EIZO FlexScan EV3240X

[Inle]

The EIZO FlexScan EV3240X offers great image quality out of the box along with robust connectivity options and excellent ergonomic features. Designed for business environments, it's a worthwhile choice for those looking for a reliable monitor that doesn't require you to jump through hoops to bring out the best in it.

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[Timbaloo]

The EIZO FlexScan EV3240X is available in Europe for €900. Its US price is $1900 due to high import fees.

As for the monitor itself, Eizo type solid as always. Although imho the time of 60Hz monitors, even for business, should be over. At work we recently got 1440p@100Hz, quite some manufacturers start with 100Hz business models. I get this is a 4K model, but still.

 

[tungt88]

As for the monitor itself, Eizo type solid as always. Although imho the time of 60Hz monitors, even for business, should be over. At work we recently got 1440p@100Hz, quite some manufacturers start with 100Hz business models. I get this is a 4K model, but still.

I am looking at getting the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW sometime in the future, as it has a great resolution (5120x2160), great size (40 inches) and great panel (IPS Black -- an improved IPS panel technology with significantly improved black levels) for a combination of work & play, as it's Freesync/Gsync/Adaptive-Sync compatible, and has 120hz (pretty surprised that the Rtings review for it was so poor, given that other owners of the U4025QW seemed to really like it for what it is: a prosumer product that has decent gaming capabilities). I'll note that one down as the Rtings methodology not really being able to deal with what the U4025QW brings to the table (burn-in and text fringing for OLED can still be an issue at times, even with programs like Mactypetuner that really help with the fringing issue -- I'm currently using an LG CX55 OLED TV as my monitor).

 

[_roman_]

A 60Hz Screen. I lost interests after the first page and the technical specifications

 

[Crackong]

As always EIZO makes a fine product with a ultra fine price tag.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I am not sure I agree with the strongly recommended seal, sure, it is an extra high-grade IPS panel, but I cannot help but feel like this monitor is the perfect showcase as to why IPS is a relic of ancient times past if you are pitching in for a wide color gamut, high accuracy professional monitor. No technology company can live on past glories alone, the people who "absolutely do not trust OLED" are fewer and fewer as time passes on. I cannot help but feel that there is no place in the market for a monitor like this anymore, and if there is one, it is rapidly shrinking and losing relevance altogether.

Spec wise, my 2023 LG G3 (high-end consumer OLED) will put this thing in the ground.

Sure, you can argue this TV is much more expensive etc. but it is also an older model and not exactly unmatched by similarly priced OLED monitors that are being currently targeted at gamers. The only thing going for it is... no image retention risk? Although, the poor uniformity and IPS bleed are simply unfixable, and you will get at least 5+ years out of an OLED monitor that will display at maximum brightness displaying static imagery for longer than a human can honestly look at it anyway...

 

[Scircura]

I am looking at getting the Dell Ultrasharp U4025QW sometime in the future, as it has a great resolution (5120x2160), great size (40 inches) and great panel (IPS Black -- an improved IPS panel technology with significantly improved black levels) for a combination of work & play, as it's Freesync/Gsync/Adaptive-Sync compatible, and has 120hz (pretty surprised that the Rtings review for it was so poor, given that other owners of the U4025QW seemed to really like it for what it is: a prosumer product that has decent gaming capabilities). I'll note that one down as the Rtings methodology not really being able to deal with what the U4025QW brings to the table

I also looked at that monitor, and saw the Rtings review. I'll trust Rtings over the self-reassuring comments of people who already spent money on it.

Rtings breaks down exactly why they gave the monitor a poor Gaming score. To me the most glaring issue is its GtG transitions are awful, averaging 16.3ms with a max of 26.8ms. That's even slower than Dell's 60Hz displays. A good gaming IPS will be less than half of that and might get a Gaming score in the 8's. (OLEDs are <1ms for comparison and can score in the 9's.)

Disclosure edit: I also really wanted that Dell to be good so I could buy it. The spec sheet looked perfect. A shame...

 

[Dr. Dro]

I also looked at that monitor, and saw the Rtings review. I'll trust Rtings over the self-reassuring comments of people who already spent money on it.

