I'm in the market and I've noticed a fairly broad range of prices, and after ingesting as many reviews and roundups as I feel I'm capable, there doesn't seem to be a stand-out pick of the bunch, so looking for recommendations, anecdotes, caveats and anything else I can get. Needs: - 4K - DP & HDMI (I guess DVI with adaptor would do, but I'd rather HDMI onboard) - Decent enough colour accuracy, without being too picky (i.e. not necessarily pro level specialist kit) - A max width of ~750mm - Pixel perfect. I've not bought a monitor in a while, not sure if dead/stuck pixels are still the issue they once were? Highly desired: - HDMI 2.0+ - Speakers, better is better, but just for "misc" and windows sounds - 32"... 27" is probably okay and I use a 27" now. What seems to be a pretty big significant gap and more to choose from at 27 may convince me otherwise, but it seems a shame not to take advantage of all those pixels across a larger area. - Height adjustment that will allow it to sit relatively close to the desk. Nice to have: - USB Hub - Decent looks - Bonus connectivity, like MHL, TB and the like - Any other bells and/or whistles Unnecessary: - Crazy low response times - G/Free/Adaptive-Sync Undesired: - "gamer" styling Use: Work, casual and the odd game (at 1080p). I don't game on the PC much, but I've dabbled in the likes of Beseige, Planetary Annihilation and Cities skylines in the last few years. Will be fed primarily by what I expect will be a Dell XPS15 9560. Budget: Exactly as much as it needs to cost, but not a penny more. I've got the BenQ BL3201PT on the top of the shortlist now, but it's only there as it seems to tick more boxes than the alternatives, but not all of them. No warm fuzzy feelings about any of them really. I'm in no hurry currently, so if it's just a matter of the entire market being a bit "meh" or there's an uber-monitor being released soon, then I can always wait and see what happens.
What do you want 4k for type of work? At 27-32" you'll be dpi scaling and not really having useful screen real estate boost at 4k but things will look lovely and sharp If you want to use it for realestate larger is very, very good, particularly if you will find things like multiple macines on one screen useful, as mentioned comes down to what you want it for, my games PC just uses a 4k TV, works well, smart tv built in mhl, speakers, pretty good when on PC label, but for work the monitor is what I need for better accuracy and PIP features.
A rough idea of how much you're willing to spend would help. IIRC Dell's offerings are still a fairly safe bet though.
Dell UP3216Q or Asus PA328Q? AFAIK, they both hit all your needs, highly desireds and nice to haves bar the Dell which doesn't have speakers. They're both of a grand though.
Powerpoint mainly, some solitaire for quiet days Seriously though, generally I want to be have more stuff side by side than 1440p currently allows me to - I find that constantly switching windows is a real productivity killer, and when scaling things down to make it work, I find fidelity, rather than size, the limiting factor. The preference for 32" is mainly because I feel I'd be able to use it at 1:1 to make the most of things, whereas 27" would almost surely need scaling. Mainly though, in this day and age, I'm not about to buy a monitor that isn't 4K. "Exactly as much as it needs to cost, but not a penny more" I guess that's not really entirely precise, but basically that. I'm not going to say "cost is no object", because only morons and billionaires say things like that (and there's only a small chance I'm one of those). I'd probably make a minor concession if it saves a packet, but at the same time it's something I'm going to be staring at for several hours a day for the next several years, so it needs to be right. I started looking at Dells, but they all seem to leave the speakers at home. I glossed straight over both of those on account of the "Pro" claims to be honest, assuming I'd be paying a lot for a level of colour accuracy and adjustment I just don't need (and to be fair that's totally the case), but the Asus certainly seems to tick all of the boxes. I wouldn't mind spending less on something a lot less accurate, adjustable and generally "pro", but then that doesn't seem to be a thing. Cheers for the poke in the right direction Edit: Just found a Philips BDM3275UP that might fit the bill as well that I hadn't come across before, and save a few quid. Patchy availability though.
Seeing as you want more things side by side have you considered the ultrawides? The dell 3417w for example (or the 3415w although older is mostly the same but with less of a curve and will be cheaper). It has speakers, HDMI 2.0 and display port, is not gamer looking, good colour accuracy, USB hub. Also no scaling issues. Problem is it is 814 mm wide, so I don't know how rigid you are on that width requirement. https://www.nrgit.biz/products/dell-u3415w-ultra-wide-34-inch-curved-wqhd-monitor
Arrrrrrrrgh A realisation came to me that I'm an idiot. So obvious that it woke me up in the middle of the night last night to slap me in the face. I need speakers for general windows notifications, IP calls, webex, casual youtubery and the like (I have real speakers for music). This is a fact. However, I am going to be feeding this screen with only laptops for the foreseeable future, and probably forever. Turns out that laptops generally have onboard speakers. So the bit of criteria that's been crossing off loads of otherwise viable candidates is no longer there. And I'm an idiot. Will start over... Not a goer unfortunately, the hard limit is more like 790mm, but it would look a bit awkward wedged right in the gap.
