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Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

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pianowizard
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Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#1 Post by pianowizard » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:40 am

If you have been wanting to get a 32" 4K monitor but couldn't afford one, cheaper models that use VA panels have started to emerge. During Newegg's Black Friday Week sale, I bought the Acer ET322QK in my signature for $287.99 shipped, and at the same time Newegg had the LG 32UP59-B on sale for $350 shipped. I went with the Acer not just because it was cheaper, but also because it has built-in speakers. I had a 28" 4K monitor before and 32" (which is actually 31.5") feels significantly larger. So, if you bought a 28" or smaller 4K monitor because 32-inchers were too expensive, it's time to upgrade!

**See below for an update on 40" UHD monitors.
Last edited by pianowizard on Fri Sep 14, 2018 9:14 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Affordable 32" 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#2 Post by Whitieiii » Mon Dec 11, 2017 3:08 pm

There any deals on 1440p 32 inch monitors? I have one already and want to match it and replace my 720p one
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Re: Affordable 32" 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#3 Post by Puppy » Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:08 pm

Review of different monitor that use the same panel https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-u3277pwqu/
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Re: Affordable 32

#4 Post by pianowizard » Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:13 am

Whitieiii wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 3:08 pm
There any deals on 1440p 32 inch monitors?
From time to time, but not right now. I've seen good deals for the HP Pavilion 32, $255 new and $199 refurbished. You need to check deal sites frequently.
Puppy wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:08 pm
Review of different monitor that use the same panel https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/aoc-u3277pwqu/
I had come across this AOC monitor before but didn't realize it uses a VA panel.
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Re: Affordable 32" 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#5 Post by pianowizard » Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:40 pm

Forget about 32" UHD (3840x2160) monitors, because it's now possible to get a 40" UHD monitor for even less! I can't speak for all 40" UHD TVs but last week I got the Bolva 40BL00H7 TV for $183.99 on eBay while there was a 20% off coupon. Currently the lowest price for this model is $219.35, which is still cheaper than any 32" UHD monitor. In fact I also earned 10% eBay Bucks for this purchase, so in a way I paid only $183.99 - $18.40 = $165.59, shipped! Wait a minute, my credit card gives 2% cashback on all purchases, so I really paid only $183.99 - $18.40 - $3.68 = $161.91, LOL!

When I first hooked it up to a computer I was very disappointed because I noticed serious aliasing, and after looking through the on-screen menu several times I still couldn't find a setting that could fix this issue. Later I connected the TV to a blu-ray disc player and was surprised that the aliasing persisted, even though the blu-ray disc was 1080p and so I thought each pixel on the disc would be displayed by the TV using exactly 4 pixels. I looked through the on-screen menu again, and this time a new "Point-to-point" option became available! I selected it and of course the TV displayed the blu-ray image using exactly 1920x1080 pixels at the center of the screen, looking really sharp. Then I re-connected the computer to that HDMI input and lo and behold, the aliasing issue was gone! Since then I have turned the TV off and back on several times, and confirmed that it remembered this point-to-point setting permanently for each of its four HDMI inputs, so I don't have to reset it every time.

The Crossover and Seiki 40" UHD monitors in my signature cost me just under $500 each, and they do look noticeably nicer than the Bolva 40BL00H7, but the difference is completely tolerable. Another con of the Bolva is that it does not have a power button on it and so the remote control is the only way to turn it on, but this too is a fairly minor inconvenience. Sacrificing just a little bit of quality and convenience to save ~$300 is worth it.

There are larger UHD TVs that are nearly as cheap as this Bolva 40-incher, but they would be too large to be used as computer monitors.
Last edited by pianowizard on Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#6 Post by TonyJZX » Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:20 am

What are you using these for? For me it would be 4k 60hz HDR gaming on console... but my consoles are all old ps4 old xbox one etc.

Are you guys using it for Win10 etc?

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Re: Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#7 Post by pianowizard » Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:04 am

TonyJZX wrote:
Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:20 am
Are you guys using it for Win10 etc?
Yes absolutely. Having lots of real estate (in terms of pixel count, not monitor size) is crucial for office work, data analysis, and multitasking. On all three 40” UHD monitors I run Windows 10 at its native 100% scaling, so they actually display four times as much information as a FHD monitor. I imagine that for gaming, size would be more beneficial than resolution, in the sense that 3840x2160 is probably not four times as good as 1920x1080.