Rtings breaks down exactly why they gave the monitor a poor Gaming score. To me the most glaring issue is its GtG transitions are awful, averaging 16.3ms with a max of 26.8ms. A good gaming IPS will be less than half of that and might get a Gaming score in the 8's. (OLEDs are <1ms for comparison and can score in the 9's.)

Wow, that is a slow panel alright. And I know what it is like dealing with a slow panel, I have a 32 inch 2022 The Frame here that might be 4 times slower than that panel. It's dreadful to play games on. Really, more I look at these modern IPS's I reckon that the technology has hit a brick wall. Fast IPS panels succeed TN decently, but they cannot produce the accurate and vivid colors of OLED, much less its near-instant response time.

 

[Scircura]

I am not sure I agree with the strongly recommended seal, sure, it is an extra high-grade IPS panel, but I cannot help but feel like this monitor is the perfect showcase as to why IPS is a relic of ancient times past if you are pitching in for a wide color gamut, high accuracy professional monitor. No technology company can live on past glories alone, the people who "absolutely do not trust OLED" are fewer and fewer as time passes on. I cannot help but feel that there is no place in the market for a monitor like this anymore, and if there is one, it is rapidly shrinking and losing relevance altogether.

I don't think IPS is totally dead, I mean, 2000:1 contrast is a fairly new development in IPS land, right? And there will always be a market for displays you can plunk into an office setting and abuse with 100% brightness spreadsheets for eternity (or as long as the business remains solvent).

I personally won't get an OLED monitor because I don't even want to think about having to change my usage habits for the sake of the screen. I don't want to hide or dim my taskbar, watch my window edges pixel shift off-screen, or wait for an ill-timed cleaning cycle to finish. "Probably fine" is not good enough: I don't want even a nagging concern that my display might be burned in and become premature (<10 years) e-waste.

OLED TV for movies and games, sure. I don't play any "forever games" that will burn in their UIs after thousands of hours.

My monitor options are IPS or VA, and I think VA black crush annoys me as much as IPS glow and IPS low contrast combined. So if an IPS monitor like this Eizo can do 2000:1 contrast (do they have a name for their high contrast IPS tech? Dell/LG call theirs "IPS Black") then it gets my attention.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I don't think IPS is totally dead, I mean, 2000:1 contrast is a fairly new development in IPS land, right? And there will always be a market for displays you can plunk into an office setting and abuse with 100% brightness spreadsheets for eternity (or as long as the business remains solvent).

I personally won't get an OLED monitor because I don't even want to think about having to change my usage habits for the sake of the screen. I don't want to hide or dim my taskbar, watch my window edges pixel shift off-screen, or wait for an ill-timed cleaning cycle to finish. "Probably fine" is not good enough: I don't want even a nagging concern that my display might be burned in and become premature (<10 years) e-waste.

OLED TV for movies and games, sure. I don't play any "forever games" that will burn in their UIs after thousands of hours.

My monitor options are IPS or VA, and I think VA black crush annoys me as much as IPS glow and IPS low contrast combined. So if an IPS monitor like this Eizo can do 2000:1 contrast (do they have a name for their high contrast IPS tech? Dell/LG call theirs "IPS Black") then it gets my attention.

As long as you give them minimal care (as you would with a CRT), it's not gonna become a problem. My G3 is gonna hit 4,000 hours of screen on time tomorrow (currently at 3981 hours), and I do play a games with static UI... one in particular is on here for 8 to 10 hours a day, zero signs of image retention thus far.

Once inorganic microLED tech takes off, we will have the superior image quality of OLED with the longevity of traditional liquid crystal displays. Then it will be a matter of the technology coming down in price... but really, I think the vast majority of photographers and producers will be better served by an OLED than this monitor, even with things as they are right now. After 10 years, you definitely got your €900 worth out of it...

 

[Fatalfury]

i remember eizo made gaming monitors in the ~2015 time or ago...it was top notch.

 

[docnorth]

@Inle thanks for the review. Just an add-on about brightness, my 1920x1200 Eizo at the office is set steady on brightness 34, more then enough for me, despite my need for presbyopia glasses a couple of years now.

