4K Mini-LED LCD vs 4K OLED, What Should You Buy? - BenQ Mobiuz EX321UX Review

[@monitorsunboxed]

Update: It turns out this monitor supports DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR10 bandwidth (40 Gbps) but only in the 8-bit mode for some reason. I assessed the 10-bit mode on the Radeon Pro W7800 for this review, and it only reported HBR3 speeds (32 Gbps). Not sure why UHBR10 isn't supported at 10-bit, but it was an oversight on my part to not check 8-bit as well. If you want 4K 10-bit it still requires DSC and for some reason is stuck on HBR3

[@MrLutijen]

The reason for this is (un)available bandwidth. At 40 Gbps (UHBR10), maximum allowable setting is 4K/142Hz 10-bit RGB/444, so there is no bandwidth for extra 2Hz, hence DSC must be used in 10-bit mode. In 8-bit mode, up to 4K/174Hz can work without DSC. BenQ could have introduced custom timings to fit those missing 2Hz in 10-bit mode, but clearly they have not done so.

[@Earshoes777]

There has been a firmware update since this review, any chance of checking for improvements?

[@maxsmnv]

Could you, please, review a new miniled monitor that was launched in the worldwide market, it's Xiaomi G Pro 27i

[@DrakonR]

New firmware is supposed to improve local dimming performance. Please test it.

[@sylvainh2o]

If i'm looking for a 32inch+ Ultrawide 21:9 (not Oled and ideally Mini-Led) what would be the suggestions at around 1000$ Usd or less. thank!

[@Joshua-xh6bm]

It really is a shame that mini LED monitors haven't advanced in the same way that the TVs have. The most recent mini LED TVs are actually a very, VERY good alternative to OLED for people that don't want OLED for one reason or another. But the monitor space is horrendous.

[@Valdaemonium]

Fr! See what Sony could get with the glorious VA LCD on the Bravia 9, TCL with the QM8 and Hisense with the U8N.😮

[@stefannita3439]

a lot of PC monitor buyers are either people who just need a cheap random display to read their emails, or competitive gamers who just want a fast panel. the market for high end HDR gaming on PC is pretty small, and TVs can cover part of it anyway. so if you're going to make and sell a high end HDR monitor might as well have it be the one that costs 1000 euros and has to be bought again in 4 years lol

[@drunkhusband6257]

@@stefannita3439 hdr is trash

[@WaterZer0]

​@@stefannita3439pretty much the only option is the AOC VA unless you go for OLED

[@mrbigmangeorge]

@@drunkhusband6257 prove it.

[@nylle79]

I would really love a video about the 2024 recommendations for mixed use. I spend around eight-nine hours a day in front of my monitor doing productivity work, and maybe two to three hours a week gaming (if I'm very lucky :( ) With that kind of use, I can't really go with an OLED both for burn in risk and also for text clarity. With the amount of remote work these days, I don't think it's a unique scenario and I can't be the only one who would like a video like that :)

[@airpressure08]

Yes! Hybrid use recommendation please! OLED is great and all, but I just can't justify spending $1K for a monitor with a "burn-in capability" built into it :D

[@prabhudatt27]

I can’t buy every 4 a new monitor oled monitor (obviously due to burn-in) worth 1200$ …I m really thankful to benq for bringing a high end top end all rounder monitor on which I can do productivity 10 hrs every day apart of 3 hrs of study & 3 hours gaming. 1 monitor multiple work done smoothly and that is without burn-in.

[@prabhudatt27]

I don’t know why reviewer don’t want to give up a thumbs up for this monitor …actually he wants us to buy two separate monitors one for gaming I.e oled & for productivity & studying I.e benq ex321ux

[@MoonManPictures]

Absolutely this!

[@paalpaal1326]

yes please

[@TheYvesW]

Hey Tim, would love it if you did more MiniLED! Don't forget the new 1440P MiniLED displays when (or if, looking at past announcements) some with a relatively high amount of dimming zones get released! I mostly do productivity tasks with some gaming during the weekends, and I keep monitors for >5 years (get changed to side-monitor), so I do not want an OLED because of potential burn-in and text fringing.

[@Winnetou17]

If I'm not mistaken some (all?) Macbook laptops in recent year(s) have miniLED panels. With something like 10000 (yes, 10k) dimming zones. But they have terrible motion performance, like just 60hz with atrocious 20ms or so transition times. Still, for static content, it's awesome. A miniLED 4K monitor with over 10k dimming zones and well tuned 240Hz with actual fast transition times, while keeping all the strong/positive parts of this BenQ Mobiuz EX321UX would -probably cost $4000- be awesome!

[@moldyshishkabob]

Really hoping for both more affordable 1440p MiniLED options and reviews of such to verify value.

[@jumpierwolf]

Do you have any examples of these monitors? I want to look more into them.

[@TheYvesW]

@@jumpierwolf 1440p MiniLED? RTings has reviewed among others the AOC Q27G3XMN, and Acer Nitro XV275U P3biipx. There are multiple announced 1440p MiniLEDs announced with a lot of local dimming zones, like the Cooler Master Tempest GP2712 or MSI MPG 272QPX, but the same happened last year and those monitors just did not get released.

[@definitelynotacyborg]

@@Winnetou17 60 Hz response times on the most recent MacBooks can be as bad as 117 ms and there is a large variance in panel quality from unit to unit. Largely speaking if you are using it in 120 Hz mode you are seeing 67 ms response times from the monitor itself which is a cause for massive amounts of blur. It does not utilize local dimming very efficiently either.

