Monitors

[Gewiz90]

Hi, can anyone help me find a monitor, I have a budget of $1500 USD?

I don't even know where to start.

Thank you.

[Designerman77]

LG Ultrafine 5K. Approx. 1400,-, EUR
But with WIN it does "only" show 4K, as far as I remember from Linus´ Tech talk.
OSX spits out the full 5K.

[Gewiz90]

I would want a 32” 27” seems small

[burnin]

https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/photographer/sw320.html

[jms.lwly]

https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/photographer/sw320.html

Or the similar BenQ PD3220 is worth considering - https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/designer/pd3220u.html - depending which connections you have available. I've got the 27" version and have been super impressed.

[Gewiz90]

thank you for your responses.

What's the difference between the PD series and the SW series?

[burnin]

thank you for your responses.

What's the difference between the PD series and the SW series?

Here are results from Google on Comparison between PD320 & SW3220U

[djstevanovic]

Have you considered 2 monitors option? I have 2 of those and im super satisfied

https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MG278Q/

I think you can buy 2 for 1500$

[Juraj]

LG Ultrafine 5K. Approx. 1400,-, EUR
But with WIN it does "only" show 4K, as far as I remember from Linus´ Tech talk.
OSX spits out the full 5K.

It works in 5k, with full brightness control & color gamut options from Windows under very specific scenario:

- Latest RTX Cards from nVidia, which support DSC (Bandwidth compression) in DisplayPort. Then you can a) either use USB-C 3.1gen2 (Thunderbolt cable will not work), and that USB-C is the VirtualLink originally meant for VR headsets. Or use DisplayPort 1.4 cable directly. Then it's best to force-install (using command line for example) Bootcamp drivers. When Linus did his video (and others), this workflow didn't exist yet.

This is fantastic monitor, the only mainstream monitor with 500 Nits and full wide-gamut coverage. But it's only 27", so small for you (small for me too).

Using this same way btw, it's possible to use Apple XDR Display Pro in full 6k/60Hz/10bit on Windows 10. Not many people know of this hack :- ). 100perc. functional.

Have you considered 2 monitors option? I have 2 of those and im super satisfied
https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MG278Q/

I would highly suggest against. Tis is TN panel, it has generally poor contrast, color gamut coverage, viewing angles. Visually the worst technology of all available (TN, VA(AMVA), PLS, IPS(AHVA), OLED), but with fast refresh rates, so cheaper gaming monitors still use it (higher end gaming monitors either use IPS or VA, IPS being fastest, VA having best contrast).

For color-critical work like CGI, only IPS panels (or OLED) should be used. VA has much better color contrast, but poor viewing angles and worse color gamut that can change across brightness levels.

thank you for your responses.

What's the difference between the PD series and the SW series?

SW series is higher-end model with hardware calibration and true 10bit (instead of  8bit+FRC) (3D LUT stored in OSD, works on top of software profiles).
PD Series is more than good enough for color-critical work that isn't in professional grading/print sphere.

PD3220U is probably the best "prosumer" (Pro/Consumer) 1k Euro monitor, before it jumps to 2k+ Euro like SW series, 3-4k like NEC/Eizo (or 6k like Apple XDR).

I am personally using PD3200U, which is predecessor to 3220U. From my experience (I have 5 of them), they have great factory calibration (but only sRGB and P3 are calibrated, but those are the ones you will use in CGI).

[Juraj]

Oh yes, for PD vs SW series, this guy (he is BenQ ambassador) does fantastic explanation:

When it comes to monitors, only watch people like him, RtRatings or HDTV Test. These are people who understand everything about color calibrated workflow and professional displays (whether TV or Monitors), so it's not like the youtube celebrities with "Oh it has beautiful colors! Shiny & Bright!" :- )

[Gewiz90]

What’s the difference between PD3200 and 3220, besides for usb-c and design?

Is it worth waiting for it and spending more?

[djstevanovic]

I would highly suggest against. Tis is TN panel, it has generally poor contrast, color gamut coverage, viewing angles. Visually the worst technology of all available (TN, VA(AMVA), PLS, IPS(AHVA), OLED), but with fast refresh rates, so cheaper gaming monitors still use it (higher end gaming monitors either use IPS or VA, IPS being fastest, VA having best contrast).

