HP U28 Review: 4K IPS Professional Monitor With USB-C

The HP U28 is the ideal 4K IPS monitor for professional designers working with both sRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces – and who can also benefit from USB-C connectivity for laptop charging.

Image Quality

Based on an IPS panel, the HP U28 monitor delivers accurate, consistent and rich colors that won’t degrade at an angle thanks to the wide 178° viewing angles.

It’s also factory-calibrated (Delta E < 3) and features dedicated picture modes for different color spaces, whitepoint and gamma:

• Design for web (sRGB D65)
• Design for print (sRGB D50)
• Photography (DCI-P3 D65)
• HD video (Rec. 709)

This allows you to quickly and effortlessly swap between different modes, depending on your project, and you can also conveniently preview how your P3 image might look on a regular sRGB monitor, for instance.

The monitor covers 100% of the sRGB color space, while the DCI-P3 gamut coverage amounts to ~93%.

4K UHD resolution results in a high pixel density of 157 PPI (pixels per inch) on the 28″ screen of the HP U28, which means you’ll get plenty of screen real estate with sharp details and text.

Naturally, you’ll need to use at least 125% scaling in order to make small text readable, but this shouldn’t present an issue as most applications nowadays handle scaling just fine.

Other panel-related specifications include a 400-nit peak brightness (more than bright enough even in well-lit rooms), a standard 1,000:1 contrast ratio for IPS technology and 10-bit color depth support via dithering (8-bit + 2-bit FRC) for 1.07 billion colors.

Performance

While not intended for gamers, the HP U28 still offers a decent gaming experience. Its 4K UHD resolution and vibrant colors make for immersive image quality, though you will need a beefy GPU in order to get a decent frame rate in demanding titles.

The IPS panel also offers a decent 4ms (GtG) pixel response time speed, so there’s no prominent trailing behind fast-moving objects, while the ~11ms input lag ensures no perceptible delays between your actions and the result on the screen.

Some IPS glow and backlight bleed is noticeable, but this varies across different units of monitors.

The backlight of the HP U28 is flicker-free as it doesn’t use PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) to regulate brightness, so it won’t cause headaches to those sensitive to flickering.

In addition, the monitor has an integrated low-blue light filter and a matte anti-glare coating that eliminates reflections – these features combined deliver a comfortable viewing experience even after prolonged use.

Features

For navigation through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu, there’s a directional joystick placed at the rear of the monitor.

Apart from the common picture adjustment tools (such as brightness, contrast, sharpness, gamma, color temperature, etc.), you’ll find several image presets (Standard, Gaming, Night and HP Enhance+ which adds more sharpness) and the Picture in Picture option.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is supported and the HP U28 even has VESA’s entry-level DisplayHDR 400 certification, however, since it lacks a high enough brightness and contrast ratio for ‘true’ HDR, it’s basically meaningless.

In fact, for some reason, the monitor doesn’t even utilize its DCI-P3 gamut when the HDR10 signal is detected (it sticks with sRGB), so you’ll prefer to have HDR disabled most of the time.

This is expected from an HDR monitor at this price range, so you can just think of it as a bonus feature that doesn’t really affect its cost.

Design & Connectivity

The design of the HP U28 is quite slim and sleek with a good range of ergonomics, including height adjustment, 90° pivot, -5­°/23° tilt, +/- 35° swivel to the left/right and VESA mount compatibility.

Connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0, three downstream USB 3.0 ports, a headphone jack and a USB type C port with DP 1.2 Alt Mode and 65W Power Delivery.

Price & Similar Monitors

The HP U28 price amounts to ~$400 – $450, which is reasonable given its 4K IPS screen with a wide color gamut, useful exclusive features and USB-C port with 65W PD.

If you just want a 4K IPS monitor with USB-C and don’t need the exclusive picture modes with different color gamut, whitepoint and gamma, check out the Samsung S27A800U for ~$350 or visit our best USB-C monitor buyer’s guide.

Note that you can also get a 32″ 4K IPS monitor with a wide color gamut and USB-C around this price range, the LG 32UP83A.

In case you’re after accurate colors, but don’t need USB-C connectivity, visit our best photo/video editing buyer’s guide for more monitors and information.

Conclusion

The HP U28 is a great professional editing monitor. Its dedicated picture modes for different uses are definitely something we’d like to see in more monitors!

The combination of 4K UHD resolution, excellent factory calibration, IPS panel with a wide color gamut, superb design and USB-C connectivity make this monitor well worth the money and the ideal option for many designers.

Specifications

Screen Size	28-inch
Resolution	3840×2160 (UHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	60Hz
Response Time	4ms (GtG)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0, USB-C (DP 1.2 Alt Mode, 65W PD)
Other Ports	Headphone Jack, 3x USB 3.0
Brightness	400 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 93% DCI-P3
HDR	DisplayHDR 400
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)