Monitors

[Hor]

Wondering what you guys are running, I don't see any talk of monitors here and all things considered I can see this as being a pretty big deal.

I'm currently deciding between a Wasabi Mango UHD420 (42 inch 4k) and an AMH A399U (39 inch 4k). As I've been building up my main rig I've ended up on a pair of 980 TIs. I'm thinking for boxing having such large singly screens could be a great benefit for boxing.

[Fat Tire]

I have been thinking about the AMH A399U myself.

[MiRai]

I have the WM UHD420 and it's fantastic. I should get around to doing a small review of it sometime in the near future. ;)

[JohnGabriel]

I have the WM UHD420 and it's fantastic. I should get around to doing a small review of it sometime in the near future. ;)

No issues? I was looking at Amazon and in the product description they have

*This monitor may have up to 5 dead pixels*
*AH-IPS panel has Little Light Bleeding*

I assume all monitors have a certain number of dead pixels and its not just LG specific, since it has over 8 million of them. Unless Amazon is selling re-manufactured or returned items.
http://www.amazon.com/WASABI-MANGO-UHD420-Real-HDMI/dp/B00YA5IZS0

[MiRai]

I have the WM UHD420 and it's fantastic. I should get around to doing a small review of it sometime in the near future. ;)

No issues? I was looking at Amazon and in the product description they have

*This monitor may have up to 5 dead pixels*
*AH-IPS panel has Little Light Bleeding*

I assume all monitors have a certain number of dead pixels and its not just LG specific, since it has over 8 million of them. Unless Amazon is selling re-manufactured or returned items.
http://www.amazon.com/WASABI-MANGO-UHD420-Real-HDMI/dp/B00YA5IZS0
Disclaimer: This is a very quick reply and not a full review by me or anything like that. There wasn't much proofreading. :)

Amazon isn't actually selling them, and it's a third-party seller who sells them direct from Korea. I bought mine off of eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/121679299494) about two months ago and was well aware of the mess that I might end up getting myself into, but the overseas Korean monitor market has been around for awhile, and a large majority of peoples' experiences have been nothing but positive over the years. These monitors are not ultra-perfect grade A panels and that's why they're a lot cheaper, and while I don't have a specific link handy at the moment to describe exactly where the monitors come from, I'd recommend reading up on these types of monitors on forums like overclock.net (http://www.overclock.net/f/44/monitors-and-displays) (here's a link (http://www.overclock.net/t/1554580/got-a-wasabi-mango-4k-42-korean-ips-monitor-what-tests-to-run) to the UHD420's OC thread).

You pretty much always take a risk with dead pixels on any monitor/display since every manufacturer has their own dead pixel policy for what is allowed and what isn't, and it's generally in the fine print. However, my UHD420 arrived with zero dead pixels on it. I also talked both crum1515 and Kicksome into buying a WM UHD420 from the same guy on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/121679299494), and while crum1515's had a small cluster of dark pixels which he claims is hardly noticeable unless he's looking at something very bright, Kicksome's display doesn't have any defects. For the record, crum1515 got some money back from the eBay seller because of that discrepancy, but could have asked for a replacement (he just didn't want to wait).

As for the light bleeding, I imagine they're referring to "backlight bleed," which I'm not even entirely sure I know what that is. If you Google backlight bleed you're met with a range of different images and people trying to explain what they feel it is, and then you've got others talking about how "IPS glow" is completely normal—So, who's right?

Either way, here's what I can tell you about the IPS panels I've owned over the past year...

If I eliminate every light source in my entire apartment and make it pitch black, and then put a fullscreen motionless black image on the screen... there is some glowing around the edges, but it's certainly not anything I ever notice during actual use of the display in any normal, everyday environment.

Here are some other reviews/unboxing of the WM UHD420:

PCPer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfcejpl0it4)
Tek Syndicate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPXdOpaNUtg) (just watched this today and it's pretty spot on)

Now, there's one issue with this display that neither of those reviews talk about, and it's the fact that there is a slight portion of the monitor that looks as if it's "cut off" when viewing it from an angle (video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbn8O36kOw)). To be completely honest, I was not ready for that when I purchased the display, and if there was anything about the display that made me regret the purchase... that was it. However, I initially adjusted my desktop resolution through the nVidia Control Panel (no idea how to do it on AMD), and everything was perfect after that, but a few weeks ago I reverted back to the full 3840x2160 resolution and I'm totally fine with the edges of the display being a bit weird. In fact, I barely notice it at this point, and if it was to ever become a problem, then I'd just switch back to my 3802x2138 resolution and everything would be 100% perfect again.

