NEC PA322UHD 32-inch Ultra HD Monitor Review

[ceberle]

We haven’t seen any new IGZO UHD panels for a while, but NEC surprised us with its PA322UHD. Priced at the level of a precision instrument, it promises accuracy with a factory calibration. Today we test it in our labs.

NEC PA322UHD 32-inch Ultra HD Monitor Review : Read more

 

[Nuckles_56]

I was wondering and couldn't see anywhere but what HDMI and display port versions is the panel using?

 

[MonsterCookie]

In this bad economy, where especially the "first wirld" countries are affected who kould pay for such toys, asking 3000$ (nowadays the same as 3000Euros) is almost ludacris. That is the price for a decent used car.

Please just make first standard 30-inch 256x1600 screens available for an affordable price, and only after that is done, hope to sell these gems on the market.

No offence, but here in Europe things are running so bad, that even design companies (where color accuracy is important are outsourcing), and they definitely cannot afford to splash 3000Euros of a darn computer screen.
Not even talking about the private sector.

 

[MonsterCookie]

I know that that there will be hundreds of people commenting that for them this monitor is cheap.
Well, lucky YOU!

In socialist (nowadays becoming almost communist) countries like within the EU, where the state steals 48% of our salary as tax, we do *NOT* make six figures to pay for these things. Period.

Btw, Tom's. Why on earth is there no Edit button?
Just noticed that I made lots of typos in my first post because I was so angry at the price...

 

[beebbeeb]

The other top dog is Eizo, and the proper comparator is obviously Eizo ColourEdge series. Hope that Tom's Hardware will do a review of Eizo soon.

 

[Tanquen]

This is kind of out there. My 5 year old Dell U3011 (16:10, 2560x1600) was $950 when I got 2 of them, has 10-bit color and works fine. Going up to edge lit LED at 3840x2160 (16:9 Yuck!) , 5 years later for $3000 is too much. For $2000 it should be 4096x2160 or 5120x3200 (16:10) and have a better multi zone LED back light and have a better response time.

TVs are bigger and do it for much less.

Eizo and LG have 30"-ish 4096x2160 displays for less and what is with the bezels still being so huge. Look how deep this this is, why is the bezel so big. Again, bigger TVs have small bezels and people actually want to put two or three PC monitors next to each other.

 

[Tanquen]

Oops.

 

[Shankovich]

Some comments aren't realizing this is a professional oriented monitor. Targeted to artists, video editors, probably some types of engineers. Not for gaming guys (though it could game quite well it seems)

 

[mechanus]

If I had $3000 I'd start a business like selling stuff on amazon instead of spend it on a lot tiny light bulbs under a glass sheet.

 

[mechanus]

If I had $3000 I'd start a business like selling stuff on amazon instead of spend it on a lot tiny light bulbs under a glass sheet.

 

[Narcissistic_Martyr]

Looks like a good professional monitor. Not for gamers of course though.

 

[Antiphonal]

Some hilarious comments on this article. Clearly one of the very best monitors for high-precision color work, and people are comparing the cost to... starting a business selling things through the Amazon marketplace??? Discussing EU politics and taxation??? Televisions??? (LOL)

That's called missing the point. Ugh.

 

[MonsterCookie]

Some hilarious comments on this article. Clearly one of the very best monitors for high-precision color work, and people are comparing the cost to... starting a business selling things through the Amazon marketplace??? Discussing EU politics and taxation??? Televisions??? (LOL)
That's called missing the point. Ugh.

As you see, I am not they only one who is not buying into the new realm of monitor-manufacturer nonsense.
I was actually waiting since YEARS ago for an affordable 2560x1600 monitor, and finally I got a Dell second had.
You can downvote my post as much as you want, it is still a FACT that monitor technology have not improved/gotten cheaper in the last 5 years.

Regarding EU, if you would have a Masters degree in applied science, working in your fied 11 years ago, and the price of this monitor would be more than 10% of your yearly salary, trust me, you would be also moaning about your taxes...
Don't worry, sadly these times will soon come to the USA as well.

 

[mapesdhs]

MonsterCookie, I guess you don't understand basic economics. If a monitor for a particular target market can easily sell at a particular price, no way is the maker going to offer it cheaper just because some people would like that to be the case. Many companies can easily afford products such as this, and many of those are in Europe (govt., oil/gas, auto, medical, pharma, movie companies, etc.) Costly monitors are by definition not aimed at those who can't afford them, so your moaning is kinda pointless. If you can't afford it, then buy something cheaper, or look for used bargains, as I did recently when buying a refurb monitor for a friend.

Ian.

 

[MonsterCookie]

Costly monitors are by definition not aimed at those who can't afford them, so your moaning is kinda pointless. If you can't afford it, then buy something cheaper, or look for used bargains, as I did recently when buying a refurb monitor for a friend.

Ian.

 

[soldier44]

A lot of haters here. This isn't geared towards the sub $1000 gaming monitor crowd. Some of you sub $500 crowd. Get what you pay for. Want the best have to pay up. Get educated get a good job make a good living you can have one of these too. Stop whining about the price.

 

[MonsterCookie]

I do not know what is going on with the comments on Tom's hardware, but most probably they have outsourced it to the cheapest third world country bidder as well, this is why there is no Edit button, and if you press Quote and try to edit your comment, it just submits it.

Anyway, long story short:
why is there until this day no decent 2560x1600 monitor on the market, or if they wanted 4K, than make it at least 40inch with thin bezel and 16:10?

