Help: Recommend me a monitor (27-32")

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Yossarian22

[H]ard|Gawd
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Apr 27, 2009
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Been out of the game for awhile. Hell, my first post on [H] in many years! Been using my laptops for awhile but now I've got a new place and new machine.

At present, I'm using a 27" Toshiba TV as the display for my rig. I have my Samsung 16:10 22" TN monitors from back in 2007... one needs filter caps (my original Samsung 226BW, which was $299 at the time! It was game changing going from CRTs to the Samsung...)

Back then, Dell and Samsung were pretty much the monitors to get, that had good panels. Now, the marketplace is very confusing.

Some sense of requirements:

  • 27" to 32" in physical size
  • 1920x1080 min resolution to 4k max (current video card is a bit anemic, Radeon RX 6600, until I can get something a bit more powerful)
  • Must display text crisply and clearly
  • VESA mount, going to mount all my monitors up eventually
  • Technology with good color reproduction (my two Dell laptops with 1920x1080 IPS panels are pretty good from my experience)
  • High refresh rate would be nice, but not required (unless I'm missing something with low-input lag in games?)
  • Accurate-ish color reproduction (not a visual artist, don't use Photoshop / GIMP very much)
  • budget is $400 max

Montiors I've looked at so far:

LG UltraWide WFHD 29" 29WN600-W (29" 75Hz, 2560x1080 [QHD], $199 USD) - inexpensve enough to keep around if I don't like it as an alternative display
Dell S2721QS (27" 60Hz, 4k, $290 USD) - VESA mountable, seems like 4k is the selling point?
Philips 328E1CA (32" 75Hz, 4k, $310 USD) - curved, seems alright on paper...
GIGABYTE M27Q 27" 170Hz 1440P $300 - have heard that it's more of a gaming monitor and text can be blurry?

Any gems I'm missing, perhaps? Or any reason the ones I've looked into above aren't desirable? The LG UltraWide seems like good productivity and gaming after work monitor...

Thanks in advance!
 
I'd recommend the Gigabyte M28U or M32U. Samsung G70A using the same Innolux panels is also a pretty decent option. Each is pretty bad at HDR but otherwise very solid performance. They are all 4K 144 Hz IPS panels.

Look for sales on all of these, though I am not sure if you can go as low as $400. I got my G70A for 399 euros in my country.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
The new mini led SAMSUNG monitors are good for the smaller sizes.
Click to expand...

Just browing amazon, Samsung does have a lot of good entry offerings in the 1920x1080 realm on the cheap with some bonus features, like slightly higher refresh rate (75hz) or curved (do the manufacturers all adhere to the ####R system of curvature?)

Samsung T35F Series (LF27T350FHNXZA) 27" 1080p, 75Hz, IPS - $150 USD @ amazon
Samsung T350 Series (above's little brother at 22" IPS) - $99 USD @ amazon [would have been great if the Samsung 226BW would have been this price in '07]


Comixbooks said:
https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27gr95qe-b
Click to expand...

LG 27'' UltraGear OLED 27GR95QE-B seems like it's the nicest monitor in that spec range. It doesn't fit the criteria at $999 USD but I assume you've got one pre-ordered or on the way? Very nice.


kasakka said:
I'd recommend the Gigabyte M28U or M32U. Samsung G70A using the same Innolux panels is also a pretty decent option. Each is pretty bad at HDR but otherwise very solid performance. They are all 4K 144 Hz IPS panels.

Look for sales on all of these, though I am not sure if you can go as low as $400. I got my G70A for 399 euros in my country.
Click to expand...

GIGABYTE M28U-AE Arm Edition 28" I see has a few used versions, the difference between it and the M28U AFAICT is the Arm-Edition has a desk arm mount instead of your standard place-on-desk.

I think I might buy the LG UltraWide WFHD 29" 29WN600-W (29" 75Hz, 2560x1080 [QHD], $199 USD) to simply retire my 2x Samsung 22" TN 1680x1050 (original Samsung BW226 is malfunctioning, might need backlight cap replacement; use them as spare monitors for friends, that LAN party I want to have, etc) but...

In retrospect the Gigabyte M27Q seems like a good deal... like LG Ultragear 32GN600-B 31.5" 2560x1440 VA 165Hz, $260 @ amazon... but the VA monitors with the 5ms+ response time seems to have more blurring / smearing despite the high refresh rate... I haven't looked into it but perhaps these VA panels have a way to minimize the smearing / blurring at certain refresh rate for a given display? Depending on the colors displayed - seems like darker colors suffer from the blurring/smearing in VA displays.

