Point me towards a good 4k 32in monitor

[wildman2]

Ive been looking for a good 4k 32in monitor to do some 3d and graphics work.Id want accurate color representation  SRGB and Adobe RGB an IPS panel ,4.4.4 chroma etc etc.Been eyeballing the Asus pro art but some folks have a problem with dead pixels. Doesn't say much for quality control of the panels. There's also a cpl of Ben q Ive eyeballed that look promising.  It more than likely wont be used for gaming but cant rule that out.Any others?

Will be picking up a calibrator tool to reset/test said monitor for accuracy from time to time. Just to make sure it don't drift.

The images/animations I make will be projected to a large screen behind a band ,some More than likely will go to print. It would be nice if it looks like what it's supposed too.More professional.

Also I run 3 monitors. So the 4k one will be in the middle plus 1 1080 32in led TV's on either side mainly to undock parts of the programs to free up main screen space plus run other programs.

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by wildman2
spelling error.

[ir_cow]

Personally I've always suggested the Dell UltraSharp Premiere Color for professional color work. Comes factory calibrated under Delta E ≦ 2. You can do slightly better with a Xrite 1i DisplayPro, but that is a extra $300 and only worth it if you are like me and have a whole bunch of monitors that need to look the same. 

I use it to soft proof my prints before the sending it to my little EPSON P5000 (Yes it small compared to my works printers). But you will be disappointed in any monitor for soft-proofing alone because the printer paper profiles also matter. Once I new the monitor was accurate, I could see the blues shifting in the print when the CMYK internal conversion happens.

It bugged me so much because I could only guess what the final output would be. so I bought a i1Studio https://www.xrite.com/categories/calibration-profiling/i1studio . I spent a good week making profiles for all my different papers. Well worth the money to be able to color proof in Photoshop or Lightroom and see a real representation of what I'm printing.

Just standard IPS, 4K with 100% Adobe RGB is a bit harder to find now since HDR is in the mix which falls under DCI-P3 color space. If you want 99% coverage on that your looking at $10,000 or higher. Not worth is as most good ones can do 87-90% DCI-P3. Unless your color grading HDR movies, save the money!

Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD 4K Monitor with PremierColor: UP3216Q

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ultrasharp-32-ultra-hd-4k-monitor-with-premiercolor-up3216q/apd/210-afln/monitors-monitor-accessories

You could just about buy any IPS panel, use a XRite calibrator and get 80% Adobe RGB accuracy. Save the money....

[wildman2]

That Xrite i1studio looks sweet. Could come in handy when the wife gets me an iPhone 11 pro max for Christmas.Should work on her iPhone and iPad also.

That dell monitor sure is nice but I'm not too sure the financial manager (wife)of the household would care for that price lol.Seeing as though Im still an amateur at this stuff(not paid) Did approve of the price range of the proart though.

21 hours ago, ir_cow said:

You could just about buy any IPS pYou could just about buy any IPS panel, use a XRite calibrator and get 80% Adobe RGB accuracy. anel, use a XRite calibrator and get 80% Adobe RGB accuracy.

How close to true color representation is 80% Adobe RGB accuracy? The statement of any IPS panel does that include TV's? Rather have a monitor though,they seem to last longer/better made.

[ir_cow]

11 hours ago, wildman2 said:

How close to true color representation is 80% Adobe RGB accuracy? The statement of any IPS panel does that include TV's? Rather have a monitor though,they seem to last longer/better made.

Hmm, well I should maybe rephrase or explain what I mean. Kinda hard to explain, but I'll try. Modern monitors have two common ways to represent color and color space. Generally you will see something that says 16.7 Million colors or 1 Billion colors. 8-bit color is 16.7 Million colors and 10-Bit is 1 Billion+. ignoring the marketing baggage that comes with it. If you want full Adobe RGB coverage, you need a monitor to support 10-bit color space (not 8+2). 16.7 Million generally falls under sRGB which is completely fine for web and some graphical work.

I'm not sure about TVs honestly. I never tried to calibrate a IPS TV because they generally don't have the ability to change individual  colors (RGB). The IPS panel technically allows for better color accuracy, but it doens't mean it has to support a wider range of colors. You can have a strictly sRGB IPS monitors and a lot of the cheaper ones are just that. What makes the PremierColor monitors so expensive is the fact that these support 10/14-Bit color depth. which allows for that Adobe RGB color space to be unitized.

