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Customer Review
Reviewed in Canada on December 27, 2020
I have had this monitor for about two weeks now and thought it would be good to provide some info that I might have liked to have before buying it. Summary, great monitor, great value for money particularly at Cdn$689.
To put things in perspective, I use it for work type applications - programming, word processing. email, web browsing, photo editing, video editing and youtube watching. I am not a gamer, so I cant comment on its appropriateness for that.
My Comments:
1) Its hard to find out what video cards support 4k resolution. I ordered a ASUS GeForce GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 HDMI DVI Graphics Card (GT1030-2G-CSM) and it does do 4k 60Hz RGB 8 bit over HDMI for $120. Any GT 1030 should do. This one was nice because it is fanless which I prefer to keep noise levels down.
2) I also ended up getting a second card ASUS GeForce GT 710 1GB GDDR5 HDMI VGA DVI Graphics Card (GT710-SL-1GD5-BRK) for $60 to get additional monitor connections (I had an older card but Nvidea drivers don't play nice with a combination of new and old cards). I tested the GT 710 with this monitor will do 4K 60Hz YCbCr420, so reduced color resolution. Good enough for video watching, but unless you already have this card, a sightly higher end card like a GT 1030 would be preferable.
3) The monitor supports HDR10. Windows seems to. If I reduce the frame rate to 29Hz the GT 1030 can output 12 bit video (?) but at 29Hz mouse movement is sluggish. If I throw windows into HDR mode, you do see the enhanced contrast, but it applies to everything - not just HDR media or applications designed for HDR. So for now, while its great that the monitor supports HDR10, Windows 10 does not seem to fully support it. Not a fault of the monitor! Maybe you would have better luck with a much higher end video card.
4) Color, contrast, brightness - excellent. Uniform over the monitor surface, other than around 1/8" at the edges which is slightly brighter. Not a problem though. I haven't tried to color and contrast calibrate it yet, but the image is very close to a CRT monitor on my second video card which I use as a gold standard for photo editing. This monitor is bright! I have the brightness turned way down. It does have a strange behavior that when you change something like frame rate, the monitor brightens and then settles back down after a few seconds. No problem for me - I use one input always at the same frame rate. The matt/dull as opposed to shiny surface is is excellent for work applications. Great for watching videos too. 4k videos are stunning!
5) Connections, control. Multiple HDMI inputs - great feature, but I don't use more than one connection so can comment on how well input options work. I do not use the USB connections either. Might be useful for plugging in a keyboard and mouse, but a bit awkward to get to behind the monitor. So not great for temporary connection like for a USB Flash stick There is a funny upside down joystick control at the bottom of the monitor. A bit awkward. Way better to use the supplied remote control to adjust things.
6) Speakers - OK and good enough for uses like video conferencing, hearing sound with videos etc, but like any speakers in the back of a monitor, cant compare to high-quality separate speakers driven by a good amp. If your use is for theater type applications or for boardroom applications, you might want extra speakers. I don't fault the monitor for this - its intended use is a monitor, not a speaker!
7) The supplied stand - nice and solid. Bottom of the monitor is about 3.5 inches above the desk. Its a good height, but not adjustable. The Vesa mount interface is sunk into the back of the monitor so you would need a mount that does not exceed the Vesa specs in terms of size. This is probably a good feature because it would allow the monitor to be mounted very close to a wall.
8) Size and workflow: WOW - As other have pointed out, it takes a day or two to get used to, but I would never go back to a smaller one! My face is about 21 inches from the monitor surface. You do have to look left and right to see the edges and up and down for top to bottom, but way easier that two side by side monitors. The screen space is great! I find I size application windows to a size appropriate for the application. Some bigger than the height of a normal monitor, some less. It is wonderful to have multiple applications fully open when programming - Eclipse IDE, output windows, remote desktops on target machines etc. Or sorting and display windows for photography, or timeline and huge preview windows for video editing. I had looked at at the standard height but widescreen monitors, either flat or curved. I glad I didn't go for the them. The enormous screen space of this monitor is unbeatable.