I should probably work on an actual review sometime this week or something since there seems to be more people interested.

[Fat Tire]

Thoughts on ultra wide monitors 21:9? I have often thought of going back to single monitor boxing.

I have been looking at a few 34" ultra wides

[mbox_bob]

No issues? I was looking at Amazon and in the product description they have


*This monitor may have up to 5 dead pixels*
*AH-IPS panel has Little Light Bleeding*

I assume all monitors have a certain number of dead pixels and its not just LG specific, since it has over 8 million of them. Unless Amazon is selling re-manufactured or returned items.
http://www.amazon.com/WASABI-MANGO-UHD420-Real-HDMI/dp/B00YA5IZS0
There is an ISO standard for pixel defects in flat panels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9241#ISO-9241-302.2C_303.2C_305.2C_307:2008_pixel_defects

Of course any manufacturer seller can specify their own policy and do not have to abide by the ISO standards at all, but certainly when the older ISO standard was in force, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_13406-2, and the LCD market was young, it was quite common for a brand new expensive LCD panel to have pixel defects under the ISO standard, and the monitor would not be replaced, especially if the defects were not in the "centre" area of the screen.

[Hor]

I'll be buying through dream seller on eBay, he comes highly recomended from the guys at Tek Syndicate and a few other places. I'm pretty much set on the Wasabi Mango at this point. The thing that keeps me going back and forth is that the AMH A399U appears to have better colors/richer blacks. Since I will be doing some graphic work for class, this is a bonus. Then there's the "firmware update" for GSYNC/FREESYNC being added to the Wasabi, and a larger screen (though not by much) and it becomes a more interesting race again. For the price they both seem solid.

For my secondary screen I'm probably going to stick with a Monoprice 24inch 1080p screen, it's cheap and pretty slick on it's own. I'm likely going to have it in portrait mode to the side for web browsing and chat.

For Ultrawide, I've heard good things about this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1QKx7IDw6Y

Here's the Monoprice screen for reference for anyone looking for a cheap 1080p.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=12178&gclid=CjwKEAjwpPCuBRDris2Y7piU2QsSJAD1Qv7BEyz6NZXU vdagCekElrVOjpPiZU4IYFopGpkLPiKvjBoCAETw_wcB&kpid=112178

[MiRai]

The thing that keeps me going back and forth is that the AMH A399U appears to have better colors/richer blacks. Since I will be doing some graphic work for class, this is a bonus.
I haven't heard anything about the A399U having better colors since it's a VA panel (I also haven't been reading a lot about it), and any IPS panel should be superior to TN/VA when it comes to color accuracy. As for deeper and darker blacks, yes, that's generally what you get with TN and VA panels.


Then there's the "firmware update" for GSYNC/FREESYNC being added to the Wasabi,
It is a firmware update for FreeSync only.

[Lyonheart]

Is this Korean monitor a new thing? i just looked it up and it amazes me how cheap they are for how good they seem to be ( according to reviews ) And will this help bring the american/jap prices down?

[JohnGabriel]

Is this Korean monitor a new thing? i just looked it up and it amazes me how cheap they are for how good they seem to be ( according to reviews ) And will this help bring the american/jap prices down?

You probably just didn't know they were Korean companies. LG and Samsung have been around forever.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

As for the light bleeding, I imagine they're referring to "backlight bleed," which I'm not even entirely sure I know what that is. If you Google backlight bleed you're met with a range of different images and people trying to explain what they feel it is, and then you've got others talking about how "IPS glow" is completely normal—So, who's right?

Either way, here's what I can tell you about the IPS panels I've owned over the past year...

If I eliminate every light source in my entire apartment and make it pitch black, and then put a fullscreen motionless black image on the screen... there is some glowing around the edges, but it's certainly not anything I ever notice during actual use of the display in any normal, everyday environment.

