Ahead of CES 2017 LG has announced their upcoming monitor lineup, which features an HDR (high dynamic range) model. The 32UD99 is a 32-inch, 3840 x 2160 IPS display that offers 95% DCI-P3 color and HDR10 support. (Specifics as to peak brightness, rated black levels have not been released.)
From LG's press release (pdf):
“As the availability of HDR (high dynamic range) content continues to expand across a wide range of categories, from movies to games, LG is leading the way in bringing this enhancement to desktop monitors,” said to Tim Alessi, head of product marketing at LG Electronics USA. “The enhanced picture quality offered by HDR technology is instantly recognizable to even the most casual user, and manufacturers are already pushing this promising technology to its fullest potential. From high-resolution displays compatible with HDR technology, to UltraWide monitors optimized for multitasking and gaming, LG is committed to delivering the most state-of-the-art and premium monitors in the industry today.”
HDR is a somewhat complex standard, incorporating requirements for bit depth and supported color space, brightness level, and black levels for the display – along with compatibility with one of the HDR standards; HDR10 or Dolby Vision. The fact that LG is using IPS for their new montior seems problematic given the high black levels associated with IPS (unless sophisticated local dimming is employed, such as with LG's Infinia televisions of a few years ago), as most HDR sets employ a VA panel of some kind. Of note, rival Panasonic only recently announced their work on very high native contrast IPS panels, but there is no indication that LG has developed a similar technology at this point.
HDR is all the rage in the 4K television world, and for gaming both Sony and Microsoft's latest consoles support the more common HDR10 implementation – with compatible games, UHD Blu-ray, and streaming content, that is. It was inevitable that HDR would make its way into the computer display space, and presumably more and more PC games will be offering support going forward (Shadow Warrior 2 was the first title to support HDR on PC). A quick primer on HDR (with respect to the "Premium" standard from the UHD Alliance) can be found here, and only time will tell if the HDR10 standard will win out over Dolby Vision, though at this point it seems likely.
Better than their 31MU97-B,
Better than their 31MU97-B, how? 31MU97-B claims 97% DCI-P3. Has 10 bit support. Higher resolution. If anything this newer model probably just has some different flags set or handshake with devices which the 31MU97-B could get a firmware update to do (And also fix the problem with them eventually having trouble getting to full resolution without overriding in software.). They’re just trying to sell people crap without actually improving anything.
“Better than their 31MU97-B,
“Better than their 31MU97-B, how?”
Support for HDR-10 so you can actually USE it!
Without support for colourpsace and gamma metadata you’re reliant on the entire chain from program, to OS, to driver, to GPU hardware, to monitor ALL being told MANUALLY the gamma and colourspace to use. And if you get one part of the chain wrong, then you are no longer getting the right bit-depth or colourspace.
That basically rules out use for anyone other than professional artists, because once you have your chain set up for the specific gamut you need (~AdobeRGB for print, or DCI P3 for cinema), all OTHER content like conventional sRGB you encounter everywhere will be displaying incorrectly.
Why 32″? Seems like such a
Why 32″? Seems like such a waste. 36″ or 40″ would be amazing. That would just fill more useful of 4K resolution.
I’d rather have 36 than 32,
I’d rather have 36 than 32, but still, 32 is more or less usable at 4k with no scaling. It would be worth it if it were a good monitor otherwise, but those terrible IPS black levels are a deal breaker.
“those terrible IPS black
“those terrible IPS black levels”
Ah, the meme is still alive.
And still true. Not a single
And still true. Not a single HDR TV worth buying uses IPS.
Another great thing about
Another great thing about this monitor, It has FreeSync.
Ah thank-you!
Freesync has
Ah thank-you!
Freesync has really become important and will be even more so moving forward. This needs to be identified promenantly.
LG – WHy not OLED ?
LG – WHy not OLED ?
bc z0mg!!1 teh BURN 1N!
bc z0mg!!1 teh BURN 1N!
So close,
Just a few more
So close,
Just a few more features and it’s perfect at least for me.
120hz with G sync and I am sold!
This thing will suck at HDR
This thing will suck at HDR being that it’s IPS and will have no form of local dimming.
Isn’t the fact that it
Isn’t the fact that it doesn’t need to emulate dynamic range with local dimming one of the main draws of HDR?
It’s like having local dimming per pixel 🙂
The technology just doesn’t
The technology just doesn’t allow for the required contrast ratio, so it’ll be HDR at the top end of things, just the bottom end will be clipped. Probably the 0.5% and probably taken linearly, so as far as human vision is concerned it’ll be more like 5% less response than DCI-P3, from black to whatever murky gray color it calls black.
You’re confusing emissive
You’re confusing emissive display technology, like plasma or OLED, with a video standard. HDR calls for a much higher contrast ratio than SDR, but LCD’s can’t truly do it without good FALD. IPS in particular is bad, because its contrast ratio is so low.
VA has deeper blacks, but
VA has deeper blacks, but also poorer viewing angles so a choice has to be made for the desktop.
They may also be using a NEW IPS panel with deeper blacks than previous.
The point of a SPEC however is that the panel be able to deliver those deep blacks or other specs so I’ll be keeping an eye on this.
4K isn’t a deal breaker to me, but I want at least 2560×1440, HDR, 120Hz.