Looking for monitor recommendations. 4K 32"

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I’m thinking about building a new setup. For studying and personal stuff. With all the new “improvements” coming to windows, I’ll be looking to limit the usage of my Windows PC to gaming only and will be looking for something else to learn/study with.

I’ve been thinking about some Linux distro or another, but I’ve also thought about a Mac (mac mini or sth), maybe a laptop, who knows. But that’s a topic for another day.

What I’m really looking for is monitor recommendations. I know I want a 32" 4K monitor, but I don’t really have an idea of which one. I’d like it to have nice colors, but for the work I’ll be doing graphics won’t be the no.1 priority. I also don’t care much for refresh rate, though 120hz is what I have now with my TV and phone and I’d love to not go under that. How’s higher refresh rate compatibility with “Linux laptops” and Mac machines?

I haven’t thought of the budget much, though I’d love to keep it on the lower side (whatever that means for you). I’m also looking at second-hand markets.

Thank

Edit to add: I’m in the Eurozone. For whatever that’s worth.
Another edit to add: I’m looking for a flat screen, exclusively. I don’t vibe with the curved screens.

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Behold, rtings

I have the previous version of the G7, which is 2560x1440. It’s a decent gaming monitor. I don’t mind the curve so much, though it would be kind of bulky because of it if I hadn’t mounted it on an arm.

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I bought an open box Dell G3223Q a few months back and have no complaints; it’s 32 inch, 4K, IPS, and flat.

Color accuracy is important to me, and I tried two TN panels with similar specs beforehand. Both were returned immediately. The color shift, even from 10 feet away, is unbearable on a TN screen this size.

I also tried the Gigabyte M32U which has identical specs to the Dell. The contrast ratio was visibly lower, and the monitor was not built well at all.

Overall, I learned the hard way that saving $100 was not worth the trade offs :smile:

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About the refresh rates, I have the G7, and a 38" ultra wide from LG which runs at 60hz. So far the mixed refresh rates haven’t been a problem on Debian 12 running KDE Plasma.

Unless you count Wayland randomly losing its mind, but going back to X11 fixed that.

:yay:

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Is this the one Samsung started putting their crappy tv os in? Which also works by remote(and if you have a tv next to it…).

I’ve had an early g7, and I can’t say good things about it. Never passed the flicker test twise in a row(you configure it, you see it stopped flickering… you run the test next day, and here we go again)

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@MCVET what is your preference - curve? No curve?
This one would be nice if it hadn’t VRR flicker.

So… no OLED? 32" 4K screens are pricey in their own right. That is a big jump from 27" 1440p, like more than twice the price.

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Thanks for reminding me, I forgot to add it to the OG post. Added now.

Flat screens only.

I don’t mind OLED, I’ll be looking at the used markets as well, so I’m sure I’ll find some.

I'll be back later today to respond to more of you, thanks for the recs so far, It's a bit busy today...
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I know this is not what you’ve asked for but I went with 40",4K,144Hz and am very happy with it. It is intimidating at first but you get used to the size quickly.

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This one is just a monitor as far as I can tell. I don’t typically recommend stuff from Samsung since they’re the company that produced multiple generations of SSDs with janky firmware, a phone of self-immolation, and an exploding washing machine, but I was able to get a deal on this one so I grabbed it.

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Which makes everything clean, right? RIght?

I was looking at Samsung monitors at a retailer (a big one, usually I find actual comments there), and it would seem that Samsung decided to take CatDog scenario - a monitor in specs (and models like G7 etc), BUT with a plot twist of Tyzen/Bada OS being on them.

They even go with a TV remote instead of the on-monitor panel.

But here’s the catch. Turning ON the monitor from the remote (and there is some funky stuff with standby mode) turns OFF the TV, if they are in the same room (same hughing signal).

Well, at one hand I can agree with this. On the other though - I have some kinky stuff with my eyes/head, short version of the result being a constant headache.

My home daily monitor is a BenQ 1080p 60Hz, which I bought in 2012. Have made multiple attempts to narrow down the problem (there is a long thread for this somewhere on this forum, with some findings), but, basically, Samsung Q77 (I think, too lazy to check atm) was the first thing in 10 years, which I managed to adapt to two years ago, and has been the first take of fresh air from 10 years of evening movie sessions in front of that 27" monitor.

But in terms of the OS, yeah, I have a few strong words I would like to say in person to Samsung’s dev team.

Although I don’t know the details, I have a doubt that the culprit is Samsung, but, instead, the SSD label on it. I have two SSD drives, a Kingston and a WD, which I bought for myself (and I never go for the cheaper option), which (after it took me a few YEARS to realize why my 7700k had random freezes) has 1:1 problem right from the factory (both drives were bought 3-4 years from each others. Not even the same technology, nor capacity).

Yep. Makes one fear in the today’s surrounding. I have TWS headphones in my ears (with an extra spice of it being in the gym), a smartband, a phone. Have a wireless Anker speaker right next to my bed (because I first bought it for fun, then I realized that I sleep much better with it playing whitenoise sets), and so on. And everything has a battery in it.

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I would not take that risk. OLED at today’s state has a burn-in factor, which is quite common. And I can imagine that the used market will only contain such entities.

I myself aim at buying an OLED this year.

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Thanks for this excellent overview. Gave me things to look for in monitors.

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This is the best monitor under $750 IMO, and is drastically cheaper than that right now:

4k
165hz
32"
1200~ mini LED dimming zones
HDR2000, 2000nit max brightness
1000R curve
Freesync premium
basic adaptive sync GSync.

$400 on sale and with coupon. Nothing else even comes close to this when it is on sale.

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I recommend staying away from OLED. It is:

  • Too dim for a good HDR experience
  • Has poor text clarity due to BGR pixel layout
  • Due to burn-in it requires all kinds of annoying compromises and sometimes even 3rd party software to do things like mandatory screensavers, “pixel refresher”, etc.

High zone count MiniLED essentially obsoletes OLED. If you’re looking for something expensive go with MiniLED. Otherwise get a 32 inch 4k IPS/VA 144hz panel without the full-array local dimming/MiniLED.

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The PG32UQX is the best monitor I’ve ever used. There is nothing that tops it yet and I’ve tried every popular OLED display (those aren’t intended to be successors though). It’s future successor will probably be based on the not yet released ProArt PA32KCX (8K MiniLED HDR display).

It is one of two or three monitors in the world to achieve official VesaHDR 1400 certification which is extremely difficult to do. 4k, 144hz, native 10-bit (no FRC dithering), 1600 peak nit 1152-zone MiniLED, G-Sync Ultimate hardware module, with pro-level color coverage of DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020, and out of the box Delta E calibration < 1. It’s actually the same panel ASUS uses in their $4000 ProArt monitor, but with the G-Sync Ultimate hardware module installed and other customizations. In terms of the overall technology packed in it is hands down the best monitor on the planet. It’s very expensive though.

For something on the lower end you could get the PG32UQR (the sibling without the MiniLED or the pro-level color coverage) or the STRIX version (XG32UQ). The PG32UQR is technically slightly higher end but it’s on sale currently:

Avoid: OLED panels, anything made by MSI, TN panels

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According to youtube videos in the last month, the new oled monitors have addressed this issue (and, according to them, it is quite decent).

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Sir, I now know who to ask later this year (I hope) when I will be attempting OLED :smiley:

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So…Life sure has a funny way of flowing.
Thank you all for your inputs and recommendations, but a few things happened over the weekend that made me rethink my priorities and I won’t be pursuing this endeavor just yet.
I encourage you all to keep discussing, since some of the others have shown interest.

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