For color-critical work like CGI, only IPS panels (or OLED) should be used. VA has much better color contrast, but poor viewing angles and worse color gamut that can change across brightness levels.

Sorry Juraj, copied wrong link, ofcourse tn is not good, i ment 2 x https://www.asus.com/Monitors/MG279Q/

When i tried dual monitor, i cant work on anything else, just one day im gonna change them for 2x32" 4k ips

Your suggestion is better for sure, if 1 monitor is enough.

Regards,
Djordje

[jms.lwly]

What’s the difference between PD3200 and 3220, besides for usb-c and design?

See the two above posts from Juraj, watch the video...

[Juraj]

What’s the difference between PD3200 and 3220, besides for usb-c and design?

See the two above posts from Juraj, watch the video...

He is asking about former and current model :- ) The video is about two current models.

You answered yourself mostly correctly Gewiz90 though. It's indeed USB-C and cleaner design (slimmer and flush aligned bezels) mainly, but it also comes with wider gamut. PD3200 tops at sRGB, the 3220 already has very good P3 coverage.
It also has HDR, but of course, with under 400 Nits and edge lighting, it's more of gimmick. It got bit more up-market compared to PD3200, which originally started at 900 euro +/- and that got lot cheaper. 3220 is more pricier.

I can also note, that both LG and Dell also use this panel (It's LG IPS, 3200 had AU panel, hence also the change from true 32" to 31.5") in their respective monitors ( Dell U3219Q and LG 32UL950-W ). Dell being the cheapest of all three, LG most expensive. Now the LG might have the best screen (despite all sharing the same underlying panel), but it also has a lot of QC issues, mainly the backlighting and uniformity. It also has worst out of factory calibration of the three.
BenQ positioning the 3220 into their 'creative' line does seem to make it a safer bet. Dell is generally also good.

[Juraj]

When i tried dual monitor, i cant work on anything else, just one day im gonna change them for 2x32" 4k ips

Djordje

Oh yeah, absolutely, go for multi-monitor if you can. I use 2x32" + vertical 24".  I need one being centered, I found only two off-axis to be somewhat odd and unergonomic. I am also not fan of the vertical 16:9 display, I wish there was like 21" 3:2, that would be glorious. But no such display exists :- (.
Then I could do 32" in middle, plus two 3:2 vertically on sides.

That is much better display. I would suggest everyone to go for 4K already at this point, at 27" it looks just right in terms of PPI. At 32" it looks bit..eh. I wish there were more 6k panels like the Apple XDR...just not for 6k pricetag.

[Maybejensen]

Anyone know anything about the ASUS Pa328q? THeir pro art series look promising

[Juraj]

Their ProArt is just brand name for monitors ranging from 500 Euro to 4000 Euro, that have very little in common, except one thing, Asus's poor quality control.

In terms of screen quality of 328Q, that is effectively identical to BenQ 3200U, they both use the same true 32" AHVA-IPS from AU Optronics, same W-LED edge lighting, cover the same gamut and feature only software calibration.
It also has the same age (5 years), so the newer panels on market have improved since.

If you get a unit with no dead pixels, and no backlight issues (ugly colored bleeding, not IPS glow which is natural and inherent to this type of panel), it's still very good monitor. If.. Buy it locally, so you can keep easily exchanging it.

But in 2020, I would not buy it. I also would hesitate about Asus Monitors in general. Not even their ultra high-end FALD & HDR monitors like 32UC fared well, and that's 3000 Euro SKU... doesn't bode well for their upcoming UCX, Apple XDR contender...sure it is not.
Asus in general tries to one-up everyone in specs. All Asus products sound amazing on paper, but quite often come up short in execution.

[Gewiz90]

Hi Juraj,

Thank you for your help, is it worth an extra $500 USD to get the PD3220 over the PD3200 if I'm a Windows user using an RTX2080Ti

[Maybejensen]

Once again to the rescue. Appreciate the insight

Their ProArt is just brand name for monitors ranging from 500 Euro to 4000 Euro, that have very little in common, except one thing, Asus's poor quality control.

