A 4K panel that's (relatively) easy on the wallet
You don't have to spend a fortune upgrading a to a 4K Ultra HD resolution display, though you do have to decide what features are important to you. If you ultimately decide that price is the most number one factor, AOC's new U2870VQE is an option to consider.
The U2870VQE is a 28-inch monitor with a 4K (3840x2160) resolution that's available on sale today at Microcenter for $350. AOC says that's $150 off MSRP, though Microcenter's listing shows a regular selling price of $400.
In any event, at that price you shouldn't expect an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel for a monitor this size. AOC confirms it's using a Twisted Nematic (TN) panel, and if you put any stock into monitor specs, it has a 70,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, and 1ms response time (gray-to-gray).
It's also listed as a 10-bit panel with 1.07 billion colors, albeit by way of 8-bit + Frame Rate Control (FRC), which means it uses temporal dithering to boost the number of reproducible colors from 16.7 million to 1.07 billion (TFT Central has a really good primer on this and other monitor specs).
The low response time (typically a strength of TN panels) is an attractive feature for gamers, especially in the absence of G-Sync (Nvidia) or FreeSync (AMD) technologies. This comes at the expense of more accurate color reproduction (typically a strength of IPS panels).
Other features include an "extra narrow bezel," the ability to mount the monitor to a wall, tilt support (-5 to 25 degrees), and connectivity options consisting of VGA, mini DisplayPort, DisplayPort, and HDMI (MHL).
Noticeably absent are supplementary features such as a built-in USB hub, speakers, picture-in--picture (PIP) and picture-by-picture (PBP) support, and a more ergonomically friendly stand. Hence the relatively low price tag.
The U2870VQE is available now.
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