Sorry everyone, another monitor question, but this time with an upper cap of $600 CDN = $480 US = 340 GBP.

I currently have an old BenQ 1080p 60hz 27 inch VA monitor, which for all it's low rez, I really like for it's the colour accuracy and deep blacks, but I would like to get something bigger. However, space is limited to a 32 inch 9:16 monitor.

My current uses are P3Dv4.5, Trainsim 2021, and various RPG games. I don't do photo or video editing, or racing other fast paced games, so high refresh rates aren't required. My system is fairly new with a 10700K @ 4.9 ghz, RTX 2070 Super, and 32 gb DDR4 3600 mhz ram.

 I think a 32 inch 4k 60 hz monitor would be ideal, but maybe a 2k monitor, with or without high refresh rates, would work as well. However, I would like good colour accuracy right out of the box. 

I'm just wondering what everyone might suggest in this price range and screen size given my uses.

Because I like my current BenQ so much, I was looking at BenQ's in this price range, but all that seems available are the BenQ ew3270u (4K 60 hz) and the BenQ ex3203r (2K 144 hz), both currently on sale. They both get pretty good reviews, but are generally considered not the best options at their regular prices. However at their current sale prices in this range, they seem very competitive. 

Thanks for any suggestions.

-Bob

@BBCM, this is the closest BenQ I can find for your budget. 32” 2560*1440, 60Hz.

https://www.benq.eu/en-eu/monitor/designer/pd3200q.html

I know it's a little off your spec but I am really enjoying a Spectre 35" 3440 x 1440 100 Hz 21:9 for only $379 U.S.  From Amazon.

VA panel Freesync/Gsync compatible -great image, deep blacks and have not touched default color settings - just great. Serious bang for the buck. 

Thanks for replying guys! The BenQ sale was coming to an end and I just couldn't resist that sale price, so I pulled the trigger on the BenQ ex3203r. And so far, I'm not disappointed. After a bit of dialing in and a couple of dozen hours of play time on various sims and games, the picture off this panel is just drop dead gorgeous.

Right out of the box and plugged straight in, I didn't think so. The panel has umpteen dozen picture modes, but in every single one, the brightness was set to what for me was an eye searing 100%, with contrast at 50%. Perhaps because of this, there was backlight bleed splotches in all the corners. But after turning brightness and contrast down to around 38% (I'm still experimenting with the settings), and playing a bunch of hours, the backlight bleed has now completely disappeared, 

The monitor does seem to accept a 30 hz refresh rate, or at least if I go into the NCP custom resolution screen and set that up, the NCP Test says the panel will accept it. But 30 hz made the picture looked so washed out, I went back to the 144 hz rate. .

I thought I might not like a curved screen that much. But I was wrong: I really like the immersion the ex3203r's curved screen provides. I don't think I could go back to a flat screen now.

I'll have to do a lot more flying to see whether my card can handle that 144 hz refresh rate, and at what settings, but so far I'm very pleased with the purchase..

Out of the box, the ex3203r isn't particularly G-sync compatible, but reportedly can be made so using the Custom Resolution Utility (CRU). I might just try that to see what happens in P3Dv4.5.

Anyway, just fyi. Thanks again for replying.

-Bob

 

 

 

 

 

@BBCM, 144Hz is of no use to flight sim at all but if you like it that’s all that matters.

It just seems odd that you invite opinions and then go with your original choice anyway. I wouldn’t have recommended that monitor as it’s more suited to fast games than flight sim.

Yes, sorry about that Ray. I thought the BenQ sale at the local pc shop would be on for another week or two, then all of a sudden yesterday  they just popped in a "24 hours to go" notice with a clock ticking down. So I thought I had better pick it up at the sale price now or forgo entirely. I had doubts about how well my RTX 2070 Super could handle 4k, at least at the settings I liked. So I was primarily looking at 1440p 60 hz monitors anyway. If they could also do higher refresh rates, well then bonus 🙂. And i would consider a 4k monitor in that price range if it had good reviews. 

At it's 30% off sale price, the ex3203r with all its features, good reviews, and BenQ quality was a prime candidate. But it also had certain aspects that made me hesitate. As you mentioned, the features aren't necessarily the best for flight sims or the other slower paced games I like to play, the large V stand wasn't the best for my desk, and I wasn't certain how I would take to a very large curved screen. But most worrisome to me, a number of purchasers had complained that the display had large amounts of backlight bleed, and apparently that this was a problem with many curved VA panels. . So I wondered if there was maybe a better 32 inch monitor in that price range that I had overlooked.

As said in my other post, my fears proved groundless: there was no backlight bleed after the panel burnt in a bit (I guess that's what it was), I loved the immersion of the large curved screen, and I managed to shoehorn the stand and monitor onto my desk (although it's still somewhat awkward). And I just love the picture quality.

The reason I'm interested in the G sync fix for the ex3203r is from the way I've seen it work in a review for some other games. When the fps fell below a certain limit (48 fps/48 hz for Freesync), the panel, in Freesync or with G sync fix, compensates by raising the refresh rate to a multiple of the low fps. So if the fps fell to 33, the monitor would go to 66 hz, and so on instant by instant. I'm just plain curious to see what might happen in P3Dv4.5 if I could get that working. Whether or not it would actually be practical, well, who knows.

Anyway Ray, thanks for your comments. Always a pleasure to read your remarks here on the forum.

-Bob

 

@BBCM, Hi Bob. It sounds like your main reason for buying that monitor was the curved screen. Fair enough. My suggestion didn't have that.

It will be interesting to see how GSync copes with the frame rates. And as you run games that require higher frame rates it's understandable why you went for that monitor. It's difficult finding monitors that are ideal for both as the requirements are so different.

Enjoy your bargain.

I have a BenQ EX3501R that I'm very happy with, also works with G-Sync even though it is not on the compatibility list.