The Pro Display XDR: A Monitor Like No Other

I have to say, I've seen some impressive monitors in my time, but the Pro Display XDR takes the cake. It's an absolute beast of a display that sets a new standard for what we can expect from a monitor. The minute I unboxed this thing, I knew I was in for a treat. Watching HDR samples on this display was like nothing I've ever experienced before. The color accuracy is incredible, with 99% of the DCI-P3 and 89% of the REC 2020 color space on offer. But what really sets it apart is the contrast ratio. With true HDR content, this display can reach a staggering 2,000 peak nits of brightness, making it perfect for gaming and other applications where high-contrast visuals are essential.

But the Pro Display XDR isn't just about raw brightness; it's also a masterclass in design. The build quality is exceptional, with a sturdy frame that looks almost industrial in its simplicity. And yet, despite its rugged appearance, this display still manages to look sleek and modern. I have to admit, I was a bit taken aback by the thickness of these monitors. With peak brightness figures like these, they need some serious ventilation to keep things cool, and that results in a design that's more chunky than slender.

Of course, the Pro Display XDR is not alone in its impressive credentials. We've also got the Asus ProArt series, which includes two models - the PA27UCX-K and the PA32UCX-PK. These mini-LED monitors offer 1,000 and 1,200 peak nits of brightness respectively, making them Dolby Vision HDR and DisplayHDR 1000 compatible. They also boast impressive color coverage, with 99% of the DCI-P3 and 89% of the REC 2020 color space on offer. Watching HDR samples on these displays was a real treat, and I have to say, they're some of the best monitors I've ever seen.

But what really sets these Asus monitors apart is their value proposition. At under $1,000, they offer an incredible amount of bang for your buck. And with Thunderbolt support, you can connect them to just about any device that matters. The Dell UltraSharp, which we also reviewed earlier, offers similar performance at a slightly higher price point. But overall, I think the Asus ProArt series is an unbeatable value.

LG, Sony, Vizio, and Samsung all offer HDR TVs with impressive brightness figures and color accuracy. However, having true HDR support amongst the majority of devices is still a long way off. But with manufacturers like Sony offering HDR-compatible Android TVs that can reach peak brightness figures of over 1,000 nits, it's clear that we're getting closer.

My personal TV, on the other hand, is the Sony X950G. It's not an OLED, but I've absolutely fallen in love with it. The display is stunning, with Dolby Vision support and peak brightness figures that can reach over 1,000 nits. And with Android TV, I have complete freedom to watch whatever content I want, without having to worry about compatibility issues.

LG's OLED line of TVs offers a slightly different experience, with peak brightness figures lower than my Sony. However, their OLED panels offer exceptional color accuracy and contrast ratio. Vizio's Quantum line, on the other hand, offers impressive HDR performance and peak brightness figures that can reach over 3,000 nits.

Ultimately, having true HDR support amongst the majority of devices is still a long way off. But with manufacturers like Sony, LG, Vizio, and Samsung offering impressive HDR TVs at affordable price points, it's clear that we're making progress.

If you're interested in checking out any of these devices or video samples, make sure to click on the links in the description below. And if you found this video helpful, be sure to give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing for future content like this.

Top Picks:

* Sony X950G (TV)

* LG OLED TVs (TV)

* Vizio Quantum X (TV)

* Samsung QLED TVs (TV)

