4K Monitor - Help finalizing size choice

[RyanEsau]

I know there's pretty much a fair few of these sort of topics already but I'm still kinda stumped due to the heavily varying opinions. So I figured I'd ask and mention my specific case scenario.

 

In a few months I plan to build a whole new pc build, I'm planning on getting a PS4 Pro (I'm PC/PS4) along with it or a little later [Depends on how money works out.] so I'll need a 4K Display. I would also like the 4K Display in general though to see how 4K PC Gaming is. Been holding off playing The Witcher 3 until I get this setup, lol. I also use Adobe Premeire Pro and Adobe Photoshop from time to time so I think it'd be pretty nice to have the extra real estate.

 

My issue is that I kinda want to avoid having to deal with UI Scaling issues. I remember in some professional 4K Monitor Review from I believe HardwareCanucks that it was mentioned Adobe Photoshop (Don't remember about Premeire) didn't really scale well with the Windows scaling. (Which is on Adobe rather than Windows. But, I'd still like to minimize impact for myself)

 

So I was looking at a 32'' since some recommended 32'' (Although. These were recommended in like 2~ year old threads/reddits that were before these were actually available) and I came upon this monitor which I like since I want IPS and the sRGB coverage would be a nice bonus.

BenQ PD3200U - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1308751-REG/benq_pd3200u_32_led_monitor_3840x2160.html

 

Before seeing some people saying 27''/28'' is still too small for 4K though I was considering this:

ASUS PG27AQ - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1260743-REG/asus_pg27aq_27_widescreen_republic.html

 

Costs a tad more ($100) but I think having G-Sync would make the monitor perfect all-round for when I'm gaming but it's 27''. (Although I've never really noticed screen tearing frankly... but just to avoid it I just use V-Sync)

 

Also just recently ran upon this one:

 

Acer Predator XB271HK - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1217291-REG/acer_um_hx1aa_002_predator_xb271hk_27_16_9.html

 

Which is a tad less ($100) but I don't know about it's color coverage since it's unmentioned. Still 4K, IPS, 27'', G-Sync though. I guess I could bare with that though. I don't know the color coverage (also unmentioned) of my current monitor and I do plan to keep it for a multi-monitor setup so I guess it would blend together better?... In terms of color reproduction across the monitor setup that is. (23'' 1080p IPS btw.)

 

Note: Don't want bigger than 32''. Plan to add in another of my current monitor with the 4K one and I don't really want it overwhelmingly bigger, lol. Although... I don't think I'd mind so much if I could have a monitor stand where I could have the two 1080p monitors side-by-side and the 4K ontop of them. I think that'd be perfect. I'd prefer a single uniform stand but maybe a dual-monitor stand + a single-monitor arm could work? Also I saw there was a 32'' IPS 4K G-Sync, but I don't want to blow $1100... $600-900 is already steep enough investment as is, lol.

 

Note 2: Don't care about High Refresh Rate. So uphold recommending "Just go 1440p 144Hz" or similar. Plus since I'd also like to use it for my PS4 Pro, that wouldn't really work out... Need 4K specifically and I'm not interested in trying to upkeep the power over the years for HFR 4K. Plus I'll probably be sticking with my 1070 and just turning down settings initially anyway. So don't need to make it any harder a task.

[SALEEN961]

I would agree that a 27"/28" monitor is too small for 4K, I recently bought my wife a 27" 4K monitor and even when sitting very close to it the text is often hard to read (I'm 27 with 20/20 vision). I also recently bought myself a 27" 1440p monitor and the size feels perfect when I'm sitting at a normal distance, to keep things the same size without using scaling while switching up to 4K I think a 40.5" would be perfect (2160/1440=1.5, 1.5*27"=40.5") but this is much larger than your stated maximum size.

 

I would go to a store and try some monitors out before buying, you might be ok with the text size on a 32" 4K monitor and therefore able to avoid any scaling issues; but if you're not ok with the text size as you already know scaling doesn't always work and just isn't as good of a solution as a larger monitor in which case you'll have to choose the lesser of the two evils.

