Messages

1

Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-10-23, 19:49:33 »

I mean, these 4K 32"OLEDs came just this year, it's novelty. 1-2 years and it will be mainstream and we'll see artist or professional oriented models as well. (like Asus ProArt instead of Asus ROG, and LG UltraFine, Dell Ultrasharp, etc..).

I hope that will be the case.

Can I ask for your opinion on what you consider the "best" monitors for our kind of work within a $500 budget? I'm currently using a Dell U2723QE, and I'm wondering if there's anything significantly better at a similar price point.

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Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-10-20, 07:44:53 »

Old Benq PD3200U. I pondered updating to some of the faster mini-led IPS panels but I found them quite mediocre (and expensive for such) so when OLED went mainstream this summer I decided now it's finally the time.

The WOLED based LG 32GS95UE-B was absolutely perfectly in every way almost except for the vignette crap (which LG calls "Convex Power Control", apparently to lower power draw, to save electricity.. ? It's not like the monitor doesn't have few additional classic OLED ABL algorithms that you can turn off, but you can't turn off the CPC).
I expect the PG32UCDP to be likewise perfect.

These are gaming monitors though, and they come with some wonky calibrations. The colors were good in all modes, but they feature slightly tweaked gamma profiles where all the profiles have stronger black-clip. This is imho done to make the contrast appear more impressive. OLED have infinite contrast in theory, but in practice, during daylight, there is no strong wow-effect (night-time is something else). So they made this weird 2.2 gamma which crushes blacks. Needs either custom calibration (but only LG offers hardware calibration, Asus relies on ICC profiles, so will be ignored by majority of Windows including Max/Corona) or using Blacks Stabilizer, which is boosts the blacks. That's not exactly calibration... but the result works.

For clamping colors to sRGB space during work, I am using https://github.com/ledoge/novideo_srgb instead of using the OSD profile, which find limited in functionality (and not exactly perfectly calibrated anyway).

At the moment, in 1000 to 2000 Euro budget, you can get mediocre "IPS Black" panels (Contrast 1:2000 is actually just 20perc. more contrast that typical 1:1000 IPS, because of logarithmic perception) with 60HZ and edge back-lighting, mostly so-called "Fast-IPS" panels which barely touch 1:1000 (usually they're 1:850-900 at best) at 120-144HZ at lower price range, or Mini-led based at upper price range, but even with 2000 Zones, you have to turn it off for any non-video work, it's just not sufficient, you would need like 20 000 zones at minimum on 32" monitor.

So 1200-1600 Euro for actual 4K 240HZ 270 Nits SDR brightness DCI-P3 color-gamut OLED monitor... that's pretty amazing. Compared to the above, which is just lot of money for subpar and inferior tech.

Another topic is the baby-sitting (hidden taskbar,etc.. )...

I’m not sure. Sounds like a lot of hassle to me. For 1300 Euros, you’d expect everything to work smoothly out of the box. I might just stick with a cheaper IPS for now.

3

Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-10-16, 16:46:39 »

My ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDP (not to be confused with QD-OLED panel based UCDM model) took unfortunately 2 more weeks to arrive, I've received it just yesterday. I've sent my 32GS95UE-B back 2 weeks ago as well.
But I presume they will be roughly identical, except for the ABL algorithms which can be fully turned off on Asus, but not on LG.

Shortly, LG implemented super-weird ABL that creates "Vignette" across like 60perc. of the screen, even with PeakBrightness OFF, so uniform SDR brightness.
That makes it impossible to do any professional graphic work because half of your screen is different brightness than the centre. It's not traditional ABL which turns up&down brightness across whole screen.

Because of that, the only WOLED-panel OLED monitor that can be used professionally, is the ASUS version, because Asus allows to turn all this crap OFF in OSD menu. For LG, you need to use special menu that voids warranty and also resets every-time the monitor as much as goes to sleep (so 20 times a day).

I wouldn't consider QD-OLED panels for work because lack of polarizer means they have purple tint in every daylight settings. I presume majority of us aren't gaming vampires so that is big no-no for color-critical work.

Funny thing is that despite the LG 32GS95UE-B and ASUS PG32UCDP being identical monitors, you can get the LG as low as 1100 EUR on Amazon and Asus is 1600+ Euro. ASUS tax in Europe..

Thanks for your answer. May I ask what monitor you use for color critical work right now?

4

Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-10-14, 00:32:40 »

I will write review of recent WOLED monitors (OLED panels from LG, I tried both LG and Asus version). QD-OLED (the Samsung version without polarizer) is not good fit for work. I'll make a post next week.

Looking forward to reading this since I’m in search of a new monitor.

5

Hardware / Re: Second Monitor Decision: Same Model or Upgrade?

« on: 2024-10-11, 00:29:12 »

I have a BenQ PD3200U as my main monitor and an old NEC as a secondary one.
I totally recommend the Benq. Although I wouldn't have two 32" monitors next to each other; but just because it would be a huge setup.

In what ways do you think the BenQ PD3200U might be an improvement over the Dell U2723QE, besides the bigger screen?

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Hardware / Re: Second Monitor Decision: Same Model or Upgrade?

« on: 2024-10-09, 17:46:06 »

Unless you feel a 27" is too small, I would buy the same monitor.

I think 27" is good enough, but I wouldn’t mind selling this one and getting a different pair if they offer a significant better experience than the Dell U2723QE. Any model you think worth considering?