Instead, the manufacturers pursue completely WRONG directions, go to small screen (32inch is NOT a large screen), trashy 16:9 ratios with HUGE plastic frames so I could not have 3 screens on my desk even if I could afford it.

What particularly annoys me, is that they try to sell it as a "revolutionary new technology" for 3000Euros for artists and engineers.
Honestly, most artists are even more broke than I am broke, and most young engineers make less cash than I do.

 

[MonsterCookie]

Get educated get a good job make a good living you can have one of these too. Stop whining about the price.

As I understand, a Masters degree in IT-related field, a Linux LPIC and Cisco CCNA certification does not count as education for you...
Be happy that in the US you can still negotiate your salary. Here in the EU you got the same option like for the airplane food: you eat it our you get nothing else.

My colleague in Spain working for a gov. insitution the same job, and often does not receive his salary for 2-3 months... You probably do not even want to know how things are going in Greece.

 

[photonboy]

MonsterCookie,
Strange comment about size/ratio. The companies aren't going in the "wrong direction" rather what people BUY dictates that. Since 16x9 is standard now that's the direction it's going.

As for "32 is not enough" I think that's a ridiculous statement. If a screen is too large you have to swivel your head all over the place or else put the monitor really far from you which is silly.

You also strangely say 32" isn't large enough yet also complain the "large" bezel size means you can't fit THREE of them? So the monitor's too small yet you don't have enough desk space for larger?

 

[Arabian Knight]

16:9 is no good for a $3000 Monitor .. sorry NEC at Least 16:10 is acceptable for that price .

 

[mapesdhs]

Instead, the manufacturers pursue completely WRONG directions ...

There were good 1600-height monitors way back, but market demand shifted the focus to 1440 models. Today, 1600 models are consequently more expensive, but they do exist, just as 1200 height units are also available, many at decent prices. As for bezels, there are plenty of models with thin bezels, just check reviews, etc. trustedreviews.com is a good site, but there are many others.

Post editing is supported on the toms uk site. Navigate to the start of the comments section at the end of the article, observe where it says, "Display all X comments" (where X is some number). Just to the right of that is a double-quote icon (if you let your mouse hover, it will pop-up with, 'View thread in forum'); click on this icon and it will switch to the UK site where you can edit your comments with either a quick edit or full edit function.

I believe the toms staff are working on unifying the sites, but the process is not yet complete.

Ian.

 

[MonsterCookie]

MonsterCookie,
Strange comment about size/ratio. The companies aren't going in the "wrong direction" rather what people BUY dictates that. Since 16x9 is standard now that's the direction it's going.

As for "32 is not enough" I think that's a ridiculous statement. If a screen is too large you have to swivel your head all over the place or else put the monitor really far from you which is silly.

You also strangely say 32" isn't large enough yet also complain the "large" bezel size means you can't fit THREE of them? So the monitor's too small yet you don't have enough desk space for larger?

Look, if they would have made it into around 40-42inch curved thin bezel screen, than I would *NOT* be complaining about the price, because I would understand that they are addressing a niche market. On my second-hand Dell 30inch monitor I cannot see the pixels, and it has half the pixel density of this screen. You can get an LG curved screen for less than half the price of this screen.
What is the point of having so many pixels on a small area? All of us want to have large area for doing productive work. At the end of the day why are we not working on a small 5inch mobile-phone screen with 4k resolution?

This is why selling a STANDARD 32inch small flat screen with huge wide bezels for 3000Euros is a joke.

 

[mapesdhs]

MonsterCookie,

Curved screens are dumb IMO.

I get the appeal of a larger resolution for extra screen real estate, and a larger screen size to maintain font readability, but 40" is ridiculous on a normal desk. And your rhetorical question about a 5" 4K is just silly.

Maybe you want a huge screen that's dirt cheap, but the vast majority of the market either doesn't (because the tradeoff vs. quality/features is too much, like the cheap import models that have lots of the OSD elements & port connections missing), or they're happy to pay a lot more than you are for such devices, in which case tough cookies, that's just the way it is atm.

An item is only ever worth what someone is willing to pay, and I guess atm you're not willing to pay what most people are at this size range, in which case look elsewhere for refurb/used or just put up with what you can afford at a smaller size. But complaining about upfront pricing in this way is pointless. Heck, I'd be delighted if someone sold me a used 2500K right now for 30 UKP, but that's not going to happen because someone who has one for sale doesn't remotely need to price it that low in order to get a sale. Same concept.

Live with it dude, such is life...

Ian.

 

[milkod2001]

@Monster Moany

With this product NEC targets customers with deep pockets. NEC charges the miximum
it thinks it can get for one of the best monitor around.

Yes it is brutally overpriced so is brand new Ferrari. Should we all start crying that we will never own one

There are plenty of reasonable, more affordable options out there: DELL, BenQ, new or used, Korean 1440p imports etc.

 

[Guest]

This monitor weighs 42 lbs ?!? That's insane.

And to the people complaining about the price, you can get 42" 4k televisions for $500. This is for profesionnal people that need color accuracy. 10-bit channel and all color and white point errors below one DeltaE.

If you've got a job, say it pays you 40k a year. Your employer has to pay at least 80-100k a year to have you, because rent, taxes, insurances, etc. So this monitor is less than 3% of the annual cost of an entry-level position.

If you know anything about business, $3000 for a tool you use daily, improves the quality of your work, that will last many years, is really inexpensive.