Philips BDM3270 - a hidden gem

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Michelvw

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Just thought I'd share my experience with this monitor.

Below is my video review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NadhtCBUfSI

After owning a Philips BDM4065 and not being 100% satisfied, i sold it and bought a Philips BDM3270 screen and boy - have I been happy with my purchase!
Just FYI; before the 40" i owned (and still do) a Dell 2410 IPS monitor.
Good colours, ok response, but IPS glow and backlight bleed were unbearable.
That's why i took a long hard look at VA panels (TN's are a BIG NO for me).

I loved the 40" philips for the following reasons:
+screen estate & resolution
+Deepest blacks I have ever seen on a monitor

But the downsides:
-Ghosting - no way around it. Putting the monitor on fastest smart response even produced artifacts and the image was still laggy.
Very much noticable even in normal window use (scrolling down a page on internet: black picture on a white page - left a trail when scrolling).
-Size: if you have to sit too close because of desk limitations, it's really too big too fast.
-Glossy; has it's merits, but seeing yourself in the reflection in a dark game/movie isn't my cup of tea.

SO! I decides to sell the 40" with a bitter taste in my mouth.
But I did come to the conclusion that I loved VA panels.
Come the Philips BDM3270!
I looked at the BENQ 3200PT as well - and they have a similar price point (Philips 32" =550euro, 3200pt=579 euro).
On paper, they looked the same, but when looking at the review here on the forum it got me a little worried - many people were reporting vertical banding problems.
So in the end, I decided to give the Philips a go.
And boy, have I been happy :)

Up until now, I can't think up a single negative.
+at 32", the screen is still big, but manageble
+Matte screen...YAY!
+The colours are GOOD, even right out of the box.
I have my Dell 2410 next to it and I'd dare say the colours are even better on the Philips! (i do a lot of print/colour-proof work).
+Response time is just GOOD. It's no 144Hz screen - but I'm not in the market for such a screen either.
It's a good 60Hz and I have it on fastest response time and I see NO artifacts and can play FPS games with ease.
+The black levels...of the black levels... :)
Playing dark games like Skyrim is a JOY now. I hate screens where the depest black is a blue - on the BDM3270 - NOT A PROBLEM.
Black is black, and that was VERY important for me.
+Resolution at 2560x1440 is just PERFECT for now. Let's face it; 4K is just too much now for current GFX cards. It just becomes too expensive too fast.
I have a R9 270X and everything is running fine on high. (ordered a GTX 980To though ;-) )

All in all, i felt I had to share my experience with you.
If you're looking for a big but not too big monitor, with good colour, perfect blacks, and 60Hz no lag....THIS IS IT!
Hope this is of help to someone!
Kind regards,

-Michel from Belgium.
 
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That sounds right up my alley. I had a 27" 1440p but felt the DPI at 100% scaling was just too tiny. I also want a bigger screen. I basically side-graded to a 28" UHD monitor. I don't regret it but after a month of use, I realize I still need a larger screen for productivity. (I don't want multi-monitor because I'm also a gamer). so this looks like it.

Here's a pic of the model
Philips_BDM3270QP-tech-boom.com-02.jpg
 
I do like some elements of IPS but lordy do I miss the black levels. I had VA panels of various types for ages until IPS basically took over every market segment I was after. Nice to see them making a comeback, if at least to keep the competition up and choices available for people to weigh the trade offs. Also nice to hear from someone who's purchased a variety of monitors and finally landed on one that is "a Goodun" so to speak.
 
Here's my setup:
ienxxu.jpg

I still have my Dell 2410 but vertically, has been working nicely for me :)

I can wholeheartedly recomment this screen, glad to hear you have a good experience also Doomtomb!
If anyone has any questions or requests, feel free to ask!
 
I'm tempted to buy one of these but apparently it uses the same panel as the BenQ BL3200PT, which I unfortunately had to return due to the banding issue.

Would you mind posting a photo showing the grey uniformity?
 
Looks like a modern option for someone wanting something similar to the old 30" IPS displays. Large display with a good size resolution. I really like that it's VA.

Might be tough to find USA though.
 
I don't see any US retailers with it yet. It is already hard enough to find a used BenQ BL3200PT at a good price. :(
 
Benq, envy32, Sammy, acer/Asus, not that hard to find as alternative.
 
i remember the benq version having very high latency (according to prad.de 25ms)
can you comment on your phillips in that regard?
 
I will post a video tonight (I'm at work right now) for the grey uniformity and gaming experience (lag or no lag).

I'll maybe also do some viewing angle shots and share my settings.
Any other requests? :)

I have no idea how to overclock a monitor, I can look into it if I won't damage my screen...
 
