Pro Display XDR as grading monitor

Now there are colorists with their hands on the new Pro Display XDR (and Mac Pro of course), I'm wondering if there's a way to get an accurate image on the XDR.
This article by Ronny Courtens says they're using the XDR monitor as a grading/reference monitor, yet doesn't give specifics of how. Surely if you just plug it in with Thunderbolt 3 and use "Clean feed", the image won't be as accurate as if it came from an output card. But there's no output card in the world that has Thunderbolt 3 as an output.

Is there some special Apple sauce (pun intended) that avoids the issue?

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/article ... at-hangman

I haven’t replayed the video but didn’t they mention using an UltraStudio 4K Extreme?


https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/ultrastudio

I haven’t replayed the video but didn’t they mention using an UltraStudio 4K Extreme?

They did:

We are also running a Thunderbolt 3 output into a Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K Extreme, which gives me an HDMI output for our 77" LG OLED client monitor, as well as an audio output for our Sonos audio system in the room.

Thanks, Cosmin.

It would be nice to see some properly done measurements of new Apple screen.
It uses zones, so good technology, but not as good as new reference screens based on Panasonic panel with direct backlit (like Eizo, Sony or FSI).

It looks like it may be actually great monitor. It has video related refresh rates, different standards modes: sRGB Rec.709, P3 D65/DCI, PQ (9 modes overall). It just needs proper review and measurements to be sure.

Let's see if it receives Netflix certification. I'm not sure.

I hope not since I bought the CG3145!

I still trust more Eizo than Apple when it comes to monitors. Eizo uses unique panel (Sony, FSI also use it) with direct backlit, where Apples ones is based on "not new" zoning approach.
I do understand how thin your wallet became though

Apple also says this:

"The following functions require macOS Catalina 10.15.2 or later:
Selection of reference modes
Reference Status Display
brightness control
Recognition of portrait / landscape format
Night shift
True tone
Playback support for Dolby Vision, HDR10 and Hybrid-Log Gamma (HLG)
Custom Reference Modes (coming soon)
User calibration (coming soon)"

Did someone mention XDR?

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/article ... at-hangman

first reports are mentioning poor viewing angle, linearity issues and halo's around highlights...
does not sound like it's suitable as a gradeing screen,

either one of linearity or halo's should disqualify it, both together are a bit of a kill shot

first reports are mentioning poor viewing angle, linearity issues and halo's around highlights...
does not sound like it's suitable as a gradeing screen,

either one of linearity or halo's should disqualify it, both together are a bit of a kill shot

Halo problem should be half of a problem.
Have you seen Dolby PRM screen and its halo? It's terrible, but people accepted it. Dolby also uses zoning (probably 1st to ever use this approach).

It's not going to be new Sony or Eizo, but it's in the middle of pro and and best consumer monitor. For many it may be best compromise available. Need to see some numbers.
Poor viewing angles would a surprise.

first reports are mentioning poor viewing angle...

This video shows it (6min in):

it may be related to this nano coating (not sure if glossy has the same issue). It's more brightness change than colors itself, but I would say very visible.

Halo problem should be half of a problem.
Have you seen Dolby PRM screen and its halo? It's terrible, but people accepted it. Dolby also uses zoning (probably 1st to ever use this approach).

It's not going to be new Sony or Eizo, but it's in the middle of pro and and best consumer monitor. For many it may be best compromise available. Need to see some numbers.
Poor viewing angles would a surprise.

i've spent about a zillion hours in front of a PRM4200, so yea i know about halo's, i agree on your points and add one
1- wait for technical reviews and adoptation by delivery partners
2 - likely a Prosumer screen, but not near a match to an x310

3- Apple have done their street cred no favors by selling it as a x310 replacement

In Ben Allan's Mac Pro Hands On article over on Newsshooter, he states:

The 2nd XDR display was connected as a video display (rather than an extension of the desktop) directly via Thunderbolt 3. This is a major departure for Blackmagic Design, who have not previously allowed users to connect to monitors for full screen video via “computer connections”.
https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/06/05/hands-on-with-the-28-core-mac-pro/

My guess is that a forthcoming update to Resolve Studio may allow the Pro Display XDR specifically to be used as a grading monitor when directly connected to the computer (like Apple does with FCPx).

