32" curved 4K (UHD) monitor with IPS or better viewing angles

Question

I want this monitor for desktop work, and the curvature of my current DELL 34" has been great for productivity, but its low 1440p resolution compared to my 4K laptop is a problem.

I can live without USB-C, and I don't game, but I've learned that the refresh rate is very relevant - 30Hz is visibly slow (even moving the mouse cursor is slow), while 50Hz is enough.

In over 18 months of searching, I haven't found ANY monitor fulfilling these criteria: 32", curved, 4K IPS panel.

Below are the closest monitors I've found.

Curved 32" (31.5") 4K monitors - all have VA panels

• MSI Optix MAG321CURV Gaming Monitor - height adjustable (0 ~ 130mm), USB-C but only 15W power; USB hub; no speakers
• Dell S3221QS - height adjustable down to ~5cm (desk to bottom pixels; despite the quoted 71mm) and has speakers, but no USB-C. Refresh rate quoted as 60Hz but my ThinkPad X1C 7th Gen can only get 30Hz with the over HDMI, but with a USB-C to HDMI adapter, I can get 50Hz. Some reviews mention very poor viewing angles but I've only experienced some color shift and blurring+darkness vertically - i.e. the bottom taskbar buttons look darker and more grey. Tolerable for desktop work. Resuming from standby is slow, and like other reviewers, I also hear an electronic whir once in a while, which goes away with a power cycle.
• Philips 328E1CA - VA panel, no adjustable stand, poor viewing angles
• Samsung 32-Inch UR590C - stand not adjustable, gimmicky curve stops 6" from each edge; no USB-C; no standard VESA mount, although adapters available. There's a monitor + arm combo that has the same monitor.
• AOC CU32V3 - no adjustable stand, cheapo, no USB-C
• VIOTEK NV32Q (NewEgg) - not height-adjustable

Flat 32" 4K IPS monitors

• Dell P3222QE - USB-C w/ power delivery enough for a ThinkPad X1C; 60Hz, 5ms, 99% sRGB, Display Port, HDMI. Height-adjustable, pivot. No speakers. Best bang for the buck. Used it for a couple months for office work and had no complaints. Cheaper than the Dell U3219Q, but I couldn't tell what would be missing.
• LG UltraFine 32EP950 - LG's first OLED monitor, announced at CES 2021. Besides OLED: KVM, 2xDisplayPort 1.4, 2xUSB, USB-C with 90W power delivery, 60Hz refresh rate. Reddit is not that excited about it. No official product page yet.
• LG - 32" UltraFine 32UL950 - fully adjustable, speakers, USB-C/Thunderbolt with 60W power delivery (insufficient for a ThinkPad X1C). Set the "Black stabilizer" to zero for dark theme programming work. Some users have reported image burn-in.
• Dell U3219Q - fully adjustable, 60Hz, USB-C with 90W power delivery, USB hub. No built-in speakers, but there's a sound bar accessory that mounts on the stand, powered via USB from the monitor; Amazon buyers report backlight bleed.
• ViewSonic VP3268-4K - speakers, but no USB-C. I bought it and it turns out the maximum refresh rate is 30Hz and the minimum height is 3.25", which is too tall. That's the height of fixed stands. Good monitor ergonomics dictate the the top of the monitor be exactly in front of the user's eyes while they look straight ahead. Otherwise, you'll get neck strain when you look above. A stand should go as low as possible, not as high as possible, because you can always put the monitor on books or whatever. ViewSonic's design of the stand for this monitor is just... dumb. Sorry. I ended up placing the top of all my windows a few inches below the top of the screen, but then why am I paying for a 32" when I'm using only 80% of its surface? Amazon
• BenQ EW3280U - good speakers, USB-C 60W, not height-adjustable (same issue as with the ViewSonic above) but instead it comes with a small remote 🤦. Suspend/resume works perfectly with Linux though, and it has a simple but useful volume knob. Sound is great but the lack of height adjustability made me not use the upper 25% of the screen. With the speakers below the bezel, the usable screen area starts at 103mm above the desk.
• BenQ PD3220U DesignVue - aimed at creatives, over $1k.
• HP Z32 31.5-inch 4K UHD - USB-C data + 65W power delivery; no built-in speakers; Amazon
• Asus ProArt PA329C - USB-C 60W, frequent dead pixels. The 2016 version (PA328Q, no USB-C) was also plagued by dead pixels. Both are height-adjustable and have speakers in the specs - PA329C, PA328Q, and the newer PA329Q (still no USB-C). Unclear refresh rate. Among 4K ASUS monitors, the refresh rate seems to be only clearly specified for the upcoming ProArt Display PA32UCG - "48~120 Hz Variable-refresh-rate (VRR) for game developer" and the ASUS CG32UQ HDR Console Gaming Monitor (40-60Hz)

