Shopped for a 4K monitor for weeks and can't figure out what to buy ..

[idontlikephysx]

I am in Canada first of all and I got to ask is there any affordable option for 4k monitors in the $350 to $400 + tax range?  Is there anything anyone would recommend?  Only places I would buy from right now are Newegg.ca, BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca as I actually want to get my monitor and these places have delivered things on time when I have ordered from them in the past few months.  Btw I don't care about 144 FPS as I want picture quality more.  Also the video card that would be driving my pc is an RX 5700 XT so I guess Free-Sync matters?  All I know is I have done some shopping and haven't been able to decide on anything.  I did look at the following monitor ...

https://www.newegg.ca/black-asus-tuf-gaming-vg289q-90lm05b0-b011b0-28/p/N82E16824281033?Description=ASUS VG289Q&cm_re=ASUS_VG289Q-_-24-281-033-_-Product
 
 

[e22big]

I use LG 27UL600 and it has been fantastic and I believe fit well within your budget - that is uf 4k 60fps is your only goal here and you don't have any other room for upgrade

 

Otherwise, something like BenQ EW3270U could be fantastic, at 4k 32 inch could be a sweeter spot than 27 inch and EW3270U should have better wide gamut performance as well as not having power brick lying around as it will be built right inside the monitor. 

[idontlikephysx]

2 hours ago, e22big said:

I use LG 27UL600 and it has been fantastic and I believe fit well within your budget - that is uf 4k 60fps is your only goal here and you don't have any other room for upgrade

 

Otherwise, something like BenQ EW3270U could be fantastic, at 4k 32 inch could be a sweeter spot than 27 inch and EW3270U should have better wide gamut performance as well as not having power brick lying around as it will be built right inside the monitor. 

That LG 27UL600 really intrigues me as it does hit the minimum HDR 400 which I want.  Definitely priced reasonably too.  $100 over my budget but there is a payoff.  Also I was able to learn about VESA HDR ratings and how one should look for those as they are the honest truth and this monitor is VESA HDR 400 approved.  @e22big do you think the price is going to move much on monitors in this range?  

[e22big]

2 hours ago, idontlikephysx said:

That LG 27UL600 really intrigues me as it does hit the minimum HDR 400 which I want.  Definitely priced reasonably too.  $100 over my budget but there is a payoff.  Also I was able to learn about VESA HDR ratings and how one should look for those as they are the honest truth and this monitor is VESA HDR 400 approved.  @e22big do you think the price is going to move much on monitors in this range?  

hmn can't tell exactly but I guess not, monitor pricing kind of move slowly compared to TV. It seem to fluctuate much more on per region and deal basis rather than time (the LG 27 UK series from last year for example, still quite expensive), my LG 27UL600 only costed me 250 buck something so may be keep looking and you might get a better pricing during sale.

 

For the record though, HDR400 doesn't offer much when it comes to HDR performance (other than it can accept HDR input and can reach 400 nit of brightness - may or may not have the wild colour gamut.) For 27UL600 in particular, it also doesn't quite work right out of the box, especially if you used it for Windows PC.

 

Windows HDR is simply atrocious, their colour tone is so way off (make your screen bright purple) that basically negate any benefit you can expect from a wild colour gamut or brightness performance. Because of this, most HDR-capable monitor come with a firmware HDR mode that you can activate while recieving Windows HDR signal which fix this severe colour error from Windows - those doesn't come with the 27UL600, which mean for 99 percent of people, they won't simply be able to use this as a HDR monitor. 

 

That said, you can create your own colour profile to colour correct the Windows HDR in your GPU configuration software which is very unintuitive but it works. I personally run with this configuration and it works fine but you will have to get your feet wet to get it to work.

[idontlikephysx]

@e22big do you see some of the HDR pop at least with the monitor?

[idontlikephysx]

Eh ended up getting a gaming desk that will be able to hold my current 4K tv that was stuck being used in the kitchen because my old pc workstation could not hold it.  Desk cost $200 to $300 less than what I was going to spend on a monitor and really I felt I was going to end up settling on something that I didn't want as much for a pc screen. Putting off a 4K monitor / tv purchase til 2021 or until I see a good deal on something where I get a high HDR rating .... HDR 600 to 1000.  So here is what I got for a desk ...

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B088WT2RWB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&fbclid=IwAR1Zi9P8gV55tknjCVIb9w7P_YlNHMaMDmNul4TjdLbC6jBYDL_7_601n_U

PS: Thanks for the help though as I was really looking hard at a monitor and definitely will still need one in 1st quarter 2021 at the latest.

[Stahlmann]

I can't really give a monitor recommendation but i can clear things up a bit about HDR.