In terms of screen quality of 328Q, that is effectively identical to BenQ 3200U, they both use the same true 32" AHVA-IPS from AU Optronics, same W-LED edge lighting, cover the same gamut and feature only software calibration.
It also has the same age (5 years), so the newer panels on market have improved since.

If you get a unit with no dead pixels, and no backlight issues (ugly colored bleeding, not IPS glow which is natural and inherent to this type of panel), it's still very good monitor. If.. Buy it locally, so you can keep easily exchanging it.

But in 2020, I would not buy it. I also would hesitate about Asus Monitors in general. Not even their ultra high-end FALD & HDR monitors like 32UC fared well, and that's 3000 Euro SKU... doesn't bode well for their upcoming UCX, Apple XDR contender...sure it is not.
Asus in general tries to one-up everyone in specs. All Asus products sound amazing on paper, but quite often come up short in execution.

[Juraj]

Hi Juraj,

Thank you for your help, is it worth an extra $500 USD to get the PD3220 over the PD3200 if I'm a Windows user using an RTX2080Ti

The price difference is indeed quite high.. not sure I can answer this. The reviews I've seen of 3220 were all very positive, but whether it is worth it.

Depends if you're on budget. I am at point where I would buy it purely for those slim&flush bezels (I am vain and I am getting annoyed by the general ugliness of professional gear. I want to sit behind nice things. I am becoming an Apple customer? Uh oh..) and the future-proof-ness of wider gamut. Corona isn't color managed yet... but Vray already is. And soon enough, wide gamut will become lot more widespread with the popularity of P3 (far more useful color-space than Adobe-RGB).

For how much can you locally get Dell U3219Q ? I see it going anywhere from 750 Euro already.

[Gewiz90]

Its $839 USD for the Dell U3219Q Would you get that over the other 3 BenQ Monitors ( PD3200U, PD3220) ?

My budget was $1200 USD so I can get either one.

[Juraj]

I would get the Dell over the 3200U, but not over 3220U which is the best of the three.

[djstevanovic]

Juraj, whats with 144hz monitors, too expencive in 32" ips 4k?
I lost track in monitors when i bought mine (27" ips 144hz x2)..

I'm now maybe in position to swich for 32", but must be 144hz or at least 120hz, i cant go back to 60 now, get used to higher, 60hz feels like 15fps :)

Thanks

[Nejc Kilar]

Afaik the Dell U3219Q has some potential flickering issues when the backlight is not at a 100%. Not sure how that looks like really but I just wanted to share it :)

[Juraj]

Afaik the Dell U3219Q has some potential flickering issues when the backlight is not at a 100%. Not sure how that looks like really but I just wanted to share it :)

Excellent point! You are correct, I forgot this being mentioned in RtRatings review. I quickly rechecked all popular 31.5" LG Panels (Dell 3219Q, LG 950-W, LG D99-W, BenQ 3220U) and it looks like flicker-free (without PWM) are only the more expensive 1k ones ( 950-W & 3220U).
But I remember having rather poor PWM Dells back in day and when using at sRGB default brightness spec (120 +/-) it didn't cause me eyestrain. But I had friend who was super-sensitive to this and he complained.

I would just get the better ones (950-W or 3220U) and have a bit of slightly future-proof luxury.

Juraj, whats with 144hz monitors, too expencive in 32" ips 4k?

Usually the "pro" features (uniformity, factory-calibration, good gamut coverage (doesn't need to be wide...but if not, then 100perc. sRGB, if more, than close to 100perc. of that, and not some random numbers) aren't found at same monitors on market due to different marketed audience.
But there are few professional IPS panels with 120Hz, namely the FALD Asus ones, UCG & UCX for 3-4k Euro:- ). I don't know any more from head, since I am ok with 60Hz.

https://www.asus.com/Monitors/ProArt-Display-PA32UCG/

[Gewiz90]

Thank you again Juraj,

I ordered the Ben-Q 3220, are there settings I should change? on the monitor and or windows

Which cable should I use?

Should I buy a calibrator like Spyder? If yes which one?

I'm sorry to bother you I'm just new to all this. 

[Juraj]

Sure.