I am curious to learn two things:

• Will Resolve change the framerate of the display being used as a full screen grading monitor to match the project framerate but leave the displays being used for the GUI at 60Hz?
• Will the viewer within the Resolve GUI display HDR? (I purchased only one of the XDRs so I hope so.)

My guess is that we will see this new version of Resolve once the new Red×Metal SDK is integrated (according to Jarred Land's Instagram, Red sent that SDK over to Blackmagic earlier this week). Long at last, it's exciting times to be on a Mac again – welcome back Apple!

BM can easily do it (they could probably even switch monitor profile based on Resolve project settings). It's just a matter if they want to do it.

In Ben Allan's Mac Pro Hands On article over on Newsshooter, he states:

The 2nd XDR display was connected as a video display (rather than an extension of the desktop) directly via Thunderbolt 3. This is a major departure for Blackmagic Design, who have not previously allowed users to connect to monitors for full screen video via “computer connections”.
https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/06/05/hands-on-with-the-28-core-mac-pro/

My guess is that a forthcoming update to Resolve Studio may allow the Pro Display XDR specifically to be used as a grading monitor when directly connected to the computer (like Apple does with FCPx).

I am curious to learn two things:

• Will Resolve change the framerate of the display being used as a full screen grading monitor to match the project framerate but leave the displays being used for the GUI at 60Hz?
• Will the viewer within the Resolve GUI display HDR? (I purchased only one of the XDRs so I hope so.)

My guess is that we will see this new version of Resolve once the new Red×Metal SDK is integrated (according to Jarred Land's Instagram, Red sent that SDK over to Blackmagic earlier this week). Long at last, it's exciting times to be on a Mac again – welcome back Apple!

there's a "old" news missing.... Blackmagick develop a specific Teranex Mini to connect a Ultrastudio 4K Mini SDI to Pro Display XDR via display port 8K.
no news about the release of this but Pro Display XDR is out now, so....

"We are excited to announce the new Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K HDR for customers working with the new Pro Display XDR," said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. "It provides advanced HDR and color critical monitoring features such as built in scopes, 33 point 3D LUT support, automatic probe based calibration and native 8K for the latest customer workflows!"

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/ ... 0190603-01

I wrote this article back in June to attempt to address this very issue.

https://digitalfilmmaker.net/apple-pro-display-xdr/

The consensus from both BMD and Apple was that DR would output and the XDR would display a video signal over TB3, bypassing the SDI workflow. However, I've never seen an official announcement, there is zero documentation on clean feed, and my discussions with both companies were a bit short on specifics on how this would be accomplished. But the article was fact checked, revised, and fact checked again several times by both companies so I assume they stand behind the information I was provided.

Apple also claimed, at the time of the writing, that they were employing this workflow with their own in house colorists and they were very satisfied with the results. Still, I would like to see some independent testing and analysis of this set up. Reading the Q&A with Ronny Courtens at the bottom of the article on fcp.co (referenced above) seems to confirm Apple's claims.

Apple is most likely setting me up with an A list production house for a follow up article so more info should be forthcoming.

Adam, nice article and well-done getting Apple and Blackmagic to fact-check!

The fact that your article stated explicitly that "a forthcoming release of DaVinci Resolve [will allow] the new monitor to run in full display mode" and that Blackmagic proofed that as ok answered a lingering ambiguity from Ben's hands on at WWDC: I was wondering if the directly-connected setup was a one-off since perhaps the Teranex Mini SDI to DisplayPort 8K devices weren't ready yet.

I'm somewhat torn over this development: I like the consistency/reliability of using the UltraStudios, but I wonder if this new setup will have less latency and prove more future-proof. (But since they are making that special Teranex Mini model as well, I guess we'll have a choice!)

if the mon is not workable, who cares how it's attached?

