SD Card reader: That can actually be pretty useful. I somewhat miss mine, ever since I upgraded from my U2711. Sure, the USB SD card reader I have now is rather neat, and supports microSD without needing another adapter, but it just dangles off my desktop.
Location of SD Card reader: Not so useful.
Also, seriously, there is no good reason to not have VRR/Freesync/GSync/AdaptiveSync, etc nowadays. Especially for a monitor that is expected to cost a large amount of money. Even for media consumption, I'd rather not have to deal with pulldowns to get interpreted framerates.
The dingle dangle dongle is only useful if the angle of the dangle gives you the tingle in the dingle. Seriously, it's almost as big a problem as my drinking.
I think once the hdr will be mature on professional display at decent pricing (the apple one is not that good) manufacturers will probably improve their photo-editing/graphics design products with 120hz and variable refresh rate technology. At least I hope because now to do all I want to do I need 4 screens and that's insane
If there's anything professional about this display, the article sure doesn't mention it (besides the LUT). Afaict, this is similar to Dell's U3219Q which can be had rather cheaply. And is brighter, too.
- hardware calibration : check - sRGB: 100%, DCI-P3: 95%, Adobe RGB: 99% : check - Uniformity Technology for Screen-Wide Color Accuracy : check - Paper Color Sync Technology to Simulate Photo Print Effect on Screen : check - 16 bit look up table (LUT) : check - 10bit color input: check - 10bit panel : check - Certified with CalMAN Verified AND PANTONE Validated : check - Shading hood : check - 4K : check - DP1.4 : check
brightness is indeed low on paper, but for photography and I guess for other media content, you work between 80 and 120nits, maybe max 140. So is that an issue ?
Tonight I will measure what's the max I get out of the screen.
Well, I only said the article doesn't do a very good job conveying what's professional about it. Many of the things you listed are not in the article, which is what I was pointing out.
And I agree about the max brightness, 120 is where it's at. I just have this HDR itch that makes me look for 600+ ;)
I know it's a strange ask, but with this having USB-C and USB-A and SD reader... an Ethernet port on a monitor like this would be great.
Connecting the monitor with a laptop for dual monitor, power, and network connection. Even if it is a bit more expensive. Rather than a separate USB-C dock that has Ethernet, USB-A, and SD reader ports.
Just a thought. Maybe the monitor I described exists, and I haven't discovered it yet.
Not to be silly, but why not get a seperate USB-C dock? It's a lot easier to find a good screen and a good dock seperately, than it is to get a good screen/dock combo, IMO.
I eventually went with the Dell WD19 (vanilla) and use it with two different monitors.
I will admit, I'm still not smitten with USB-C docking, but the Dell dock seems to be a really decent compromise.
Not really. There are very few monitors that are actually color accurate and can display high nits without distorting the color range. If you look at 99% of monitors, the sdr and hdr brightness peak is almost the same, but what most people don't realize is that peak brightness can rarely hold on for more than a couple of seconds.
This monitor is out since end of 2019 in Belgium. I had a BenQ SW320, had a lot of issues (white spots, dead pixels, unable to have a acceptable delta E after hardware calibration, ...) with it a a lot of replacements (I guess 5 times and I used it max 6 months). The last one was replaced 2 months ago, but that screen also had issues, 2 big blind spots, and grayscales had an massive delta E. So asked again for replacement. Due to the Covid-19 Benq had difficulties to swap it and after a couple of weeks waiting, they today brought me a brand new SW321c instead. This evening I start calibrating, hope to have a positive result this time.
I can not say a bad word on the customer service, but the quality of the SW320 was a nightmare.
So I got the monitor, it has some pluses, I really like the anti-reflex coating. With the SW320 you saw a lot of reflexion from everywhere in room. I got 5 SW320 and this SW321C is the first where tha factory calibration is really close to my hardware calibration, dark grays (shadows) are even better in factory calibration.