[@vVaIker]

I love these high quality, in-depth reviews of monitor models keeping us up to date in display technology. These comparisons are highly valued!

[@AdnanKhan-be9dr]

You're right Tim, this is just too expensive for what it offers. I am very glad you covered this monitor, however, as alternatives to oled are welcome for us mixed-users.

[@AniRayn]

Possible dealbreakers: - Very low contrast ratio in default included sRGB: 660:1. Fixable with some tweaks, but sacrifices some color and gamma accuracy. - No Variable overdrive, though setting AMA2 might be usable in the 90-144Hz range. Seems like only Asus cares about this. - Increased processing lag in HDR: from 0.2ms -> 14.5ms - Poor uniformity.

[@yoriiroy1720]

yo 0.2ms to 15ms is crazy

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

@@yoriiroy1720 not really considering most TVs and even monitors have like 10ms of lag

[@Malinkadink]

@@AnimeUniverseDE 25ms is TRASH at 144hz with HDR, meanwhile my C2 at 120hz in HDR is 6ms of delay, its night and day.

[@drunkhusband6257]

@@Malinkadink HDR in general is trash

[@Malinkadink]

@@drunkhusband6257 For monitors maybe, hence I use LG OLED TVs for years now even if I can only use 120hz the HDR experience is actually good on TV counterparts.

[@fredsas12]

Recently purchased a HiSense 100inch MiniLed to replace my "old" Philips 75inch ambilight in the living room. The 75inch will be going into my mancave as main screen for my PC racing rig, and second screen for the PC. Both of these displays are Mini-Led with the 75 having around 2000nits and the 100 having about 1500nits. Both are silly bright at max, though I have both set to use about 500nits as standard. They can both do 120hz with Freesync support. I've been playing the Starwars 1995 Tie Fighter reimagined mod (no modern sensibility nonsense required) and Oh boy, I'm in the Imperial Navy now... Flying past a massive Imperial class Star Destroyer in my Tie Fighter is a total joy, whilst bringing law and order to the console playing Rebel rabble. Absolutely over the moon, I tell you.

[@WaterspoutsOfTheDeep]

I just got a mini led and watching star wars the light sabers look crazy just glowing like no tomorrow.

[@geiers6013]

For Hdr you should not decrease the maximum brightness, since it destroys accuracy. HDR still shouldn't be that bright, only the peak highlights reach full brightness.

[@RyneLanders]

How many lighting zones on each of those? I find that's the most important aspect of a good mini-LED display. Too few and the dynamic range isn't great, Halo bloom is exaggerated by the LEDs

[@geiers6013]

@@RyneLanders Also the Fald algorithm is very important. Sony TVs for example usually don't have that many dimming zones, but still are very good.

[@RyneLanders]

@@geiers6013 yes that's true too

[@dr.noodles4868]

Thanks for the non OLED review. More of these please! I need a work-by-day and game-by-night monitor that wont burn in.

[@JSmith-kh4vo]

BenQ's pricing is ridiculous and that's what keeps them out of the monitor race. Something like this should not cost $1200.

[@DianeFoxxx]

faxx

[@Zannelol]

4K LCD 144HZ for $1200????? NO thanks!!

[@Yardo]

Yah this monitor is absolutely absurd. The only good part is the color accuracy. I guess this would be a good pairing for someone with like a 4070ti super who prioritizes content creation but also wants to game a bit…. But I got a Monoprice 4k 144hz mini led prototype over 2 years ago from a friend that worked there for $350 and it looks pretty much just as good as this lol.

[@عبدالرحمن-د1ث]

Zowie has been out of touch as of lately (i.e. the last 3.5 years 💀)

[@MaaZeus]

Yeah monitor prices are absurd. At the end of last year I bought 50" TCL C805, 4k miniled backlit (IIRC about 300 zones in this size) TV for less than 800€ and use it as my PC monitor. Great HDR performance, freesync support and even 144hz although that comes with pixel overshoot in motion so 120hz is recommended. As far as value goes it runs circles around this monitor.

[@Yardo]

@@MaaZeus there are some great overall monitor prices rn. One of my buddies just picked on an Innocn 1440p 240hz IPS display for $215 on Amazon. The Display Guy made a great review of it. Easily worth 400+.

[@Yardo]

@@MaaZeus but yeah tvs are amazing monitors. I use my LG CX Oled and my LG oled monitor. Both plugged into the gpu and just use whichever I’m feeling. But yeah most monitor prices are actually great rn which is what makes this monitor such a terrible deal

[@AgentMoler]

The monitor scene is frustrating because I don’t believe that the pricing reflects the quality of the monitors necessarily. If the industry standardized their pricing based off of panel tech, miniled, nano ips , and ips black would be way more popular and affordable.

[@Slither54GT3.R]

And naming the monitors anything other than prototype looking names

[@Meditations2024]

The main limiting factor for even the best Mini-LED Displays was always going to be cost for the extra hardware. Plus, the expense of the impossible task of trying to tune the thing. Micro-LED has potential, but has to reduce the size of it's LEDs & manufacturing costs to reach that potential. I hear Samsung and LG are working on Non-Organic self emmisive displays using the same manufacturing techniques used in their OLEDs, essentially just changing the recipe of the material they are using.

[@anitaremenarova6662]

Still cheaper than OLED, even more so when you consider having to buy another in less than 5 years due to the inevitable burn-in while LCDs easily last for over 10 years without a struggle of "OLED care" LOL

[@mbvx7]

I am glad you reviewed this. I ordered one, they lost it and couldn't find it. They had planned to send me another one when they had more stock. After seeing this, I cancelled the order.....