No one said you can replace 30K$ monitors with it. In the same time 90% Resolve current users don't need 30K$ monitor.

Nice article AdamGoldfine, thank you.

Pardon me if this is the incorrect forum for my question, but...

Assuming all will be sorted out in the coming weeks and months, my question is when will the extra long optical Thunderbolt 3 cables be released (Corning or other manufacturer)?

Or, for that matter, if the new Pro Display XDR can be connected via optical Thunderbolt 2 cable, using Thunderbolt 3 adapters on each end?

My XDR is on the way and I’m hoping my new Mac Pro will sit 50’ away - connected by optical TB cable - same as my old Trashcan Mac Pro does.

Kindly advise if possible.

Thanks.

I don't think it's that easy as using TB2 cable. It may work in some cases, but don't forget it's certified only up to 20Gbit. Apple new screen itself is already above this bandwidth for most fps.

Thank you!

Thank you for the responses. I tried to approach this with Apple & BMD from the perspective of a qualified color house whose clients expect reliable and consistent results. It took quite a bit of probing and asking the right questions to get the information I did receive. And there isn't any formal documentation about this workflow or any mention of the technical specification of the Video Clean Feed output over TB3. Depending on how exacting your requirements are, I would proceed with some degree of caution until there is more information, independent testing, published specs, or all of the above.

On the other hand, early anecdotal reports do seem to confirm both Apple's and BMD's claims but I would still like to see some evidence based vs anecdotal analysis of the workflow.

Just to keep you up at night there are still a few additional unresolved questions.

1. Does this workflow only apply to TB3 when feeding a Pro Display XDR, is there some sort of handshaking that occurs between DR and the monitor, or does it work with any TB3 monitor?

2. Do you get "video" out on any Mac or does it have to be a Mac Pro. So far, the only real world reports we've received involve the Mac Pro and the Vega II card. Similarly, does it work on any supported graphics cards or only the MPX modules?

3. What about eGPUs?

4. Can you output color and frame accurate Video Clean Feed over the HDMI output of the Vega II or other supported cards? What about DP only cards?

I've been in touch with Apple's press department but they are pretty slammed. I do anticipate having a follow up report within a few weeks.

As an aside, this looks promising: https://www.asus.com/us/Monitors/ProArt ... y-PA32UCG/

No release date and no price but given the cost of the PA32UCX I'm guessing it will come close to if not exceed the XDR.

Adam, today I decided, given that Resolve sees both the Vega II Duo MPX GPUs, i decided to swallow hard and go for that expensive option after all rather than the modest Pro W5700X. But this means I won’t be ordering the newer Mac Pro likely until the Spring as I don’t have enough set aside at this time. That might be a blessing in disguise though as there are many questions that need to be answered including clarification of the capabilities of that XDR monitor that isn’t likely going to be part of that Mac Pro order again due to a lack of money. Maybe a year from now...

Adam, today I decided, given that Resolve sees both the Vega II Duo MPX GPUs, i decided to swallow hard and go for that expensive option after all rather than the modest Pro W5700X. But this means I won’t be ordering the newer Mac Pro likely until the Spring as I don’t have enough set aside at this time. That might be a blessing in disguise though as there are many questions that need to be answered including clarification of the capabilities of that XDR monitor that isn’t likely going to be part of that Mac Pro order again due to a lack of money. Maybe a year from now...

I came to a similar conclusion. I think that properly fitted, the Mac Pro can handle anything you throw at it and can be configured to handle any workflow. This whole TB3, XDR grading monitor affair seems promising, possibly paradigm busting, but I would want to know more before committing. The W5700X may be better than expected with driver optimization but I've been waiting nearly a year for needed upgrades so I ordered a Mac Pro yesterday with a single Vega II Duo. I doubt I will need a second MPX module and from the early reports I've seen, even the Duo may be overkill.