Single link DVI can handle 1920 x 1200, while dual link DVI can handle 2560 x 1600, so unfortunately no, DVI with adapter isn't an option. The only connection standards that can cope with 4K 60Hz are DP 1.2+ and HDMI 2.0+ Scan has the Philips BDM3275UP in stock btw.
Obviously your laptop will pass audio through HDMI to a screen allowing you to use the possibly better audio of a screen, always nice for sound to come out of the thing you are looking at rather than off to the side, so you might still want speakers but you can do as I have done and add a sound bar later, if you plug something like a console or fire stick etc things are a bit easier if the screen has speakers. 4K can be handled by HDMI 1.4 but only to 30hz, which I used for years on my work laptop and it is no bother at all for desktop apps and actually not terrible for the sort of games you mention, ideally you want HDMI 2 to be future proof but if an old 4k screen like my old bdm4065 comes up cheap for sale its worth a look despite 1.4. If you can fit a 40-43 there are some good options out there in both TV and monitors, excellent size for looking at lots of content, the BDM4350 from Philips is awesome, nice upgrade from the bdm4065 for my work stuff http://www.philips.com.au/c-p/BDM4350UC_75/brilliance-4k-ultra-hd-lcd-display Its downsides are crap menu controls and not being able to configure all features like disabling some of the power save stuff without entering a service menu but otherwise this screen is awesome. My play screen at home is a TV http://www.samsung.com/uk/tvs/suhd-ks7500/UE43KS7500UXXU/ 4K HDR goodness for PS4 Pro but also use my gaming PC on it and once you configure the colours and tone down all the TV focussed boosting stuff it looks almost as good as the monitor. EDIT - just noticed you say you have a 790mm hard limit, Doh, these are not for you.
Acer B326HK ? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...g-widescreen-led-monitor-black-mo-076-ac.html - 4K - check, 3840x2160@60Hz - DP & HDMI - check - Decent enough colour accuracy, without being too picky - for me it was good enough - A max width of ~750mm - 740mm if i measured correctly. - Pixel perfect - mine had none, or at least i don't see them. - HDMI 2.0+ - sadly no. - Speakers - yep, some crappy ones. - 32" - it is. - Height adjustment that will allow it to sit relatively close to the desk. - check. - USB Hub - check - Decent looks - minimalistic enough - Bonus connectivity, like MHL, TB and the like - mini Displayport, the HDMI port is also MHL port. Notes : - the bundled Displayport cable is horrible, can do only 4k30 through it. Needs a different cable for 4k60. - the input switch is only a button press, and then it cycles the inputs in predefined order. Cannot select specific input directly from quick menu. If you want to select specific input, you need to go into the OSD, "settings", there select Input and choose the desired one.
Wifey's laptop only has HDMI 1.4, and she would appreciate a big screen occasionally, so DVI would work for for now. HDMI 2.0 is definitely a want though, seems like something that would be limiting at some point in the future otherwise. The Philips one doesn't look to be in stock at Scan to me The HDMI 2.0 is a bit of an omission, I feel like it would be remiss with what looks now to be a few alternatives. Yeah, speakers would still be a nice to have for sure - having researched the Asus to death now, I'm kind of feeling that. I found a couple of AOC models that I never noticed before that tick most of the boxes too, but both seem a bit compromised compared to the Asus (funnily enough). Interesting you say you used 30hz for desktop, I would have thought that would be a bit juddery? Good to know anyway, as whilst my current (and future) laptop are 4K60 capable, wife's is HDMI 1.4 only, so just presumed she wouldn't be using at native res on the odd occasion when she does use it.
Success! I think. So the BenQ BL3201PT that I originally had on top of the short list, but wasn't too keen that it was only HDMI 1.4, seems to have a replacement, barely, in the PD3200U. I've not found any reviews anywhere, just a couple of announcements, and it's not coming up in many shops. In fact, I stumbled across it on the BenQ site when I was looking for the official specs for the BL3210PT, as it wasn't really coming up against any search terms at all. I've pre-ordered from Amazon on the basis that its predecessor was well received, and it's only £695, which I'm going to assume is keenly priced since it's a solid £100-150 lower than the few other shops and the that have it (and the older model, tool) and against the €900 RRP. And it's got a trick integrated KVM, which is definitely one of the "other bells and whistles" nice to haves. It's Amazon anyway, so generally pretty risk free. I know, right? This led to much frustration trying to research, could have done with more tabs, but there's only so much that will fit on 1440p The fact that monitors all seem to have a model name like BL3277PDXQ-UHD-XL9 doesn't help either.
Are you a monitor manufacturer? Need to name your newest product? Open a random file in a hex editor and pick the lines that correspond to last weeks lottery numbers, assemble them in whatever order you want making sure to sprinkle the result with a liberal dose of - and / et voila, your monitor now has a name. That stand on the BenQ is sexy, shame about there not being any reviews around, but hopefully it will be fine.