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys smiles here with nine five mack and let's have a chat about hdr hdr if you didn't know stands for high dynamic range and hdr is essentially imaging technology that results in an image with enhanced brightness levels color detail and a generally speaking more true-to-life image this hdr symbol is probably something you've seen in a bunch of places on your tv on your phone or maybe on the box of the ps5 on ebay that you refuse to pay a thousand bucks for or maybe you did either way this symbol truly does vary in significance depending on the flavor of hdr and it can kind of be confusing so if you want to know more about what sets the different hdr standards apart you should check out quinn from snazzylabs here's a great explainer video that i'll link in the description below this video is all about dolby vision hdr hdr 10 plus and display hdr 1000 which are really the true hdr standards that provide the full experience this includes being able to hit that mega brite a thousand plus peaking it's a brightness and having that rich 10 or 12 bit color and those numbers may seem a bit arbitrary to you but just for comparison most displays only have 350 to 500 peak nits of brightness and likely only support 8-bit color but we're going to talk about what devices you can use to watch true hdr content on from smartphones to televisions and what you can use to shoot hdr content so let's start with the iphone the current iphone is one of the most unique devices on planet earth as far as hdr goes because it can both shoot and view native dolby vision hdr video which in the grand scheme of things is really freaking cool the iphone 11 pro supports viewing dolby vision hdr video but can't shoot video in hdr the iphone 12 series of phones can do both and this video clip right here is probably the best example of a really nice practical use case scenario for hdr video if you see how the sun is behind me but my face remains properly exposed even as i spin around the super bright sun has a definite shape and can be clearly seen while my face is lit at an appropriate level this is the power of an insanely high contrast ratio making it possible to achieve a lifelike image like this once you're done shooting your video on the iphone when you play it back you're going to notice the iphone's display immediately getting brighter this is the iphone turning up the brightness to support those really high peak brightness levels if you're watching this video on an iphone with an hdr capable display then i'm sure you notice your brightness going up when clicking on this video this is true hdr in action for now youtube is one of the only online video sharing platforms that allows for true hdr content playback instagram twitter facebook snapchat none of these platforms have support for hdr video just yet but i don't think it would be that huge of a challenge to get that up and running in the next year so especially now that the iphone supports hdr content on both ends of the spectrum just give it time so if you want a smartphone that can both shoot and playback hdr content the iphone 12s at least of now is the only smartphone that will do so but i'm sure if samsung or sony have anything to say about it that probably won't be the case for too long the video you're watching right now is being shot on the canon eos r5 which is one of several prosimer cameras that can shoot hdr video this camera shoots video in hdr pq which stands for perceptual quantizer and i don't know what that means but i do know that hdrpq uses an entirely different color space than standard sdr video so if you're not watching this content on an hdr compatible display there's a chance that the image could look very weird depending on what device you're using to watch this there are other cameras like the sony a7s iii that shoot hdr video in the form of hlg which stands for hybrid log gamma i also don't know what that means but i do know that hog video is much more friendly with being displayed on standard sdr displays than hdrpq so if you're looking for an hdr capable video camera that has the best compatibility with platforms that aren't quite ready for hdr then an hog capable camera like one of sony's mirrorless cameras is probably the right move for you and if the iphone being hdr capable wasn't any indication you don't need a crazy expensive cinema camera to dip your toes into hdr video cameras like the 1300 sony a600 can shoot hdr video in the form of hlg an hlg as an hdr standard doesn't really compare to hdrpq but it's still noticeably more vibrant and lifelike than standard sdr video now here's the most fun part for me which is going over standalone hdr displays televisions and computer monitors are both in a different place as far as true hdr content support is concerned but let's talk about monitors first there are very few and i mean very few options as far as a computer monitor with both dolby vision hdr and or display hdr 1000 support especially under the five figure price point the most notable option for mac users has been the pro display xdr this monitor for everything that it's capable of is honestly a pretty good deal there are pretty much no other displays that offer the same display quality and peak brightness for the same price or less and that's why a lot of your favorite tech youtubers are using one of these even though we're pretty much the only tech channel shooting the majority of our videos in hdr but it's a fantastic display it's just freaking expensive which is why i don't have one but there are slightly lower cost alternatives that offer a lot of the same features that the pro display xdr does the first of which being this display from dell and i could do an entire dedicated video on this display but this is the dell up3221q