 

[AcE]

This “but expensive” sticker feels extremely unneeded to me and like a justification, just leave it, it just makes the review appear a bit silly. The author has no need to justify his recommendation.

 

[Dr. Dro]

This “but expensive” sticker feels extremely unneeded to me and like a justification, just leave it, it just makes the review appear a bit silly. The author has no need to justify his recommendation.

It is expensive, that is not a justification. This is 900 euros for a 60 Hz IPS panel. And 900 euros buys you a very fast, MLA OLED which make mince meat out of this thing when we are talking color accuracy, gamut coverage, grey uniformity, brightness, contrast, refresh rate, response time, etc. you name it, it will have this monitor beat.

What you are buying here is the EIZO brand and their reputation for extra high grade panels, and that is about it.

 

[docnorth]

It is expensive, that is not a justification. This is 900 euros for a 60 Hz IPS panel. And 900 euros buys you a very fast, MLA OLED which make mince meat out of this thing when we are talking color accuracy, gamut coverage, grey uniformity, brightness, contrast, refresh rate, response time, etc. you name it, it will have this monitor beat.

What you are buying here is the EIZO brand and their reputation for extra high grade panels, and that is about it.

You are right about gaming, but wrong about office work. Recently I needed help for an article + presentation from a friend (actually son of a friendly couple). His display is a rather expensive 27” oled LG, 240Hz iirc. After less than 2 hours I couldn’t work on this display anymore and he couldn’t understand why. A couple of days later he came to my private Practice, we finished the article and then he knew why I preferred my ‘humble‘ ips Eizo for work. The point is you don’t compare only specs, but also real life usage. For gaming there is no comparison, but the same is true the other way around for long hours work, at least for now. Movies and photos are a matter of personal taste. Starting with photography already as a teenager, I find my displays more realistic, but younger people might consider me old-school.

 

[Dr. Dro]

You are right about gaming, but wrong about office work. Recently I needed help for an article + presentation from a friend (actually son of a friendly couple). His display is a rather expensive 27” oled LG, 240Hz iirc. After less than 2 hours I couldn’t work on this display anymore and he couldn’t understand why. A couple of days later he came to my private Practice, we finished the article and then he knew why I preferred my ‘humble‘ ips Eizo for work. The point is you don’t compare only specs, but also real life usage. For gaming there is no comparison, but the same is true the other way around for long hours work, at least for now. Movies and photos are a matter of personal taste. Starting with photography already as a teenager, I find my displays more realistic, but younger people might consider me old-school.

I dunno I look at my OLED screen almost the entire day, for work and play... I think you might have fatigue simply because you got way too used to it by now.

 

[trsttte]

is Eizo can do 2000:1 contrast (do they have a name for their high contrast IPS tech? Dell/LG call theirs "IPS Black")

I'd bet it's probably the same panel made by LG that Dell is using.

Recently I needed help for an article + presentation from a friend (actually son of a friendly couple). His display is a rather expensive 27” oled LG, 240Hz iirc. After less than 2 hours I couldn’t work on this display anymore and he couldn’t understand why

Because of the subpixel arrangement, with the extra white subpixel, text clarity is poorer.

 

[AcE]

What you are buying here is the EIZO brand and their reputation for extra high grade panels, and that is about it.

Much more than just that, read the review carefully. The author himself did not mention "high price" as a con btw. which gives away that it isn't really overpriced. It's a professional monitor with pro features. I'm talking about the "normal" EU pricing btw, the US pricing is broken, it's basically unbuyable there.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Much more than just that, read the review carefully. The author himself did not mention "high price" as a con btw. which gives away that it isn't really overpriced. It's a professional monitor with pro features. I'm talking about the "normal" EU pricing btw, the US pricing is broken, it's basically unbuyable there.

Pro features as in... being a slow 60 Hz IPS with no adaptive sync support for literally €900?

 

[AcE]

Pro features as in... being a slow 60 Hz IPS with no adaptive sync support for literally €900?

Why are you commenting on a review if you don't want to read or understand it first? Just weird. Maybe just leave it be then, you don't seem to understand what the difference between a regular and pro monitor is. Read the whole review, maybe then you will.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Why are you commenting on a review if you don't want to read or understand it first? Just weird. Maybe just leave it be then, you don't seem to understand what the difference between a regular and pro monitor is. Read the whole review, maybe then you will.

