4k Full colour (Adobe RGB) monitor - which would you choose?

wunkley · 28 Aug 2015 at 15:23

I think I've whittled my next work monitor purchase down to a choice of two. Trouble is they are very different in terms of size/ brand, and I really can't make up my mind which to go for. Basically I'm looking at the following...

(both are full 10 bit colour, Adobe RGB panels. Usage will be for professional photography editing and some video post production work only)

1. The NEC MultiSync EA244UHD which is 24 inches and 'UHD' 4K About £800

2. The LG 31MU97 which is 31 inches and 'true' 4k (4096 x 2160) About £830

Whichever I get will be paired next to a Dell u2913wm which is sRGB only and 2560x1080, so will be used for comparisons with what most people in the real world see, and will be used in a 2 monitor 'loupe view' set up for Lightroom and photoshop work.

Whichever I get will also be run with a Quadro card for full 10bit workflow, probably one of the new cheaper range like the K620 which should easily power 4k for non gaming/ work purposes.

Budget - I want/ need to keep it south of £800ish really. Seems like there is little choice at this price point. It's either that or a leap to £1500+ it seems.

I see the NEC as the 'best' monitor, and hopefully a more reliable brand in terms of build quality and issues. NEC and Eizo are the most highly regarded for photography work. The PPI is insane for 4k at 24 inches so photos apparently look like prints on the screen, which I imagine will be awesome. Also, Windows 10 which I will be upgrading to, has independent monitor scaling settings now apparently, so usability and text size shouldn't be too bad in theory.

I see the LG as an absolutely fantastic monitor for the price, but I consider LG monitors as a massive 'gamble'. I've read far too many threads on here about backlight bleed and QC issues with LG screens, and their customer support is meant to be woeful from what I've read too.
Also, not all cards can run the screen at 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz apparently. Lots of misinformation out there about what works and what doesn't. Seems that lots of cards, including the Quadro one I'm looking at will only run 50Hz at that resolution. I guess that's not the end of the world for just photo and video editing though.
I'm just not sure I can take the hassle of playing the monitor lottery when it's expensive and needed for work.

I'm torn between thinking 'bigger is just better' but also not sure I want a 31 inch screen on my work desk. There isn't a huge amount of room for a 2 screen setup. But I also think 24 inches may feel a bit small. I game on a 27 inch and that feels about right (but there are no 27 inch 4k Adobe RGB monitors unless you spend double the money)

So, 24 inches 4k vs 31 inches 4k for the setup I'm describing. Both are the same price almost, so which one would you choose out of these 2 monitors?

wunkley · 1 Sep 2015 at 13:26

No one?

exiges · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:07

I have an LG31MU97 and highly rate its colour reproduction, as well as being true 4K, not just UHD.

However, in my opinion, you need a larger screen to appreciate/use 4K properly.. otherwise you have to get into nasty font/icon scaling otherwise text is too small on the screen. Despite initial problems the screen is working 40hrs a week without problems.

I also have a 40" Philips + 40" Samsung monitor, and that's a minimum IMO for 4K without font scaling.. but the colours are nowhere near as good IMO

Doesn't really answer your question though, but if you have any questions, ask away.

wunkley · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:31

Hi exiges thanks for the reply. Not many with the lg31mu97 on here which isn't surprising given its not a gaming screen.

I take what you mean about size but I really don't want to go bigger than 30, and I'm even considering the 24 inch NEC as you've read.

The LG sounds perfect for my needs but I'm just concerned about
LGs build quality, backlight bleed issues and supposed terrible customer support.

So....

1. what specific problems did you have? And how were they remedied?
2. What graphics card are you using? Can you get full 4k res at 60hz?

smilertoo · 1 Sep 2015 at 18:19

i would take the bigger screen, 4k on 24" is going to result in incredibly small text/icons.

wunkley · 1 Sep 2015 at 20:12

smilertoo said:
i would take the bigger screen, 4k on 24" is going to result in incredibly small text/icons.

Doesn't windows 10 make this an issue of the past now though? ( not got windows 10, or 4k yet, obviously).

PCM2 · 1 Sep 2015 at 20:51

wunkley said:
Doesn't windows 10 make this an issue of the past now though? ( not got windows 10, or 4k yet, obviously).

No. It's a common misconception that Windows 10 somehow changes things in that respect. The issues apply to specific software that refuses to scale or scales in an 'ugly' way. And that is exactly the same on Windows 10 I'm afraid.

But having used UHD monitors of various sizes (23.6", 23.8", 27", 28", 31.5", 32" and 40"), I feel ~32" is certainly the sweet spot. I can comfortably use such models without the need for scaling, although I do have quite strong eyesight. I still find the pixel density brings that '4K' experience to the table as well, unlike larger models.

Mr Evil · 1 Sep 2015 at 22:09

wunkley said:
Doesn't windows 10 make this an issue of the past now though? ( not got windows 10, or 4k yet, obviously).

My experience in Windows 7 is that DPI scaling works fine. Most modern software is "DPI-aware" and looks normal. Software that isn't DPI-aware will be rendered at the normal size and then upsampled, making it look blurry. In many cases you can disable scaling for that app and it will actually render correctly at the higher DPI despite lacking explicit support.

Not only that, but high-DPI text is much nicer looking, and photos are noticably sharper.

wunkley · 1 Sep 2015 at 22:53

So far then, purely based on physical size which was my main original question, sounds like the 31 inch LG is a much better pick then than the 24 inch NEC? In fact it sounds like 31 inches for 4k is a real sweet spot in terms of program usability but still great ppi density for photography work.

PCM2 · 2 Sep 2015 at 07:05

wunkley said:
So far then, purely based on physical size which was my main original question, sounds like the 31 inch LG is a much better pick then than the 24 inch NEC? In fact it sounds like 31 inches for 4k is a real sweet spot in terms of program usability but still great ppi density for photography work.

Good summary.

exiges · 3 Sep 2015 at 20:43

wunkley said:
1. what specific problems did you have? And how were they remedied?
2. What graphics card are you using? Can you get full 4k res at 60hz?

The monitor occasionally made a popping sound, and the screen would blank for a second, and it would drop into 30fps for no apparent reason.

I'm using 2x nVidia 980s

wunkley · 4 Sep 2015 at 12:51

exiges said:
The monitor occasionally made a popping sound, and the screen would blank for a second, and it would drop into 30fps for no apparent reason.

I'm using 2x nVidia 980s

So the popping sound, screen blanking and dropping to 30Hz - how did you get that sorted???

And using your 980 can you achieve the full 'true 4k' this screen has at 60Hz? (perhaps that was why you had the dropping to 30Hz issue? - There are reports that certain GPUs and certain display port cables have trouble achieving this and people either have to run true 4k at 50Hz, or run at 3840x2160 at 60Hz.)

As this will be a photography/ video work screen only for me, I'm intending to run this with a Quadro for full 10bit colour workflow.