Getting a bit off topic here but I initially thought the Pro Vega II would be similar to a Radeon VII with the four additional compute units enabled and double the GPU RAM but there appears to be more to it than that. Based on anecdotal information it seems that between driver optimization and hardware implementation, the MPX has unlocked the true potential of the Vega 20 GPU. It also seems that DR 16 takes better advantage of this GPU than 15 in both absolute terms and in relation to other GPUs. In other words while DR16 got a bit faster on everything, it got more faster on the Vega 20. And I believe the same holds true of the Xeon W series CPUs in the new Mac Pro. Kind of like Resolve was at the very least, highly considered when this machine was designed. Good news for us! But this is a mix of information and speculation so take it FWIW. The 5700 MPX may hold similar promise.

I ordered two ASUS PA32UC's for GUI and lower end grading. When things shake out, and my bank account recovers (sheesh), depending on what we find out, I will either add an XDR monitor or something else (PA32UCX possibly), connected via TB3, or something more traditional, with a Decklink card.

Finally some language from BMD on Video Clean Feed. It's on page 86 of the newly release Reference Manual for 16.1.2. It say, "A full screen Viewer for a secondary monitor connected directly to your computer is now available. To activate this monitor select Workspace > Video Clean Feed, and select your display in the submenu."

Well that certainly clears things up.

Adam, as I’m also considering the ASUS as a dual GUI-Display, could you please post your impressions about the fan-Noise of this devices? That‘s what I am very concerned of...THANKS!

Adam, as I’m also considering the ASUS as a dual GUI-Display, could you please post your impressions about the fan-Noise of this devices? That‘s what I am very concerned of...THANKS!

Hi Daniel,
I haven't heard any reports of noise issues but I will let you know for sure!

Finally some language from BMD on Video Clean Feed. It's on page 86 of the newly release Reference Manual for 16.1.2. It say, "A full screen Viewer for a secondary monitor connected directly to your computer is now available. To activate this monitor select Workspace > Video Clean Feed, and select your display in the submenu."

Adam, fantastic spot!

I posed a separate thread on Video Clean Feed with my initial impressions at the link below. (Haven't gotten my XDR yet, but tried this feature out on my Eizo & my iPad Pro via Sidecar.)
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=104626

To your questions:

1. Does this workflow only apply to TB3 when feeding a Pro Display XDR, is there some sort of handshaking that occurs between DR and the monitor, or does it work with any TB3 monitor?

A1. You can use any display, including the iPad Pro via Sidecar!

2. Do you get "video" out on any Mac or does it have to be a Mac Pro. So far, the only real world reports we've received involve the Mac Pro and the Vega II card. Similarly, does it work on any supported graphics cards or only the MPX modules?

A2. Seems to be any Mac. Working on my MacBook Pro 16.

3. What about eGPUs?

A3. Works with my eGPU (Sonnet eGFX + Radeon Vega Frontier Edition).

4. Can you output color and frame accurate Video Clean Feed over the HDMI output of the Vega II or other supported cards? What about DP only cards?

A4. In my testing, the display's frame rate remained at 60p despite 24p timeline. (It is worth noting that macOS does recognize the fact that the display I tested supports 48p and even 24p. I can select those rates manually in the OS, but DaVinci does not change it to match the timeline's framerate with this feature. Maybe this will change in the future (I tested macOS 10.15.2 × Resolve Studio 16.1.2),

Adam, as I’m also considering the ASUS as a dual GUI-Display, could you please post your impressions about the fan-Noise of this devices? That‘s what I am very concerned of...THANKS!

Hi Daniel,
I haven't heard any reports of noise issues but I will let you know for sure!

Just FYI: i found a german in-depth review where the reviewer states that the fan-noise is very audible and annoying. it´s a high-frequent-noise and even from a distance of 3m noticeable.
The bad-thing: the fans are "always-on", independent of temperature, brightness etc.
the good-thing: this could , hopefully , change via firmware-update.

https://www.prad.de/testberichte/test-a ... sgeraeusch

i think I'm going to order a device for testing - as noise is a very subjective thing.
If it´s too annoying for me, i´ll send it back and maybe go for Eizo (CG319X) or XDR...

