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Loading up our testing rig to play Destiny 2 at 4Kwas nothing short of spectacular. Similarly, 4K video looks incredible on this display. Even at 60Hz, its maximum refresh rate, everything appears silky-smooth and richly detailed. To be fair, that’s the kind of improvement we saw from the HP Dreamcolor z32x also, which improved on its initials core of 1.68 by hitting .84. It’s important to point out that even though the Dreamcolor’s overall color error is lower than the BenQ’s, once you get under 1.0, the variances are rather minor. The LG 27UD88-W also improved, going from 3.97 to 2.34, but that’s still a little outside what you’d want from a professional monitor. The Asus ROG PG27UQ and the Acer Predator XB272-HDR are slated to arrive in Q2 2017, that starts tomorrow (and no, not an April Fool's joke) . That puts it some time in the next 90 days though I expect we will see them released right around the big outer shows in May.
Looking at contrast and color gamut, you can see this monitor scores well, but doesn’t quite compete with the top contenders in this arena. The HP Dreamcolor z32xfeatures a wider color gamut, hitting 98 percent of the sRGB space, and 92 percent of the AdobeRGB color space. Even the LG 27UD88-W beat out our BenQ PD3200U, hitting 77 percent of the AdobeRGB space, to the BenQ’s 75 percent. The monitor provided a decent contrast performance on Battlefield 1 (BF1). Dark and shaded areas had reasonable depth to them, with good detail levels maintained across most of the screen. Some of this detail was lost due to ‘AHVA glow’, particularly near the bottom corners of the screen as observed from our normal viewing position. As noted previously this was a bit less extensive and a bit weaker than you might expect from an IPS-type panel of this size, but it was definitely still there and created a bit of a ‘flooded’ look to dark shades in affected regions. Lighter shades had a slight graininess to them due to the screen surface texture, but no heavy or smeary graininess thankfully. These bright areas contrasted quite well with darker surroundings – explosions, gunfire and torch lights in the night stood out well, for example. Good contrast performance overall, with static contrast as expected and a slight reduction in ‘AHVA glow’ compared to what you might expect from such a screenThis is the weakest Low Blue Light (LBL) setting. It is not particularly effective, although it does reduce blue light output compared to defaults and give a slightly warmer look to the image. 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).
A sensitive camera and a small tool called SMTT 2.0 was used to measure input lag for the PD3200U. The monitor was compared to various screens of known latency, taking over 30 repeat readings to maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 7.05ms (under 1/2 a frame) of input lag. This value is influenced both by the signal delay (element you ‘feel’) and pixel responsiveness (element you ‘see’). It indicates a low signal delay, which will come as welcome news to users sensitive to this sort of thing. 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. With BenQ is pitching this as a monitor for professionals, color accuracy at any angle is important, and the 100% sRGB color gamut adheres to industry standards. It also boasts Rec. 709, which is a standard for video production. 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.
A large 4K screen for your desk
The anti-glare layer is typical of desktop monitors with a 3H hardness rating and a matte finish that prevents reflections from harming image quality. We didn’t see any evidence of graininess or loss of clarity. The high pixel density is well utilized. As far as features go, the BenQ PD3200U’s main selling point is its 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160), which provides excellent image quality. When working, you have a large amount of desktop real estate, enabling you to have numerous windows and programs open at once. Overall, then, there was plenty to like about the PD3200U. We would say that the tighter factory calibration and inclusion of HDMI 2.0 were nice additions and a lot of what we liked about the older model was retained. We still don’t understand the change of screen surface texture to a grainier one, given the haze value and hence glare-handling characteristics seem very similar. But then, we still feel many users would find the new screen surface agreeable. This is perhaps a moot point given that the older model is discontinued in most regions, but certainly something that BenQ should reconsider for future models. It isn’t a cheap monitor, but the overall build quality and image quality is solid as is the feature-set. 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. will limit the appeal to some users and there were slight traces of trailing and overshoot here and there
On the right-hand side of the monitor are two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.2, mini DisplayPort, SD card slot, two USB 3.0 ports and a 3.5mm audio port. With HDMI 2.0 you can now use HDMI to display 4K visual at 60Hz, which means you can also plug a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X into the monitor and use it as a display for those. 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. The BenQ PD3200U also does a decent job of showing off media and games in 4K, so don’t dismiss it because of its professional-focused design and features.The Lagom text appeared a blended grey throughout with a very slight green hue to the striping on the text. There were no obvious flashes or orange or red even with a moderate degree of head movement. This indicates a low viewing angle dependency to the gamma curve of the monitor, as you’d hope for from an IPS-type panel such as this. The following image gives a rough idea of how things looked in the Lagom text test. Prices have come down, but it’s still an expensive segment of the market — especially in the professional monitor market. That’s where the BenQ PD3200U really shines. Standing up against monitors that are three to four hundred dollars more isn’t an easy task, but the PD3200U sure makes it look that way. 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’ 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.
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