2015 was the year that 4K monitors, aka Ultra HD monitors, really hit the market. While last year brought the first wave of affordable TN-panel models, this year we saw a wider range of screen diagonals, panel technology and prices. Samsung recently introduced their second generation of UHD screens, and we took the opportunity to test the Samsung U24E590D and the Samsung U32E850R, two very different 4K monitors.

The two screens which we'll discuss in this review represent two very different parts of the market. The U32E850R is a high-end 32-inch screen with the kind of price that you'd expect from a model like that. It's comparable to the six models that we reviewed earlier. The U24E590D represents a group which will be mainstream in a couple of years: a 24-inch screen with a decent price, which combines the advantages of a high pixel density and a smaller format.

Of course, we've seen a 24-inch UHD screen before, the Dell UltraSharp UP2414Q, which reigned supreme in 2013, but that monitor was really targeted at a specific audience. Upon introduction, it cost 1500 Euros, and the software used at the time was not ready for the extremely high pixel density on a screen that size with that resolution. We noticed this problem in our first HiDPI compatibility investigation. Most software has since improved to be better suited to a very high pixel density, as you can see in the follow-up to that article.