BenQ BL3201PH or Samsung U32E850R or...?

illram

illram

[H]ard|Gawd
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Trying to decide between these two monitors.

- BenQ is currently about $300 less than the Samsung,
- Sammy has HDMI 2.0, while the BenQ only has HDMI 1.4 (so I have to use displayport for 4k at 60hz). I like the convenience of HDMI, but not sure it is worth the extra money as this pretty much just means putting my headphones in the PC rather than the monitor, really. (And I might want to do that anyway).
- Both are IPS panels, although it was said on this forum that the BenQ has a nicer matte coating.
- I like the exterior design look of the Samsung more than the cheaper BenQ, but I don't know if I like it $300 more.
- Both have freesync according to PCMonitors review, but this is not a huge deal to me as I don't see myself using this. I do game, but I have a GTX 970 and my next purchase is likely going to be a 980ti, and I learned that annoyingly all of these "sync" solutions require displayport for now. Also just generally on a curmudgeonly level I feel like it is shitty that we have these proprietary solutions where you have to lock yourself into a certain GPU manufacturer for the life of your monitor if you want to take advantage of variable refresh rates.
- Both have low enough input lag that I feel confident I won't ever really notice. Correct me if I am wrong here.
- Both seem to have similar ratings in various reviews, generally.

Any suggestions? What am I missing? I'm leaning towards the cheaper BenQ, currently.

One thing I cannot really figure out--it seems both monitors are just average at doing 1080p or 1440. Anyone have experience with how either monitor handles lower resolutions, like a game in 1080p or 1440? For the foreseeable future I am primarily going to use this for office work at 4k (I need lots of info on the screen at once) but want the option to use this as a gaming monitor at 1080 or 1440 and not look crappy, at least until single card tech catches up to 4k resolution.

Is there a third option? I don't mind spending >$1,000 if it is a really good 32" 4K monitor.

Thanks!
 
1080p, at least from computer usage, is a dead end on anything except 1080p native monitors, from what I can see, either that or my memory of how 1080p should look is very detached from reality.

From my sitting distance (approximately arm's length, maybe a little longer), 1440p on the BL3201PH looks much better than I had expected. NCX's review of BL3201PH is pretty much my reason for going with this monitor, and so far I am quite happy with it. My problems with it has very little to do with the monitor, and more with everything else (EG my 970 having only 1 DP so I can't use both of my monitors at the same time with SLI on, 4k game support being more wonky than I anticipated). I don't have consoles so I have no idea how 1080p from consoles would scale.

Generally, I have to look closely to see any sort of scaling artefacts with the BL3201PH when displaying 1440p.

The lack of HDMI 2.0 was indeed a blow but in a different way, and that can be solved with my next GPU purchase. I already use external speakers/headphones for sound so lack of sound through DP is inconsequential to me.

The IPS glow (or the lack thereof) wins a lot of points for BL3201PH IMO.
 
chenw said:
1080p, at least from computer usage, is a dead end on anything except 1080p native monitors, from what I can see, either that or my memory of how 1080p should look is very detached from reality.

From my sitting distance (approximately arm's length, maybe a little longer), 1440p on the BL3201PH looks much better than I had expected. NCX's review of BL3201PH is pretty much my reason for going with this monitor, and so far I am quite happy with it. My problems with it has very little to do with the monitor, and more with everything else (EG my 970 having only 1 DP so I can't use both of my monitors at the same time with SLI on, 4k game support being more wonky than I anticipated). I don't have consoles so I have no idea how 1080p from consoles would scale.

Generally, I have to look closely to see any sort of scaling artefacts with the BL3201PH when displaying 1440p.

The lack of HDMI 2.0 was indeed a blow but in a different way, and that can be solved with my next GPU purchase. I already use external speakers/headphones for sound so lack of sound through DP is inconsequential to me.

The IPS glow (or the lack thereof) wins a lot of points for BL3201PH IMO.
Click to expand...

Do you find the GTX 970 adequate for driving this monitor?
 
Probably not, but unless you are going to rely on 1440p as your fall back resolution, in which case I'd either get a 1440p monitor instead, or at least a 980ti instead of a 970.

I use SLI 970's, but I only use 4k when I either don't really need the frame rates (playing top downs like RTS or Diablo/D&D type games), or when it's and old game. I switch to my Swift for more demanding/smoothness reliant games.
 
Thanks for the replies. There is so much info out there it is overwhelming. The price went up at Amazon on the BenQ while I was researching, now I am looking at the Phillips 40" monitor vs. a Samsung JU6500 vs. the BenQ. The other 32" Sammy is out I think due to cost.

The DP issue is vexing because once I thought I wanted the BenQ I looked into DP vs. HDMI more, and realized it wasn't really a big deal, and as I looked at office PC solutions to pair with my monitor I settled on one of the Broadwell NUC's. But now that the Sammy has entered the picture, the NUC's lack of HDMI 2.0 creates another dilemma; do I put together a more expensive office PC with what is going to be wasted GPU power just to get HDMI 2.0 so I can get a bigger 40" monitor, or do I buy the Phillips that has DP and accept some of the potential picture/QC issues raised in the Phillips 40" monitor thread, or do I spend more money on the arguably higher quality but slightly smaller BenQ, .... aaahhh it is driving me crazy. So many variables! I always do this when I make significant new electronics purchases... endless dithering and whatifs. I'm like my wife shopping for clothes, swear to god...
 
DisplayPort also carries audio -- I'm using DisplayPort on the Dell U3415W and get audio through the built in speakers with no extra wiring.

Between those two I'd take the BenQ any day. The JU6500 was a slow, blurry mess to me -- if it's exclusively for office work, it'll do fine, but first person games on the JU6500 gave me headaches very quickly. The JU7500 is supposed to be much, much better in that regard. I've heard negative and positive things about the Phillips, so would probably avoid it unless you can buy one locally to avoid paying return shipping if you hate it.
 
Went with the BenQ from Best Buy for $879. Prices seemed to be rising, didn't want to chance it going back to MSRP anywhere. Seems like there is a compromise to be made with every panel the larger you get.

Just to make things extra fun I also went down the rabbit hole looking for VESA compliant mini-DP to DP cables, as cable issues appeared to be troubling some users in the owner's thread.
 
I do get very occasional flickers with DP, but I am not sure if this is related to the cable itself (I use the mini-DP to DP cable it came with).
 
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