(plus a bunch of VA panel 32" 4K monitors: AOC U3277PWQU LG 32UD59, Samsung S32R750U, Samsung U32J590)

5K monitors

• There's the 34" 5120x2160 5K2K @ 60Hz LG monitor, but it's not curved (annoying for a 34" ultrawide) and users have reported image burn-in.
• MSI Prestige PS341WU 34" 5120 x 2160 - 60Hz, USB-C (5V/3A power, but no data "transmition"); adjustable; no speakers. I had to return it due to image burn-in and not resuming from standby properly (had to power cycle). Amazon, Newegg
• At CES 2021, DELL announced a 40" curved 5K2K screen.
• At CES 2022, HP announced the Z40c 40" 5k2k IPS monitor, with USB-C+power, 5W speakers, integrated KVM, and a pop-up 4K webcam.

Neither DELL nor HP make this 32" 4K curved combo. Dell makes an otherwise great 34" curved (the U3419W with USB-C and speakers), but it's not 4K, and the pixelage is pretty bad once you get used to 4K. The 38" DELL isn't much better, at only 1600 vertical pixels.

Answer 1

I would say that it is better to get an adjustable VESA stand on Amazon, than to actively search out for a monitor with an adjustable stand on it.

Hemundu Monitor Stand
VIVO Monitor Stand
VIVO Tall Monitor Stand
AmazonBasics Monitor Stand

Answer 2

I have two Samsung U32J59x which run at 30 fps on Linux with an NVidia RTX 2060 and it works great for my work (I don't do gaming).

The quality of the pixels is such that I do not think that having 50 fps or more is that useful in 4K. In my case, I could set it up at 60 fps as well. It defaults to 30, though. If you do watch a lot of video or do graphic work, this could be an issue. But even that works fine for me. I've played many 4K videos on these monitors and it looks stunning.

Also I talked with many people who do not like curvature. I suppose that's a habit to have flat or curved.

In any event, I like my monitors. My previous ones were "2K" (1080p) and this made a huge difference, especially, things are really small on the screen unless you can setup your system to use large fonts, buttons, etc.

Answer 3

We('ll) have a winner!

Not released yet, but announced just ahead of CES 2022, is...

Samsung's Odyssey Neo G8

As the world’s first monitor to feature a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) 1000R curved screen with 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time (GtG), Odyssey Neo G8 32” (Model Name: G85NB) is set to open a new chapter in gaming monitor innovation, offering razor-sharp performance for even the most dedicated PC gamers. Its performance matches its stunning picture quality featuring Quantum Mini LEDs, Quantum HDR 2000 with a 2,000nit peak brightness and a million-to-one static contrast ratio

It's more curved (1000R) than other curved monitors, and it’s also compatible with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia’s G-Sync adaptive sync tech.

Certainly overkill for desktop work, but at least we won't see those color shifts that come with VA panels, and the corner backlight bleeds from IPS panels. And hopefully the feature to color the back of the monitor in accordance to the colors in the image (think the Philips Ambilight) can be disabled.