[@lucimon97]

Thank you for looking at some MiniLED for a change! Could you maybe get your hands on a Philips Evnia 32m2n6800m as well? As far as panel features go it reads largely identical, but it is like $400ish cheaper and I wonder what cuts they made. Surely it can't just be usb-c.

[@sarulaplays6861]

I'd love to know too! Been eyeing out that display. Did you ever figure out the difference, or decide on a display?

[@lucimon97]

@@sarulaplays6861 There is a number of reviews on chinese channels that seem quite impressed with it, but I don't speak the language and I don't trust KZbin subtitles enough to make a decision based on that. I plan on upgrading gpu and monitors all at once when next gen amd & nvidia drop so right now I'm just waiting for more reviews to come out.

[@callumbirks]

Glad to see this comparison. I use my monitor for work & gaming (primarily work as I work from home) so I think OLED burn in would be a big problem for me, as I’m working 8-10 hours a day

[@ijmcd]

Yup, I'm in the same position as you. It's the reason I'm sticking with LCDs for the time being. Shame there are not more better mini-LED options with good connectivity and features (e.g. KVM switch)

[@drunkhusband6257]

I would just get an oled for games and a cheap led for everything else

[@noer0205]

Thank you Tim for calling out BenQ on the non-flicker free monitor that they advertise as being flicker free! Wauw BenQ... Was so excited for a full array backlit IPS monitor though!

[@darkness9250]

Thank you for the great thorough review! Would love a decent 32in 4k flat HDR monitor for mixed productivity and gaming; I was hoping this would be the one, but clearly it’s not.

[@user-el4su7tl6f]

I think I'll be a grandfather when MicroLED comes out 😔

[@AaronFigFront]

MicroLED has already been abandoned by Apple, and the industry put tons of money out of miniled as well, self emissive quantum dot display is the next thing.

[@orangecat1596]

just give up MicroLED is being abondoned everywhere it’s too expensive too produce for little profit

[@ludvigafklercker7722]

It's never too late to appreciate great image quality! ;)

[@samson7294]

@@AaronFigFront while QDEL is very exciting I think Tandem OLED will be a better and more relatively "affordable" option. The industry has already matured in the manufacturing of OLED and it's literally just putting 2 OLEDs on top of one another. I bought the latest iPad for my mother and I was blown away by the peak brightness of the Tandem OLED display

[@haukionkannel]

You will be 3 feet under before microled comes to monitors…

[@marcel1463]

The design of the BenQ looks really great.

[@IceWarrior341]

ive been a big fan of their stuff since I first used them back in 2004

[@DrakonR]

The monitor is pretty good overall, but it definitely needs firmware tuning to fix the EOTF curve and algorithm anomalies.

[@user-tn1ed4wq2x]

Hey Tim, could you please consider making the "more advanced calibration guide using Calman" you mentioned in the "How to calibrate your monitor" video on HUB? Thanks in advance!

[@hugevibez]

I wish BenQ would implement some type of accurate strobing option. It seems the backlight control of miniLED would be perfect, but I guess not on their Mobius line if displays.

[@Vlican]

I'd take these for productivity work. No fear of burn in.

[@geiers6013]

Take a good (Samsung) VA miniled. Like HUB said they are much better and even cheaper sometimes.

[@WD_Unieles]

@@geiers6013 They suffer from scanlines at these price range it's unacceptable

[@MilosCsrb]

Fear is for chickens, be a man i work on OLED

[@juanblanco7898]

Why would you need a $1200 Mini-LED for productivity work? Wouldn't it make much more sense to get a simple decently color accurate (less eye strain, even if you your work is not "color sensitive" and you don't care about that in general) 4K LCD for a lot less money? You can get a Gigabyte M28U for around $400 for productivity and an $600-800 OLED for gaming and content consumption and still pay less or same amount of money. Makes much more sense, imo, unless you care about raw HDR brightness first and foremost.

[@jumpierwolf]

The blooming / shadow crush can affect accuracy but it's great for work that doesn't have to be color accurate.

[@ijmcd]

Seems like it's really hard to make a hi-spec mini-LED monitor that's not flawed or compromised in some way. I'd buy an OLED, but I need a monitor that i can use for work and gaming, so the risk of burn in, text fringing and low brightness of OLED are just too off putting for me. Hopefully someone will figure out how to make a competitively priced mini-LED that works well for gaming and productivity purposes.

[@calebsmith7179]

From doing my own research, it seems like if you want to avoid the burn-in issue the best route to go currently is a two-monitor setup. Have the OLED be the one you use solely for gaming and entertainment, and then have a second monitor that's not OLED in which you do everything else you'd normally do on a computer and for your work. That seems like the best current solution until we can get a monitor that can produce the picture of an OLED without the risk of burn-in.

[@rasmysamy2145]

FWIW, rtings has been testing recentish QD-OLED monitors for burning and they are doing pretty well. Second gen QD-OLED monitors are doing far better than basically any OLED TV.

[@sblantipodi]

I sincerely can't imagine buying a monitor that tell me to stop using the PC because he needs to run the anti-burn in crap. I really hope to see more MiniLED in the future :)

[@Chris-xe5ts]

What is currently a good overall monitor for: 8-9h at day, lightroom and gaming at evening? OLED with burn in problems are not an option. 144Hz would be ok, but 4k, good local dimming and color accuracy are a must have.

[@AllIlIIl]

maybe buy ne oled once in a year?

[@TheGameBench]

I want a Mini-LED because it gets you most of the way there for people with mixed usage. We definitely need more Mini-LED monitors and I really wish there were more 21:9 options. I've only seen one from some brand I'd never heard of, and the only reviews I can find are just saying it's a good, without any of the testing.