 

I hope you find my honest feedback on my own recent purchases helpful.

[jason200912]

go huge or don't go 4k.  It's very hard to read.  You're going to want living room sized monitors for 4k

[dizmo]

Monoprice has a pretty nice 4k monitor for $399.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=27772

It's HDR as well. No GSync, but honestly with the money you're saving you could probably sell whatever graphics card you have and buy a 1080Ti...

 

The stand is kinda shit but that's nothing a $30 monitor arm won't solve.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[RyanEsau]

46 minutes ago, SALEEN961 said:

I would agree that a 27"/28" monitor is too small for 4K, I recently bought my wife a 27" 4K monitor and even when sitting very close to it the text is often hard to read (I'm 27 with 20/20 vision). I also recently bought myself a 27" 1440p monitor and the size feels perfect when I'm sitting at a normal distance, to keep things the same size without using scaling while switching up to 4K I think a 40.5" would be perfect (2160/1440=1.5, 1.5*27"=40.5") but this is much larger than your stated maximum size.

 

I would go to a store and try some monitors out before buying, you might be ok with the text size on a 32" 4K monitor and therefore able to avoid any scaling issues; but if you're not ok with the text size as you already know scaling doesn't always work and just isn't as good of a solution as a larger monitor in which case you'll have to choose the lesser of the two evils.

 

I hope you find my honest feedback on my own recent purchases helpful.

Every single honest opinion helps. Thanks.

 

43 minutes ago, jason200912 said:

go huge or don't go 4k.  It's very hard to read.  You're going to want living room sized monitors for 4k

I'll consider it if I can work things out for my setup when the time comes. My main thing in mind for the moment though is just the setup of the monitors on the stand as I'm planning to mount them all.

 

41 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Monoprice has a pretty nice 4k monitor for $399.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=27772

It's HDR as well. No GSync, but honestly with the money you're saving you could probably sell whatever graphics card you have and buy a 1080Ti...

 

The stand is kinda shit but that's nothing a $30 monitor arm won't solve.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Damn. That's awesome. Didn't know Monoprice had stuff outside of cables... lol. I think 32'' + HDR + much cheaper is a solid trade. I'll keep that monitor in mind. I loved Shadow Warrior 1 (Snagged it when it was free) so I definitely want to get Shadow Warrior 2. If I recall, it was one of the first games that came with HDR on PC. So that'd be awesome to get to use HDR when I play it.

 

Stand is fine since I plan to mount it anyway, won't be using it. Also, thanks. I just signed up yesterday after the WAN Show, lol. Made the account to link for Discord, plus I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and participate here. Already participate in MAL & GameFAQs. So got a anime forum, gaming forum, now a tech forum. Think that covers all my bases (interests), lol.

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, RyanEsau said:

Damn. That's awesome. Didn't know Monoprice had stuff outside of cables... lol. I think 32'' + HDR + much cheaper is a solid trade. I'll keep that monitor in mind. I loved Shadow Warrior 1 (Snagged it when it was free) so I definitely want to get Shadow Warrior 2. If I recall, it was one of the first games that came with HDR on PC. So that'd be awesome to get to use HDR when I play it.

Stand is fine since I plan to mount it anyway, won't be using it. Also, thanks. I just signed up yesterday after the WAN Show, lol. Made the account to link for Discord, plus I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and participate here. Already participate in MAL & GameFAQs. So got a anime forum, gaming forum, now a tech forum. Think that covers all my bases (interests), lol.

Yeah, that's a pretty new product, their older monitors weren't very good IMO. Well they might have performed well but they looked really bad. Thick plastic bezels. *shudder* The HDR is what sold me on it too, it'll probably be my next monitor.

 

I like the forum more than his videos these days Though I must say the builds with the kids was pretty comical.

I watched my first anime a couple months ago. Attack on Titan. Solid. Deathnote is also amazing, as is Berserk.