The fan needs to work harder as well. This doesn’t matter to everyone, but it’s a small point that can be easy to overlook.

– The 384 dimming zone FALD solution isn’t perfect for HDR, due to the ‘halo’ effect and inability to create the sort of depth and atmosphere you’d ideally get. Noticeable if you’re viewing in a dark room, less so in a well-lit room.

– The colour gamut of the XB27 is ~90% DCI-P3 – enough to give a nice edge in vibrancy for SDR content. At ~98% DCI-P3, the X27’s colour gamut gives more significant oversaturation. Some users like this look and shade variety is still maintained because this is proper additional saturation (from a wider colour gamut – not a digital adjustment or compression). Others find the look too saturated, whereas they might be fine with ~90% DCI-P3.

– The XB27 has lower input lag and slightly lower overshoot (better pixel response time tuning) vs. the X27. Not that the X27 has high input lag or particularly strong overshoot, by any means.

– The XB27 has a slightly lighter (lower haze) screen surface.

I feel that the main benefit of either product is the combination of responsiveness and resolution. It’s really something very special indeed and I already miss it having given the XB27 back to Acer. I do enjoy the ‘fuller fat’ HDR experience of the higher priced models, but as above I still don’t feel this alone is enough to justify the extra expense. And with the slight drawbacks to consider as well. The HDR performance of the XB27 was certainly far from lacklustre in my view. The dark scene performance and lack of brilliant bright shades certainly made the experience less dynamic than it could be. But the tone mapping and overall implementation was as good as I’ve seen and it made the feature very useable indeed.

[Author]

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