[@Kumoiwa]

There's an AOC MiniLED 34" model but availability is scarce and it's not as good as OLED competitors

[@TheGameBench]

@@Kumoiwa Well, that makes two. However, AOC is not a brand known for color accuracy or good monitors in general. And really, it doesn't matter who makes it, Mini-LED is a compromise from OLED and just isn't going to be as good. However, I'm fine with that to avoid the sub pixel layout as well as the potential burn in concerns.

[@relucentsandman6447]

I'm really happy with my mini LED, great contrast and I never notice the halo effect except on the mouse before I hit play

[@JBrinx18]

Decided on MiniLED since my last TV broke by surprise. Still waiting on NanoLED for the next big panel

[@lilpain1997]

I still think the AOC mini LED is the best bet for almost anyone as its really well priced for what you get. I love the thing when I use it, I do miss the colours of my OLED and perfect blacks with no blooming but after a few mins I forget all that. I use it whenever I am with my brother chilling as that is the monitor he has. Unless at high end of course then just go ahead and get an OLED unless you are like my brother and can easily burn it in.

[@CiccioPasticcio_90]

I got the TCL 27R83U and I'm loving it so much, especially considering I don't have to worry about burn-in and can enjoy great image quality for many many years

[@tsaptsap]

Love the visual quality experience when opening MU videos.

[@pietroalessandrini]

YES! Finally more mini LED. Can't wait for the new TCL mini led monitors or the ones from innocn and ktc

[@CiccioPasticcio_90]

I have the TCL 27R83U and I'm loving it, really happy with the purchase

[@pietroalessandrini]

@@CiccioPasticcio_90 looking at your name, are you italian by any chance? I'm too and I'm curious about the price you got it for

[@CiccioPasticcio_90]

@@pietroalessandrini Si sono italiano. L'ho preso su Amazon nella sua finestra di lancio a 1.100, aggiungo purtroppo perché poche settimane dopo lo hanno scontato prima a 900 e poi addirittura a 800, e a quel prezzo per me è un best buy. Comunque sono soddisfattissimo dell'acquisto, il monitor è veramente una figata e il gaming è da favola, soprattutto con titoli che supportano bene effetti visivi e HDR come Cyberpunk

[@Baronvonbadguy3]

I have the ktc 32 and it's great. Anti glare coating is a bit aggressive though. Other than that it's great during the day with it's sdr brightness and is also great at night with it's local dimming mode.

[@jumpierwolf]

The innocn monitors are great. Way better than this BENQ for less than half the price.

[@cosmiccarp5030]

I just scored a mpg 321URX. I had given up but I kept trackalacker on. They slow release, so have to sit and refresh after you see one drop. They are slowly becoming more available I think. I really like it.

[@ludvigafklercker7722]

Mini LED is cool. It makes things a little bit cheaper for the better half of mid-level performance. With that said, how are things looking like on the gaming projector side of things? Are there projectors worth mentioning? Addendum: I just wanted to add that I really appreciate your HUB essentials check list that you almost always include. A great informative model. Thank you.

[@menturinai1387]

I would have never considered an outdoor gaming setup, but this would be the monitor to use at those nits.

[@youp1tralala]

How is BenQ in term of firmware updates? It looks like it would be an important consideration if buying this monitor

[@DrakonR]

Great question. 👍

[@xavierquark4998]

BenQ released the monitor in June and then released a firmware update in July. So I think there is hope for further updates.

[@amiemie6669]

Very detailed results and just what I need. Thank you❤

[@BoltHardcheese]

I really want a good, high contrast monitor. However, I cannot go OLED because I spend the majority of my workday in Excel and Access. I want a VA Mini Led. I know you have recommended the AOC Q27G3XMN, and it looks promising. However, I am hoping AOC (or another brand) will release something a bit higher in quality. I want that 1440 monitor, but with 240 hertz refresh and at least double the local dimming zones, to really get the best contrast possible outside of OLED. Sadly, it seems most manufacturers are skipping mini LED.

[@marcinkarpiuk7797]

Im using ktc 27 4k miniled for gaming and work for almost year and its really great 😊

[@tazboy1934]

TCL ffalcon Q7 27 inch va miniled

[@SashimiSteak]

The old Asus PG35VQ is your thing.

[@CastIronEric]

Samsung Odyssey ? 32 4K VA

[@alexnackley3865]

I bought the AOC Q27G3XMN based off your video review and I'm really happy with it. I work from home and needed a monitor I wouldn't have to worry about burn in with but still wanted something with good contrast for playing games. I had to keep an eye out for when they were in stock but only had to wait a few weeks. It's not perfect but it's way better than edge lit and way cheaper than OLED and I don't have burn in anxiety.

[@GemayelDaniel]

this pretty much sums up why the current OLED monitors are selling so well. with mini-LED monitors, you have to search among a sea of shit products, where even the few good ones have dozens of compromises. bad response time, bad input lag, bad contrast, not enough dimming zones, badly controlled algorithm for these zones, not high enough refresh rate, color inaccuracy and so on.

[@DrakonR]

The compromises are greatly exaggerated. 👍

[@wayn3h]

@@DrakonR Are they really though? OP pretty much described my exact dilemma whilst shopping for monitors over the past year. When choosing a modern OLED there were pretty much no bad options. Went Alienware in the end and haven't looked back.

