New 4K Monitor Advice

[krell100]

As far as I know there are no such monitors available at this point that don't have drawbacks or issues.

Yes, this seems to be the case. They mostly seem to have a 'but' somewhere.

LG 43UD79-B 43inch UHD 4K IPS ~Colour accuracy/burn in issues but great value, 43 inch
BenQ PD3200U 32inch UHD 4K IPS ~Reliability/Flicker issues reported but again excellent value, excellent colour accuracy
Dell UP3216Q 32inch UltraSharp UHD 4K ~Some reports of various issues, pricier, excellent colour accuracy

Seems that for something with great accuracy, quality etc 32" looks like there better bet but 40"+ is much more practical?

Whatever company brings out a 40 inch 4k display that has RGB pixel layout, no burn in issues with display port will be selling them like hotcakes.

Agree.

 

[tomekwsrod]

I have tried having a 43" display, and it was too big, too desk dominating for me. 32" hit a sweet spot. And I don't have to turn my head too much. I was heavily considering my budget. I've tried LG, returned that, Dell, returned that one too, and Eizo which was the most pricy and a pain to buy, but... when working with LG and Dell my vision after a few hours of work including breaks hurt, with Eizo I haven't noticed anything like that. Then I thought how long I work with a screen. That was final thing that made me to keep Eizo. And the feature that automatically adjusts brightness to ambient light is very useful throughout a day. Take a look and try Eizo a few days if the price wont scare you out, as these are unfortunately expensive indeed.

 

[krell100]

The 31.1" Eizo monitor is a whopping $7500 here in Australia so yeah, way out of my league.

Certainly a nice piece of kit though if you can claim it through tax or have a rich uncle

 

[campyguy]

OP, consider reconsidering LG as an option. Some of the units they demoed at CES are just now coming out. FWIW, I purchased an LG 32UD59 recently as I knew I wanted a decent-sized 4k-capable display to go alongside the iMac Pro I knew I'd be buying - the purchase was at Costco's web portal, which is IMO where most computer hardware gets dumped by manufacturers before the new models come out. The LG 32UD59 was just replaced this weekend by the LG 32UD60 (as the "low cost" option) AND a US$500 price cut in the HDR10 version of the LG 32UD59 (the 32UD99-W) so I'm surmising the updated versions of the 32UD99-W and 43UD79-B are coming out soon; the latter just saw a big price drop on Costco's web portal as did the 32UD59 again. My GF uses her 32UD99-W for video work and she's pretty happy with it so far. Cheers.

 

[krell100]

@campguy Thanks for the detailed info' on LG displays. The 32UD99 does look like a good solution.

Is the 43UD79-B replacement a definite as an updated version of that would be very interesting...
[doublepost=1523947360][/doublepost]Whats this sub pixel arrangement thing? It seems the LG's are "bgr" but the Mac OS does "rbg" which means no font smoothing?

 

[campyguy]

@campguy Thanks for the detailed info' on LG displays. The 32UD99 does look like a good solution.

Is the 43UD79-B replacement a definite as an updated version of that would be very interesting...
[doublepost=1523947360][/doublepost]Whats this sub pixel arrangement thing? It seems the LG's are "bgr" but the Mac OS does "rbg" which means no font smoothing?

You're alluding to LG's "RGBW" that's shown up in their cheaper TVs, I haven't seen it in the display on my desk. I scan for dead pixels and anomalies once a week, the 32UD59 is nearly as nice as my gal pal's 32UD99 for what I need it for (I don't play games and she's the video pro...). There are a couple of 43UD79 displays at one of my sub-consultant's offices, and another at the local Fry's Electronics - I'll admit to mounting an HDR version of this display on an arm does appeal to me as well.

About LG's means to pixel arrangement, I've seen worse. I still have my BenQ BL2711U and Dell P2715Q displays at two of my offices (they use the same BenQ AOC panel) and high-res Eizo displays at my other two offices. The LG does a pretty decent job mated to my iMP IMHO, color reproduction to my laser printers and plotters have been spot on, even with using AutoCAD in a Parallels Win 10 Pro VM and Illy with my iMP. The LG isn't as nice as my Eizo at my main office, but it is about US$3500 cheaper!

 

[cmonroe]

I recently downsized from a a 40in Samsung LED TV @ 4k 60Hz for many reasons mentioned above (too much desk space, was too close on my desk etc.).. after doing some research I ended up with the 27in LG 27UD69P-W. So far the quality and color reproduction are great. You can use it with just about any HiDPI resolution and the sRGB color profile was immediately recognized by my 2010 Mac Pro w/RX 580 graphics. Got it on sale for about $400 US. A 32in may have been slightly more appropriate but 27in still feels plenty big for what I need (SW dev, reading, schematics etc.).