I have a thread with photos of my setups, where the first photo shows my Crossover and Seiki 40” UHD monitors on my office desk: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=52525 . The second photo, of my desk at home, is obsolete because the two 24” QHD monitors have since been replaced by the Bolva 40-incher and the Acer 32-incher.
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Re: Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#8 Post by dr_st » Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:34 am

I hate the fact that 42" TVs are cheaper than 32" monitors with the same resolution. I don't want a freaking 42" TV on my desk, and 28" UHD is too small. 32" is perfect for me.
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Re: Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#9 Post by pianowizard » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:39 am

dr_st wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:34 am
I hate the fact that 42" TVs are cheaper than 32" monitors with the same resolution. I don't want a freaking 42" TV on my desk
I have good news for you: it's 40", not 42"! Joking aside, 40" is really not that big. At one point didn't you have two Dell 2007FP's side by side? A single 40" monitor (or TV) occupies significantly *less* desk space than two 2007FP's, while providing more than twice the total number of pixels, using just one video output from your computer instead of two. The top of the monitor is high but not uncomfortably high. In fact, many of us tend to hunch while working at a desk, which is very unhealthy. Having a 40" monitor forces one to "unhunch" now and then.

As you know, I have been obsessed with monitors for over a decade now. 40" UHD is *the* perfect form factor, by far. I spent all these years searching for the ideal monitor solution and am now fully satisfied. Even back in 2010 when I got my first 30" 2560x1600 monitor (for ~$1,400!), I felt that that was still not good enough.

Because I scale Windows at 100%, I am not convinced that UHD is suitable for laptops; 2560x1440 would be more reasonable IMO. UHD is probably also needlessly high for movies and TV shows. But it's fantastic for 40" monitors.
dr_st wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:34 am
and 28" UHD is too small. 32" is perfect for me.
32" UHD is perfect for you? Perhaps you scale things up, but I prefer 100% scaling and 139.9 DPI is just too high for that. That's why I upgraded from my Acer 32" UHD to the Bolva 40" UHD. After the upgrade, I have been using the 32-incher mostly for watching DVD/Blu-ray. I also use it with an ancient Pentium I Dell OptiPlex to play an old Mahjong game at fullscreen. Stretching a 1024x768 image over a 32" UHD screen (with the 4:3 aspect ratio maintained of course, i.e. with unused space on the left and right sides) makes it fuzzy, but it's just a silly game so I don't mind.
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Re: Affordable 32" (and 40") 4K/UHD/2160p monitors are finally available!

#10 Post by dr_st » Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:26 pm

pianowizard wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:39 am
I have good news for you: it's 40", not 42"! Joking aside, 40" is really not that big. At one point didn't you have two Dell 2007FP's side by side? A single 40" monitor (or TV) occupies significantly *less* desk space than two 2007FP's, while providing more than twice the total number of pixels, using just one video output from your computer instead of two. The top of the monitor is high but not uncomfortably high.
No, never; I have three L200ps side-by-side, but that's on a big desk. The horizontal space is not the problem. 40" is just too tall for me - just the picture is almost 50cm, and with the stand and all, it's going to be about 60cm tall.
pianowizard wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:39 am
In fact, many of us tend to hunch while working at a desk, which is very unhealthy. Having a 40" monitor forces one to "unhunch" now and then.
That's a problem of those that tend to hunch at the desk, not mine.
pianowizard wrote:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:39 am
32" UHD is perfect for you? Perhaps you scale things up, but I prefer 100% scaling and 139.9 DPI is just too high for that.
I used to think so too, but I'm pretty OK with my 14" FHD laptop at 100% scaling. The UHD equivalent would be 28", but since the desktop monitor is naturally further from one's eyes than a laptop monitor, I figure that it needs to be somewhat bigger, but not so much bigger. So 32" would be OK, 40" probably too much. If there was something in between, like 34-36", I probably could get used to that as well.
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