[@DrakonR]

@@wayn3h yes, they are exaggerated. 👍

[@definitelynotacyborg]

Oh yeah, even with MacBooks that have very nice looking screens about as good image quality as you can get out of miniLEDs you are compromising with response times of up to 117 ms in 60 Hz mode and up to 80 ms in 120 Hz mode. And the OS doesn't use local dimming mode at all outside of some specific apps.

[@DrakonR]

@@definitelynotacyborg poor example. Miniled monitors have good response times and the TVs are excellent. 👍

[@Erviten]

Thanks a lot for review, Tim.

[@markpatter5738]

I’d still love to hear your opinion of the PG32UQXR

[@xxchanhonamxx]

THIS! I can't find in depth reviews for it or the LG mini LED anywhere.

[@Rusvul]

I'd like a review of the PG32UQXR too. It's very curious that they chose to go backwards on zone count vs the PG32UQX (1152 to 576). At a price very near to the EX321UX I'm wondering what the deal is.

[@ployth9000]

its lower overall brightness in order to make it faster its a refresh of the pg32uqx I would say best mini led display you can get right now is odyssey neo g9 57

[@Rusvul]

Thanks very much for this in depth review. A couple early reviews out of Japan seemed to make a big deal about PWM flicker as well as dark/light transitions in certain HDR modes, but from this review it sounds like maybe those aren't too bad. It might have only been with certain settings of "Light Tuner" and "Shadow Phage" settings that did this. Overall it is unfortunate there are so many small shortcomings like the Displayport not being true 2.1 and the low light HDR performance. Also no rotate? Maybe BenQ looked at the PG32UQX with it's $2k+ price and figured if they released something with similar feature set and a big price cut it would work out for them. It's just not quite there yet though.

[@bwabbel]

I went for mini led recently because i don't want the taskbar to burn in and the hdr brightness is extremely good. I'm really happy with it

[@SanctusBacchus]

Same here! Loving my Neo G7. Except my stupid ass got the damn thing scratched by some screws when I laid it face when I was mounting it... Thought the curve was higher. My only regret that's entirely my fault 😭

[@FuburLuck]

​@@TheSpiral01 Lots of us do actual work on our computers. Not just gaming and browsing the web.

[@lennyshirty]

just hide the task bar?

[@Tomiply]

Lol I owned my old OLED for two years and I didn't even hide the taskbar. I used it for 10-12 hours a day too, but the taskbar didn't burn in. I think you have to try very hard for that to happen.

[@fnvfanMSPR]

@@TheSpiral01 auto hide taskbar sucks

[@jaibhanushali8346]

oled are really scarce in my region because of next to no demand, but there are a few mini led options available. if i see a brand that omits some markets than India is sure on the chopping block. So most high end buyers don't even have an option of oled (till the time of this comment there is no flat screen oled monitor that is 32" or below in india) the only oled options are Dell or Samsung both only sell curved oled

[@72breezy]

Are you going to be taking a look at the Samsung G80SD?

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

He should, because their anti glare improves QD OLEDs raised blacks from what I've seen

[@aaz1992]

I just bought the Dell G3223Q (4K 144Hz IPS) monitor and it's gorgeous. About 400 nits bright in SDR and 600 nits with HDR on. Only $420. I really wanted to go OLED, but it's 2.5 times the price. I'm gonna wait 2-3 years and upgrade then. Already have an LG B2 OLED so I'm set

[@CDAProst]

Since I absolutely don't want an OLED but still want 32 inch 4k with decent HDR is there a better deal than this EX321UX?

[@prabhudatt27]

This is best option u have right now for productivity + gaming…no other mini led IPS monitor come close to it keeping in mind great colour accuracy & smooth gaming performance

[@earllemongrab7960]

that connectivity though 🤤

[@LexLutha]

Man where the hell are the HDR1400 monitors!? The only ones out there have horrible haloing and cost a fortune. They must be able to better that tech by now.

[@acebdefg5582]

It would be great if you could review the new LG MINI LED 27GR95UM-B with 1560 dimming Zones and ATW Polarizer👍👍

[@JeroenNietDoen]

So which non-OLED 32" 4K monitor is to be recommended for mainly gaming but plenty of static / office?

[@twistedelegance_]

None of them according to reviews. But most people are happy with any.

[@ashishgahlot2412]

Would appreciate it if you could also review Acer X32Q FS, Innocn 32M2V, and KTC M32P10

[@ijmcd]

I'd be interested in seeing this comparison too, plus the new Philips mini-LED. I think these manufacturers may all be using the same panel, so it'd be interesting to see how the models differ.

[@DrakonR]

Finally! Something other than OLED.

[@nayrulhulhaoccd4072]

Finally! The old LCD that has been around 30 years!

[@trioz1819]

Finaly wasted time

[@antagonista8122]

@@nayrulhulhaoccd4072 @trioz1819 You know that there are people who e.g. use their monitors for more than just gaming and watching movies and not everyone is ok with inferior font quality/sharpness due to non-standard subpixel layout.

[@samson7294]

Just wait for Tandem OLED to hit mainstream

[@eldenlord5326]

What is that?​@@samson7294

[@AeSkone]

If we constantly find an excuse for manufacturers to reduce OLED monitors to a lack of blooming and continue to ignore the fact that peak brightness and burn-in are absolutely miserable and any use for productivity tasks is unfortunately completely out of the question, well, then nothing will ever change. You also have to say that all content creators, although they actually value productivity, would have an influence with honesty, but the fear of being blacklisted is real and too great. As long as that doesn't change we have to accept all these failure products for high prices.

[@DrakonR]

Tim touts OLED for HDR on PC, but just recently admitted he mostly plays in SDR unless the game natively supports HDR. Making OLED even worse because the SDR brightness is 💩.