For example, my Acer Predator XB1 XB271HU monitor gets about 81% accuracy. So being a IPS panel doesn't mean jack when it comes to supported color spaces. I am personally waiting for HDMI 2.1  DisplayPort 2.0 @8K before I replace my 11 year old PremierColor. It has CFL lighting...yeah its old, but the colors are spot on once it warms up.

So saying any IPS monitor can get to 80% is mostly saying you can expect 100% sRGB and "Some" extra coverage. I noticed it is usually the blues/violet and deep reds areas are lacking and you can see a clean cutoff when comparing.  Monitors for color accuracy can be a rabbit hole. You can spend weeks reading about LUT, Color Depth and how IPS panels work. But in short, if you print in sRGB or CMKY, you don't need a fancy monitor. For me, I like to print what I see and it is only possible with a higher end monitor that is calibrated. Having the monitor alone isn't enough unfortunately. Because printers have their own color space. By default my Epson P5000 prints in sRGB, which is safe. However because it has 10 colors, it can actually do a fair bit more with the blues and greens. That promoted me to buy the i1 Studio. Now prints looks closer to the monitor and when I turn on softproofing in Adobe Lightroom, I can see what color shift (out of gamut) will happen and adjust it before printing. Saves me time and money (paper/ink). But for the casual user, leave it on defaults, don't soft proof and you will never know what you missed.

To be honest you would be surprised how many big graphical/art companies just use sRGB monitors. I haven't met anyone in that profession that knows anything about color technology. They take pretty photos and print pretty photos. When it comes out looking wrong, they blame the printer. In some cases like my work, everything is converted to CMKY for print. Even for the EPSONS which have 10+ colors and can print waaaaay beyond the GRAcol CMYK color space. Anyways working in Adobe RGB is for a piece of mind really. I would say 99% of commercial prints either gets converted to GRAcol or prints in sRGB. If your not taking photos in RAW,  jpegs will be 8-bit sRGB. No way around it.

Edit: The BenQ SW271 27" actually looks like a better choice. But I never used one, so I can't say anything else but what is in the specs.

[wildman2]

Ive been crawling down that rabbit hole now for about 2 weeks. Trying to soak up the lingo as much as I can. It's a lot of info to digest for sure. Reading reviews from sites reading reviews from ppl who bought them etc. Kinda driving me insane. Not that it's that far of a drive though.Right now cost is the biggest factor and unfortunately a  good one is pricey from what Ive seen so far. Pros and cons and compromises. And that's just for the monitor not the calibration device rabbit hole.   

Not sure who the band will be printing with. More than likely a very professional shop since the singer is kinda connected.Personally knows and is friends with a lot ppl in audio & video industry. So I'd like to get a  monitor as close to true color as I can afford. Then upgrade  when  some cash is coming my way from it. I appreciate all the help so far..

 

[ir_cow]

Ohhh...It gets even worse if you start to talk about the video cards. Since at least NVIDIA (IDK about AMD), only the Quadro supports 10-bit color space for OpenGL. DirectX is supported with Geforce cards which is good for games, but not professional applications.. But OpenGL is used in Adobe Products. So without a Quadro, you aren't actually looking at 1-Billion colors. Windows and the control panel will say you are in the 10-bit color space for "windows", but a application in OpenGL will not be. I found this out the hard way :/

I haven't even tried to understand HDR grading. Its insanely complicated since luminosity (Nits) is now a factor in the color. So HDR monitors can be rated for 400 Nits to 1000+. At 1000 Nits the color is going to look different then 400. So you do color grading on one monitor and the HDR luminous grading on a different one that is accurate for contrast and not so much color. If you want both, Sony does sell a reference monitor for 30K

Edit: I will say once you experience. 1-Billion colors, you don't want to go back. Everything seems to be a bit duller. Though it is just your brain playing tricks on you. Blue is still blue, just not the same shade and vibrancy. Color is a strange subject. I don't even use the correct color terminology sometimes. Back to art school for me!

Edit 2: 27" monitors are a lot cheaper. 32" 4K HDR, etc is cutting edge and reflect in the price. Some of the high end ones are $2,000. Same specs but 27" is $800.

[wildman2]

Hmm apparently my card can do the 10bit thing for Open GL with the Studio update drivers.. Cool. Downloading drivers now. Yikes 542 mb. That will take a while on my connection lol.Think cup and string connection.

30K for a monitor bout spit my coffee out on my keyboard on that price. At that price it should make artwork for you  with verbal commands.