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You can simply add a custom resolution within the nvidia control panel or use this handy tool to add resolutions when using an amd gpu.
It won't damage your screen.
Basically all you do is add resolutions like 2560x1440@70Hz, 75, 80 etc. and see if the monitor accepts it and if it does, test here if it doesn't drop any frames above 60 Hz

Thanks for your work :)
 
Thanks for looking into the lag for us. I was initially excited for the Benq version back when it came out, as the size, price point, and resolution all seemed to hit a perfect spot, but the input lag was terrible.

Probably still going to wait for the upcoming 21:9 Gsync panel, but if it has Swift-like delays and low availability (and poor initial QC) then I may pick up one of these till all that gets sorted out, if the lag isn't crippling.
 
I tried overclocking the monitor with CRU

Total nightmare.
My scaling in windows is all screwed up...have been trying to fix it for half an hour.
Awesome.
UGH!

I think I'm looking at a windows re-install as CRU adjusted data in my registry and now icons on my desktop are on "small" but in reality they're like 4x4cm.

Never overclocking a monitor again...
 
Ok...ok I was able to fix it thank god.
In the end I deleted my monitors from the CRU dropdown, and after some reboots the problem fixed itself.
Wheh! What a trip.

That's an hour of my life I'm never getting back :-P

Anyhow, I will make that video I promised tonight!
Sorry but no more overclocking for me ;-)
 
oh man, sorry for that <.<
I usuually got a "out of range" message when trying to apply the resolution and after 15 seconds it would just revert back to default
 
Hello there, I came across your post recently about this Philips monitor and I had a few questions maybe you can kindly answer. The only VA monitor I ever owned was the EIZO Foris FG2421 which offered a fantastic contrast ratio of 5000:1 with a 120hz refresh rate. I really loved how deep and inky the blacks looked on this monitor but unfortunately the screen suffered a number of horrible problems such as Washed out Light bleed from both sides of the screen which some how only effected bright images, insane amount of purple ghosting / trailing specially in skyrim at night time, cross hatching marks appear around the screen and finally their was this strange issue with a black circle in the middle of the screen when the image was dark which was just horrible so needless to say I returned the monitor back for a refund and I haven't tried another VA panel since.

I really like the idea of VA panels because I do prefer the inky blacks with good contrast compared to the crappy IPS glow which seems to plague every single IPS monitor these days, So I wanted to know if you suffer any of these issues I mentioned with your Philips monitor at all? And also how are the colours in your opinion, do they feel washed out or pretty vibrant.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!.
 
Hey OutlawXGP,

Actually my video answers most of your questions :) but np, I'll answer them here.
In short:
-Very good blacks, not inky black. 4065UC was a little better in this regard.
-No Light bleed.
-No washed out image.
-Good viewing angles and colours, I dare say even better colours than my dell IPS screen
-The dark "tunnel" was also present on the BDM4065UC (monitor I owned before this one)
This monitor MAY have it also, but I'm not seeing it. Perhaps a little bit.
A LOT less then the 4065UC.

In short I'd advise you to try this monitor, I'm really chuffed with it!
 
Lesnumeriques (Digital versus) made a review a few weeks ago and the english translation is out:

http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-monitor/philips-bdm3270qp-p26853/test.html

I would warn people about quality control however. On the french forum a lot of people are praising the performance of the screen, but there also is a lot of talk of banding, dead pixel and spotty assembly.

ps: Digital versus also reviewed the HP envy 32, the Benq ans the Acer for comparison

http://www.digitalversus.com/lcd-mo...00=79,444&pricex=8.99&pricey=1434.99&pricen=0
 
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I had a look at Digital versus review (thanks for the link by the way) and it seems pretty good, in fact a little too good to be true. I mean I have tested over 10 monitors during the past 9 months with only one of them being a VA so I wouldn't mind trying out another one as I really do love glow free and good black levels.

Thanks for taking the time and answering my questions Michelvw, when you mentioned "Dark Tunneling" are you referring to the dark circle in the center of the screen that I mentioned before? And I did watch your video review but its kind of hard to see if there is any obvious ghosting/trailing with this screen, do you notice anything like that? Such as a purple/black trails around objects when you move the camera around?. I only ask this again because you have no idea how bad this was with the EIZO Foris. At the time of posting, this monitor is about £415.24 on amazon.co.uk which is a very fair price so I am really getting intersted in giving it a try.
 
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I've tested two BDM3270qp (sadly one had dead pixel and the other had a serious banding defect). If you can get one defect-free it is a very good display. Philips get you control over the overdrive (4 settings: off, fast, faster, fastest) so you can adjust between a little ghosting, almost none and reverse ghosting depending on your preferences for response time.