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Hardware / Re: Second Monitor Decision: Same Model or Upgrade?

« on: 2024-10-09, 17:32:10 »

I would definitely look into getting the same monitor, simply because it will be easier to calibrate them and same monitors always work well together. By the way, I was also looking into buying same monitor - how is it? Would you recommend it?

I’m not a monitor expert, and this is my first quality monitor, so I don’t have much to compare it to. That said, my experience has been mixed:

1) As a 4K monitor, text and icons look very small by default. I had to set Windows scaling to 200%, but some programs, like Max, still display certain icons and text too small—for example, small text in the Slate material editor.

2) The default brightness (50%) felt too low, so I had to increase it to 100%. This forced me to also increase contrast to 100%. I’m not sure if this is a common practice and I'm worry it affects accuracy.

3) The contrast isn’t quite what I expected, though this may be typical for IPS monitors. I guess I'm too used to the contrast and vibrancy of phone screens. This monitor uses IPS Black technology though, which I've read is a good thing. By the way, Contrast is 2000:1

3) Reflection handling is poor (RTings.com mentions this). The screen reflects the large windows in my office, which is annoying. During midday, when a lot of light comes into my office, the screen gets quite dull.

Hope that helps!

8

Hardware / Re: Second Monitor Decision: Same Model or Upgrade?

« on: 2024-10-08, 02:22:33 »

Bumping my own post

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Hardware / Second Monitor Decision: Same Model or Upgrade?

« on: 2024-10-05, 00:41:30 »

I'm planning to get a second monitor to go with my Dell U2723QE. Should I get the same model, or are there better options that won’t break the bank? Or should I wait for some new models coming out soon?

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[Max] I need help! / Re: material editor SLOW - i think its a CORONA issue?

« on: 2024-09-24, 18:10:26 »

P.S.
Sorry to bother you Tom, still no updates on the roadmap.
I'm really interested to see where Corona develepoment is heading for version 13.

+1

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[Max] I need help! / Re: material editor SLOW - i think its a CORONA issue?

« on: 2024-09-06, 18:47:18 »

Same here. This really needs to be fixed.

12

Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-06-06, 16:53:06 »

You might just be sitting further away :- ). I use 150perc. for 32" 4K with tripple surround (3x32") and 150perc. for 27"/4K when I am travelling with  single or dual 27" monitors but I sit much closer to that setup.

I use additional 125perc. scaling on top for internet browsing.

Even with my lens or glasses, I couldn't do 125perc. either and I would find 175-200perc. to be very comfortable for text but already problematic with how it condenses all visual elements. It's all compromise sadly for text vs graphic parts.
Apple does 200perc. for 27" 5K resolution, so it's not like you're in some too odd territory :- ).

No way. My eyes are just 45cm (17 inches") away from the monitor. In fact, the text at 125% is even smaller than the text on a WhatsApp chat on my phone. I'm on a 27" Dell U2723QE

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Hardware / Re: Which Monitor is best?

« on: 2024-06-06, 05:00:42 »

I am using an 27 inch Dell U2723QE with 125% scaling since one year and find it great.
There is also bigger one U3223QE avaliable:  https://tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell-ultrasharp-u3223qe

also, some great articles:
Monitor selection guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1illeNLsUfZ4KuJ9cIWKwTDUEXUVpplhUYHAiom-FaDo
Jonny Elwyn reviews and main concepts of choosing right display: https://jonnyelwyn.co.uk/film-and-video-editing/affordable-colour-grading-monitors-2/

just 2 cent. who knows, maybe it helps :)

Man! Are you able to read the text at 125%? I have the same monitor and at 125% I can't see a thing! Mine is at 200%. Could you shed some light? I must be doing something wrong!

14

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Price Increase

« on: 2024-01-24, 01:15:07 »

Requests for Toon have popped up over the years, for sure; however when compared to our USP mentioned earlier about photorealism for archviz - toon is not realism, and has a more limited use in archviz, which affects it's ranking in priority. I know for some Toon is really important, but in our assessment when you look at archviz projects published anywhere from Behance to CG Architect to Artstation, very few use such a shader. Again, this is just to give an insight in to how we assess things in terms of priority, not to say that someone wanting a toon shader is wrong - just that we have to consider that request inside of a bigger, particular picture.

This is different for V-Ray of course as it is very much a general purpose engine that gets used for all sorts of things, and Toon is much more widely used in that regard. Naturally those who request Toon will see it's priority differently, and naturally it would sound like they have projects and work where it would be a fit else they wouldn't request it, but overall we've felt that other things take the lead in terms of the target market and use of Corona - so the request isn't ignored, just that is how we've assessed it so far when we choose what to work on for the next release. Sorry to those who are disappointed at not having such a shader yet, of course.

What about Vantage support then? That's the number one archviz requested feature. What about the improvements in chaos scatter which has been added in V-Ray long time ago but not in Corona? What about ALL the small features that would make our work easier and we never see in Corona but we do in V-Ray. We don't even have a SIMPLE infinite plane which has been requested many times! Is that not needed in Archviz? What about hybrid CPU+GPU rendering which V-Ray has? Not needed for archiviz either?

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Price Increase

« on: 2024-01-23, 19:34:29 »

Also, what's the point of asking the community about the features we want if at the end of the day you won't listen?