Just FYI: i found a german in-depth review where the reviewer states that the fan-noise is very audible and annoying. it´s a high-frequent-noise and even from a distance of 3m noticeable.
The bad-thing: the fans are "always-on", independent of temperature, brightness etc.
the good-thing: this could , hopefully , change via firmware-update.

https://www.prad.de/testberichte/test-a ... sgeraeusch

Hi.

Not all forum members read German. Here is a google translate of above link:

https://translate.google.es/translate?h ... sgeraeusch

You can select the other pages by clicking on one of them, in the TABLE OF CONTENTS at the top.

Regards Carsten.

Prad is better the most of those very well known websites.

Also- be careful as Asus has few monitors in ProArt range. Quite similar, but in the same time quite different.
Best model is still not out.

For 3-5K$ I would probably buy some OLED TV if this meant to be for clean video feed.

Andrew, waiting patiently for ASUS best. Interesting that I’m not alone in my foolishness to go for the Vega II Duo MPX card. It seems to me Apple and BMD and RED are working more closely to make this Mac Pro a success. Thank goodness this may be money well spent, considering the financial impact on us if this were all hype. Every time I think
I should go with a better iMac, I just get on my current machine and rejoice once again that I can bring it to its knees in a few minutes in spite of being sealed in a room with a large fan blowing winter air from an open window at the back of the iMac. And I can’t really edit audio with that fan going! Enough already. Time to feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven!

Cnet experts know it all:

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/apple-pro- ... r-preview/

"One person at the end of the process typically has one of the expensive reference monitors from Sony or Flanders. When they look at video or photos and see problems then they raise the red flag and stuff has to get corrected or re-shot. These ultra high-end monitors can only maintain color accuracy for up to about 30 minutes. Pro Display XDR can now maintain full color accuracy all day at up to 1,000 nits of brightness (and can peak up to 1,600 nits, when needed)."

Not a single measurement etc. Just pure bite story for "youtubers".
Who writes this crap? Quality of those review websites is at very bottom these days.

There is a firm that does reviews of a lot of phone screens by doing measurements. I forget the name but it starts with Display... I have no idea if they’re planning on reviewing this new 6K display though, but would be interesting to hear from professionals that use those traditional monitors from FSI for example.

what one should care about is what Steve Shaw has to say, what appears on the Dolby certified mastering mon list, the NetFlix approved mastering monitor list

most of the "reviews" are prosumer garbage (as is the mon i suspect)

Prad is better the most of those very well known websites.

Also- be careful as Asus has few monitors in ProArt range. Quite similar, but in the same time quite different.
Best model is still not out.

Correct, the article is referring to the fan noise of the $4,000, PA32UCX, which makes sense as it has a max brightness of 1200 nits or something like that and requires fan cooling. At the price of that monitor, with Apple business pricing, may as well pony up a bit more for the XDR.

The article goes on to say, "By the way, the PA32UC, which is advertised as a 1000-nits device, only needs passive cooling." Phew! Had me worried! I have two PA32UCs being delivered next week.

For 3-5K$ I would probably buy some OLED TV if this meant to be for clean video feed.

Agreed. I'm doing just that. Just picked up an LG C9 OLED, there are some great deals right now. I will be feeding it via a Decklink card over HDMI and will compare it to "Video Clean Feed" over HDMI out of the GPU. It can store two hardware calibration profiles and can be done on the cheap with Calman Home software and an i1 Display Pro probe.

There is a firm that does reviews of a lot of phone screens by doing measurements. I forget the name but it starts with Display... I have no idea if they’re planning on reviewing this new 6K display though, but would be interesting to hear from professionals that use those traditional monitors from FSI for example.

http://www.displaymate.com

?

