Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

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Ara Thomassian

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Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSat May 17, 2025 8:20 pm

Hey fellow pixel benders,

Have a possible HDR/Dolby vision project coming up that I’ll be doing at home rather than the facility I work at.

Want to purchase a reliable monitor that can properly display PQ as close as possible to the X300/X310/X3110 for under 5k

(Heard mixed things about the Flanders $10,000 OLED model.)

Was going to go with the LG 31.5” EP950-B but can’t seem to find a new model anywhere. Is there a newer model out I’m unaware of?

What are you guys thoughts?

Thanks
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Lucius Snow

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSat May 17, 2025 8:47 pm

You should ask the price for this used CG3145:
http://www.liftgammagain.com/forum/inde ... ale.19201/
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mpetech

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSat May 17, 2025 11:12 pm

Ara Thomassian wrote:Hey fellow pixel benders,

Have a possible HDR/Dolby vision project coming up that I’ll be doing at home rather than the facility I work at.

Want to purchase a reliable monitor that can properly display PQ as close as possible to the X300/X310/X3110 for under 5k

(Heard mixed things about the Flanders $10,000 OLED model.)

Was going to go with the LG 31.5” EP950-B but can’t seem to find a new model anywhere. Is there a newer model out I’m unaware of?

What are you guys thoughts?

Thanks



It depends what you are trying to achieve. If you are grading HDR video that has little content above 400 nits, then most newer OD-OLED can achieve comparable quality to the X310. The blacks are true blacks. They cover the 99% of P3 color gamut.

But if your video has a lot of content pass 400 nits then you are out of luck. OLEDs can’t achieve that unless high nit value is a miniscule portion of the screen. Anything higher than that and you will deal with ABL- auto brightness limiter.

The X310 uses dual layer LCD. Allowing it to achieve near true blacks while allowing 1000 nits full screen. No other available panel technology allows both in one package.

The X300 is OLED based.


Someday OLED will be able to (and prevent burn-ins). Mini-LED might be able to achieve true blacks (probably not). And someday micro LEDs will be available.

For now your choice is WOLED, OD-OLED and mini-LEDs. Pick your poison.
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Marc Wielage

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSun May 18, 2025 2:55 am

mpetech wrote:The X310 uses dual layer LCD. Allowing it to achieve near true blacks while allowing 1000 nits full screen. No other available panel technology allows both in one package. The X300 is OLED based.

There's also the Sony BVM-X3110, which I think was $42,000 the last time I asked. The Flanders XMP310 and XMP270 both can handle 1000-nit Dolby Vision just fine, but they're in the US$10,000 price range. The ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM display (QD-OLED) is also said to be very good and is under $2000, but the jury is out on whether it really works for pro use over 100 nits. It's fair to say that's an ongoing discussion and a hot topic on the various colorist discussion groups.

The discontinued LG 32EP950 was liked by some, and I used one for just 100-nit Rec709 for a time. I don't think they could hit 1000 nits, either, but they could certainly hit 500 nits and still get pretty good calibration scores.

Dolby has some good articles on what they believe constitute the concepts behind a good mastering display:

HDR Display Considerations
https://professionalsupport.dolby.com/s ... uage=en_US
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Lucius Snow

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSun May 18, 2025 9:44 am

mpetech wrote:The X310 uses dual layer LCD. Allowing it to achieve near true blacks while allowing 1000 nits full screen. No other available panel technology allows both in one package.

+1

This Panasonic panel created in 2016 was built into many monitors: Eizo, Sony, TVLogic, FSI.
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Andrew Kolakowski

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSun May 18, 2025 2:57 pm

Wait for new Panasonic Z95B OLED.
Looks very promising. Probably best you can get around 5K$ ( no price yet but should not be far).
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Lucius Snow

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSun May 18, 2025 5:51 pm

Andrew Kolakowski wrote:Wait for new Panasonic Z95B OLED.
Looks very promising. Probably best you can get around 5K$ ( no price yet but should not be far).

No ABL issue anymore?
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Andrew Kolakowski

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostSun May 18, 2025 6:32 pm

One of the main changes is peak brightness done through new (LG) Primary RBG Tandem panel and new cooling system. No numbers yet. Same panel as LG G5 which does 1000nits at 25% window (also 2300 nits at 10%). 100% P3 coverage and 85% P3 color volume. Results for Rec.709 are basically "perfect".
It may be finally good enough for semi pro work.
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Marc Wielage

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostMon May 19, 2025 3:59 am

Andrew Kolakowski wrote:One of the main changes is peak brightness done through new (LG) Primary RBG Tandem panel and new cooling system. No numbers yet. Same panel as LG G5 which does 1000nits at 25% window (also 2300 nits at 10%). 100% P3 coverage and 85% P3 color volume. Results for Rec.709 are basically "perfect".
It may be finally good enough for semi pro work.

Yeah, I just looked at the specs on the G5, and they look terrific:

https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled55g5wua-oled-4k-tv

I've been using a calibrated 55" LG G3 for a couple of years now, and it can get within "spitting distance" of 1000 nits. I'd say it measures very well to 600 nits (in Calman Pro), and I'd most likely never go higher than that for HDR.

For SDR, it's flawless... once we solved the ABL problem.
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Andrew Kolakowski

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostMon Jun 02, 2025 10:55 pm

Basically perfect results for SDR once calibrated. HDR is also very good, but not perfect.
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/tcl/qm8-qm851g-qled

Also Sony BRAVIA 9 QLED which is made in mind to match Sony X3110 screen as close as possible.
Last edited by Andrew Kolakowski on Mon Jun 02, 2025 10:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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HendrikvdV

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Re: Best HDR/Dolby monitor under 5k

PostThu Jun 12, 2025 5:51 pm

Marc Wielage wrote:
mpetech wrote: The Flanders XMP310 and XMP270 both can handle 1000-nit Dolby Vision just fine, but they're in the US$10,000 price range. The ASUS ProArt PA32UCDM display (QD-OLED) is also said to be very good and is under $2000, but the jury is out on whether it really works for pro use over 100 nits.


The reviews are very positive and they consistently note that the Flanders and the new PA32UCDM share the exact same display panel and thus have identical HDR limitations.

Review:

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