The price of Samsung’s latest 28-inch 4K monitor has dropped by $100 to just under $600, which could be a precursor to 4K monitor prices further plummeting as the technology goes mainstream.
The price drop comes just under a month after Samsung announced the monitor—the U28D590D—for $699.99. Major retail sites taking orders for the new monitor at $599.99 include Amazon.com, where the product is currently out of stock, and Newegg, which will start shipping the product later this week.
Video with 4K resolution, also known as Ultra HD, displays images at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is four times that of current 1080p high-definition monitors or TVs. TVs and cameras supporting 4K are available, and monitors for computer users are quickly falling in price as more brands become available.
Earlier this year prices for 4K monitors fell from over $1,000 to under $700 when Dell started shipping its 28-inch Ultra HD P2815Q monitor for $699.99. The product was temporarily pulled from the market before Dell made it available again.
Other sub-$800 monitors announced in January include Lenovo’s ThinkVision Pro2840m 4K monitor, which is due to ship this month for $799, and a $699 monitor from Asus, which is not yet available.
PC companies are eager to push 4K monitors to the masses, with Toshiba and Lenovo announcing 4K laptops this year. The new 4K monitors have a range of ports, but the lower-priced monitors typically suffer on refresh rates. The Samsung UD590 refresh rate through an HDMI 1.4 port is 30Hz, and a desirable 60Hz with a DisplayPort 1.2 port.
Dell’s 28-inch Ultra HD P2815Q monitor was criticized for its 30Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate is an important metric in determining how well monitors are able to reduce flickering while coping with fast-moving images.
The price drop on Samsung’s monitor could drive competitors selling larger monitors over $1,000 to drop prices as well. Asus’ 31.5-inch PQ321Q is priced at $2,899 on Amazon.com, and Sharp’s 31.5-inch PN-K321 is priced at $3,595 in Apple’s online store.