There are 3 main things you need for HDR:

1. High contrast (for good contrast, full array local dimming is absolutely neccesary)

2. High brightness (at least 600 nits peak)

3. Wide color gamut (at least 90% DCI-P3)

 

HDR400 is completely useless and only says that a monitor can reach 400nits peak brightness and "accept an HDR input". But this certification does in no way tell that a monitor is actually capable of displaying HDR in any way. Almost any SDR monitor these days gets this certification with ease.

 

HDR600 is still not a really good HDR experience, as most of these monitors still are not able to display a contrast rich image. Most of these monitors use subpar or bad local-dimming (for example edge-lit local dimming zones) and thus are again not really able to display a good HDR image.

 

With HDR400 and HDR600 monitors you are better off leaving the HDR feature disabled because most of the time it will result in a worse image than SDR.

 

If you want HDR in a monitor you'd have to look out for one with a HDR1000 certification or higher to have a real HDR image.

 

Basically, until you have >1000$ to spend on a monitor, don't expect any "real" HDR capabilities. If you really want decent HDR, get a TV instead. The HDR ecosystem on TVs currently is much better and you get good 4K HDR displays starting at around 600$ i'd say.

[idontlikephysx]

31 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I can't really give a monitor recommendation but i can clear things up a bit about HDR.

There are 3 main things you need for HDR:

1. High contrast (for good contrast, full array local dimming is absolutely neccesary)

2. High brightness (at least 600 nits peak)

3. Wide color gamut (at least 90% DCI-P3)

 

HDR400 is completely useless and only says that a monitor can reach 400nits peak brightness and "accept an HDR input". But this certification does in no way tell that a monitor is actually capable of displaying HDR in any way. Almost any SDR monitor these days gets this certification with ease.

 

HDR600 is still not a really good HDR experience, as most of these monitors still are not able to display a contrast rich image. Most of these monitors use subpar or bad local-dimming (for example edge-lit local dimming zones) and thus are again not really able to display a good HDR image.

 

With HDR400 and HDR600 monitors you are better off leaving the HDR feature disabled because most of the time it will result in a worse image than SDR.

 

If you want HDR in a monitor you'd have to look out for one with a HDR1000 certification or higher to have a real HDR image.

 

Basically, until you have >1000$ to spend on a monitor, don't expect any "real" HDR capabilities. If you really want decent HDR, get a TV instead. The HDR ecosystem on TVs currently is much better and you get good 4K HDR displays starting at around 600$ i'd say.

Yeah for me I think it is all about going high end or not at all with a monitor for the main rig if I get a new monitor for it .. or a tv.  The thing about a tv though is finding tvs that are not too big and also now tvs that have the older stand but really with the new desk I ordered having a brace holding it to it I would think should not be a problem.  Thanks for the way you set this out as I will refer to it in the future.  Definitely a good reminder of what I should get.

[e22big]

6 hours ago, idontlikephysx said:

@e22big do you see some of the HDR pop at least with the monitor?

I do see - after the colour correct that is. The contrast do suffer for sure and not every game do HDR well but for some, it really does worth the effort

[e22big]

2 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I can't really give a monitor recommendation but i can clear things up a bit about HDR.

There are 3 main things you need for HDR:

1. High contrast (for good contrast, full array local dimming is absolutely neccesary)

2. High brightness (at least 600 nits peak)

3. Wide color gamut (at least 90% DCI-P3)

 

HDR400 is completely useless and only says that a monitor can reach 400nits peak brightness and "accept an HDR input". But this certification does in no way tell that a monitor is actually capable of displaying HDR in any way. Almost any SDR monitor these days gets this certification with ease.

 

HDR600 is still not a really good HDR experience, as most of these monitors still are not able to display a contrast rich image. Most of these monitors use subpar or bad local-dimming (for example edge-lit local dimming zones) and thus are again not really able to display a good HDR image.

 

With HDR400 and HDR600 monitors you are better off leaving the HDR feature disabled because most of the time it will result in a worse image than SDR.

 

If you want HDR in a monitor you'd have to look out for one with a HDR1000 certification or higher to have a real HDR image.

 

Basically, until you have >1000$ to spend on a monitor, don't expect any "real" HDR capabilities. If you really want decent HDR, get a TV instead. The HDR ecosystem on TVs currently is much better and you get good 4K HDR displays starting at around 600$ i'd say.

Full array local dimming isn't actually for high contrast though (it does help but not by much), what it really does help is to give you detail and clairty even in dark scene which is important for people who want a proper HDR exprience

 

but if you only want a test of wild colour gamut, some HDR400 and below monitors do capable of that

[idontlikephysx]

Well maybe back to looking at monitors or tvs that will fit my current pc desk as Amazon wanted to only give a refund as the desk I ordered they feel is lost in the mail and I guess getting one in the future they feel is not going to happen.  Really liked the desk. : S  I am going to try to look at getting another from Amazon or somewhere else but damn.  Btw I guess there is some good news in that I will get the desk for free if it arrives here still.  They said keep it if it arrives. LOL!