HP Omen Transcend 32 evaluation: almost a perfect 10

HP Omen Transcend 32

MSRP $1,300.00

“The HP Omen Transcend 32 is a lovely show that goes far past being one other OLED monitor.”

Pros

• Fantastic colour high quality
• Multi-purpose KVM swap
• Up to 140W of energy supply
• Robust on-screen show
• High peak HDR brightness

Cons

• Massive energy brick
• Poor cable administration resolution

I’ve to work backward for this evaluation. The Omen Transcend 32 is without doubt one of the best gaming monitors you should purchase, however I had some fairly damaging first impressions of the show. An ungodly giant energy brick, a maximalist method to options, and a few weak SDR brightness turned me off to the monitor. But over my time utilizing the Omen Transcend 32, it’s reworked into my favourite QD-OLED monitor.

That isn’t because of the picture high quality — positive, it could possibly go toe-to-toe with one other of the top OLED monitors. But actually, it’s the eye to element that HP paid not solely to avid gamers but additionally creators, with this show, and the lengthy record of options that go far past what the competitors is providing.

HP Omen Transcend 32 specs

Design

There are a number of displays packing this identical QD-OLED panel, however you received’t mistake the Omen Transcend 32 for one more show. It’s very distinctive, due in no small half to its white end. Looking on the show brings again how I felt wanting on the Alienware 34 QD-OLED for the primary time — this monitor is totally different, at the very least visually.

The white significantly stands out with the sq. RGB bias gentle on the again of the monitor, which you’ll be able to modify via the menu. There are static and customized colours, but additionally respiration and colour biking results. It’s giant and really vivid, which is greater than I can say for the weaker bias lighting on most gaming displays.

Although the white seems to be nice, I don’t love how far it extends. The white backing comes all the method as much as the sting of the show, leaving a skinny white strip across the borders of the display. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it surely was a little distracting at first.

Elsewhere, issues aren’t as rosy. For starters, the stand. It’s a slim design with first rate room for adjustment, together with 90 levels of pivot and 25 levels of tilt, however no swivel. I can reside with that contemplating there’s a 100mm x 100mm VESA mount by way of a bracket HP contains. My larger subject is cable administration and one insane energy brick.

For cable administration, HP took the identical method as Samsung did with the Odyssey Neo G8. Instead of a channel operating via the stand, you get a small hook to run your cables via behind the monitor. It’s not one of the best resolution, and also you’ll most likely be left with some cable bulk. A correct routing channel helps clear up the mess, particularly with HP’s back-facing inputs.

That’s a quibble, however the energy brick is a criticism. HP contains a 480W energy adapter within the field. It’s the most important energy adapter I’ve ever seen — no, not the most important for a monitor, the most important interval. It’s larger than a Mac mini, simply the brick, and with cables thick sufficient that you just’d suppose you’re plugging in one thing like a server.

Features

At the very least, HP places that large energy brick to good use. I’ve by no means seen a monitor that has extra energy flowing via it. The spotlight is a USB-C enter with 140W of energy supply — displays just like the MSI MPG321URX prime out at 90W — however HP goes additional. There are a ton of USB ports, and all of them have some energy supply. You get 7.5W on the USB-A ports and 15W on every of the USB-C ports, minus the USB-C port that helps as much as 140W.

Although 90W is lots for many circumstances, it is smart that HP would go as much as 140W on the Omen Transcend 32. Its Omen Transcend 14 gaming laptop makes use of a 140W USB-C charger, as do different skinny and lightweight laptops with a discrete GPU. With the Omen Transcend 32, you’ll really have the ability to hook up one thing like that and preserve the battery topped off solely from the show.

The extra thrilling inclusion is the KVM swap, or as HP calls it, Omen Gear Switch. The branding is definitely fairly vital as a result of this isn’t just a few customary KVM. You can independently management each USB port and switch it between one among two inputs. You may select your two inputs, so that you’re not locked to 2 particular forms of inputs.

