32" monitor recommendations

[doveman]

I'm currently running a 24" Dell U2412M and I'm finding myself squinting at it quite a lot these days, so I need to upgrade. Comparing to a 28" diagonal doesn't seem that much bigger, so I think I need a 32". Sitting up straight my head's about 90-95cm away from the monitor, so a 43" TV would be too big I think. One day I'll build a proper cockpit with a big TV screen or 3!

 

I want to get a VA as the superior contrast/black levels over IPS is nice for night flights. This will be my main desktop monitor so flight simming isn't the only thing I need it for but I don't do colour critical photography work, so I guess I probably won't notice if the colours are a bit inferior to IPS.

 

I'm thinking 4k will be useful for productivity even if I can't run games at that resolution with my 1070ti, although maybe DCS and other flight sims will run at 4k@30hz? Presumably it will upscale anything I run at 1080p or 1440p without issue?

 

I don't do twitch gaming as I suffer from quite bad motion sickness and can't even play Assassin's Creed for more than a couple of hours on my 60hz TV and some games trigger it even sooner. So I'm not sure I have any need for a 120/144hz monitor and I know 4k high refresh rate monitors are out of my budget but I think most 2k monitors are 120/144hz now, so if I got a 2k monitor I'd probably run games at the higher refresh rate if my GPU can handle it.

 

I guess something with Freesync that works with the 1070ti might be nice but I've never experienced Freesync so can't really say if I need it.

 

I know some monitors like my Dad's BenQ feature low blue light for reduced eye strain, so that might be nice to have.

 

Budget I'm thinking £300-500.

 

I want to mount it on a monitor arm, so a central VESA mount point is important. What I want to do is be able to move the 32" from the normal height to a higher position for flight simming and position my touchscreen below it. If I had a dual monitor arm like this (I know this one only supports up to 27") mounted off to the side of the desk, would that allow me to move the main monitor up and down vertically without it moving in any other direction and then bring the second monitor in from the side to underneath the main one, so it's touching the desk and angled back about 45-60 degrees so that the upper monitor doesn't have to sit too high, or would I need two separate arms to do that?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DJPX8XB?pf_rd_p=330fbd82-d4fe-42e5-9c16-d4b886747c64&pf_rd_r=CJQ1T89PCA1WTWK1ZHRS

[valrond]

IMHO, 4K is useless, even more in a 32 inch screen. Everything will look tiny, you will have the same real state, but with smaller pixels.

 

If you want something better, get an ultrawide screen. 21x9. You get MORE room, be it for games, or to have 2 windows side by side.

 

I am using an AGON 35" 3440x1440. It runs at 100 hz, the new version runs at 120 hz. It has gsync, which is nice, but overpriced.

 

Even then, I have to put Windows at 225% to have decent sized fonts, and the screen is HUGE and I have it close to me, less than 1 meter, more like 70 cm or so.

[doveman]

What do you mean by "the same real state, but with smaller pixels"?

 

Obviously a 32" 4k screen is bigger than my current 24" 1080p and whilst the 4k has many more pixels, can't I just make windows bigger or even run at 1080p or 1440p and let the monitor upscale?

 

I'm surprised you have to use 225% scaling on a 35" 1440p. It just seems very high.

 

I'm not really keen on ultrawide screens. I find them too narrow for my liking.

[Alex Voicu]

I bought this one in november last year, and i'm very happy with it. It's quite cheap compared to equivalent top brands monitor but it performs quite well.

https://eu.aoc.com/en/gaming/products/ag322qcx

Edited March 28, 2019 by Alex Voicu

[hansangb]

What do you mean by "the same real state, but with smaller pixels"?

 

Obviously a 32" 4k screen is bigger than my current 24" 1080p and whilst the 4k has many more pixels, can't I just make windows bigger or even run at 1080p or 1440p and let the monitor upscale?

 

I'm surprised you have to use 225% scaling on a 35" 1440p. It just seems very high.

 

I'm not really keen on ultrawide screens. I find them too narrow for my liking.

 

 

remember, if you don't run at native resolution, things start to look horrible.

 

So using a lower resolution on a 4K monitor is usually a bad idea.

[Rob]

About 8 months ago I picked up a 32" curved 1920x1080 monitor, and I have to say, I love it.

 

 

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/led/samsung-32-curved-led-monitor-lc32f391fwnxza/

 

 

 

I'm probably in the minority of people who sought out a large size monitor at such a low resolution, but the computer is pretty much only used for DCS. The combination of the large size and 1920x1080 resolution make spotting fairly easy, though sometimes I think that the HUD and DDIs could be sharper if the monitor was a higher resolution.

[doveman]

I bought this one in november last year, and i'm very happy with it. It's quite cheap compared to equivalent top brands monitor but it performs quite well.

https://eu.aoc.com/en/gaming/products/ag322qcx

 

Thanks, that looks pretty decent. It's not available on Amazon though which is a shame, as with monitors it's nice to have an easy return option in case they're defective. https://www.amazon.co.uk/AOC-AG322QCX-Widescreen-Multimedia-Monitor/dp/B06Y41FB46/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ag322qcx&qid=1553825712&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

Actually it doesn't appear to be available anywhere in the UK unfortunately.