My 8-year-old Doublesight DS-263N (which was pretty awesome for ~$650 when I bought it in 2008) in a pitch-dark room:
1530

My Asus PB278 (you can see the edge of the DS screen next to it):
1531

And that's with the DS brightness at ~20% and the Asus at 0%. The Asus is an LED-backlight versus the fluorescent backlight of the DS. Off-axis viewing greatly pronounces the corner "bleed" on both. The DS wasn't that bad when it was new, and it actually had the best black levels of any of my displays; the LED backlights are a ridonculous improvement, especially in bright rooms.

[Hor]

I haven't heard anything about the A399U having better colors since it's a VA panel (I also haven't been reading a lot about it), and any IPS panel should be superior to TN/VA when it comes to color accuracy. As for deeper and darker blacks, yes, that's generally what you get with TN and VA panels.


It is a firmware update for FreeSync only.

Here's a good video doing comparison on various 4K monitors, it should be noted that this video is a month old and appears to be from prior to the Freesync Firmware update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnblEQ0AeLg

As for G Sync, I mention it for two specific reasons. First, people are already working on a third party work around as mentioned in the Tek Syndicate video to enable G Sync. How that will pan out, no idea - but if a firmware update can enable FreeSync then enabling G Sync is at least a possibility. Also, there's the recent VESA recognition of FreeSync which I could see pushing NVIDIA to do something, one potential move being to stop being childish and actually move to the standard themselves.

The WM appears to be the winner in general, my only concern is physical dimensions as my desk space is limited.

[Hor]

Also, for an eBay listing selling monitors this is the one I've had recommended to me from Tek Syndicate and other sources.

http://stores.ebay.com/Dream-Seller

[Fat Tire]

Also, for an eBay listing selling monitors this is the one I've had recommended to me from Tek Syndicate and other sources.

http://stores.ebay.com/Dream-Seller

looks like a price war between a couple of sellers. 530-535 with free shipping. I might have to pull the trigger

[Hor]

Yeah Fat, I've found the prices on eBay are generally a bit lower than what you'll find on Amazon. And the people selling on Amazon, are generally selling on eBay too... so... yeah.

[MiRai]

My 8-year-old Doublesight DS-263N (which was pretty awesome for ~$650 when I bought it in 2008) in a pitch-dark room:
1530

My Asus PB278 (you can see the edge of the DS screen next to it):
1531

And that's with the DS brightness at ~20% and the Asus at 0%. The Asus is an LED-backlight versus the fluorescent backlight of the DS. Off-axis viewing greatly pronounces the corner "bleed" on both. The DS wasn't that bad when it was new, and it actually had the best black levels of any of my displays; the LED backlights are a ridonculous improvement, especially in bright rooms.
If I was buying a display today, then I'd consider the top picture to be unacceptable. I've never experienced anything like that, but some people on the numerous threads I've read consider any type of glow around the edges to be backlight bleed (and therefore "broken"), and from what I understand the severity of it can shift depending on the angle of the camera (as you mention), or even the camera itself. I just think the Amazon seller puts that in the description because of so many people complaining about the, in my opinion, completely acceptable bit of glow that can be present on IPS panels.


As for G Sync, I mention it for two specific reasons. First, people are already working on a third party work around as mentioned in the Tek Syndicate video to enable G Sync. How that will pan out, no idea - but if a firmware update can enable FreeSync then enabling G Sync is at least a possibility. Also, there's the recent VESA recognition of FreeSync which I could see pushing NVIDIA to do something, one potential move being to stop being childish and actually move to the standard themselves.
I only replied to your prior post so that people don't buy the display thinking that it has GSync when it doesn't currently have it, and may very well not have it in the future. I didn't know that hacking firmware/drivers was something that people were doing to add GSync to specific displays these days?

I know that the guy in the Tek Syndicate video was hinting that someone should try to make GSync happen through a hack (if even possible), but I certainly don't want to chance bricking my expensive display just because I used some unofficial hack from some random person on the internet, and then hope that nVidia doesn't purposely fix it in an updated driver because they might want to protect their proprietary technology.