If that wasn’t sufficient, you may even switch recordsdata between two PCs on separate inputs when you’ve got the Omen Gaming Hub software program put in. The energy brick may really feel like a literal brick, completely, however HP is doing a lot contained in the Omen Transcend 32. Add on prime of that separate menus for Gaming and Professional modes — extra on that within the subsequent part — and you’ve got a show that looks like two displays in a single, much more so than twin refresh charge shows like Alienware AW2725QF.

With HP’s maximalist method, it shouldn’t come as a shock that you just get audio system within the Omen Transcend 32, however even these are cranked up. You get a quad-speaker array, every drawing as much as 3W. They’re actually higher than most monitor audio system, each time they really present up, however the high quality lags behind even an inexpensive Bluetooth speaker. That’s not a slight in opposition to HP — that’s simply the character of the beast with monitor audio system.

You additionally get picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes, and with a number of totally different layouts for every. You can really see these totally different layouts within the menu, so that you don’t need to cycle via the totally different choices to see what you’re after.

Ports and menu

HP says it redesigned the on-screen show (OSD) for the Omen Transcend 32, and my lord, does it present. This is one of the best OSD I’ve ever used. No “most likely,” no “one among.” This is one of the best one. It’s large and high-resolution, and with choices specified by such a method that it looks like a desktop utility. It’s so inviting that it feels just like the OSD lacks sure settings, however after I poked round deep sufficient, I discovered nearly the whole lot.

You have customized image modes with RGB main changes, the power to activate or off the lossless Display Stream Compression (DSC), and above all, two totally different monitor modes. The Omen Transcend 32 has two separate menus — one for Professional mode and one for Gaming mode. The fundamental distinction between the 2 modes is the image profile. The Professional mode has profiles that clamp the colour to paint areas like DCI-P3 or sRGB, whereas the Gaming mode has a extra conventional slate of image modes for watching motion pictures or taking part in sure genres of video games.

There are a few different minor variations. The shortcuts for every mode are totally different, for instance, with Gaming mode exhibiting options just like the on-screen crosshair and Professional mode providing up picture-by-picture. Those aren’t as vital to me, although. What I really like about this setup is which you could basically have two presets operating on the monitor without delay — one for gaming and one other for any skilled work.

The Professional mode has some distinctive settings, too, together with totally different HDR clipping ranges and an computerized colour house swap with macOS. I don’t suppose a lot of Mac customers are available in the market for a gaming monitor like this, but it surely’s nice that the monitor can routinely swap to totally different colour areas as you’re working.

My solely criticism is definitely controlling the OSD. The OSD itself is unbelievable, however HP places the four-way joystick on the fitting facet of the monitor, and you must hunt for it a bit every time and slowly click on via the choices. A distant, and even a centered joystick, would go a great distance in making the wonderful OSD shine.

The port facet of issues is equally as thrilling, not solely because of the USB-C enter with 140W of energy supply, but additionally DisplayPort 2.1. There are solely a handful of displays, just like the Sony InZone M10S, which have DisplayPort 2.1. You don’t want it for this show, technically, although it’s good to see contemplating you may flip off DSC.

Image high quality

I’ve seen this panel earlier than from MSI, Alienware, and Asus with the ROG Swift 32 QD-OLED. And identical to these displays, the Omen Transcend 32 is gorgeous, significantly on the colour entrance. The manufacturing unit calibration isn’t one of the best I’ve seen in sRGB, but it surely’s nonetheless superb, and a little calibration goes a lengthy technique to get it in a higher spot.

Starting with colour protection, this third-gen QD-OLED panel from Samsung Display is unmatched. The gamut is very large, above 90% even in AdobeRGB, and the truth that you may clamp the show to varied colour areas is big. This is a nice gaming monitor, however in contrast to its rivals, it’s additionally a nice productiveness monitor.

That’s because of the cautious consideration HP positioned on the Professional mode, not solely with totally different colour areas but additionally options like downstream RGB adjustment to match the show to a reference monitor, and fast controls to drive HDR on or off within the OSD. You might use this monitor in manufacturing, and that’s greater than I can say for many OLED gaming shows.

