Question 4K monitor upgrade: 27'' or 32''?

[MC23]

Hey everyone! I’m considering upgrading my monitor and I’m torn between a 27” and a 32” screen. I’ll be also upgrading from 1440p to 4k. I’d love some advice on picking the right monitor, and I'm also looking for answers to my questions. My budget is ~600€, but I can spend a little extra if it’s worth it.

CURRENT SETUP / USAGE​

I currently have the BENQ GW2765HT monitor (IPS/27”/1440p/60Hz), which is a decent monitor from what I read. I primarily use it for coding, consuming media, and gaming in that order. The distance between me and the display is about ~60cm. I have two problems with it:

1. I feel like that when gaming and watching movies, the blacks aren’t deep enough: I usually do these activities in a dark room because I don’t like having any light around and sometimes it's hard to see what’s happening if it's a dark scene. I read that this is a limitation of IPS, does Mini-LED technology help with this?
2. when I’m working, I sometimes need to place two windows side by side—like Visual Studio Code and Chrome with DevTools on—but they often feel too cramped, making debugging harder. I don’t want a multi-screen setup since I don’t have the space, and with VR, I can easily emulate multiple screens when needed.

DESIRED SPECS​

• Screen Shape: I'm kind of scared to change to a curved screen, does it take a lot to get used to it? How does it perform with office use?
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 (despite the aforementioned side-by-side problem I don't think I'd ever get used to a 21:9)
• Size: 27” to 34”, I think that 32" might be a good solution
• Resolution: 4K
• Panel Type: I was thinking about IPS + Mini-LED as it seems to fit my needs better than OLED, which I would exclude due to a lot of static content, also I read about a new promising technology (QDEL) that might replace OLED in the next years and at that point I'd go with that
• Refresh Rate: 144Hz or higher (minimum value required for FreeSync)
• Adaptive Sync: I use an NVIDIA GPU, so G-Sync support (or at least FreeSync) is a nice-to-have feature
• Response time: I don't care about this too much, I play mostly SP games
• HDR: I think it would be good to have, I didn't understand if it helps with the black depth
• Extra features: Built-in speakers and/or a USB hub would be a big plus! I don’t need a KVM switch. I might buy a console in the future, so HDMI 2.1 would be cool to have.

​

POSSIBLE OPTIONS​

I used DS as recommended on Reddit to filter the monitors, and I also checked this rtings table

I've compared some of them and read rtings reviews too but I can't really understand what features I should prioritize for my use case. I think that these are the top ones that piqued my interest:

• Benq EX321UX - looks really promising, but is it worth 1100€?
• Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx - I can't find it for less than 800€
• Acer Predator X32 - I can't find it anywhere
• Samsung Odyssey G7 for curved option - I'm not sure I'm gonna get used to it

tl;dr

My current monitor, the BENQ GW2765HT, has issues with black levels in dark rooms, making it hard to see details in dark scenes. I also need a monitor that can handle side-by-side windows for coding tasks without them becoming too small. I'm considering a 27” to 32” 4K monitor with Mini-LED technology, a high refresh rate, and adaptive sync support. Unsure about HDR. Additional features like built-in speakers, HDMI 2.1 or a USB hub would be beneficial.

Thanks in advance!

 

[geofelt]

Just my opinion. Bigger is better.
On a smaller monitor 4k text can be hard to read.

 

[Unolocogringo]

My personal opinion is 32 inch minimum for a 4k screen.
Even then you may need to adjust windows scaling to 200% to be able to read small fonts.
Once you hit 4k resolution bigger is better. To a point.

 

[MC23]

Just my opinion. Bigger is better.
On a smaller monitor 4k text can be hard to read.

I wasn't aware of this. I don't understand something: with the same 4K resolution, does the available screen space (I believe the term is "real screen estate") change between 27 and 32 inches? In other words, if I place two windows side by side, what will the difference be? I’m not sure if this matters much since I can scale the size as I wish. I know that aspect ratio influences this, but I just don't understand if screen size does as well :s

 

[JayGau]

32" is the ultimate sweet spot for a 4k monitor. It's small enough so you don't see the pixels and it's big enough to cover your sight to get you fully immersed.