Anyway, with amazon your got a 30 days free-return policy if i'm not mistaken. You can always give it a try :)
 
Hey OutlawXGP, yeah with the dark tunnel effect I mean the dark circle!
I noticed that effect on the BDM4065UC and it was very annoying, the same effect exists on this display but to a MUCH smaller extent.
Just tested Borderlands 2 last night (fast paced FPS game) and with the smartresponse on fastest I didn't notice any artifacting, ghosting or trailing.
I was very suprised about how good the game looked and how well I was able to play it on this screen.

I'd really give this monitor a chance, I guess I got lucky and got an error-free one.
I've been very pleased really.
It's by no means perfect, but if you dont want IPS glow like me, good viewing angles and okay response times, I think this is your best bet for now.
 
Was able to overclock the monitor to 73Hz @ 2560x1440P :)
Anothing more than 73Hz is too much.
 
I just picked one of these beauties up today, WOW what a screen! The clarity of the text, the perfect size and pixel size for desktop use is awesome! Was a little worried, but this is much nicer than the 27" 1440p. Wall mounted it right away =)
 
Hi OP,

how is the bleeding on your 3270QP? I just bought mine and though it's an amazing monitor (coming from a 27" 1920x1200 Samsung SyncMaster), the bleeding in all four corners is atrocious. :(

I'm thinking about returning this to the store and maybe another piece will be better?

What is your opinion? I am attaching a photo (where the bleed is actually a bit more pronounced than it really is).

http://imgur.com/GRdP8Rv

Thanks!
 
Quality control really let's these monitors down. Had 2 of them both came with 1 dead pixel each. The first one had noticeable vertical banding. The second had acceptable banding but awful backlight bleed in all 4 corners (managed to massage out from 1 corner a bit).

Also both of the screens developed dust underneath, on the first I was able to get rid of it by tapping hard on the display. Not so much luck on the second one, there it wouldn't wanna budge and it was in the middle of the screen a 2x2 pixel region.

The first one was sent back because of the banding, second because of the dust spot and the backlight bleed.

Another strange thing present on both was some kind of contrast shift in games even though the DCR setting was set to off (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B9C_nko4yc).

So they are far from perfect, didn't test a third one though, switched to an AOC with the same panel, this one also has visible banding and the contrast shift is even worse and visible in places where the Philips didn't exhibit it.

All had a manufacture date of may 2015. Not sure about panel manufacture date since those are only visible if you disassemble them.
 
@globalist Probably too late now, but that bleed is not so bad, my second monitor was much worse, and I would have kept it if not for other problems since it was the best I've seen as far as vertical banding goes.
 
OK, so this morning I woke up to the USB hub on the monitor being dead. Windows cannot recognize the hub device and says it malfunctioned.

Off to RMA this goes, along with the bleeding problem. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Today I received a replacement unit from the vendor. The bleeding in the corners is still there, although somewhat less glaring (pun intended) than on the previous unit. It's perfectly bearable to be honest. Hopefully the USB hub lasts longer too. :)
 
I found 2 bright pixels on my BDM3270QP after receiving it. I also found two more dark spots which are either malfunctioning pixels or dirt trapped between. I ended up returning the monitor.
 
globalist said:
OK, so this morning I woke up to the USB hub on the monitor being dead. Windows cannot recognize the hub device and says it malfunctioned.

Off to RMA this goes, along with the bleeding problem. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
What USB are you using on your PC? Did you cold boot your PC or awaken from sleep/standby?

Have you previously had any problems with the USB on your PC because USB 3.0 can be very problematic in Windows. The problem might not be with the monitor.
 
**MaRVeL** said:
What USB are you using on your PC? Did you cold boot your PC or awaken from sleep/standby?

Have you previously had any problems with the USB on your PC because USB 3.0 can be very problematic in Windows. The problem might not be with the monitor.
Click to expand...

I have both USB 2.0 and 3.0 in my PC. Running a 2.0 A-B cable into the monitor though. Both cold-booting and waking up the PC.

What do you mean the problem might not be with the monitor?? The USB hub in it just died - I tested it with a different PC and the hub was dead when connected there too. The monitor went to RMA and a new unit came back and it's fine so far.
 
Hello everyone & OP.

I have managed to find a 4 month old monitor at a great price (my funds are stretched at the moment). Where I live (in Asia), there is nowhere (shop/mall etc) to view any kind of monitor above a 24" size, so I have nothing to be able to compare with when I go to view this screen.

I'm looking at this screen purely for graphic design use such as CAd, AI, PS etc (glad to see the OP's photo shows a drawing/pen tablet in front of it - I have a Wacom Intuos Pro large) - NO games etc.

