Odds are you know Monoprice best for its inexpensive HDMI cables, but the company’s ambition goes far beyond that. It sells a huge variety of gear including, in recent years, a full line of computer monitors.
The Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G (model 42891) is among its more affordable displays. This 32-inch 1440p monitor has a 165Hz refresh rate and adaptive sync for just $329.99 (recently on sale at $322.22). That’s not much for a gaming monitor at these specs and size. However, Monoprice falls slightly behind its most aggressive competitors.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Design
The Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G is generic straight out of the box. It has slim bezels and a simple matte black finish. Most budget manufacturers could slap their badge on this display and call it a day, but Monoprice goes a step further with a matte black logo that’s barely visible in most lighting. A few LED lights on the back of the monitor attempt to spice up the look, but they’re dim and difficult to notice.
I don’t mind the unbranded look, but I’m sure some will see it as a downside. Several major brands, including Dell and Samsung, offer 32-inch budget monitors with distinctive design.
Monoprice’s focus on budget continues to the stand. It does require some minor assembly, so you’ll need a Phillips-head screwdriver handy. The stand is sturdy, but it only adjusts for tilt. That’s disappointing. Similarly priced competitors like the Gigabyte G32QC and Dell S3222DGM offer height adjustment to help you find a comfortable position.
The 32-inch Zero-G’s stand doesn’t use the typical 100mm x 100mm VESA spacing but instead the less common 75mm x 75mm pattern. This means you’ll have fewer options for adding a third-party monitor arm or stand.
In short, the design is a miss. It feels as if Monoprice is trying to compete with budget monitors from several years ago instead of the more feature-rich budget monitors sold today.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Features & Menu
A glance at the Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G monitor’s spec sheet provides reason for optimism. The monitor has a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution at a refresh rate up to 165Hz, and Adaptive Sync is supported. The monitor also has an aggressive and noticeable 1500R curve that will appeal to fans of curved displays.
Connectivity is a win and, for some, may end up the monitor’s most attractive feature. The 32-inch Zero-G has two DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0 ports. It’s unusual to see four video inputs in any budget monitor. Most make do with one DisplayPort and one HDMI.
The 32-inch Zero-G lacks USB, however, so it can’t act as a USB hub for connecting wired peripherals. This is common in the category although a few alternatives, such as Gigabyte’s G32QC, offer a pair of USB-A ports.
Monoprice relies on an old-school arrangement of physical buttons to summon and control the on-screen menu. The buttons are easy to find thanks to a downward-facing LED on the power button that helps you stay oriented. The menus, however, are a bit of a mess. They’re awkwardly laid out and don’t offer quick, immediate access to many common features, such as contrast adjustments.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Gaming Performance
The Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G does not impress with its design and features. You may forgive it once you launch a game, however, because the monitor’s image quality is good for the price.
This monitor uses a VA panel and, like most monitors of its type, the 32-inch Zero-G has a strong contrast ratio and good performance in dark, shadowy scenes. Admiring the beautiful, dark vistas of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker’s last zone made this advantage obvious, providing a sense of depth and atmosphere lacking on TN and IPS monitors.
Color performance is a highlight. Though not perfect, the monitor had great overall color accuracy and scored well in both color temperature and gamma testing. The vivid visuals of Halo Infinite stood out on the 32-inch Zero-G. This is helped by the monitor’s maximum sustained brightness of nearly 350 nits, a strong result for a budget monitor, and one that adds visual punch to games.
This is not a wide-gamut monitor, which means the color gamut does not cover a wide swath of DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB (I measured 92 and 86%, respectively). This can be a perk in games, however, because most are designed to target only the sRGB color gamut. Gaming monitors with wide gamut support can appear oversaturated, with a neon quality to bright colors, if they lack a well-implemented sRGB mode.
Image clarity is okay. 2,560 x 1,440 resolution on a 32-inch display equals 92 pixels per inch, which sits roughly between the sharpness of a 24-inch 1080p monitor and a 27-inch 1440p monitor. It looks fine in most situations but lacks the tack-sharp look you’d enjoy on a more expensive 4K monitor. This can be a problem in games with mediocre anti-aliasing, such as the Forza Horizon series and Final Fantasy XIV.
I noticed moderate backlight uniformity issues along the top edge of my review display. Two pillars of light were obvious in pitch-black scenes when viewed in a darkened room. This issue is common to gaming monitors, however, and the Monoprice is above-average for the price.
HDR is supported, though Monoprice does not advertise the feature on its website. That’s for the best. The monitor’s brightness, while good for a budget monitor, is not enough to do HDR justice. This is also true of the competition. You can’t expect good HDR from any monitor sold below $500.
On balance, the Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G manages to punch above its budget billing. The monitor’s good contrast, solid color performance, decent sharpness, and lack of serious flaws make it a solid performer. It’s especially appealing to gamers who play darker games, like Diablo II: Resurrected or the Resident Evil series. These games can look dull and washed out on budget IPS monitors.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Console Gaming Performance
The Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G is not designed for console gaming. 1440p resolution is a bad match for most consoles, as only the Xbox Series X|S support it. Even then, not all games will output at 1440p resolution. The monitor’s subpar HDR also takes away from the appeal of pairing it with a modern game console.
You will be able to enjoy high-refresh gaming on a compatible console, at least, since the HDMI ports support refresh rates up to 144Hz.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Motion Performance
On paper, the Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G seems to offer strong motion performance. It has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz (144Hz over HDMI) and supports Adaptive Sync which, in my testing, worked well with both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync. Yet there is a familiar flaw that holds the 32-inch Zero-G back: motion smear behind dark objects.
The problem extends beyond fast objects or quick camera pans. The Dust Bunny, a minion in Final Fantasy XIV that’s essentially a ball of black fluff, caused a slight smear by merely strolling across the screen. I also noticed the issue in the strategy game Slipways. Individual planets, which contrast against a lighter galactic background, smeared as I panned across my empire.
This problem is common to budget VA monitors, so it’s not a shock to see it on the Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G. Still, players who enjoy competitive action games should look elsewhere. You’ll miss details while panning the camera quickly and when dark objects move across your field of view.
Monoprice attempts to combat this with an MRPT feature that strobes the backlight to reduce motion blur. It provides some improvement, but MPRT has the side effect of dimming the display, and the 32-inch Zero-G is not bright enough to overcome this problem. Most people will find the display too dim when the MRPT feature is turned on.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – Day-to-day Performance
A 32-inch monitor can serve as a decent substitute for a television if you live in a small apartment, and the Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G is well suited for multi-device use. The monitor’s good contrast and dark scene performance lends itself better to Netflix than an IPS alternative. Just make sure your input device of choice supports 1440p resolution, as many do not.
The 32-inch Zero-G’s reasonably accurate image quality means you can edit images or videos with a reasonable expectation that the results will look good on other displays.
However, the monitor’s 1440p resolution can look grainy when using Word, Excel, or even browsing the web. I also noticed issues with color bleed across fine fonts, such as a yellow hue appearing between black text shown on a white background.
The stand is another limitation. The lack of support for 100mm x 100mm VESA mounting limits your options for arms or wall-mounting. It’s possible, to be clear, but needlessly complicated compared to monitors that support the more typical 100mm x 100mm VESA mount.
Monoprice 32-inch Zero-G – The Competition
Budget monitors compete ferociously on price. Gigabyte’s G32QC is currently on sale for $319.99 on Amazon and offers more value thanks to its height-adjustable stand and more attractive look. Dell’s S3222DGM also has a height-adjustable stand and is currently sold for $299.99. Both use a VA panel with 1440p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3FQf8YM
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