Need some help deciding on a monitor upgrade.

Firegod

Firegod

Firegod

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I seem to be asking too much for a monitor and struggling to find something so need some advice to help guide me please.

I'd like to go with a VA panel for the better contrast ratio vs IPS. I can't afford OLED. I'd say usage is 80% working from home and internet browsing and 20% gaming. So clarity is important as I do spend a lot of time working with text.

I currently have a 27" Nano IPS monitor from LG, which I've had for 4 years. Typical poor IPS 1000:1 contrast ratio. I'm not sure if I want to stick with 1440p 27" or jump to 32" and go 4K. Afterall it is meant to be an "upgrade". I sit straight on, at just over an arms length from my monitor. Is that too close for 32" sized screen?

Also, it appears that most stuff is now curved. Three MSI monitors I've seen:

MSI 32" MAG 321CUP 3840x2160 VA 160Hz 1ms A-Sync HDMI 2.1 Curved Gaming Monitor​

  • Pro - 32" so more screen space. Should help with working from home. 4K so nice "upgrade" to clarity and detail. HDMI 2.1 (I use DP regardless)
  • Con - 4k! Might impact gaming performance. Also, is it too big for the distance I sit from the screen.
  • Unknown - Curved, what is that like for work and not gaming?

MSI 27" MAG 275CQRF QD E2 2560x1440 Rapid VA 180Hz 1ms FreeSync Widescreen Gaming Monitor​

  • Pro - Quantum Dot so should help with colours and combine nicely with the contrast of the VA panel. 180Hz is a nice refresh rate.
  • Con - Still just 27".
  • Unknown - Curved, what is that like for work and not gaming?

MSI 27" MPG 275CQRXF 2560x1440 Rapid VA 240Hz 0.5ms FreeSync Curved Gaming Monitor​

  • Pro - Highest refresh rate out of the three.
  • Con - Still just 27" and a 75x75 VESA spec (my monitor arm 100x100)
  • Unknown - Curved, what is that like for work and not gaming?
All very confusing. Maybes if someone can say avoid this, look for this, it might help guide me as I'm just bobbing around at the moment. :cry:

Cheers!
 
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OK so I've been doing a lot of looking online and for the price I think the Philips EVNIA 5000 "M2C5501" looks great for the value. They come pre-configured from the factory, Ambiglow, VESA 100, good contrast ratio, fast VA panel and a good refresh rate.

A review of the 27" model here.

It has a 1500R curve, would it be less noticeable if instead of buying the 27" I went larger with the 32"? I sit about 90cm from the monitor.

And what about the pixel density, would it be a noticeable drop in text ledgebility? 27" 1440P = 0.23 pixel pitch and 108 ppi. 32" 1440P = 0.27 pixel pitch and 93 ppi.


Which of those two would be the better choice?

Thanks.
 
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Yeah that's an interesting point. I use 125% scaling too. So for 32" I guess I'd not need that. I don't have young eyes anymore lol, and wear glasses, so going small is no good for me.
 
I've just been measuring out the 32" vs my 27" currently. Damn, it is a fair size bigger like. I don't know if I could comfortably use that. I have the space as it would be on the monitor arm... but still.
 
Well I've finally succumbed and purchased a monitor. :o

Philips Evnia 32M2C3500L 32" QHD VA Curved Monitor (in Charcoal). I thought I can't argue for £210.

300 cd/m²
3500:1
0.2724 pixel pitch
93.24 PPI
VA
1500R
180Hz (DP 1.4)

What I was finding when looking over many reviews of different makes, is the Philips monitors always seem to be commended on their factory setup out of the box. Little to no adjustment required.

Should be here next week.
 
hornetstinger said:
Since it's VA spend time with dark scenes, slowly strafing sideways, scenes like this will show it up more, the powerlines, note when strafing L/R the black trail from the power lines doesn't smear into the sky. As black on grey is worst effected

Click to expand...
I think my previous monitor was VA before I moved to this nano IPS LG monitor and there's defo no comparison with regards to contrast and colours. But yeah I'll see what the VA panel is like on this one, if there is any noticeable smearing etc. I think I know what to expect having had one previously. I'm trying to remember what it was but it aludes me atm!

EDIT: This was it. Samsung S27H850QFUXEN - https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/LS27H850QFUXEN/ - From 2018. So it wasn't VA, it was PLS with 60Hz / 4ms Response time.
 
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Monitor arrived today. Been using it for about 2-3 hours now and not sure how I feel about the curve, or the text clarity. I've re-ran the clear text app which has helped but yeah 32" at 1440p. It's just on the edge for me. I can probably live with that but sadly the curve is just awkward for day to day work. It works well when watching a video and I can therefore imagine gaming too. But for office work, I'm having a hard time focusing on content. I do actually like the size, it works well. I may return and pick up a flat 32". I see both Asus and Corsair do a 32" flat screen - sadly not VA though.

EDIT: Should say the pre-calibration sheet in the box was nice to see and read. And the monitor appears (by eye) to be well setup. I wish Philips did this in a straight panel.
 
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hornetstinger said:
What's the curve?

Ideally I'd probably want to test that motorised LG monitor (does it display what current curve setting is?) determine what is the idea curve then look into similar ones

The new samsungs are very curved, I wouldn't like that.

Issue with flat VA is due to colour shift, colours will be different on the extreme sides, at least with VA curved it keeps the screen equa-distant.

There's a AOC 27" FALD display, good price but it's flat panel. I'd prefer slight curve
Click to expand...
1500R, I know there is the Asus VA 32" which is 1800R so perhaps that might be a better choice (less pronounced).

Philips-2.jpg


Philips-1.jpg
 
hornetstinger said:
I believe higher number is a less extreme curve. I guess it depends on viewing distance, I presume closer it is, you want a more steeper curve?

Test that, move the monitor closer does it get better the closer you move it?
Click to expand...
I actually moved it away as closer it is the more I can see the pixel / resolution fuzziness. :cry:
 
Screw it. Bought the Philips Evnia 32M2N6800M.

More than I wanted to spend but I like the Philips pre-calibration from factory, I like the 32" size. So now I've step up to 4k which should be better and yeah, I'll use windows scaling. This also has FALD (1,152 local dimming zones) which means I can also enjoy HDR.

Will get this one returned.
 
Much better! My eyes are happy. lol. 4k at 150% scaling. Running it with FALD set to "strong" with the picture mode on "smart uniformity". Smart response on "Faster". I've just turned on Auto HDR in Windows and all is looking great. :)

Philips-32-M2-N6800-M-1.jpg


Philips-32-M2-N6800-M-2.jpg
 
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