My current screen size is 23", and I've been so fed up trying to work on it for some time (zooming in and out, opening and closing palettes etc) and looking for something better that I can afford, first thinking to upgrade to a 27" but realising a 32" would be ideal, at this resolution 2560 x 1440 @ 60Hz. My eyes are not what they used to be lol.

The rig I will use it on does not have a separate graphix card, so I am using the onboard. Here are the specs:

Integrated Graphics Processor - Intel® HD Graphics support:
  1. 1 x D-Sub port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200
  2. 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200
    * The DVI-D port does not support D-Sub connection by adapter.
  3. 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
    * Support for HDMI 1.4a version.
  4. 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
    * Support for DisplayPort 1.2 version.
  5. Maximum shared memory of 1 GB
When it comes to graphic hardware, never having been a 'gamer' as such, I am a little lost/clueless when it comes to what will get me the best 'true' visual image on the screen. From the above info, without a separate graphix card, the HDMI & Display Port options look like they will give me the max resolution for this monitor. Can anyone please tell me which one I 'should' use of the 2, for the best colour reproduction, fonts etc.

When looking at the Philips website specs on this monitor, I cannot find any reference with regards colour gamut, sRGB, RGB etc. It only states sRGB: Yes. It does not tell me the %. Can anyone help tell me please.

Also, after reading many other "more professional" monitor reviews which state offer 10bit colour etc, I get the impression that this is only possible if your hardware can handle this. Which brings me back to "is my onboard spec good enough"? Or do I 'have to' get a separate video card and if so, what's the minimum anyone would recommend, purely for graphic work (vectors/rasters/pantone colour system).

I want to upgrade my ability to create better graphics by having the best tools I can afford, so I can work better, produce more & higher quality graphics and hopefully make a better living because of it. So please give any help and advice about 'this' monitor in the perspective of it being used purely for work purposes. I can't afford to buy a monitor like this that has been made as an all round multiple purpose one, meaning that when it comes to cad, vectors, colour, graphic design it is ok, but it is limited.

Does anyone know having owned this, if this monitor software will give me the flexibility to set this up to a 'custom' setting to get the best colour reproduction, to fill the colour gamuts correctly? OR, by playing around with the settings (if available within the software), do you have to compromise contrast for colour etc?

My last question/request for help is can anyone give me a 'to do' list in order for me to test the monitor for faults? I'm wondering if I should take with me high resolution images in black, red, blue & green so as to be able to easily see bad pixels (never seen one before so don't know what to actually look for), light leakage, banding (which I take to mean either lines across the screen or from top to bottom - yes?) etc.

If anyone who owns this monitor after reading the above thinks that it will not be the best thing to do in buying it, that I should wait a little longer and save up for say the Samsung S32D850T or the Samsung U32D970Q, please say so and why.

My biggest concern in buying this is that there are so few reviews of this monitor from owners or other trusted sources like TFTCentral, making me think I should steer clear of it.

The following are what I am looking for from a monitor upgrade (basic):

resolution 2560 x 1440 @ 60Hz
minimum sRGB 100%, RGB at least 85%
custom setup, no restrictions - colour, contrast etc
32"
Tilt, swivel, pivot, height adjustment, VESA mount for a desk mounted arm
easy on/off for when not using (but powered on), with minimum time lag to wake up
full features available without the need for additional expense of separate video card
Graphix work orientated and text (with also some DAW's work)
Matte (not glossy)

ANY help/advice anyone can offer/give will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

update:

I have read through the translation of reviews found through this forum:
hardforum dot com/threads/best-reviewed-a-mva-monitor-thread-read-the-1st-post.1803228/ (Russian) - very positive, also states sRGB is 96.9, RGB is 71.3%. They have a file you can download that improves both of these slightly.
 
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So I used that russian profile but maybe I'm doing something wrong because i did not notice any change after applying it? Please see attached pic to see if I'm doing it correctly? Or should I reboot the Pc for the profile to kick in?

ScreenShot001.jpg
 
Only going off what I read, meaning I don't fully understand lol, but the increases are minimal, like sRGB from 96% to 98%. What is it your doing on the monitor to test?
 
I'm not doing any serious visual work on it. Just looking at the screen, I was expecting to see a difference.
 
I doubt it because it looks like your already using a custom calibration. Was that done on your monitor or was it done by someone else?
 
**MaRVeL** said:
I doubt it because it looks like your already using a custom calibration. Was that done on your monitor or was it done by someone else?
Click to expand...

The PHL profile I got from Philips site but I only ever went into the settings and "combined" the russian profile.
 
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