I have been on the hunt for a 4K 24 inch monitor, and finally I found one! The Electriq Eiq-244kMHDR.
It has a light matte AG coating, 10 bit IPS panel, 300 nits, and costs £140 ($190). Text looks ultra-smooth like a printed page on this screen! It works perfectly with my Mac and is detected as a Retina Display. Even though it's only 185 dpi (instead of 218 dpi), 200% scaling looks fine sitting 20" away. Calibrating with a colorimeter I get 99% sRGB, 82% DCI-P3, 285 nits brightness, contrast ratio 950:1, and deltaE 1.9. The default manual sRGB values 50,50,50 gave a color temperature of 6700K, and 48,50,48 gave 6500K - perfect for desktop usage.
The driver board is also great. HDMI 2.0 x2, Displayport 1.4 x2. I can use this with my Linux laptop too. Flawless switching between multiple sources and sleeping/waking up.
What panel is inside?
There are only two 4K 24" panels in the whole world currently being manufactured. One is the glossy LG used in the Ultrafine, so this must use the BOE MV238QUM-N20 panel. The larger version of the BOE also appears in the Asus ProArt:
Repair-ability
The monitor case unscrews at the back. The LCD panel and driver board are widely available on AliExpress. The power supply is a standard 12V external power brick. If the monitor dies in a few years I'm confident I could repair it.
Where can I buy it?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ele...c-hdr-gaming-monitor-eiq-244kmhdr/version.asp (UK, Europe)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163291137904 (Many countries)
https://shop.tbfocus.com/item.php?id=555251609724 (Same panel, world?)
I have also seen monitors with this panel on several websites dealing in CCTV products.
Why not get the P2415Q second-hand?
The Dell has many issues: horizontal gray lines on display, poor backlight uniformity, grainy AG on white backgrounds, unreliable driver board, only HDMI 1.4 on older models.
Why not get the LG Ultrafine 24" or 21.5"?
My usage is coding, writing, reading, web browsing in a moderately lit home environment. I find the small reflections from glossy displays annoying, and having to keep the brightness high to minimise them is fatiguing on the eyes. The Ultrafines are not fully laminated glass like the iMacs, so not up to the same quality.
Also, the Ultrafines seem hard to repair if they go wrong, and could be difficult to connect with non-Mac computers (although bi-directional displayport-usb c cables are now on the market).
TL;DR
Finally a solid 4K monitor for Mac and PC users who aren't photographers. Why isn't this more popular?
Small criticisms
Viewing angles are good, but not the best I've seen on IPS monitors. 350 nits would be better for bright environments but I've not seen that on 1080p 24" IPS monitors either. No DCI-P3 color gamut, but not something I currently need.
It has a light matte AG coating, 10 bit IPS panel, 300 nits, and costs £140 ($190). Text looks ultra-smooth like a printed page on this screen! It works perfectly with my Mac and is detected as a Retina Display. Even though it's only 185 dpi (instead of 218 dpi), 200% scaling looks fine sitting 20" away. Calibrating with a colorimeter I get 99% sRGB, 82% DCI-P3, 285 nits brightness, contrast ratio 950:1, and deltaE 1.9. The default manual sRGB values 50,50,50 gave a color temperature of 6700K, and 48,50,48 gave 6500K - perfect for desktop usage.
The driver board is also great. HDMI 2.0 x2, Displayport 1.4 x2. I can use this with my Linux laptop too. Flawless switching between multiple sources and sleeping/waking up.
What panel is inside?
There are only two 4K 24" panels in the whole world currently being manufactured. One is the glossy LG used in the Ultrafine, so this must use the BOE MV238QUM-N20 panel. The larger version of the BOE also appears in the Asus ProArt:
ASUS PA279CV 4K IPS model with USB-C | PCMonitors.info
The ASUS PA279CV features a 27" '4K' IPS panel with USB-C, a focus on sRGB colour accuracy and support for Adaptive-Sync.
pcmonitors.info
Repair-ability
The monitor case unscrews at the back. The LCD panel and driver board are widely available on AliExpress. The power supply is a standard 12V external power brick. If the monitor dies in a few years I'm confident I could repair it.
Where can I buy it?
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ele...c-hdr-gaming-monitor-eiq-244kmhdr/version.asp (UK, Europe)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163291137904 (Many countries)
https://shop.tbfocus.com/item.php?id=555251609724 (Same panel, world?)
I have also seen monitors with this panel on several websites dealing in CCTV products.
Why not get the P2415Q second-hand?
The Dell has many issues: horizontal gray lines on display, poor backlight uniformity, grainy AG on white backgrounds, unreliable driver board, only HDMI 1.4 on older models.
Why not get the LG Ultrafine 24" or 21.5"?
My usage is coding, writing, reading, web browsing in a moderately lit home environment. I find the small reflections from glossy displays annoying, and having to keep the brightness high to minimise them is fatiguing on the eyes. The Ultrafines are not fully laminated glass like the iMacs, so not up to the same quality.
Also, the Ultrafines seem hard to repair if they go wrong, and could be difficult to connect with non-Mac computers (although bi-directional displayport-usb c cables are now on the market).
TL;DR
Finally a solid 4K monitor for Mac and PC users who aren't photographers. Why isn't this more popular?
Small criticisms
Viewing angles are good, but not the best I've seen on IPS monitors. 350 nits would be better for bright environments but I've not seen that on 1080p 24" IPS monitors either. No DCI-P3 color gamut, but not something I currently need.
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