- Make sure to use DisplayPort and never HDMI. Alternatively, you can use the USB-C (data cable) port if your GPU has one (VirtualLink on RTX-Cards), or when connecting to laptop.
- Use sRGB preset primarily if you want to see correct colors in 3dsMax/Corona (they lack color management currently, so only sRGB will look correct and has to be enabled by monitor, not from Windows), selected from monitor's OSD menu (but BenQ has some Windows App which lets you select it from Windows as well).
- Then you can optionally (you don't need to!) calibrate the monitor using almost any sond on market (because it's W-LED backlit panel), but I prefer X-Rite.

- If you calibrate, use that calibrated profile in Windows (type 'Color managment' into start menu and override into manual mode for selected monitor and select your new profile). Keep sRGB in monitor's OSD.
- Don't be alarmed if your 3dsMax will look different after calibration. 3dsMax(and Corona) ignore Windows color management, they show the fullest gamut of OSD selected profile. Only color-managed applications like Photoshop will show correct colors.

- Alternatively, you can just keep sRGB profile in Windows as well, making your life simple. This effectively disables color managnement in Windows, but the factory calibration (in OSD) is good enough (for at least a year). So your colors will be still correct, or very very close.
- The accompanying BenQ app can automatize some of this, like correctly pair color-profile in Windows, with color-profile in Monitor OSD. They need to match. You can't select P3 mode in OSD menu for example and have sRGB profile in Windows.
(For every profile in OSD, you need individual software calibration and resulting profile. But you don't need to make them yourself, they come together as a driver from BenQ.)

- Outside of the app (which I didn't try), you can use the puck to switch between modes. I don't know if it automatically switches both Windows and OSD profile at same time.

If the above sounds complicated, that's because Windows color management is shit.

[sebastian___]

If the monitor has hardware calibration and after calibration will the new colors be visible in 3ds max as well ? And everywhere else ?

[Juraj]

If the monitor has hardware calibration and after calibration will the new colors be visible in 3ds max as well ? And everywhere else ?

HW calibration sits above the output from system, so it affects everything. But if the calibrated profile is of higher than sRGB gamut(color space), non-calibrated applications like 3dsMax(+Corona) will look wrong anyway. Oversaturated.

The only way to see correct colors in non-managed apps is when the color space is clamped to maximum of sRGB gamut width on hardware level (because OS profiles are ignored). Monitors that don't have HW calibration, still offer factory profile(s) that is applied above the OS, it can just never be re-calibrated on that level.

That is why it's important to get monitor with very good factory calibration even if it doesn't offer hardware calibration.

[Gewiz90]

Hi jurag, this might be off topic a tad but I figured it’s close enough.

If 3ds max and corona are not color accurate do you not touch the tone mapping and LUTs in the frame buffer?

[Juraj]

If 3ds max and corona are not color accurate do you not touch the tone mapping and LUTs in the frame buffer?

3dsMax/Corona are not color managed :- ). It's bit of difference. They ignore system color profiles, and don't offer loading custom ones (Vray framebuffer does, so Vray is color-managed when set up correctly with custom ICC loaded).

But if your monitor is close to 100perc sRGB color gamut, either because that is maximum your monitor is capable of displaying, or you manually clamp it like that through hardware factory profile, or custom hardware profile, and you set your system profile in Windows to be sRGB (so zero software calibration), than in that scenario, Corona&3dsMax will display correct colors.

That is how I use it. This way you are stuck with sRGB color gamut only, but that's what you're gonna upload to internet anyway where 95perc. of work ends up being. sRGB also satisfactory for home inkjet printing.
You can still do separate post-production or just proofing under wider-gamut for high-end printing (which maps closer to AdobeRGB). That requires profile switching on hardware level so it introduces a space for error.

The above solution is the best until at least Corona introduces color managment like Vray has. I don't think we can wait for Autodesk...

[Nejc Kilar]

Not sure what you gents think about the Benq 3280u but I'm thinking it could be a good alternative for people who want solid color accuracy out of the box and that 4k 32" experience (crisp text!). I don't own it but I'm going through the reviews and it seems like a good option.

Sure, its 60hz but it doesn't have flickering issues nor does it suffer from major input lag problems. The price seems to align fairly well (in my opinion) to the rest of the field. The Dell 3219Q seems to be in the same ball park but if you really don't like the flickering when its in sub-100% backlight mode then the Benq 3280u kind of fits in well.

Anyone has any experiences with it perhaps?