I might suggest calibrating it, although. Out of the field, the calibration is simply a bit off measured in opposition to sRGB with a colour error of a little over 1. That’s certainly not a unhealthy end result — it’s completely usable for fundamental picture and video enhancing — however I’ve seen this panel put up higher outcomes out of the field earlier than, significantly on the Alienware 32 QD-OLED.

Thankfully, even some fundamental, cheap calibration such as you’ll discover with a SpyderX is sufficient to take the colour accuracy beneath a colour error of 1. That’s unbelievable, and it really works completely with the creator focus that HP has taken with the Omen Transcend 32.

Brightness is a totally different story. Although QD-OLED has clearly come out forward this technology in colour protection and accuracy, WOLED panels such as you’ll discover on the LG UltraGear Dual Mode OLED win the brightness conflict. That’s true for peak HDR brightness and likewise customary SDR brightness. It’s not a mark in opposition to the Omen Transcend 32 — it nonetheless will get lots vivid, and all QD-OLED choices have decrease brightness — but it surely’s one thing to remember.

In SDR, you’re topping out proper at 250 nits, which is the the identical stage I’ve seen different third-gen QD-OLED panels attain; and likewise the quantity that HP quotes. Higher SDR brightness would assist the Omen Transcend 32 fight reflections, particularly with its shiny coating, however that’s simply not one thing now we have with QD-OLED this technology.

That carries over into HDR, as properly. You’re getting peak brightness simply a contact beneath 1,000 nits, which is predicted from this panel, which drops off to close 500 nits when you get to a 10% window. Sure, WOLED could also be brighter this technology, however I’m simply effective looking at 1,000-nit highlights.

Gaming

Games look unimaginable on the Omen Transcend 32, which actually shouldn’t come as a shock. Part of the look is the perfect black ranges that OLED gives, positive, but it surely’s additionally the shiny coating on the show. In a darkish room with the shades pulled, colours simply fly off of the display.

Like any gaming monitor price its weight, the Omen Transcend 32 has a slew of certifications. You get variable refresh charge throughout the board, with badges for Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync, and VESA AdaptiveSync, in addition to VESA’s ClearMR 13000, exhibiting how a lot the 240Hz refresh charge and 0.03ms response time does for movement readability.

The huge query for avid gamers is if you’d like this QD-OLED show or one of many numerous twin refresh charge OLEDs we’ve seen just like the ROG Swift PG32UCDP. That monitor, and others utilizing the identical panel, have higher brightness and include a speedy 480Hz refresh charge at 1080p must you need it. Still, I’m a fan of QD-OLED.

Some of that’s a bias towards extra cinematic single-player video games, completely, but it surely’s actually arduous to beat the colours of the Omen Transcend 32. It simply seems to be jaw-dropping in video games like Silent Hill 2, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Cyberpunk 2077. And for all however essentially the most aggressive avid gamers, a 240Hz refresh charge with the low response instances of OLED is greater than sufficient.

Warranty and burn-in

Almost perfect

I might usually begin to chip away on the options and extras in a show just like the Omen Transcend 32, asking in the event that they’re actually price it to the typical purchaser. There’s a lot occurring in a monitor like this, and oftentimes, trimming the fats results in a extra fairly priced show with a particular focus. What’s nice is that I don’t must do these psychological gymnastics with the Omen Transcend 32.

It clocks in at $1,300, which is $100 greater than the Alienware model and the identical worth because the Asus model. MSI’s take is $950 — and nonetheless my suggestion for most individuals on this panel — however HP is doing an terrible lot to justify the $1,300 price ticket right here. Not solely are you getting options like 140W of energy supply, an in-depth KVM swap, and integrations with macOS, you’re additionally getting the unbelievable Professional and Gaming mode dynamic that I’ve gushed about on this evaluation.

Make no mistake — that is a maximalist show. One of the opposite QD-OLED choices is best should you’re, for instance, primarily centered on gaming, assuming you discover a type of choices at a lower cost. For those who even need to toy round with the additional options, although, the Omen Transcend 32 is a slam dunk.