Dell said Wednesday that it has begun shipping its innovative Dell UltraSharp 32 4K Video Conferencing Monitor (model U3223QZ), which takes Dell’s innovative UltraSharp 4K intelligent webcam and mounts it right within the frame. The price: an executive-caliber $1,600.
The display, first announced at CES 2022 in January, is expressly designed as a videoconferencing display—optimized for presenting you to your coworkers in the best light possible. The integrated 4K UltraSharp webcam offers options to crop the field of view to varying degrees, and uses digital zoom, brightness, saturation and even framing to intelligently keep your face centered and well-lit. That’s on top of what we normally consider to be premium webcam features: HDR and 60 frames-per-second capture, rather than the conventional 30 fps.
From a monitor-tech standpoint, the U3223QZ is one of the first to use the new IPS Black technology, which boosts contrast ratio. A traditional IPS display can’t approach the pure blacks of an OLED display, but content creators will appreciate the extra black levels of the U3223QZ’s 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Otherwise, this 31.5-inch display offers a conventional 3840×2160 resolution at 60Hz refresh rates.
Dell even throws in a free integrated USB-C hub, to boot. The ports include a 10Gbps USB-C upstream connection that supplies 90W to your laptop in return, plus a second 10Gbps USB-C connection for display (DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode) connectivity. You’ll also find four 5Gbps USB-A connectors, a headphone jack, and another USB-A port that can supply up to 15W of power for smartphone charging. Dell also includes 14 watt speakers. If there’s any drawback, it’s that those ports are mounted on the back of the display’s mount.
Let’s hope that your IT department is footing the bill, because $1,600 puts the UltraSharp 32 4K Video Conferencing Monitor in a completely different pricing universe. Dell is clearly positioning this 4K monitor as the display for executives of all stripes—folks who want to look their best on Zoom calls. (It’s also certified for Microsoft Teams.) And think how many plane flights that will save!
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld's senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.