 

Can you tell me if the VESA mounting point is in the centre, as I understand some mounting arms will only work with central mounting points?

Edited March 29, 2019 by doveman

[doveman]

remember, if you don't run at native resolution, things start to look horrible.

 

So using a lower resolution on a 4K monitor is usually a bad idea.

 

Yeah, I'm reading this in a few places now. It would have been nice to have something that I can run at 4K for productivity and games that I can run at that res, whilst also running at lower res for other games but I guess I'll have to decide what's most important.

 

It may be that a 32" 4k desktop is too hard for me to see properly without scaling and that will defeat the whole point from a productivity POV I suppose. Also my 1070ti probably can't handle many games at 4k and it will just be harder to spot planes in DCS at 4k, plus the only affordable adaptive-sync 4k monitors only go up to 60hz, so I think on balance a 1440p monitor is probably a better option.

 

Will my 1070ti be able to run DCS at 1440p at 120-144hz at high settings (most things on High/Max except AA and shadows)? How about other games, like Witcher 3, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider, etc? I just want to make sure I don't give too much weight to 120-144hz if I won't be able to run at that framerate anyway.

[doveman]

;3861956']About 8 months ago I picked up a 32" curved 1920x1080 monitor, and I have to say, I love it.

 

 

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/monitors/led/samsung-32-curved-led-monitor-lc32f391fwnxza/

 

 

 

I'm probably in the minority of people who sought out a large size monitor at such a low resolution, but the computer is pretty much only used for DCS. The combination of the large size and 1920x1080 resolution make spotting fairly easy, though sometimes I think that the HUD and DDIs could be sharper if the monitor was a higher resolution.

 

I'd probably do the same if I only used my PC for DCS tbh. It's no secret that spotting gets harder the higher the res and spotting is pretty important in a combat sim (unless you enjoy getting shot down!). I guess I could still run DCS at 1080p and let the monitor upscale, although I'll sacrifice the sharpness of a native 1080p monitor.

 

Hopefully one day ED can find a way to make spotting no harder at higher resolutions.

[doveman]

It seems the AOC AG322QCX has been replaced by the AG322QC4, which has added HDR400 and Freesync2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/AOC-AG322QC4-31-5-Inch-Gaming-Monitor/dp/B07D2VFL34

 

However there's also the CQ32G1, which only has Freesync1, no HDR400 and the stand only has tilt, no height or swivel, but is £100 cheaper. As I'll probably be buying a monitor arm anyway, the lack of adjustment isn't really an issue for me. https://www.amazon.co.uk/AOC-CQ32G1-Widescreen-Monitor-2560x1440/dp/B07NPHZQTP

 

Apart from that they seem to be the same but there doesn't seem to be any reviews of the G1 available yet so I can't be sure and I'm also not sure if Freesync1 would have any disadvantages when used with a Nvidia card like my 1070ti.

[Alex Voicu]

Apart from that they seem to be the same but there doesn't seem to be any reviews of the G1 available yet so I can't be sure and I'm also not sure if Freesync1 would have any disadvantages when used with a Nvidia card like my 1070ti.

 

I had a GTX 1060, recently changed to RTX 2070 and i didn't see any tearing or weird artifacts that Freesync is supposed to eliminate. Anyway, Freesync will only work with AMD graphic cards, so the monitor refresh rate will not be synchronized with the framerate but i doubt i would be able to tell the difference.

[Griffin]

Anyway, Freesync will only work with AMD graphic cards, so the monitor refresh rate will not be synchronized with the framerate but i doubt i would be able to tell the difference.

Freesync now works with Nvidia cards too.

[Pilotasso]

Yep, I got a new 27" AORUS monitor with Freesync and HDR and its awesome with my 1080Ti. If you can get a 32" with same that would even better.

[Alex Voicu]

Freesync now works with Nvidia cards too.

 

That's great, didn't know that !

Thanks.

[Dudikoff]

I upgraded to a 32" 4K from my 27" 1440 monitor. The 1440 on a 27" was pretty good so I'm sure it would look ridiculous on a 32" (the DPI would be too low) to me. I do run my desktop with some scaling to reduce the pressure on the eyes, but I can still appreciate the extra sharpness of the 4K (of course, it's also very useful in DCS cockpits).

I run DCS on a notebook 1080 in 4K so I'm pretty sure your 1070Ti could run it too. I have a rare G-Sync model, but now that Nvidia finally relented and added support for adaptive sync, no need to pay extra for that. There are some LG and BenQ options with adaptive sync in the 40-60 range, though usually you could lower the range by modifying the EDID of the monitor. I think IPS should be a bit faster, but if you insist on VA for the better contrast, check e.g. LG 32UD59.