Screen uniformity is amazing. Maximum I got was 236nits, but at that level the lowest value on the screen that I could find was in the right corner, with still 232nits, that's only 4 nits difference.
BUT the illumination is a nightmare when viewing dark images. This became visible when it became dark outside and I didn't had any lights on. You can see spots in the 4 corners, which are clearly visible with the naked eye and have a red/orange tint.
Monoprice has a basic 32" 4k/60hz monitor for $350. I haven't seen anything a few inches larger that's not an ultrawide; the next popular size for people who want bigger in 16:9 is 40/43" TVs.
I really wish monitor OEMs wouldn't cheap out on the power delivery. 60W might be fine for some laptops but it is still dumb. So lets say your current laptop is <60W so great get this monitor except your next laptop is 70W. Oops. Just make it 100W and call it a day. It isn't like the extra watts will hurt anything and the cost difference between 60W and 100W is negligible.
if your laptop needs 70W, that's probably for operating at 100% CPU + GPU + charging the battery from 0%. 60W will be enough 99% of the time. For that other 1%, well, the battery will take the hit or you can connect an extra charger.
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25 Comments
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jeremyshaw - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
SD Card reader: That can actually be pretty useful. I somewhat miss mine, ever since I upgraded from my U2711. Sure, the USB SD card reader I have now is rather neat, and supports microSD without needing another adapter, but it just dangles off my desktop.Location of SD Card reader: Not so useful.
Also, seriously, there is no good reason to not have VRR/Freesync/GSync/AdaptiveSync, etc nowadays. Especially for a monitor that is expected to cost a large amount of money. Even for media consumption, I'd rather not have to deal with pulldowns to get interpreted framerates.
philehidiot - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
The dingle dangle dongle is only useful if the angle of the dangle gives you the tingle in the dingle. Seriously, it's almost as big a problem as my drinking.umano - Friday, March 27, 2020 - link
I think once the hdr will be mature on professional display at decent pricing (the apple one is not that good) manufacturers will probably improve their photo-editing/graphics design products with 120hz and variable refresh rate technology. At least I hope because now to do all I want to do I need 4 screens and that's insanebug77 - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
If there's anything professional about this display, the article sure doesn't mention it (besides the LUT).Afaict, this is similar to Dell's U3219Q which can be had rather cheaply. And is brighter, too.
dontlistentome - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
That Dell is a budget/midrange display. I have one. Resolution: good, but the quality is well below what my u3011 is.dmeerpa - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
depends what you expect under professional ?- hardware calibration : check
- sRGB: 100%, DCI-P3: 95%, Adobe RGB: 99% : check
- Uniformity Technology for Screen-Wide Color Accuracy : check
- Paper Color Sync Technology to Simulate Photo Print Effect on Screen : check
- 16 bit look up table (LUT) : check
- 10bit color input: check
- 10bit panel : check
- Certified with CalMAN Verified AND PANTONE Validated : check
- Shading hood : check
- 4K : check
- DP1.4 : check
brightness is indeed low on paper, but for photography and I guess for other media content, you work between 80 and 120nits, maybe max 140. So is that an issue ?
Tonight I will measure what's the max I get out of the screen.
bug77 - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
Well, I only said the article doesn't do a very good job conveying what's professional about it. Many of the things you listed are not in the article, which is what I was pointing out.And I agree about the max brightness, 120 is where it's at. I just have this HDR itch that makes me look for 600+ ;)
Dug - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
It does check the boxes, I like it.Oxford Guy - Thursday, March 26, 2020 - link
"Meanwhile, the monitor has a 16-bit 3D LUT (look-up table)"Is it programmable?
ValiantEffort - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
I know it's a strange ask, but with this having USB-C and USB-A and SD reader... an Ethernet port on a monitor like this would be great.Connecting the monitor with a laptop for dual monitor, power, and network connection. Even if it is a bit more expensive. Rather than a separate USB-C dock that has Ethernet, USB-A, and SD reader ports.