I posed a separate thread on Video Clean Feed with my initial impressions at the link below. (Haven't gotten my XDR yet, but tried this feature out on my Eizo & my iPad Pro via Sidecar.)
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=104626

Fantastic thread, thank you.

I know that "Video Clean Feed" functions under almost all circumstances. I can use my MBP's Retina display as a "Video Clean Feed" display when also using a second monitor connected over TB3 but it too is affected by the OS .icc profiles. I guess the real question is are you getting frame and color accurate "Video" that can replace an SDI workflow. Apple and BMD both said you can over TB3 and what you have reported seems promising if not decisive. I'm guessing the XDR will also be affected by the OS profile over TB3 but perhaps there is some sort of "null' profile that mitigates the impact of the OS given the XDR's claimed color accuracy.

I picked up an LG C9 OLED for a client monitor and will be experimenting with driving it over HDMI vs out of a Decklink card. I will probably rely more on the Decklink card just to be 100% sure I'm getting "video", but who knows.

There are a few other yet to be revealed features of the XDR that I'm unfortunately not at liberty to discuss at the moment, that lead me to believe what was confirmed in my article. I was given clearance to publish the fact that field calibration of the Pro Display XDR will be possible using a spectroradiometer and Apple is currently working with Colorimetry Research and Photo Research to develop calibration solutions. Probes are expected to be available from other vendors as well. None of that has been announced as far as I know and there is probably a bit of a way to go for this to all shake out. In the mean time, I'm hedging my bet, sticking mostly with the tried and true while trying new things.

At the very least, and this was my initial presumption when I first began to research the article, the XDR should prove to be a formidable display and when coupled with a Teranex Mini SDI to DP or similar converter will give you true video. There is still a lot of speculation and opinion about whether or not it will compete with the $30K+ Sony, FSI, Canon, etc. There are also several contenders nipping at Apple's heels on this, the new ASUS that has yet to be released, the Atomos Neon series, etc.

Haven't gotten my XDR yet . . .

Do you have one on order? Very curious to hear more first hand reports.

Thanks, Andrew; might be interesting to hear from Displaymate.

I was given clearance to publish the fact that field calibration of the Pro Display XDR will be possible using a spectroradiometer and Apple is currently working with Colorimetry Research and Photo Research to develop calibration solutions. Probes are expected to be available from other vendors as well.

callibration is not likely to be an issue, what is likely to be a show stopper for getting this screen on the list of approved mastering displays is linearity, halo's and off axis viewing

and yea, calliberation is far from "news" or secret sauce, it's been standard in the professional world for decades now, a basic to be met to be qualified as a mastering screen, and "field calibration" is also a basic standard

look at LightIllusion for further details

but callibration is not the only thing, just the ground floor basic to pass first, the HP Dreamcolor also offers feild calibration, but that alone does not make it a mastering monitor, far from it actualy - even tho it's numbers alone say it's useable

Dermot, are halos a fault of the monitor being used or are they affected by the quality of the actual video being viewed? It’s easier to understand colour display issues and want one’s grading monitor to be accurate to the colours sent to the monitor. Is the concern with halos that they make it much more difficult to judge the true character of the video sent to the monitor? Thanks for any comment on this.

They can be annoying, but you can use to it.
If you have black and white edge some areas will be backlit other won't - in between there will be always some bleeding and this creates halos (also remember that you have fixed number of backlit areas and they may go across your white-black edge). Any zone based backlit system will suffer from them more or less.
Dolby PRM monitor suffers from them badly, even so been used for ages and quoted as reference one.

