[SOLVED] Advice please.....BenQ monitor choice

[ualdriver]

Tom's Hardware Brain trust-

I've been reading reviews, forums, etc., looking for a 4K 32" monitor. One monitor that keeps popping up that would appear to be decent for both gaming and home office stuff (spreadsheets, Word, websites, etc.) is the BenQ PD3200U. A couple of websites (I think they were British) recommended the BenQ EW3270U.

I googled the interwebs and read the specs for these two monitors, and they appear to the layman (me) to be extremely similar, except on Amazon the PD3200U is $200 more than than the EW3270U. I fear I am missing something.

I will be using this monitor for 75% home office stuff, 25% gaming. Could you provide me some advice on choosing between these two monitors?

Thanks!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Do you have a graphics card that can even push 4k pixels for gaming? There's not many that can. You pretty much need a 1080 TI, 2080, 2080 Super or 2080 TI to even think about 4k gaming if you want something more than medium settings.

For home office stuff, I'm not even sure a 4k monitor is helpful, unless it's simply the ability to scale more product onto the real estate. For movies or video, sure, just about anything can push that because it's not demanding. Just not sure what benefit 4k has for office stuff or for gaming if you don't have a card that can push it and generally those who do aren't talking only 25% gaming. More like 90% gaming. LOL.

Even so, the main differences between those are that the BenQ EW3270U is a VA type panel while the other one is an IPS panel. IPS panels are always more expensive because the panels are more expensive to manufacturer. IPS panel will have more accurate color accuracy however if the monitor is to be used in a moderately to very dark room, then IPS panels tend to not have as good of black uniformity and they tend to have IPS panel glow from all four corners. More expensive units are not as obvious but all IPS panels have it to some degree.

If you are not using this for professional graphics or are not very particular about extremely accurate color accuracy, then the VA panel is a very good choice as it has good color accuracy, good black uniformity and good response times, in general, not necessarily for THAT specific unit.

This specific unit, it would seem has some amount of difficulty with brightness, but is overall a fairly decent unit.

The review seen here is probably the best breakdown you'll find.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/benq/ew3270u

If you were interested in a 1440p display at 32" I could make a recommendation for a unit that practically has no shortcomings and is maybe the best all around monitor I've ever used or owned.

 

[ualdriver]

Do you have a graphics card that can even push 4k pixels for gaming? There's not many that can. You pretty much need a 1080 TI, 2080, 2080 Super or 2080 TI to even think about 4k gaming if you want something more than medium settings........

.............The review seen here is probably the best breakdown you'll find.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/benq/ew3270u

Thanks very much for your time, Darkbreeze. All very helpful points.

I have a GTX 1070 currently, but will probably be upgrading soon as the card is a couple of years old now I think.

My office is always well lit.

I'm shooting for the big 4K monitor just to have more real estate like you said, mostly for viewing spreadsheets and this size is about as large and as wide my desk can handle. Personally, I'm not a fan of the wide monitors. My son has a Acer XR341CK which is very nice, but not a fan of the aspect ratio (wide and not very tall), if I'm using the correct term.

As I read reviews over the past few days, the monitors that kept seeming to be advised over and over for gaming (although I realize not ideal for gaming) and home office use were the following:

Acer XB321 HK
BenQ PD3200U
BenQ EW3270U
Viewsonic XG 3220

Thoughts on those for my situation?

Thanks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Are you in the US market?

 

[ualdriver]

Are you in the US market?

Yup.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, that EW3270U is a decent choice. It's main shortcomings are going to be a lack of brightness and poor viewing angles. If this is a unit that will always be directly in front of you, then that's not not a big deal.

Since you say you will be in a well lit room, the PD3200U IPS version seems to be a better choice with superb color accuracy and the only really notable flaw at all was some slight amount of lack of color uniformity in the corners which is not unusual for an IPS monitor, because it's impossible to have that type of panel without some amount of IPS glow which has to have an effect on color uniformity. Probably it's forgivable.

Also I think you should consider this unit, as it possibly is one of the best 32" 4k displays out there under 500 dollars.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: LG 32UD59-B 32.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor ($420.00 @ B&H)
Total: $420.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-23 01:43 EDT-0400


And the review of that unit on Rtings. It's only real flaw was that its viewing angles degrade when viewed from the sides but that's true of most any NT or VA panel. Until OLED or some other technology becomes mainstream and affordable, no matter what type of panel you choose there IS going to be something that isn't, well, perfect.


https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/32ud59-b

 

[ualdriver]

So, that EW3270U is a decent choice. It's main shortcomings are going to be a lack of brightness and poor viewing angles. If this is a unit that will always be directly in front of you, then that's not not a big deal.

Since you say you will be in a well lit room, the PD3200U IPS version seems to be a better choice with superb color accuracy and the only really notable flaw at all was some slight amount of lack of color uniformity in the corners which is not unusual for an IPS monitor, because it's impossible to have that type of panel without some amount of IPS glow which has to have an effect on color uniformity. Probably it's forgivable.

Also I think you should consider this unit, as it possibly is one of the best 32" 4k displays out there under 500 dollars.

PCPartPicker Part List

Monitor: LG 32UD59-B 32.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor ($420.00 @ B&H)
Total: $420.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-23 01:43 EDT-0400


And the review of that unit on Rtings. It's only real flaw was that its viewing angles degrade when viewed from the sides but that's true of most any NT or VA panel. Until OLED or some other technology becomes mainstream and affordable, no matter what type of panel you choose there IS going to be something that isn't, well, perfect.


https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/lg/32ud59-b

DarkBreeze..........thanks very much for the detailed info and your time. Good price on that monitor, too!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Good luck to you whatever you decide. Should be nice, any of those. I recently got a 32" LG 1440p monitor and honestly, it's fantastic. Very high quality, superb panel.