When comparing Planar Helium PCT2785 vs HP Pavilion 32, the Slant community recommends Planar Helium PCT2785 for most people. In the question“What are the best monitors?” Planar Helium PCT2785 is ranked 30th while HP Pavilion 32 is ranked 34th. The most important reason people chose Planar Helium PCT2785 is:
The black levels are respectively low at 0.16cd/m², which helps the contrast ratio achieve 1100:1 which is much lower than the advertised 5000:1, but still quite good.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Decent black levels, good contrast ratio
The black levels are respectively low at 0.16cd/m², which helps the contrast ratio achieve 1100:1 which is much lower than the advertised 5000:1, but still quite good.
Pro Pretty fast response times make the system feel quick
The response time is 12ms, which isn't lightning fast, but it's still quick enough to make the system feel more responsive than cheaper monitors. While not fast enough for high-level gaming, this monitor won't make your system feel slow or unresponsive.
Pro 'Massive tablet' design is unique, and versitile
It really does look like a massive tablet with a kickstand - but that's not a bad thing. There's no stand visible, leaving the front looking very clean. The stand can angle anywhere from 15-70 degrees which allows for flexible use, or it can be folded in and used flat on the desk or even mounted using the VESA mounting holes.
Pro Built-in speakers, webcam, and mic
This monitor has many peripherals built-in, and unless you use them heavily they will do the job just fine. Unless you feel the need for dedicated hardware, the built-in stereo speakers work well enough, and the webcam and mic are acceptable quality for occasional recreational use (for business calls or other uses where quality is important, you'll want to upgrade to dedicated hardware).
Pro Suitable for media editing
The HP Pavilion 32 is a great tool for media artists, such as photo editors and web designers that work in the sRGB color space because the monitor can display the full range of sRGB colors accurately.
Pro Massive panel
The HP Pavilion 32 is an excellent option for multitaskers because its large, 32-inch 2560x1440 panel offers a lot of display real estate. The monitor's so big that you can, for example, split it into four equal parts, so that each of those would represent a separate 16-inch HD monitor.
Pro Decent connectivity
The HP Pavilion 32 can be used as a USB 2.0 hub because it has two USB downstream ports and a single upstream USB port. Using those ports, you can connect your computer to some stationary USB peripherals.
Additionally, you can use downstream USB ports for fast charging.
Pro Superb picture quality
Regarding its picture quality, the HP Pavilion 32 outperforms the overwhelming majority of monitors in its price range as it offers high native contrast ratio, decent peak brightness, and excellent color accuracy.
The monitor displays highly satisfying scenes, with blacks that are truly rich and deep, and colors that pop and look accurate. The monitor's dark scene performance is excellent as it's native contrast ratio of 3000:1 pushes its blacks to some highly intense levels. Colors appear vivid because the monitor's backlight can get up to 300 nits bright.
Moreover, the overall picture looks lifelike because the monitor doesn't have any noticeable problems with color accuracy.
Pro Good for mixed usage
In its price range, only a handful of other monitors can compete with the versatility of the HP Pavilion 32 because the monitor offers exceptional picture quality, excellent color accuracy, and great connectivity combined with a very generous amount of on-screen real estate.
Cons
Con Disappointing color accuracy
The MVA panel (multi-domain vertical alignment: in-between of TN and IPS technologies) doesn't reproduce colors very accurately. It scores just 82% of the sRGB color gamut, while other panels offer high 80s and even above 90%. This display's weakest points are with the green and cyan shades, while reds and blues appeared just fine.
Con Dim display
The display doesn't get very bright - at just 172cd/m² this panel is very dim. Many monitors can achieve 300cd/m² or higher brightnesses.
Con Takes much more power than similar monitors
Without using the ECO mode, this monitor requires about 50 watts to power it. This is double than other monitors. There are different levels of ECO modes, however these dim the display and barely get down to the power level of other monitors when they are all enabled.
Con Limited ergonomics
It's a bit of a hassle to adjust this monitor to your needs because you can only adjust its tilt. Unlike many other monitors in its price range, the HP Pavilion 32 does not have any options to adjust the height or swivel angle.
Con Lacks speakers
The HP Pavilion 32 does not have inbuilt speakers.
Con Bad for gaming
Gaming doesn't feel responsive or connected because of the monitor's input lag of 40.8 ms. Even in this price range, there are decent general purpose monitors that offer sub 10 ms input lag.