halo's are inherant in the design of the screen, it's more about how minimal they can be

lived with them for years when useing the Dolby PR4200, but there they are minimal, but still noticable, more annoying than show stopping

and the Dolby is not HDR, although it can be set to run reaaaally bright, halos are more apperant as the nits go up

if the halo's are minimal on the apple screen then it may pass muster for SDR as did the Dolby, first reports are that they are worse than the Dolby tho, and the Dolby had zero issue with linearlty and a decent viewing angle

given the underlying design shares (buys/steals/borrows/begs?) the same concept i was surprised to hear about linearity issues and viewing angles

there's no issues like that on the x300 that Apple claimed a match to

There's rumors of a 4k @ 55"+ consumer set with the similar tech heading towards store shelves soon

if the XDR is Dolby and Netflix cert'd for mastering, i'll prolly get one

otherwise it's a very nice GUI screen, and that's no where near good enough for who i deliver to

and yea, calliberation is far from "news" or secret sauce, it's been standard in the professional world for decades now, a basic to be met to be qualified as a mastering screen, and "field calibration" is also a basic standard

Of course calibration isn't news, that's not what I was implying . . . or what I intended for anyone to infer. There's been a lot of speculation about how the color pipeline will be managed, seemingly inaccurate (the speculation, not the pipeline). If what I've been told is true, it is more in line with what you would expect from a reference monitor. I do hope to have more info on that soon.

It's entirely possible the Pro Display XDR won't pass muster for certification, but we won't really know until we know. The folks I've spoken to at Apple and BMD seemed committed to getting this right, and I really hope they do. I would love to be able to buy a reference grade 6K monitor for less than $5K. But for now, unless you just want a really nice 6K monitor, wait and see is the prudent approach, IMHO.

I think the backlighting on the XDR is from 576 LEDs; that unreleased ASUS ...X monitor has twice as many LEDs which might make it less prone to halos then. Given the ASUS has similar specs otherwise, the question of price needs an answer.

I think the backlighting on the XDR is from 576 LEDs; that unreleased ASUS ...X monitor has twice as many LEDs which might make it less prone to halos then. Given the ASUS has similar specs otherwise, the question of price needs an answer.

That is correct. Both the PA32UCX, $3999, and the PA32UCG, not yet released, have 1152 dimming zones.

2x more, but also for much smaller resolution. Halo effect should be much smaller on Asus....but apparently Apple done some other things to minimise haloing. Seeing is believing (reviews do mention haloing on Apple screen though as well as on one of the Asus cheaper models with less zones).

I think the backlighting on the XDR is from 576 LEDs; that unreleased ASUS ...X monitor has twice as many LEDs which might make it less prone to halos then. Given the ASUS has similar specs otherwise, the question of price needs an answer.

That is correct. Both the PA32UCX, $3999, and the PA32UCG, not yet released, have 1152 dimming zones.

re: fan noise

I also was concerned about fan noise after reading the detailed review of the PA32UCX over at prad.de.
I live in Saigon, one of the noisiest cities I've ever been to. I aways have the air conditioner or the fan on because it is hot here. But the other evening, after running the Asus for a couple of hours in both HDR and SDR modes, I heard no noise from the fan. My 2017 iMac is much louder when I'm transcoding files to HEVC. Perhaps if you're running the display at full brightness in HDR for several hours the fans kick up more? A different reviewer measuring the noise level came up with 30dB, which is below hearing threshold at my place! hehe

re: haloing

Again according to prad.de, the operation of the local dimming controller has changed from the PG27UQ. With that display, they hardly noticed any afterglow at the highest level of Dynamic Dimming. Not so with the PA32UCX. So while they note that increasing the number of zones by a factor of three, from 384 to 1152, reduces edge length considerably, in practice they found the halos to be quite noticeable, depending of course on the movement, the brightness of the screen, the room... whatever. I own the Asus PA32UCX and someone would have to tell me what to look for to see it, because it's a non-issue for me and the work I do.

re: hardware

I have my iMac connected to a Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini by TB3; the UltraStudio is connected to the Asus by HDMI. At the moment, I can't do any calibration, which is why I will be picking up the Teranex Mini SDI to HDMI 8K HDR. It has a built-in calibrator and a USB port for my i1Display Pro. But first I am having my room painted spectrally neutral gray. haha

Is there really an 18% grey paint or did I miss seeing a smiley? I just turn out all my lights when assessing colour.