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Posted 20 hours ago

Gigabyte M28U 28 Inch SS IPS 4K/UHD (3840 x 2160) 144Hz FreeSync Premium Pro Gaming Monitor

£9.9£99Clearance
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About this deal

The Gigabyte M28U is one of the most affordable 4K 144Hz IPS gaming monitors with HDMI 2.1! Image Quality Further, the Gigabyte M28U HDMI 2.1 monitor has the new Eyesafe certification which guarantees reduced harmful low-blue light emission even when a dedicated low-blue filter mode is not applied. There was one thing that surprised me though - the spec sheet for this monitor (and online listings) do advertise it as having KVM functionality, and as such it has a USB Type C port. However, its listed signal input support is listed as being 1xDP1.4 with DSC and 2xHDMI2.1 (and a note for anyone buying, there are big asterisks around "HDMI 2.1" - it doesn't actually support 4K@144Hz 4:4:4; while I haven't tested myself, it will apparently have chroma subsampling over the HDMI ports!).

When I got the monitor though, I noticed the OSD has a 'Type C' input - and sure enough, I was able to connect my work machine and use it for video in addition to peripherals, so despite the fact it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere officially, this actually supports DP alt mode! The Gigabyte M28U also supports HDR (High Dynamic Range) and has VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification. When playing HDR content, the monitor gets a boost in peak brightness to ~400-nits for more vivid highlights. Note that the HDMI 2.1 ports of the monitor are limited to 24 Gbps and use DSC (Display Stream Compression) for 4K 144Hz 10-bit color 4:4:4. I've done a little testing of it, and there is one catch - it still can't do 4k@120Hz 4:4:4. It does 4k@60Hz 4:4:4, but when I ran it at 120Hz Chroma subsampling was definitely enabled. It still looked great and I would never have noticed without a test image (and even then, the pathological case text was still very much readable, just not totally sharp), but it does mean the only way to avoid chroma subsampling at the full refresh rate is to use DisplayPort (and that requires DSC to achieve the full 144Hz). At some point I would like to try and figure out at what refresh rate precisely the chroma subsampling is enabled, but I've yet to spend time on that.The screen has a matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections without making the image too grainy. At 144Hz, the overshoot isn’t really visible when using the ‘Off’ mode. However, at 60Hz, you will be able to notice it, but it’s tolerable. There are also advanced image adjustment tools available, including sharpness, gamma, color hue/saturation and color vibrance. This scaling issue is largely mitigated when gaming, at least. In those terms, the M28U is a superb size for pixel density and detail to shine through without overpowering the desktop, and next to my 32-inch monitor it feels far less imposing. If a little less immersive for it. FreeSync and HDMI 2.1 VRR are supported up to 144Hz (48-144Hz range) for tear-free gameplay. While the monitor is not certified as G-SYNC Compatible by NVIDIA, you can use VRR with compatible GeForce cards without issues.

While not mandatory for DisplayHDR 400 certification, the M28U also has localized dimming. However, there are only 8 zones that dim parts of the screen that needs to be dark. So, you’ll only see benefits from it when dark and bright objects are far apart.

The M28U delivers swift 4K gaming in an affordable package.

The real toss-up to consider before purchasing the M28U, then, is whether to buy a 4K, 16:9 panel or an ultrawide. The former has the pixel advantage, and you know your games will look incredibly detailed and crisp, but the latter may mitigate some of the performance load on your GPU while maintaining plenty of real estate for gaming and productivity. It's a tough call, and I think you can make a great case either way.

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