Edited March 31, 2019 by Dudikoff

[Pilotasso]

I would have gone 4K if it wasn't for the low refresh rates. That was the reason why I switched from one 1440P monitor to the other (60Hz to 144Hz), after a while in gaming my eyes felt the difference. As a added bonus the colors are really alot better also.

[Dudikoff]

That's the choice when considering 4K screens at the moment, better sharpness or higher refresh rate (non - 4K). Since I use the monitor for work as well, I opted for the higher resolution and keeping the same size of the screen wouldn't have been an upgrade for me really (at least with the 27" as a starting point which is a bit too small vertically IMHO, same goes for 34/35 inch ultrawides). They are going to release 32" 4K monitors with 144Hz "soon", though (quoted as it's already been late for quite some time). Also, they will release non HDR 27" 4K models which won't cost an arm and a leg as the current two models do, but that's a bit small for 4K, IMHO.

 

One interesting option that I'd consider would be the 38" 3840*1600 2.35:1 model (basically, an ultra wide version of the venerable 16:10 30"panel). There is only a single panel option currently at 75Hz with adaptive sync, but it's also a bit slow response time wise. There should be a 144 Hz variant released this year, though.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Dudikoff

[McGraw]

remember, if you don't run at native resolution, things start to look horrible.

 

So using a lower resolution on a 4K monitor is usually a bad idea.

 

1440p looks great on my 40” 4K tv and I really notice poor scaling.

[Dudikoff]

1440p looks great on my 40” 4K tv and I really notice poor scaling.

 

Agreed, scaling on a 4K screen is a far cry from scaling on the lower resolution screens. I planned to use the 1440p on my 32" 4K monitor as it looks quite good, but the laptop can run DCS decently in 4K so I didn't need to resort to lower res yet.

[Lenop]

I'm really happy with my AOC Q3279VWFD8. Big, cheap and running a RTX 2070, FreeSync works perfectly fine.

[doveman]

I upgraded to a 32" 4K from my 27" 1440 monitor. The 1440 on a 27" was pretty good so I'm sure it would look ridiculous on a 32" (the DPI would be too low) to me. I do run my desktop with some scaling to reduce the pressure on the eyes, but I can still appreciate the extra sharpness of the 4K (of course, it's also very useful in DCS cockpits).

I run DCS on a notebook 1080 in 4K so I'm pretty sure your 1070Ti could run it too. I have a rare G-Sync model, but now that Nvidia finally relented and added support for adaptive sync, no need to pay extra for that. There are some LG and BenQ options with adaptive sync in the 40-60 range, though usually you could lower the range by modifying the EDID of the monitor. I think IPS should be a bit faster, but if you insist on VA for the better contrast, check e.g. LG 32UD59.

 

I understand that a 32" 1440 monitor has the same pixel density as a 24" 1080 monitor of 93 PPI. I guess my 1920x1200 24" will be a bit higher. This review suggests the 109 PPI of a 27" QHD monitor is ideal. 32" 4k has 137 PPI.

 

There's certainly a range of opinions, some people find 32" 4K fine, others say you need at least 40". I know someone who's happily using a 28" 4k. I'm sure I'd have to use some scaling for 4k. For games, 4k is 1080p ^2 but 1440p doesn't have a round number of pixels to upscale to 4k, so I'm not sure how well that would work or if I'd find I could only play games at 1080p or 4k.

 

Of course 4K makes the DCS cockpits look better but then it makes spotting enemy aircraft harder, so I might find I prefer running DCS at 1080p whatever monitor I get and I wonder whether that will upscale better on a 1440p or 4k monitor.

 

I've always thought curved TVs were a bit daft but having read some reviews of 32" curved monitors it does seem like a good idea when sitting fairly close, both ergonomically and for a bit more immersion, so I'll probably get a curved screen.

[doveman]

One interesting option that I'd consider would be the 38" 3840*1600 2.35:1 model (basically, an ultra wide version of the venerable 16:10 30"panel). There is only a single panel option currently at 75Hz with adaptive sync, but it's also a bit slow response time wise. There should be a 144 Hz variant released this year, though.

 

Yeah, I've always felt ultrawides are too short for my liking and feel like you're looking through a slot but a 38" 3840*1600 might be OK. What's the 75hz one that's currently available?

[doveman]

1440p looks great on my 40” 4K tv and I really notice poor scaling.

 

That's good to know. Maybe a 32" 4k will be a good option for me then.

[doveman]

I'm really happy with my AOC Q3279VWFD8. Big, cheap and running a RTX 2070, FreeSync works perfectly fine.

 

That looks like a bargain for the price but I really want a curved VA panel and the lack of VESA mount would be a problem for me.

[jj_pt]

I got myself a Samsung LC32HG70QQUXEN and I'm quite happy with it. It's curved, works at 1440p, with FreenSync 2 and HDR.

 

I would like to try DCS on a 21:9 35", but it would be more expensive.