[@ricardorocha4436]

As great as OLED are, I really think they aren't flexible enough for a mixed use a PC needs to have. In this regard, I think MiniLed LCD is a sweet spot for monitors. So, would like to sugest a video with a tier list of the best LCD monitors, good both for gamming and productivity. It would be a very good service for those who want gamming but also need to work in the monitor.

[@ijmcd]

I'd like to see this too.

[@Snxgur]

i used OLED for productivity and it’s completely fine. It’s actually better than my miniled. led just looks so crap compared to oled in every aspect

[@ijmcd]

@@Snxgur I'd be too paranoid about burn in. If burn in wasn't an issue, I'd buy an OLED tomorrow.

[@ricardorocha4436]

​@@Snxgur in my country OLED monitors are VERY expansive. There is no chance I spend a lot of money to have a burn in in two or three years...

[@giglioflex]

@@Snxgur Objectively they aren't. Not until they fix text fringing.

[@SquarelyGames]

Oddyssey G9 is about the same price and offers better performance at almost double the size, though not at 4K and with fewer zones. I absolutely love mine. Use it both for design work and gaming. Oled is not an option since I use it while working from home.

[@drunkhusband6257]

I would say that the 57" odyssey is actually better for work and desktop apps than games since 7680x2160 is impossible to run in games

[@SquarelyGames]

@@drunkhusband6257 I meant 49 odydsey. Same as 2 27" next to each other. And with Dlss it's easy to drive.

[@drunkhusband6257]

@@SquarelyGames Yeah 5120x1440 isn't that bad I had one, I didn't like it for games due to the stretching of image on edges in literally every game.

[@mainsource8030]

@@drunkhusband6257 you're setting the fov to high, mine doesnt do that

[@mainsource8030]

g9 has 2048 zones , thats more

[@itsacookie1]

It's been 3 years since Apple introduced the new MBPs with mini led screens that have 2500 zones in a 16 inch form factor. Why don't we have mini led monitors with over 5000 zones as standard?

[@Eusebiugh]

i believe input lag. Bigger zones bigger input time/response.

[@helium_uwu1011]

I wonder how they did it, most mini led tvs still only have around 1000 dimming zones

[@itsacookie1]

@@Eusebiugh I am sure there WERE downsides but we are talking 3-4 years since it was released. That's a long time in technology.

[@stefannita3439]

@@itsacookie1 I mean, Apple themselves haven't even sorted it out yet in that time. I have a 2023 M3 Max for work, and the display is gorgeous but it's still slow as hell. Even with all the recent push to market MacOS as more gaming-friendly than before, they're still shipping their latest and greatest displays with dogwater response times.

[@itsacookie1]

@@stefannita3439 Apple doesn't upgrade things like the rest of the tech industry. They do not serve the gaming community so response time is basically irrelevant to them. Apples gaming revenue is almost entirely from Apple Arcade which is geared towards the most casual of gamers or children and most people use their TVs for that.

[@blendernoob64]

Thanks for reviewing a mini led. I'm a 3D animator and Im afraid of the Maya or Blender UI buring into a new oled.

[@kaiserfakinaway5909]

how did they even dare to price this so highly? Isn't it just better to just go for the Odyssey Neo G7, used or something? Like this feels like a scam, we haven't gone up in the zone counts much and the only people I trust in making use of small zone numbers is Sony.

[@stefannita3439]

The Neo G7 costs less than this brand new, in Europe at least.

[@kremlinPT]

i'll wait for what micro led can do before i buy a monitor if micro led turns to be basically a oled without burn in and better brightness i'll go for that

[@elvisg7]

Yes. More miniLED minitors please Tim. 1440p ideally.

[@aleksejjj1995]

Nice review. Thanks a lot!

[@derekchung2646]

my OLED started burning in after a year cause I play a couple games with static UI elements. I've switched to my other mini-LED monitor for those games for this reason. Still looks great and avoids more burn in issues

[@C0BEX]

Does this monitor remember your HDR/SDR settings ? When you enable HDR in windows, does it automatically switch to HDR with local dimming ? And on the contrary does it automatically switch to SDR in my last used profile (SRGB) with local dimming off ? Because having to change a setting every single time you switch between SDR/HDR is huge pain. Also can't believe you still didn't even mention / got your hands on the INNOCN / KTC / other miniLED monitors that are out there for years now, for half the price of this one.

[@poemontyperacer]

Watching this on the 16" 2048 zone, mini LED panel I retrofitted onto my old zephyrus g15 (NE160QDM-NM7). Pros: crazy bright for outdoor use, low blooming, sharp (1600p), smooth (240Hz), awesome HDR, no fringe around text, no burn-in, can be toggled to single backlight for use as a regular LCD Cons: colors aren't perfectly uniform due to the dimming algorithm, blooming is visible off-axis, oh and it was a pain to import from china :)

[@MayonesaMayhem]

BenQ Morbius, it's morbin' time.

[@sabishiihito]

I wonder why this is so much higher than similar models like the INNOCN 32M2V and KTC MP32P10.

[@FortyOneAlpha]

Had the Innocn on my desk, build quality is way worse, the software is horrendous with resolution resetting to 720p and cannot be changed back and so on. But I agree that the Benq is either still missing a few firmware updates or being way overpriced - especially when comparing to the recent QD-OLEDs

[@phero6933]

I love my mini LED monitors. OLED just didn't cut it in my office

[@sudd3660]

there it is folks, at 9:55 it shows the input lag at 24.7 milliseconds, this in unacceptable. unless you disable the fald, the whole reason to buy this thing. and for new people: you have the display lag at 25ms the add the game lag and you reach 50ms even on 144fps, making most games unplayable if not all.