Been using that 32in 1080 Samsung tv for some time now and I like the size. Have 2 24's flanking it and I cant read crap on them unless I'm close enough to lick the screen.. (Yeah

I'm getting old.)Guess a trip to the store that has 27's might be in order just to see if its feasible.

[ir_cow]

I hate to keep hurting your brain but even if you have a calibrated monitor, the room lighting can change your perception of the colors. This is why either you have to work in the dark or a controlled lit room. Kinda like how our brains thinks the A and B squares are different shades. But really they are the same. Welcome to the wacky world of color theory. I spent months in college writing papers about color. Drove me crazy at times.

What I like about the i1 DisplayPro is it has a light sensor and will adjust in real time the monitor colors based on the room lighting. Very useful if your desk is near the window.

[wildman2]

Ive got 2 windows in the room that are covered in 4in of acoustic foam(zero light coming through) and 1 ceiling light with 3 daylight temperature 60w led light bulbs above and behind me.That should be a consistent enough light source  for lighting and its not super bright up there.Basically a loft that I pretty much have that all to myself other than a boatload of rubbermade totes jam packed full of yarn for the wife and my instruments amps and a huge L shaped desk. 

Yup I do like the ambient light sensor that the i1 DisplayPro has, real good feature. I can see how that can and will help with my perception of what the colors will actually look like once printed. Then again it all depends on the printer. Any company that prints for a living should have the thing calibrated to the ninth degree. May try and send an image to the HP office jet 8702 printer we have for grins and giggles. Try the different papers etc. Just to see what it looks like.

Your thoughts on curved monitors? I can see how while gaming they would be nice especially with 3 or more.Office productivity they would also be good But no real benefit  doing the 3d graphics and editing stuff.

[ir_cow]

30 minutes ago, wildman2 said:

Any company that prints for a living should have the thing calibrated to the ninth degree.

Ha! if only... That is why most places convert to GRAcol CMYK for printing and they don't even know it. those RIP programs do it for you on defaults. Less colors to worry about. It is actually the main reason why I have my own printer. Couldn't find a shop that knew the first thing about color printing, just that the software did it for them automatically. The best I could do was get small prints (hard proofs), go home and compare, than tweak my photo to the shifted color space.

Once again if you only look at it on a sRGB monitor, you will never notice the missing colors unless for example the blues shift into purple. You would think its not right, but really its because your monitor can't display those colors and the RIP software converted it incorrectly. So if you work in sRGB color space, print in CYMK, the shift is very slight. This is also why Pantones exist for corporation that want a guaranteed color regardless of what the monitor shows. I'm always working Pantone (PMS) spot colors. Make it easy for color correction.

So I go a bit overboard because I like the rich greens and blues that are lost in CMYK. I shoot a lot landscpaes with blue skys so its important to me. Therefore I shoot in RAW, work in PhotoPro color space, export Adobe RGB and print in Adobe RGB. Even if you shoot in RAW and work in PhotoPro, if you export in sRGB and send it off to be printed at a shop, it should look fairly close to the final export you did.

30 minutes ago, wildman2 said:

Your thoughts on curved monitors? I can see how while gaming they would be nice especially with 3 or more.Office productivity they would also be good But no real benefit doing the 3d graphics and editing stuff.

Never used one. Only curve type devices I've seen in person is TVs. Which is cool, but for me I had to be really close for it to engulf my full vision. Which I thought was the whole point of the curve aspect of it.

[Braegnok]

I currently have the ProArt PA32UC, bought it new on first release for $1,399. The colors are fine for the type work I bought it for, haven't had any issues with panel. Going to sell it in Q2 2020 $600.00 free shipping.

I plan on upgrading to ProArt PA32UCG whenever the production of the AU Optronics panel used is released, perhaps H2 2020. https://www.asus.com/Monitors/ProArt-Display-PA32UCG/

 

[ir_cow]

9 minutes ago, Braegnok said:

 

I plan on upgrading to ProArt PA32UCG whenever the production of the AU Optronics panel used is released, perhaps H2 2020. https://www.asus.com/Monitors/ProArt-Display-PA32UCG/

I didn't know Mini-LED screens went into production yet. I thought only Samsung have THE WALL which is million of dollars. That monitor looks great, I'll have to do more reading tonight but I might buy one and finally retire my Dell. I was waiting for 8K to be cheaper, solely because I figured Mini-LED would be in production by than. DCI-P3 is important for HDR content. I don't work with it since I am doing prints, but It would be nice to watch a few movies this way.

Edit: I can't find these for sale at all. All I can find is articles saying "Coming soon". No price listed either.