and it's an hdr display with a thousand peak nits of brightness and 2 000 mini led backlighting zones making it a world's first in that regard the color coverage this display has to offer is just bonkers you're getting nearly a hundred percent coverage of the dci p3 color space 93 of adobe rgb and 83 of rec 2020 and not only that but it's got a built-in colorometer take a look at this this means you can calibrate the display's color without any external devices which is really cool and it's also just really cool to use a monitor with moving parts i think it's really cool how they decided to build this into the display in comparison to the pro display xdr this monitor has a really useful and diverse set of i o from thunderbolt 3 to audio out having a monitor like this should eliminate the need for usb hub for a lot of people and mini led technology isn't exactly as impressive as oled or micro led but overall this monitor for the price is pretty great it's most definitely not cheap though it's five thousand dollars but the stand which is perfectly fine by the way is included if money was no object i'd probably just stick with the pro display xdr just because i honestly dig the glossy finish but this is one of the best alternatives for an hdr monitor to the pro display xdr and just one of the best monitors i've ever seen like period in my life it's great there's also the asus pro art series of monitors we've got two models here the pa27ucx-k and the pa32ucx-pk these are both mini led monitors with a thousand and twelve hundred peak nits of brightness respectively meaning that these are both dolby vision hdr and display hdr 1000 compatible and just like the dell monitor from earlier these displays are fantastic color coverage is great as well you're getting 99 of the dci p3 and 89 of the rec 2020 color space the very first thing i did when i unboxed these displays was watch a bunch of hdr samples and man i had a fun time and these aren't high refresh rate displays they're only 60hz panels but hdr gaming is a thing and you can definitely tell the difference forza horizon 4 is a racing game that i play it's hdr compatible and this is the perfect game to demonstrate the power of the insane contrast ratio you're getting with true hdr content it's really cool to see my huracan performante shoot flames at 2 000 peak nits of brightness and this is not really a nitpick or something that really matters to me but i will say that these are some of the thickest monitors i've ever seen because i believe that these need that ventilation solution to deal with all that heat buildup that comes from sustaining those crazy high brightness figures and just like the dell display these monitors have a really healthy set of i o plenty of display and data ports for the average prosumer or professional overall neither the dell ultra sharp or these pro are displays are as aesthetically attractive as the pro display xdr it's just something about that glossy finish but they offer a really great package deal for handling hdr footage with thunderbolt support at a reasonably cheaper price point stands included with the asus monitors by the way these are three monitors out of maybe five or six under the five figure price point so we've still got a long way to go before a thousand plus peak brightness displays are commonplace getting a television with true hdr support is much easier to get into as far as cost and there are a lot more options for real hdr tvs than there are monitors if you've heard of lg sony vizio and samsung they all have tvs with hdr 10 plus and or dolby vision support and i'll leave a list of my top picks below for each brand but my personal tv is the sony x950g it's not an oled but i freaking love this tv runs android tv so i have complete freedom as far as how i watch my content and this tv has all the hdr support you need with dolby vision compatibility and well over a thousand peak nits of brightness this tv can get really really bright and the colors are amazing i bought this tv at the start of quarantining and i wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it or not but i have absolutely zero regrets i can watch my 9-5 content on 65 inches of hdr gloriousness lg's got their oled line of televisions that don't get quite as bright as my sony because it's an oled panel but all their oled tvs have dolby vision support and it still looks really freaking good vizio's got their quantum line of tvs that support dolby vision hdr and their highest end model can reach an eye searing 3 000 bits of peak brightness which is absolute madness and then samsung's got their q line of tvs that unfortunately only support hdr 10 plus for whatever reason samsung is boycotting dolby vision but their tvs offer solid hdr performance and can get sufficiently bright as well but yeah there's a healthy amount of options for true hdr tvs under the 1500 price point and it'll only go down from here the biggest thing to take away is that having true hdr support amongst the majority of devices is still a long ways away but it's slowly but surely making its way to more devices from our cameras to our computer monitors hopefully in five years time displays with a thousand peak nits of brightness are common and hdr video will look perfectly fine on your favorite social media platforms and everywhere else you watch videos i think it's only a matter of time if you're interested in checking out any of the devices i talked about in this video or the video samples seen in this video make sure to click the link in the description below the asus the dell monitors all of it will be linked down below and if you found this video helpful make sure to give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing for future content like this thank you all for watching and i'll talk to you guys