Just a thought. Maybe the monitor I described exists, and I haven't discovered it yet.
inighthawki - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
It's a few years old, but is this the kind of thing you're looking for?https://www.anandtech.com/show/11846/philips-preps...
ValiantEffort - Monday, March 23, 2020 - link
Perfect. Thank you.jeremyshaw - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
Not to be silly, but why not get a seperate USB-C dock? It's a lot easier to find a good screen and a good dock seperately, than it is to get a good screen/dock combo, IMO.I eventually went with the Dell WD19 (vanilla) and use it with two different monitors.
I will admit, I'm still not smitten with USB-C docking, but the Dell dock seems to be a really decent compromise.
lilkwarrior - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
A 2020 4K monitor w/ less than 600 brightness for content creators; severely limited in value as a result.Dug - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
Not really. There are very few monitors that are actually color accurate and can display high nits without distorting the color range.If you look at 99% of monitors, the sdr and hdr brightness peak is almost the same, but what most people don't realize is that peak brightness can rarely hold on for more than a couple of seconds.
dmeerpa - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
This monitor is out since end of 2019 in Belgium.I had a BenQ SW320, had a lot of issues (white spots, dead pixels, unable to have a acceptable delta E after hardware calibration, ...) with it a a lot of replacements (I guess 5 times and I used it max 6 months).
The last one was replaced 2 months ago, but that screen also had issues, 2 big blind spots, and grayscales had an massive delta E.
So asked again for replacement. Due to the Covid-19 Benq had difficulties to swap it and after a couple of weeks waiting, they today brought me a brand new SW321c instead.
This evening I start calibrating, hope to have a positive result this time.
I can not say a bad word on the customer service, but the quality of the SW320 was a nightmare.
dmeerpa - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
So I got the monitor, it has some pluses, I really like the anti-reflex coating. With the SW320 you saw a lot of reflexion from everywhere in room.I got 5 SW320 and this SW321C is the first where tha factory calibration is really close to my hardware calibration, dark grays (shadows) are even better in factory calibration.
Screen uniformity is amazing. Maximum I got was 236nits, but at that level the lowest value on the screen that I could find was in the right corner, with still 232nits, that's only 4 nits difference.
BUT the illumination is a nightmare when viewing dark images. This became visible when it became dark outside and I didn't had any lights on. You can see spots in the 4 corners, which are clearly visible with the naked eye and have a red/orange tint.
fred666 - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
is there any cheap 32 to 37" 4k monitor / TV?DanNeely - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
Monoprice has a basic 32" 4k/60hz monitor for $350. I haven't seen anything a few inches larger that's not an ultrawide; the next popular size for people who want bigger in 16:9 is 40/43" TVs.https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=27772
fred666 - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
I checked 43" TVs. They are cheap. But just a bit too big to fit on my desk. 40" could maybe fit, but it seems to be discontinued.fred666 - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
also $350 USD is on the expensive side to me right now - at least compared to 43" TVs, plus monoprice charges me $64 shippingWaltC - Friday, March 27, 2020 - link
I bought the BenQ 3270U--4k native, and it's very nice. Paid $440 for it via Amazon.TheUnhandledException - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
I really wish monitor OEMs wouldn't cheap out on the power delivery. 60W might be fine for some laptops but it is still dumb. So lets say your current laptop is <60W so great get this monitor except your next laptop is 70W. Oops. Just make it 100W and call it a day. It isn't like the extra watts will hurt anything and the cost difference between 60W and 100W is negligible.RSAUser - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
Standard cable is rated at 60W, you need a dedicated emca cable to get to 100W.fred666 - Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - link
if your laptop needs 70W, that's probably for operating at 100% CPU + GPU + charging the battery from 0%.60W will be enough 99% of the time. For that other 1%, well, the battery will take the hit or you can connect an extra charger.