Also, for an eBay listing selling monitors this is the one I've had recommended to me from Tek Syndicate and other sources.

http://stores.ebay.com/Dream-Seller
dream-seller does not sell Wasabi Mango displays, and sticks to other panels, such as CrossOver or AMH (both which are VA). accessorieswhole (http://www.ebay.com/usr/accessorieswhole), among others, sell the Wasabi Mango, but you also have to look at which version of the panel you're buying because several eBay sellers are still selling the older HDMI 1.2 model, which is cheaper, but isn't compatible with the FreeSync firmware update as far as I know.

[Hor]

For the AMH variety, there's a new version. This one is a true 40 inch, also it does not come with the tempered glass (no deglassing ftw). It also has some advantages over the older model at a slight increase in price. Fortunately, I haven't purchased my new screen yet, been saving up. There is currently no FreeSync support, or anything for this one. They have however added the ability to do a firmware update on this one, so it's possible something like that might be on the way. I'm going over my upgrade list now and monitors, this one looks like the direction I'm going.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-AMH-A409U-UHD-40-3840X2160-16-9-4K-LED-Monitor-60Hz-DP1-2-HDMI2-0-Remote-/321856997207?hash=item4af02c0757

[Hor]

Version 2.0 of the AMH A409U has recently become available.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMH-A409U-Ver2-UHD-40-3840X2160-16-9-DP1-2-HDMI2-0x3-4K-LED-Monitor-60Hz-Remote-/321983108110?hash=item4af7b0540e:g:fuIAAOSwGotWoHE f

The biggest difference between this and the previous version appears to be the number of HDMI 2 inputs.

I got the previous version back in October and absolutely love it. I'll be keeping an eye out for similar monitors to update this with, as I expect Microboard and a few others to have refreshed screens shortly.

I'm planning to add a pair of screens to my setup this year, possibly another A409U though I wouldn't mind an ultrawide screen that matches the bezel nicely. And another screen to the side at a 90 degree angle so I can have Twitch chat open, etc while I box.

This all has me looking at mounting options more seriously as well. Mirai, I know your setup has evolved a lot do you have any thoughts on mounting options for these monster screens?

[MiRai]

This all has me looking at mounting options more seriously as well. Mirai, I know your setup has evolved a lot do you have any thoughts on mounting options for these monster screens?
I would look at the weight of the monitor, and then find an arm suitable to hold it. Also, check the VESA mounting size and make sure you can find a plate that works with your arm. In my experience, a nice heavy duty arm that is going to hold 22+ pounds (10+ Kg) reliably is probably going to be expensive. :)

[Hor]

Yeah, I've kinda reached the point where I've realized if I'm dealing with a $600+ monitor I'm not putting a $50 arm on it. I've got a couple I've got my eyes on, I want to stick with the same panel mainly so it will all match up (including the mounting hardware). The VESA mounting is DEFINITELY large, I'll have to look again I know I've got that written down somewhere.

[mbox_bob]

I use a Philips BDM4065UC, which is very similar (seems to vary between $650US and $950US), although comes with a USB3 Hub in the back. Only 2 full sized HDMI ports though, also only 8.5kg. There might be other differences on the versions on the ports too. I use the DP 1.2 connection, which does 60Hz.

I also use a pole mount Pulse Oximeter double arm ($70US on ebay, although I paid £38), which manages to hold it up. It is a fixed height, but then I don't need to adjust the height myself. It does depend on whether you want height adjustment. Finding one to take 10kg+ tends to be more expensive as MiRai said. I evaluated how often I actually adjusted my height adjustable monitors, and found the answer was once; when I put it on my desk.
I made my own pole setup as I have 3 of these arms (I had 3 monitors, now I'm down to 2). I did need a VESA mounting plate too but this was £5.

[Hor]

That's a good point, I was actually thinking that once I have my monitors I might just pick up mounting brackets and weld together a fixed armature for them.

[Hor]

Here's a good 28 inch 4k screen for those looking for something that doesn't eat as much desk space (also half the price of the 40 inch screens).

Two of these would probably serve the needs of a LOT of people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7b2o2VJItQ

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Here's a good 28 inch 4k screen for those looking for something that doesn't eat as much desk space (also half the price of the 40 inch screens).

Two of these would probably serve the needs of a LOT of people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7b2o2VJItQ

Interesting, though I guess my eyes aren't good enough to notice the difference between a 1440p and a 2160p monitor under ~32" for most things. That said, it's amazing how affordable good/large displays are these days.