[@erictayet]

Thanks Tim. I guess for people who prefer Light mode and bright HDR, this is a great monitor after the price has dropped. But for dark mode users, the brightness is so bright that there is serious illuminance overshoot in some of the scenes. And I personally can't stand the halo effects on the point lights. You could reduce it by turning down the brightness but then HDR content will suffer. I wonder if any monitor makers will be as crazy as Apple and stack 2 OLED panels like the new IPad Pro. That is a brilliant solution although I wonder how hot a stacked OLED monitor will get.

[@fueler5479]

Had my OLED monitor for almost 2 years now, loving every minute of it with no problems

[@stefannita3439]

congrats. 2 years means literally absolutely nothing when it comes to judging a monitor's lifespan though.

[@fueler5479]

@@stefannita3439 Sure but i can't exactly judge it on 10 years use because thats obviously not possible. I'm still watching a better picture then any non OLED user though.

[@stefannita3439]

@@fueler5479 congrats again. not sure why even bring up the 2 years if you know it doesn't matter lol. happy for you that you're financially secure enough to enjoy that picture without worrying about potentially replacing it in a few more years though.

[@MakeSh00t]

@@stefannita3439 TN life span is max 3 years.. everyday usage... VA PANEL 5 years OLED we dont know.

[@Bourinos02]

Well, that's not really useful. I used my last monitor for a decade before upgrading, if anything, experience with TV OLEDs really matter when it comes to OLED monitors. If I ever buy one, it's not to get burn-in and other failures after a couple of years... For now it seems to be just for rolling a dice.

[@theendurance]

my dream monitor is a mini led with high zone count (4000+), 240hz, low motion response times, and high brightness. mini led technology is way better than OLED imo but its stagnant now

[@Azura2910arpg]

At 1300usd price point and several issues pointed out by users in reddit, clearly I’d pick OLED over this.

[@Oscar-id8rc]

Great, now compare the LG 27GR95UM 1560zones Miniled with ATW polarizer and the latest firmware against the OLEDs in HDR

[@CaptainC_C]

1200€ that's too expensive, why you don't review the innocn 32m2v same specs for 500€

[@Cotswolds1913]

because they're garbage

[@CaptainC_C]

@@Cotswolds1913 Why do you say that?

[@Cotswolds1913]

@@CaptainC_C They are effectively receiving the panels that none of the major companies wanted anything to do with, so you are far more likely to have issues, very often dead pixels, with a much lighter policy for protecting consumers from them, and even if there were a policy the customer service is dreadful.

[@CaptainC_C]

@@Cotswolds1913 Thanks for the information

[@CaptainC_C]

@@Cotswolds1913 Thanks for the information

[@UbikNoir]

Would you be able to come up with a list of available MINI-LED, monitors you would recommend? Also, are there any more on the horizon?

[@SanctusBacchus]

Considering I've seen the Odyssey Neo G7 on sale on the official Samsung site several times for as low as $450 ($600 on Amazon) - and it's a better, higher-contrast, more responsive panel with less blooming - I don't really know who this monitor is for.

[@riba2233]

Yep

[@ijmcd]

I considered the Odyssey Neo G7, but the lack of a KVM and the curved panel put me off. However, the Benq looks massively overpriced in comparison.

[@riba2233]

@@ijmcd curved panel is not an issue, no worries

[@FortyOneAlpha]

What about scanline issues and bad qc people are reporting?

[@riba2233]

@@FortyOneAlpha completely overblown, just like with og G7s

[@juliuszgimbut763]

I really look forward to testing Predator X32QFS. Maybe this one would be better tuned and is already 275 Euros cheaper on german Amazon site than Benq.

[@bobjohnson2671]

Well I guess I bought a piece of garbage. I've waited years for a monitor that fit my requirements, thought this was it but apparently not. I'm waiting for it to be delivered but I may not even open it. Back to the eternal wait.

[@DrakonR]

It's hardly a piece of garbage. But who knows when firmware will drop to fix the issues.

[@FortyOneAlpha]

​@@DrakonRthe support over at the BenQ reddit seems to be open for feedback at least - and is aware of this professional review instead of the reddit hearsay. Really hope that it's going to result in a firmware update.

[@anitaremenarova6662]

Should've expected that, any IPS mini-LED is a piece of garbage.

[@DrakonR]

@@anitaremenarova6662 stop lying. It's embarrassing.

[@anitaremenarova6662]

@@DrakonR Lil bro can't handle the truth. IPS has too low of a contrast to provide acceptable HDR without blooming.

[@yamasaa]

Wow it's got a gorgeous chassis

[@Tomiply]

11:24 What the hell is that gamma? That's terrible! Way too dark. And the contrast dropping off in the SRGB mode. Yikes. I thought BenQ was supposed to be good at colours?

[@TechDunk]

What is the best value 4k monitor that can be used for gaming, but also game dev and KZbin video editing?

[@samson7294]

I sincerely hope a monitor comes out with Tandem OLED one day! It will cost a kidney and a lung but I would definitely by one While I love OLED and will never go back to LED, they currently cant get that intense brightness of LEDs

[@adnanj7477]

nice review does the subpixel layout make pc and ps5 games blurrier or is it just desktop - thanks

[@Carfreak226]

More Mini LED monitors please!