in the next one youwhat's up guys smiles here with nine five mack and let's have a chat about hdr hdr if you didn't know stands for high dynamic range and hdr is essentially imaging technology that results in an image with enhanced brightness levels color detail and a generally speaking more true-to-life image this hdr symbol is probably something you've seen in a bunch of places on your tv on your phone or maybe on the box of the ps5 on ebay that you refuse to pay a thousand bucks for or maybe you did either way this symbol truly does vary in significance depending on the flavor of hdr and it can kind of be confusing so if you want to know more about what sets the different hdr standards apart you should check out quinn from snazzylabs here's a great explainer video that i'll link in the description below this video is all about dolby vision hdr hdr 10 plus and display hdr 1000 which are really the true hdr standards that provide the full experience this includes being able to hit that mega brite a thousand plus peaking it's a brightness and having that rich 10 or 12 bit color and those numbers may seem a bit arbitrary to you but just for comparison most displays only have 350 to 500 peak nits of brightness and likely only support 8-bit color but we're going to talk about what devices you can use to watch true hdr content on from smartphones to televisions and what you can use to shoot hdr content so let's start with the iphone the current iphone is one of the most unique devices on planet earth as far as hdr goes because it can both shoot and view native dolby vision hdr video which in the grand scheme of things is really freaking cool the iphone 11 pro supports viewing dolby vision hdr video but can't shoot video in hdr the iphone 12 series of phones can do both and this video clip right here is probably the best example of a really nice practical use case scenario for hdr video if you see how the sun is behind me but my face remains properly exposed even as i spin around the super bright sun has a definite shape and can be clearly seen while my face is lit at an appropriate level this is the power of an insanely high contrast ratio making it possible to achieve a lifelike image like this once you're done shooting your video on the iphone when you play it back you're going to notice the iphone's display immediately getting brighter this is the iphone turning up the brightness to support those really high peak brightness levels if you're watching this video on an iphone with an hdr capable display then i'm sure you notice your brightness going up when clicking on this video this is true hdr in action for now youtube is one of the only online video sharing platforms that allows for true hdr content playback instagram twitter facebook snapchat none of these platforms have support for hdr video just yet but i don't think it would be that huge of a challenge to get that up and running in the next year so especially now that the iphone supports hdr content on both ends of the spectrum just give it time so if you want a smartphone that can both shoot and playback hdr content the iphone 12s at least of now is the only smartphone that will do so but i'm sure if samsung or sony have anything to say about it that probably won't be the case for too long the video you're watching right now is being shot on the canon eos r5 which is one of several prosimer cameras that can shoot hdr video this camera shoots video in hdr pq which stands for perceptual quantizer and i don't know what that means but i do know that hdrpq uses an entirely different color space than standard sdr video so if you're not watching this content on an hdr compatible display there's a chance that the image could look very weird depending on what device you're using to watch this there are other cameras like the sony a7s iii that shoot hdr video in the form of hlg which stands for hybrid log gamma i also don't know what that means but i do know that hog video is much more friendly with being displayed on standard sdr displays than hdrpq so if you're looking for an hdr capable video camera that has the best compatibility with platforms that aren't quite ready for hdr then an hog capable camera like one of sony's mirrorless cameras is probably the right move for you and if the iphone being hdr capable wasn't any indication you don't need a crazy expensive cinema camera to dip your toes into hdr video cameras like the 1300 sony a600 can shoot hdr video in the form of hlg an hlg as an hdr standard doesn't really compare to hdrpq but it's still noticeably more vibrant and lifelike than standard sdr video now here's the most fun part for me which is going over standalone hdr displays televisions and computer monitors are both in a different place as far as true hdr content support is concerned but let's talk about monitors first there are very few and i mean very few options as far as a computer monitor with both dolby vision hdr and or display hdr 1000 support especially under the five figure price point the most notable option for mac users has been the pro display xdr this monitor for everything that it's capable of is honestly a pretty good deal there are pretty much no other displays that offer the same display quality and peak brightness for the same price or less and that's why a lot of your favorite tech youtubers are using one of these even though we're pretty much the only tech channel shooting the majority of our videos in hdr but it's a fantastic display it's just freaking expensive which is why i don't have one but there are slightly lower cost alternatives that offer a lot of the same features that the pro display xdr does the first of which being this display from dell and i could do an entire dedicated video on this display but this is the dell up3221q and it's an hdr display