I wonder about buying a refurbed display versus sticking with new with warranty...

Thanks again for the suggestions and input, still doing my research.
 
I went with HP X27q @ 27" QHD (1440), IPS panel with 166hz refresh. Was on Amazon for $210. Had it for about two weeks?

I'm kinda glad I didn't go 32", the X27q has very thin bezels and 1440p is game changing for productivity. Gaming performance didn't take as large of a hit as I'd thought, but I don't play the latest and greatest titles typically.

My desktop machine isn't optimized for productivity yet (desktop manager, running pop os defaults before arch install on nvme drive) but I can nearly fit 3x3x3 terminals at 80 cols, 24 rows;

I would say 80% of the magic of going from CRT to LCD is nearly there in my purchase... the only problem I have is watching certain media that is catered to 1920x1080 or it is already upscaled so any upscaling I do makes it worse, but that is to be expected I suppose.

I probably should post screenshots or something, I guess?
 
Yossarian22 said:
I'm kinda glad I didn't go 32", the X27q has very thin bezels and 1440p is game changing for productivity.
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Yeah, 32" 4k while great for replacing 2x setups for productivity does feel a bit too big for games (you do have the option to make a 30" 3840x1600 ultrawide out of it though with black bars for gaming). 28" 4k would have been a better pick (much clearer fonts and option to do 1080p integer scaled in games), but nothing really wrong with your choice.
 
Ors said:
Yeah, 32" 4k while great for replacing 2x setups for productivity does feel a bit too big for games (you do have the option to make a 30" 3840x1600 ultrawide out of it though with black bars for gaming). 28" 4k would have been a better pick (much clearer fonts and option to do 1080p integer scaled in games), but nothing really wrong with your choice.
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32" is not too big by any stretch of the imagination lol that's silly in 2023.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
32" is not too big by any stretch of the imagination lol that's silly in 2023.
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I used to think so, but after using one for 8 years it sometimes feels like it, since VA (washed out colors from an angle) and IPS (glow) limitations become very apparent on these, so a 28" can be a better compromise (that will hide those much better while also having better PPI). I do also sit at 70-80cm from it for which you also need a fairly deep desk too, so far from silly whatever the year.
 
Ors said:
I used to think so, but after using one for 8 years it sometimes feels like it, since VA (washed out colors from an angle) and IPS (glow) limitations become very apparent on these, so a 28" can be a better compromise (that will hide those much better while also having better PPI). I do also sit at 70-80cm from it for which you also need a fairly deep desk too, so far from silly whatever the year.
Click to expand...
I sit further away than normal. I don't stick my face close to the monitor. There is no way I'm going back to a small screen. Anything smaller than 43 is unacceptable for me lol. The level of immersion you get from a larger screen is unrivaled. Think of movie theaters or home theater in your home. Larger screen is more immersive and enjoy the content more. That's why phones keep getting bigger and bigger. Larger is better. You still want your small 4" phone from 10 years ago? Of course not. You want the new 7" iphone right? It's not the same comparison? Yes, it absolutely is. A bigger monitor is better all the way up to 55" max.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
I sit further away than normal. I don't stick my face close to the monitor. There is no way I'm going back to a small screen. Anything smaller than 43 is unacceptable for me lol. The level of immersion you get from a larger screen is unrivaled. Think of movie theaters or home theater in your home. Larger screen is more immersive and enjoy the content more. That's why phones keep getting bigger and bigger. Larger is better. You still want your small 4" phone from 10 years ago? Of course not. You want the new 7" iphone right? It's not the same comparison? Yes, it absolutely is. A bigger monitor is better all the way up to 55" max.
Click to expand...
There absolutely is too big, what that is depends on how you use it. In monitors 32" is the biggest I'd ever go (or 34-40" in ultrawide format), anything bigger is TV + big apartment (from the couch) since you must sit way too far for using it on the desk in front of you without excessive head movement.

Same for phones, use case dictates size. I prefer sub 4" since I only use it as a phone (occasionally gps + looking up something on the web) and not as an entertainment device, so anything bigger just makes it harder to have it with me. If you use it all day for entertainment (more like a tablet) I can see why you would want bigger.
 
I think Big Displays are just there for one reason to sell. Walmart now carries 85 inch TVs the box is even huge but I know the person why buys it will have their eyeball backed into their orbital bones socket like no tomorrow. Monitors that size are good for like a Sports Bar watching Arron Rogers in a Jets uniform or UFC match 999. I feel the same way about Projectors just a harsh led lit image.
 
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