What is there to understand about this? My point is that this is obsolete technology at a high price, not that this is a bad product. I even acknowledged it is a high-grade IPS panel. It's just that this should cost literally half what it does and that is being generous. It could be the world's most accurate IPS ever, it's still laughably poor compared to an OLED. Some people may be used to the subpixel arrangement, I guess that's it. Doesn't give it a pass. It's poorly specced, expensive, with limited availability. Even if reliable, not a praiseworthy product. It just... exists, in my opinion no one should buy this full price.

 

[AcE]

It could be the world's most accurate IPS ever, it's still laughably poor compared to an OLED.

OLED has issues with burn-in that's why it's shunned for pro usage, aside from your statement that is generally just extreme and therefore wrong. Everything has its place, and IPS still has its place. Pro users care less about perfect blacks than about a "all around package" being good enough. Pro monitors are always pretty expensive, at least if you get those brands that care about perfectionism like Eizo does. And again, it has features a half-as-expensive monitor does not have. Generally you seem to be tilted about the price, maybe care less about pro products then, they aren't for you.

 

[Dr. Dro]

OLED has issues with burn-in that's why it's shunned for pro usage. Everything has its place, and IPS still has its place. Pro users care less about perfect blacks than about a "all around package" being good enough.

Modern OLED monitors do not have pervasive burn-in problems, will sustain higher brightness and are far more color accurate with true black contrast to boot. If the only thing this monitor brings to the table is a promise of purported longevity, it's off to a terrible start. Again, I reiterate, it's a high-grade IPS monitor, the problem is that it is IPS itself and IPS technology has limitations. I strongly feel that this is not worth 900 euros, much less the doubled price asked here in the Americas. I could be persuaded if it was completely flicker free and had zero motion blur, but alas

FYI reference monitors for color mastering have been OLED for a very long time, and they cost more than ten times this much.

https://pro.sony/ue_US/products/broadcastpromonitors/bvm-e251

 

[AcE]

Modern OLED monitors do not have pervasive burn-in problems, will sustain higher brightness

They have massive problems in office usage, what you say is false. In typical office usage 9-15, with windows bars all day, it will get burn in in a matter of days or weeks.

Higher brightness isn't that important in office usage like for this one, and also IPS monitors can get plenty bright, generalisations like these don't work.

If the only thing this monitor brings to the table is a promise of purported longevity, it's off to a terrible start.

Then maybe read the review, it brings much more than that. You seem to have glanced over it and yet you force yourself to talk about something you didn't care about in the first place. You're just here to talk about its "high price" and "inferior technology", both points of which have little merit. Maybe calm down a little.

FYI reference monitors for color mastering have been OLED for a very long time, and they cost more than ten times this much.

Nice argument to counter your own of it being allegedly "overpriced".

I strongly feel that this is not worth 900 euros

Maybe get your "feelings" out of tech discussions? They don't help.

 

[Dr. Dro]

They have massive problems in office usage, what you say is false. In typical office usage 9-15, with windows bars all day, it will get burn in in a matter of days or weeks.

I love how you literally outed yourself as someone who never used an OLED screen in their life. If you want to talk hard tech facts, then start by retracting this statement and educating yourself.

My OLED has been used exclusively as a computer monitor, with heavy use in video games that have a constant static layer in full white and is at over 4,000 hours of screen on time at this point, with not the faintest sign of image retention.

Higher brightness isn't that important in office usage like for this one, and also IPS monitors can get plenty bright, generalisations like these don't work.

Which, in case you hadn't realized, only strengthens the point you should get an OLED instead.

Nice argument to counter your own of it being allegedly "overpriced".

Yes, very nice indeed, considered this thing isn't anywhere near as color accurate as any entry level OLED, let alone a professional monitor for people who are actually doing critical mastering work. This monitor is decent if you do heavy text, Excel, etc. - but you do not need a 900 euro monitor for this. In fact, you would be better serviced by purchasing an LG DualUp or maybe an ultrawide which has MUCH more screen estate.

Maybe get your "feelings" out of tech discussions? They don't help.

You know what else doesn't help? Your attitude.