[SOLVED] BenQ PD3200Q vs BenQ PD3200U (IPS vs VA)

[Crimson Morrow]

Hey guys!
So I'm trying to decide between 3200Q and 3200U model and I need some help.
So the only two differences between the monitors are that Q is 2k while U is 4k, and Q is a VA and U is an IPS. Both are 32 inches and other specs are completely identical.

Just to make it clear. I'm looking for a gaming monitor and have been using a 1080p ips benq for over 5 years now (prly more than that). Recently I got my hands on ViewSonic VX3276-2K-MHD-2 and I frankly hated it. Its an IPS monitor with some really good reviews on the internet but i just can't stand the contrast ratio and the colors. Most of the dark spots in games are just pure black and things that are on the brighter side are simply white. After a lil bit of research I figured that VA is prly what I want since I set the response time on my view sonic to the slowest anyways. I know that my previous benq was IPS but watching people compare VA to IPS on youtube i feel like it somehow looked a lot like va so im in favor to that.

Here's my 3 questions.

1. Is there going to be any difference between 2k on a 2k display and 2k on a 4k display? I'm asking because I'm planning on playing in 2k, cause I still wanna play on ultra settings and my 3080ti is only gonna be able to pull off 2k lol.
2. Is there anybody who have experience with the Q model here? How bad is the smearing on that one?
3. Is there anybody here with a VA matrix, or somebody who has compared one another?

I really appreciate your answers!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Did you bother to try and calibrate the ViewSonic unit or were you just riding it "as is"? That might have been some, maybe most of your problem there especially if whoever had it before you either didn't calibrate it or calibrated it wrong and messed up the calibration.

As far as the IPS vs VA, VA panels are favorable to me as they have MUCH better contrast which often makes all the difference in the world especially if you are picky about blacks like I am and even more so if you tend to use the display in dark or at least darker environment like I do. If you are always in a very well lit room it might not make as much difference for you. The fact that IPS panels tend to have "IPS glow" and it is quite often either better or worse depending on the model and exclusive of how well it performs otherwise is another consideration.

This article is probably one of the very best on the internet in terms of explaining the differences between IPS, VA and TN without getting too complicated for the average person.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/learn/ips-vs-va-vs-tn

And this is almost a must read as well, although a lot of the information will feel redundant.

LCD Panel Types Explored | PC Monitors

A look at the main LCD panel types; TN (Twisted Nematic), VA (Vertical Alignment), IPS (In-Plane Switching) and similar panels.

pcmonitors.info

1440p on a 4k display looks like crap. 1080p and 4k can scale to each other without looking wrong because they are mathematically directly divisible to each other, so to speak. 4k is exactly double the resolution of a 1080p resolution, so they are scalable to each other without obvious problems. 1440p, which is 2k, is not directly divisible to either of those resolutions and so doesn't really ever look "right" on either of them and neither of them look "right" on it.

There is no reason you can't game at 4k on your 3080 ti so long as you understand that on some of the MOST demanding games you will need to move a few sliders to the left or drop to the high, or sometimes maybe even medium preset. Or some combination of high and medium. If you are looking to play at Ultra settings on every game out there, then simply get a 1440p display and play at 1440p. You still might occasionally need to move a few sliders on the most demanding games or titles that we have yet to see that might advance the resource requirements even further than current titles do.

I have three identical LG 1440p VA panels, and until they pry them from my cold dead fingers, or they die off, that is what I will continue to use for as long as I can.

I'd say, read the very good reviews and decide for yourself what you can live with and what you can't.

IPS: https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/benq-pd3200u/

VA: https://monitornerds.com/benq-pd3200q-review/


However, I will say that these are both 60hz panels so hopefully you are not wanting them for high FPS gaming.

 

[Crimson Morrow]

Did you bother to try and calibrate the ViewSonic unit or were you just riding it "as is"? That might have been some, maybe most of your problem there especially if whoever had it before you either didn't calibrate it or calibrated it wrong and messed up the calibration.

As far as the IPS vs VA, VA panels are favorable to me as they have MUCH better contrast which often makes all the difference in the world especially if you are picky about blacks like I am and even more so if you tend to use the display in dark or at least darker environment like I do. If you are always in a very well lit room it might not make as much difference for you. The fact that IPS panels tend to have "IPS glow" and it is quite often either better or worse depending on the model and exclusive of how well it performs otherwise is another consideration.

This article is probably one of the very best on the internet in terms of explaining the differences between IPS, VA and TN without getting too complicated for the average person.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/learn/ips-vs-va-vs-tn

And this is almost a must read as well, although a lot of the information will feel redundant.

LCD Panel Types Explored | PC Monitors

A look at the main LCD panel types; TN (Twisted Nematic), VA (Vertical Alignment), IPS (In-Plane Switching) and similar panels.

pcmonitors.info

1440p on a 4k display looks like crap. 1080p and 4k can scale to each other without looking wrong because they are mathematically directly divisible to each other, so to speak. 4k is exactly double the resolution of a 1080p resolution, so they are scalable to each other without obvious problems. 1440p, which is 2k, is not directly divisible to either of those resolutions and so doesn't really ever look "right" on either of them and neither of them look "right" on it.

There is no reason you can't game at 4k on your 3080 ti so long as you understand that on some of the MOST demanding games you will need to move a few sliders to the left or drop to the high, or sometimes maybe even medium preset. Or some combination of high and medium. If you are looking to play at Ultra settings on every game out there, then simply get a 1440p display and play at 1440p. You still might occasionally need to move a few sliders on the most demanding games or titles that we have yet to see that might advance the resource requirements even further than current titles do.

I have three identical LG 1440p VA panels, and until they pry them from my cold dead fingers, or they die off, that is what I will continue to use for as long as I can.

I'd say, read the very good reviews and decide for yourself what you can live with and what you can't.

IPS: https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/benq-pd3200u/

VA: https://monitornerds.com/benq-pd3200q-review/


However, I will say that these are both 60hz panels so hopefully you are not wanting them for high FPS gaming.

Hey man, thank you so much for your reply.

Yeah I got myself the VA version. And yeah, it makes all the difference, exactly what I wanted. And yes, I do appreciate blacks and use my screen in a pretty dark enviroment
As of View Sonic, I callibrated the heck out of it, tried all the possible modes, and settings combinations but was never able to get rid of washed out whites and blacks. Like I always had a feeling that the image is repelling. No matter how pretty the graphics were it would always be physically hard to look at. I didn't feel like looking deeper into the image, appreciate the detail, explore, instead I felt like I wanted to take my eyes away from it, cause there was no detail to begin with... yeah... terrible experience.
One thing to note though, my previous Benq also was an IPS, and it look hella similar to VA somehow.... Maybe it's just a manufacturer preference here on my end, but in any case, VA feels much better than IPS. VA invokes an emotional response. It just has the depth, the range, the contrast that give you the experience I'm looking for in games. IPS is like listening to music in 86kb/s while VA is a wav file.