with a thousand peak nits of brightness and 2 000 mini led backlighting zones making it a world's first in that regard the color coverage this display has to offer is just bonkers you're getting nearly a hundred percent coverage of the dci p3 color space 93 of adobe rgb and 83 of rec 2020 and not only that but it's got a built-in colorometer take a look at this this means you can calibrate the display's color without any external devices which is really cool and it's also just really cool to use a monitor with moving parts i think it's really cool how they decided to build this into the display in comparison to the pro display xdr this monitor has a really useful and diverse set of i o from thunderbolt 3 to audio out having a monitor like this should eliminate the need for usb hub for a lot of people and mini led technology isn't exactly as impressive as oled or micro led but overall this monitor for the price is pretty great it's most definitely not cheap though it's five thousand dollars but the stand which is perfectly fine by the way is included if money was no object i'd probably just stick with the pro display xdr just because i honestly dig the glossy finish but this is one of the best alternatives for an hdr monitor to the pro display xdr and just one of the best monitors i've ever seen like period in my life it's great there's also the asus pro art series of monitors we've got two models here the pa27ucx-k and the pa32ucx-pk these are both mini led monitors with a thousand and twelve hundred peak nits of brightness respectively meaning that these are both dolby vision hdr and display hdr 1000 compatible and just like the dell monitor from earlier these displays are fantastic color coverage is great as well you're getting 99 of the dci p3 and 89 of the rec 2020 color space the very first thing i did when i unboxed these displays was watch a bunch of hdr samples and man i had a fun time and these aren't high refresh rate displays they're only 60hz panels but hdr gaming is a thing and you can definitely tell the difference forza horizon 4 is a racing game that i play it's hdr compatible and this is the perfect game to demonstrate the power of the insane contrast ratio you're getting with true hdr content it's really cool to see my huracan performante shoot flames at 2 000 peak nits of brightness and this is not really a nitpick or something that really matters to me but i will say that these are some of the thickest monitors i've ever seen because i believe that these need that ventilation solution to deal with all that heat buildup that comes from sustaining those crazy high brightness figures and just like the dell display these monitors have a really healthy set of i o plenty of display and data ports for the average prosumer or professional overall neither the dell ultra sharp or these pro are displays are as aesthetically attractive as the pro display xdr it's just something about that glossy finish but they offer a really great package deal for handling hdr footage with thunderbolt support at a reasonably cheaper price point stands included with the asus monitors by the way these are three monitors out of maybe five or six under the five figure price point so we've still got a long way to go before a thousand plus peak brightness displays are commonplace getting a television with true hdr support is much easier to get into as far as cost and there are a lot more options for real hdr tvs than there are monitors if you've heard of lg sony vizio and samsung they all have tvs with hdr 10 plus and or dolby vision support and i'll leave a list of my top picks below for each brand but my personal tv is the sony x950g it's not an oled but i freaking love this tv runs android tv so i have complete freedom as far as how i watch my content and this tv has all the hdr support you need with dolby vision compatibility and well over a thousand peak nits of brightness this tv can get really really bright and the colors are amazing i bought this tv at the start of quarantining and i wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it or not but i have absolutely zero regrets i can watch my 9-5 content on 65 inches of hdr gloriousness lg's got their oled line of televisions that don't get quite as bright as my sony because it's an oled panel but all their oled tvs have dolby vision support and it still looks really freaking good vizio's got their quantum line of tvs that support dolby vision hdr and their highest end model can reach an eye searing 3 000 bits of peak brightness which is absolute madness and then samsung's got their q line of tvs that unfortunately only support hdr 10 plus for whatever reason samsung is boycotting dolby vision but their tvs offer solid hdr performance and can get sufficiently bright as well but yeah there's a healthy amount of options for true hdr tvs under the 1500 price point and it'll only go down from here the biggest thing to take away is that having true hdr support amongst the majority of devices is still a long ways away but it's slowly but surely making its way to more devices from our cameras to our computer monitors hopefully in five years time displays with a thousand peak nits of brightness are common and hdr video will look perfectly fine on your favorite social media platforms and everywhere else you watch videos i think it's only a matter of time if you're interested in checking out any of the devices i talked about in this video or the video samples seen in this video make sure to click the link in the description below the asus the dell monitors all of it will be linked down below and if you found this video helpful make sure to give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing for future content like this thank you all for watching and i'll talk to you guys in the next one you\n"