[@JimProfit357]

In the realm of HDTV, I'll go with OLED despite their lower HDR peak brightness. The perfect contrast is better for movies and non-competitive, more cinematic games. Of course motion blur is an issue in both tech, and I'd love to see the kind of BFI options we saw on the LG CX/GX, on a newer brighter OLED panel. As far as gaming PC monitors though, I'm very much partial to LCD. But only IF we get monitors with backlight strobing (ULMB and the like) that allow for true CRT-quality motion. Sadly as far as I know, the only monitors which performed to that level were TN panels with ultra crappy contrast du to antiquated backlight tech, and were all were all 1440p SDR at best. I believe that manufacturers could, today, build an ultra-short strobe LCD monitor with lots of dimming zones, in 4K HDR and a contrast that at least compete with OLED. OLED is great but I'm sure that the best overall gaming monitor, in the current state of display tech would be LCD. LCD with strobing could have CRT-level motion clarity, while OLED with 25% BFI would only reach Plasma-level motion clarity, with very little brightness left to spar. A refresh-rate arms race mean nothing if you don't have the fps to match.

[@tangodown2721]

What I think a lot of OLED heavy reviewers miss is that's there's a huge 30-45 year old user base who now works from home but also likes to game. Mini-led really is the only solutions for these users. A 40" 5k2k miniled with 144hz or higher is end game for me.

[@ALCLCFVIS]

41 years old, try not to work from home, but sometimes is unavoidable....so for many years my benchmark and set up is my plasma Panasonic 42'' (very slight burn-in on the "header" » browser). Been looking at monitor/tv reviews for over a year (moving house and need a smaller screen) and still haven't found something to fill it's shoes.

[@RyneLanders]

It's literally not. I'm a 38 year old remote worker. I use the Alienware QD OLED all day, every day for 14+ hours since Black Friday of last year. There is no burn in or anything, and it has a 3 year burn in warranty. It's great for everything.

[@anterovaarnamo]

I'm in this segment and have been pondering whether my next display should be OLED or miniled. I'm leaning towards OLED especially if the current gen oleds show much improved burn in resistance so I could comfortably use it for 5 years.

[@RyneLanders]

@@anterovaarnamo go for it. Text fringing is also dependent on the tech used, too. QD OLED doesn't have nearly the issue that W OLED does due to the pixel arrangement. A systems font update fixes it and you're good to go. I love my QD OLED, it just blows everything else out of the water.

[@DrakonR]

@@RyneLanders wow! A whole year! What a mark of success! Lol. Goofball

[@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraway]

I was looking at mini-led offerings for 2024 a few days ago because of sales and man what a sad state of affairs.

[@amariel3310]

Indoors, black room intended gaming monitor: Matte coating, can't risk getting all that darkness in the room getting reflected on the screen. Outdoors with bright reflections intended phone: Pure mirror glossy, can't risk the user actually seeing something on their phone.

[@Shini1984]

Thanks for the review! The punchline could be "this monitor is so bright its uncomfortable at max brightness!"

[@evostu7814]

IPS is terrible for HDR as the static contrast ratio is way too low, VA is a much better solution for HDR, the viewing angles may not be as good but for a gaming monitor that’s not really an issue.

[@bingbongwingwong]

It doesn't make as big a difference as you might think, especially in real world scenarios

[@DrakonR]

Had the Neo G8 next to a PG32UQX and the IPS miniLED was much better.

[@drunkhusband6257]

HDR is trash tech just disable it...

[@HardyDimension]

Tim, are you able to review Xiaomi Mini LED Gaming Monitor G Pro 27i ? Heard that this one is overall 👍👍and the price also considered cheap for the range of the hardware and performance.

[@AllIlIIl]

res 2k👎

[@UTeewb]

Too bad there isn’t a glossy LCD option, I had just thought I wasn’t looking hard enough

[@jeffersonmp4]

What about the LG 27GR95UM. Why is nobody talking about it?

[@mfam72]

I'm still yet to upgrade my 8 years monitor, until I see a glossy IPS monitor again

[@tonep3168]

1200/1 contrast ratio and blooming? No thanks.

[@bingbongwingwong]

Weird asf

[@mfam72]

@@tonep3168 all new cheap monitor in 2024 are still IPS 1200/1 contrast ratio with blooming, paired with ugly matte coating. I'm talking about IPS, not the backlighting MiniLED. Really hope to see MiniLED IPS with glossy finish.

[@tonep3168]

@@mfam72 I totally get you, but I’m not sure how good FALD is on an IPS screen with its terrible contrast ratio. It would need a lot of very small zones to not bloom on such a panel. And I totally get you on the panel coating. I want the same anti-reflective my LG OLED TV has. It’s perfect for most viewing, a mat coating is terrible for high resolution monitors.

[@minusinfinity6974]

Hopefully, you can soon review the Philips Evnia 32M2N6800M. Looks much better calibrated and only loses a few features like usb-c ports. Seems to have better uniformity too and higher contrast.

[@Saba-jr8yb]

27GR95UM next please, it has 1560 local dimming zones.

[@andreyyankovsky1090]

according to the chinese reviewer 小雪人评测 (a very good channel btw) the LG is very bad

[@Saba-jr8yb]

@@andreyyankovsky1090 I did watch it but they haven’t done a review of it after the local dimming zone fix firmware. I saw one video showing the starfield local dimming test and it looked much better compared to the old firmware. I like LG’s new IPS panels since they use an ATW Polarizer which almost eliminates IPS glow completely. While the 1152 zone BOE panels all have bad IPS glow.

[@andreyyankovsky1090]

@@Saba-jr8yb Oh, nice, didn't know about the new firmware

[@andreyyankovsky1090]

@@Saba-jr8yb and LG has also slashed the price for it, wow, it's now ~850$ on sale in my country, that's really appealing