 

[campyguy]

Is the 43UD79-B replacement a definite as an updated version of that would be very interesting...

Just a follow up. My GF is the graphics nut here, she emailed me a link to pass on for one of the larger displays that's hitting the market soon. I'm surmising LG and Dell will use the same panel, here's the announcement for the 43" Philips unit that was announced yesterday. I'm saving up for one, well maybe two if she finds out. Cheers!

 

[hajime]

Yes, this seems to be the case. They mostly seem to have a 'but' somewhere.

LG 43UD79-B 43inch UHD 4K IPS ~Colour accuracy/burn in issues but great value, 43 inch
BenQ PD3200U 32inch UHD 4K IPS ~Reliability/Flicker issues reported but again excellent value, excellent colour accuracy
Dell UP3216Q 32inch UltraSharp UHD 4K ~Some reports of various issues, pricier, excellent colour accuracy

Seems that for something with great accuracy, quality etc 32" looks like there better bet but 40"+ is much more practical?



Agree.

Does LG 43UD79-B 43inch really have burn in issue? I have been following it since it came out. This is the first time I hear about it having burning issue.

 

[phairphan]

I can't speak on the newer BenQ 3200U, but I've been using its predecessor, the BL3201PH/PT. For me, 32" at 4K is the sweet spot. I run at native, so I don't have to worry about HiDPI modes or crappy scaling on Windows (in case you boot into Windows too). Wanted to chime in because it doesn't look like anyone using this display replied to your thread.

This is such a personal and subjective choice, I'm not sure how valuable all of our input will be in your decision—beyond feedback on particular products or other technical considerations. Reaction to screen size, viewing distance, resolution, text readability is so dependent on a user's setup, workflow, visual acuity, etc. For me, I can't imagine having at 40+ inch monitor/tv on my desktop unless I had an especially deep desk. One of the main benefits of a 4K display is to have increased sharpness and/or increased workspace real estate. You sort of lose at both with a 40"+ display. The last time time I did the comparison, I recall that 4K displays in the 40"+ range ended up having a perceived sharpness equivalent to a 30" 2K display. I had one of those, I didn't want a stretched out equivalent.

 

[Miguel Cunha]

They did have the 30" cinema display(port) with maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600. Mine's still running fine after all these years, but will regrettably have to sell it when my new iMac Pro arrives next week.

I was referring to the last generation of displays.
[doublepost=1525350379][/doublepost]

LG's 24" 4K monitor, the UD58-B, is available for US$249 on Amazon.com these days.

There must be a great difference in image quality and functionality.
Since the OP was looking for an Apple display, I suggested models, more in par with that one.

 

[ShinySteelRobot]

I'm getting one of these when they ship later this summer. Granted it's not 4K like the original poster requested (it's actually 5K), but other folks may be interested. I like that it maintains a full 2160 pixel height.

http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34WK95U-W-ultrawide-monitor

• 34” UltraWide® Nano IPS Display
• 5K WUHD (5120 x 2160) Resolution
• Thunderbolt™ 3
• DCI-P3 98%
• HDR 600

It's expensive AF at $1,500, but I figure one will last me 5+ years, and I'll use it every single day, so it's worth it to me.

Just need to get my eGPU set up now...

 

[hajime]

I'm getting one of these when they ship later this summer. Granted it's not 4K like the original poster requested (it's actually 5K), but other folks may be interested. I like that it maintains a full 2160 pixel height.

http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34WK95U-W-ultrawide-monitor

• 34” UltraWide® Nano IPS Display
• 5K WUHD (5120 x 2160) Resolution
• Thunderbolt™ 3
• DCI-P3 98%
• HDR 600

It's expensive AF at $1,500, but I figure one will last me 5+ years, and I'll use it every single day, so it's worth it to me.

Just need to get my eGPU set up now...

I think it was supposed to have released in March. Don't know why there is a delay. I am concerned about the font size getting too small under 5K without scaling. For me, 40-43" is about right for 4K. 5K would need a bigger monitor. The LG 38" came out last summer was good except that it is curved. I would have kept it if it were flat.

 

[shaunp]

I'd still be tempted by two monitors over a big one. I have 2 x Dell 27" 4K screens that I used for photo editing. Had them for a couple of years they have been very good. Also they are under £500 each, or were last time I looked

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

I've had nothing but the best times with two Acer 25” WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS monitors. They look excellent in HiDPI mode on macOS and 200% scaling on Windows 10. I may upgrade one or both to the Acer 32” 4k IPS monitor. It seems to be good value for those on a budget.