BenQ PD3200U Review - Quick Verdict
The BenQ PD3200U is a 32″ 4K IPS monitor that comes with a ton of features and capabilities. This monitor is aimed at professionals who need a solid display for CAD/CAM, animations, photo and video editing, and other professional work. The display also excels at gaming even without dedicated gaming support. Overall, a very impressive 4K monitor that is not very expensive.
- Perfect for professionals
- Settings are near perfect out of the box
- Might be expensive for some
Author's Rating
Finding a professional 4K monitor for work purposes is now more challenging than ever, thanks to the availability of sea of models in the market. In this BenQ PD3200U review, we take a look at this new 4K display from BenQ that promises to be a solid display for the price.
Being a 32″ monitor, it offers you enough real estate for multitasking. You can fit in as many windows as per your requirements without having to squit at the display. While these advantages are good, how does the monitor perform when it comes to color accuracy and reproduction? Is this monitor worth your hard-earned money? Let’s find that out.
Design
BenQ has a pretty good design language with all of the previous monitors. The BenQ PD3200U model also follows that same design language as well. The monitor itself comes in a matte black cabinet which gives the display an overall good look.
The construction is clean and minimalistic. The first impression of this monitor is definitely positive, but you won’t feel like you’re getting an expensive monitor. However, you will not get distracted which is good if you’re work-focused.
The BenQ PD3200U model comes with a bunch of connectivity options. You get a DisplayPort, mini DisplayPort, a couple of HDMI 2.0 ports, and also 4 USB 3.0 ports. One nice touch here is that you can find all the ports on the right-hand side and not on the back. This is perfect if you want to mount your monitor on the wall which this monitor allows.
There is also an SD card reader that is present closer to the edge of the display. This enables the user to quickly use the card reader without having to get up. There is an upstream slot for a hotkey puck. This puck allows us to switch between modes and filters that are built-in. This is similar to the S-Switch Arc you can find on the Zowie XL series of gaming monitors. You can customize these button to suit your needs as well.
The presence of an internal KVM switch enables us to swap inputs from two computers when you are stuck with one keyboard and mouse. Though this is a pretty handy feature, it can confuse many users until they get used to it as work or someplace else.
The BenQ PD3200U comes with a pair of 5W integrated speakers. Usually, monitors have mediocre speakers that are integrated into them. But here these speakers are pretty good. The output is decent and you can enjoy your media if you’re not too keen about the sound output. If you’re serious about your sound, then we recommend getting your hands on a good set of speakers.
We can’t wrap up the design section before we talk about the stand. The aluminum stand is a firm one and comes with a bunch of features that add more comfort to your viewing experience. The stand allows you to tilt the monitor front and back, swivel around the base, adjust the height of the display, and also to pivot the display into a vertical one.
The vertical display is a great feature as it can be useful for professionals with different work backgrounds. You can code better with a vertical display. This is also true when you’re working on infographic designs and so on. Overall, the monitor has a strong design language that can last the test of time.
BenQ PD3200U Specs and Features
The BenQ PD3200U is a 32″ display with an IPS panel and comes with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. Thanks to the native 4K resolution, the images, and text on this monitor are pretty sharp. The display has a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The response time f 4ms is also one of the best features of this monitor.
The color capabilities of this monitor are enhanced by the 10-bit interface. When BenQ claims support for 100%sRGB coverage and REC.709 gamut coverage, we feel the need to be skeptics. But on using the display, we do find the facts in those claims. Out of the box, the display comes with a Delta E value of 1.1 which is fantastic. This is what you’d expect from a pro monitor and this one here delivers.
Thanks to the factory settings, the user won’t have to meddle with the settings themselves. Just make sure to get the brightness level right and you should be good to go. The contrast in the display is great at minimum brightness at around 1030:1. You can see really dark blacks and bright whites. The grayscale performance of this display is also impressive. You can see distinct shades of gray without too much blending among the colors.
The BenQ PD3200U monitor comes with many inbuilt filters such as Standard, Animation, Darkroom, Rec.709, CAD/CAM, and low blue light filter. Though these modes are neat, you would be better off with a user-defined mode where you can set your own brightness level and make other adjustments.
The IPS panel comes with a ton of advantage. The viewing angles are great and the color reproduction is also better than VA and TN panels. But this also makes for a case of backlight bleeding and some issues in color uniformity. Most customer units do not have any kind of bleeding. However, there may be cases of minor variation of color of about 10% from the center to the corners.
Gaming on the BenQ PD3200U
The gaming experience on the BenQ PD3200U is a pleasant one. We want to make it clear that this model is not made for gaming. This is a professional display that also does gaming with certain caveats. For one, there is no support for FreeSynch or G-Sync. A dedicated gaming monitor would have this support by default. Without these features, you can’t do much about any tearing or stutters that happen during gameplay.
The input lag is not that bad but some would find it high at around 11 ms. Having said that, even some gaming monitors have the same input lag which makes us forgive the BenQ PD3200U. Apart from gaming, the monitor is also great for some media consumption as well. Be it Netflix or Hulu, this one makes for an excellent visual experience.
Bottomline
When it comes to the sheer number of features and abilities, the BenQ PD3200U is a solid 4K display. The monitor is a good fit for content creation, CAD/CAM, photo and video editing, and also for animation. Support for 100% of sRGB and REC. 709 color gamuts only make this display more attractive. Though this is a professional monitor, it also gives you a pleasant gaming experience as well. If you’re looking for a pro 4K display with an IPS panel, then the BenQ PD3200U is a definite buy. Highly recommended.