BenQ PD3225U 4K IPS Black with Thunderbolt 3
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made using the “Buy” button at the bottom of this post. Where possible, you'll be redirected to your nearest store. Further information on supporting our work.Monitors with ~32″ screen size and 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution are attractive for productivity, providing excellent ‘desktop real estate’. The BenQ PD3225U is built around this premise, marketed as a ‘designer monitor’ with good compatibility for both Mac and Windows PCs. The stand adopts brushed metal with a dark silver coloured finish, for a premium look and feel. The top and side bezels are dual-stage, with a slim panel border flush with the rest of the screen plus a slender hard plastic outer part. The OSD is controlled by buttons and a joystick at the rear, towards the right side as viewed from the front. With alternative intuitive control using the included wired ‘Hotkey Puck G2’ remote.
A 31.5″ IPS Black panel is included with 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution, matte anti-glare screen surface and 60Hz refresh rate. A 2000:1 static contrast ratio (double the usual 1000:1 for an IPS panel) is specified alongside 178°/178° viewing angles and 10-bit colour support. The monitor is factory calibrated (Pantone Validated and Calman Verified) with a specified average DeltaE ≤2. A Uniformity Compensation (UC) setting is included. Various gamma mode feature, from ‘1.8’ to ‘2.6’ and including ‘sRGB’. A flicker-free WLED backlight provides a 98% DCI-P3 and 99% sRGB colour gamut, with 400 cd/m² typical maximum luminance. A range of well-balanced Low Blue Light (LBL) settings are included, whilst the monitor provides basic HDR10 reproduction at the VESA DisplayHDR 400 level. This allows its 10-bit colour processing and generous DCI-P3 gamut to be put to use, though the brightness is limited by HDR standards and no local dimming is specified.
A 5ms grey to grey response time is specified, caution required as usual. The stand is fully adjustable, including 150mm (5.91 inches) height adjustment and pivot into portrait. It attaches via a quick-release mechanism and can be removed to reveal 100 x 100mm VESA holes for alternative mounting. The ports face downwards beneath a removable plastic cover and include; 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (plus Type-B upstream), 2 HDMI 2.0 ports, DP 1.4, 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports (85W PD, DP Alt Mode, upstream data) and AC power input (internal power converter). A USB-C downstream port, third USB 3.2 Gen 1 port and 3.5mm headphone jack is located at the right side of the screen as viewed from the front. 2 x 2.5W speakers are also included, alongside PiP/PbP and KVM for easy display input switching and USB peripheral sharing between 2 systems. Further information can be found on the manufacturer’s website, with the monitor listed for ~$1100 USD.
