Hardware, particularly gaming hardware, hasn’t quite caught up to the demands 4K places on modern desktop computers, but it’s gaining steam fast, which means 4K content is going to become more and more common and much more accessible. As per factory defaults, but the gamma target has been raised. This gives many shades a deeper than intended look, that’s quite striking and may be appropriate for some users (hence this is an option rather than an enforcement). AHVA glow’ still there and something that affects peripheral detail for dark shades, the screen surface also imparts slight graininess to the image despite being ‘very light matte’

We also made some observations when viewing our Blu-ray movie test titles. Here, there were no noticeable weaknesses attributable to either slower than optimal pixel responses or overly aggressive pixel overdrive. The pace of action here is limited by the 24fps or so at which the content runs – which limits fluidity and also reduces the pixel responsiveness requirements. We also observed some higher frame rate movie content (60fps), which as you’d expect highlighted exactly the same sort of behaviour that our game testing did. There were again no obvious weaknesses, just a whiff of faint powdery trailing or overshoot here and there. Certainly nothing we found distracting and nothing that should bother even sensitive users. If it does, they’d likely be unhappy with any 60Hz sample and hold monitor. Overall, this is a standard array of ports for a professional monitor, but the layout is convenient and thoughtful. Controls said:I wanted to wait for 4K GSYNC >60Hz, but seems like those things aren't coming together soon, so I popped for the Acer Predator XB321HK... 2 out of three ain't bad. However, this isn’t just a monitor for media consumption. It’s a monitor for media creation. In that regard, it holds its own against more expensive competitors, but it’s not the most impressive professional monitor we’ve seen. The solid aluminum upright supports a full range of movements including 45° swivel, 5” height, and 25° tilt. You also get an impressive portrait mode. We can imagine the ease of editing orchestral scores or working on poster-sized graphics when the panel is rotated.There has been a lot of interest in ‘4K’ UHD screens (3840 x 2160), with users keen to make use of the pixels for both work and play. As we explore in this article, there is a lot to like about the resolution. But there are also some issues, particularly when it comes to relying on scaling on the desktop, something that is more pertinent with smaller screens. The BenQ PD3200U spreads its pixels out across a 32” screen area, potentially reducing the reliance on scaling whilst still providing an excellent pixel density. We certainly had a lot of positives things to say about the predecessor to this model, the BL3201PT/PH, so it will be interesting to see how this one performs in similar test scenarios.

The monitor provides very good color accuracy right out of the box. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, my red, green, and blue color measurements (represented by the colored dots) are closely aligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes). Moreover, the monitor aced the DisplayMate Color Purity and Uniformity tests and provided a razor-sharp UHD picture while displaying scenes from Marvel's Deadpool on Blu-ray. The panel's ability to display outstanding highlight and shadow detail in my test images is not surprising, given its stellar performance in the 64-Step Grayscale test. As with most IPS panels, viewing angles were wide, with no apparent color shifting or dimming. The monitors interpolation process (i.e. ‘Full’ selected for ‘Display Mode’) gives significant softening to the image. Things are slightly sharper than when relying on GPU scaling and the softening is by no means the most extreme we’ve seen, but it is nowhere near as sharp as running the resolution natively on a screen of similar size. Contrary to popular belief, the monitor does not display 1920 x 1080 perfectly by 1:4 mapping onto the 3840 x 2160 pixels of the screen. Instead, exactly the same interpolation process is used as is used at other resolutions. This is the case regardless of the input used (HDMI, DP or MiniDP). The softening was more noticeable than on this model’s predecessor, unfortunately, although would potentially be a lot less noticeable if you’re sitting some distance from the screen. For example, using a games console with a controller. Even so, it seems this model is much better suited to running its native resolution on a range of devices (including new games consoles, via HDMI 2.0) than it is to running any non-native resolution.Moving on to color accuracy, the BenQ managed to steal victory from the jaws of defeat with a near-perfect score. With an average color error of 1.23, to the HP Dreamcolor’s 1.68, and the LG 27UD88-W’s 3.97, the BenQ wins by a significant margin.

The bottom line; a solidly built screen with a convincing performance in key areas, but some issues that could prove problematic to some users depending on their GPU and sensitivity to screen surface texture. As above with slightly cooler look to the image (marginal) and more flexibility with image controls. Although ‘2.2’ average gamma is achieved in both cases, the sRGB mode is targeted for better distinction of very dark shades as explained shortly. You get a good selection of settings with the PD3200U. In addition to Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and Color Temperature settings, you can choose one of eight Picture Modes, including REC. 709, sRGB, CAD/CAM, Animation, Standard, Low Blue Light, Darkroom, and User Defined. There's also a DualView feature that lets you view two windows side by side using two different picture modes. As with the BenQ PV3200PT, the PD3200U contains an Ergonomic menu with an Eye Protect setting that uses an embedded sensor to detect ambient light levels and adjust screen brightness. It also has a light meter and a timer that reminds you to rest your eyes, as well as a presence sensor that puts the monitor into sleep mode when you're not there. This monitor doesn't have the individual six-color Hue and Saturation settings that you get with the BenQ PV3200PT and the Dell U3417W, but it does have two sliders for increasing or decreasing overall Hue and Saturation levels.will limit the appeal to some users and there were slight traces of trailing and overshoot here and there On some monitors faint interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions, particularly noticeable where light shades (muzzle flashes, explosions etc.) briefly pop up on the screen. These are sometimes referred to as ‘inversions artifacts’. Alternatively, static interlace patterns can be seen with some shades appearing as faint horizontal bands of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of the intended shade. We did not observe any such artifacts on this monitor.