Bottom line: I am delighted with the monitor and would highly recommend it of you have the space.
To put things in perspective, I use it for work type applications - programming, word processing. email, web browsing, photo editing, video editing and youtube watching. I am not a gamer, so I cant comment on its appropriateness for that.
My Comments:
1) Its hard to find out what video cards support 4k resolution. I ordered a ASUS GeForce GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 HDMI DVI Graphics Card (GT1030-2G-CSM) and it does do 4k 60Hz RGB 8 bit over HDMI for $120. Any GT 1030 should do. This one was nice because it is fanless which I prefer to keep noise levels down.
2) I also ended up getting a second card ASUS GeForce GT 710 1GB GDDR5 HDMI VGA DVI Graphics Card (GT710-SL-1GD5-BRK) for $60 to get additional monitor connections (I had an older card but Nvidea drivers don't play nice with a combination of new and old cards). I tested the GT 710 with this monitor will do 4K 60Hz YCbCr420, so reduced color resolution. Good enough for video watching, but unless you already have this card, a sightly higher end card like a GT 1030 would be preferable.
3) The monitor supports HDR10. Windows seems to. If I reduce the frame rate to 29Hz the GT 1030 can output 12 bit video (?) but at 29Hz mouse movement is sluggish. If I throw windows into HDR mode, you do see the enhanced contrast, but it applies to everything - not just HDR media or applications designed for HDR. So for now, while its great that the monitor supports HDR10, Windows 10 does not seem to fully support it. Not a fault of the monitor! Maybe you would have better luck with a much higher end video card.
4) Color, contrast, brightness - excellent. Uniform over the monitor surface, other than around 1/8" at the edges which is slightly brighter. Not a problem though. I haven't tried to color and contrast calibrate it yet, but the image is very close to a CRT monitor on my second video card which I use as a gold standard for photo editing. This monitor is bright! I have the brightness turned way down. It does have a strange behavior that when you change something like frame rate, the monitor brightens and then settles back down after a few seconds. No problem for me - I use one input always at the same frame rate. The matt/dull as opposed to shiny surface is is excellent for work applications. Great for watching videos too. 4k videos are stunning!
5) Connections, control. Multiple HDMI inputs - great feature, but I don't use more than one connection so can comment on how well input options work. I do not use the USB connections either. Might be useful for plugging in a keyboard and mouse, but a bit awkward to get to behind the monitor. So not great for temporary connection like for a USB Flash stick There is a funny upside down joystick control at the bottom of the monitor. A bit awkward. Way better to use the supplied remote control to adjust things.
6) Speakers - OK and good enough for uses like video conferencing, hearing sound with videos etc, but like any speakers in the back of a monitor, cant compare to high-quality separate speakers driven by a good amp. If your use is for theater type applications or for boardroom applications, you might want extra speakers. I don't fault the monitor for this - its intended use is a monitor, not a speaker!
7) The supplied stand - nice and solid. Bottom of the monitor is about 3.5 inches above the desk. Its a good height, but not adjustable. The Vesa mount interface is sunk into the back of the monitor so you would need a mount that does not exceed the Vesa specs in terms of size. This is probably a good feature because it would allow the monitor to be mounted very close to a wall.
8) Size and workflow: WOW - As other have pointed out, it takes a day or two to get used to, but I would never go back to a smaller one! My face is about 21 inches from the monitor surface. You do have to look left and right to see the edges and up and down for top to bottom, but way easier that two side by side monitors. The screen space is great! I find I size application windows to a size appropriate for the application. Some bigger than the height of a normal monitor, some less. It is wonderful to have multiple applications fully open when programming - Eclipse IDE, output windows, remote desktops on target machines etc. Or sorting and display windows for photography, or timeline and huge preview windows for video editing. I had looked at at the standard height but widescreen monitors, either flat or curved. I glad I didn't go for the them. The enormous screen space of this monitor is unbeatable.
Bottom line: I am delighted with the monitor and would highly recommend it of you have the space.
