Asus ProArt PA279CRV review: Top-notch color for creators on a budget

Price When Reviewed

$469

Best Prices Today: Asus ProArtwork PA279CV

Asus ProArtwork displays are a confirmed possibility for professionals, artists, and creators who want glorious shade efficiency on a funds. The PA279CRV ups the ante with a particularly broad shade gamut that rivals dearer shows.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best monitors for graphic design to find out about competing merchandise.

What are the Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV specs?

The Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV’s specs are much like {most professional} content-creation displays obtainable as we speak. It offers 4K decision, a 60Hz refresh price, and helps HDR 10. 

• Display dimension: 27-inch widescreen
• Native decision: 3480×2160
• Panel kind: IPS LCD
• Refresh price: 60Hz
• Adaptive-Sync: Yes, Adaptive Sync
• HDR: HDR10
• Ports: 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 96 watts Power Delivery, 2x DisplayPort 1.4 (helps Daisy Chain), 2x HDMI 2.0, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen-1, 3.5mm audio-out
• Stand adjustment: Height, swivel, tilt, pivot
• VESA mount: Yes, 100x100mm
• Speakers: Yes, 2x 2-watt
• Price: $469 MSRP

The new PA279CRV is a successor to the older PA279CV, a preferred funds possibility that PCWorld recommends as a top home office monitor and go-to pick for video editors on a funds. Asus’ improves the system with a rise to USB-C Power Delivery (from 65 watts to 96 watts), a DisplayPort-out port, and a barely decrease MSRP.

Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV design

Matt Smith

The Asus ProArtwork focuses on skilled use, probably in a studio or workplace bullpen, so it doesn’t take design dangers. It’s a sublime and smooth monitor, nonetheless, with a skinny show panel, slim bezels on three sides, a small chin on the underside, and enticing supplies throughout all surfaces. 

Build high quality is superb. The exterior is usually plastic, other than the bottom, but the monitor feels inflexible when dealt with. I’d have appreciated to see a deal with constructed into the stand, which might make the monitor simpler to maneuver round an workplace or studio, however this can be a minor level.

Matt Smith

The stand is in any other case glorious. It feels strong, seems elegant, and operates easily. Ergonomic adjustment for top, tilt, swivel, and pivot is supported. Asus properly opts for a small stand base, as nicely, which minimizes the monitor’s footprint on a desk. A 100x100mm VESA mount is on the market for including a third-party monitor stand or arm. 

Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV options and menus

Connectivity is intensive. The ProArtwork PA279CRV offers a USB-C port, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports. One of the DisplayPort ports is an enter whereas the opposite is an output that can be utilized to attach a second show. This is useful when you’re utilizing a laptop computer with a single video output or simply wish to cut back twine litter. 

The USB-C port helps DisplayPort Alternate Mode for video enter and offers as much as 96 watts of USB Power Delivery. That’s sufficient to cost many laptops, although it’ll fall wanting the facility necessities of many Windows laptops with discrete graphics. 

Matt Smith

The ProArtwork menu offers intensive picture calibration and tuning choices. It consists of a number of preset modes that concentrate on the sRGB, Adobe RGB, Rec.2020, DCI-P3, DICOM, and Rec. 709 shade gamuts. Further customization may be achieved by means of a “Palette” sub-menu, which offers shade hue, temperature, gamma, black degree, and RGB acquire/offset adjustment. This must be sufficient to fulfill almost any consumer and glorious for the worth level. Competitors like Dell and BenQ have a tendency to order this vary of shade adjustment to their most costly skilled displays, that are usually priced no less than a pair hundred {dollars} larger than the PA279CRV.

The menu additionally features a set {of professional} instruments referred to as “QuickFIt Plus.” This consists of a number of middle marker, ruler, and protected space modes. These may show helpful when you’re working with photographs that can go to print and wish to focus on a particular bodily scale. With that mentioned, nonetheless, most picture enhancing suites present related options which can be simpler to make use of. 

A joystick on the entrance bezel offers menu entry. It’s joined by six bodily, clicky buttons, all positioned on the entrance bezel. Their placement on the entrance of the show makes the menu straightforward to make use of, as you’ll by no means should guess whether or not you’re urgent the suitable button. 

Two 2-watt audio system wrap up the ProArtwork PA279CRV’s options. They’re uninteresting, harsh, and lack quantity, however that is typical of bundled monitor audio system. BenQ is the one model that provides superior audio high quality in some displays, such because the Mobiuz E3210U—however these displays don’t goal skilled and workplace use. 

How is the Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV picture high quality?

The Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV is meant for demanding workloads, which, in fact, locations excessive expectations on the monitor—however that is balanced by its pricing, which is modest for a monitor on this class. The PA279CRV manages to ship picture high quality that’s helpful for professionals, artists, and creators of all stripes, however hold your expectations in verify.

Matt Smith

The new ProArtwork PA279CRV stumbles out of the gate with a most brightness of 366 nits. That’s behind the pack and fewer than its predecessor, the ProArtwork PA279CV. This could not delay many consumers, as creators typically work with a monitor set to a comparatively low degree of brightness. Still, the shortage of brightness may really feel limiting when you’re working in a brightly lit residence workplace or a company bullpen. 

Matt Smith

Contrast isn’t nice, both, with a most measured distinction ratio of 930:1. That’s decrease than the aggressive set and as soon as once more falls a bit behind the older Asus ProArtwork PA279CV. The restricted distinction ratio may be a difficulty when viewing darker content material, which lacks element and should seem hazy, and likewise saps depth from brighter scenes.

Dell’s Ultrasharp U3223QE (and its little sibling, the U2723QE) stands out on this check, roughly doubling the distinction ratio of the brand new ProArtwork. It archives this with an IPS Black panel that may attain decrease ranges of luminance in darkish content material. Dell’s monitor is about $100 dearer, although, so you must pay for its improved efficiency.

Matt Smith

Asus strikes again in shade gamut. The new PA279CRV spans 100 p.c of sRGB, 99 p.c of DCI-P3, and 98 AdobeRGB, which collectively present the perfect results of any equally priced monitor we’ve just lately examined. This degree of shade efficiency rivals dearer displays with an OLED panel. 

This is an important benchmark for creators, as shade gamut describes the breadth of shade seen on a show. None of the displays used for comparability rating poorly, however the PA279CRV is a lower above equally priced options and an enormous improve over its predecessor. The monitor’s AdobeRGB shade gamut assist is particularly sturdy, matched solely by the Gigabyte M27Q-X.

Matt Smith

Color accuracy is a bit much less spectacular, because the ProArtwork PA279CRV delivers the worst rating on this aggressive set. However, this degree of shade accuracy must be acceptable for many duties, and the monitor’s intensive customization choices will assist choosy customers reign within the shade accuracy if crucial.

The ProArtwork PA279CRV delivered an out-of-box gamma curve of two.2 and a shade temperature of 6500Okay. Both scores exactly hit our goal, which is superb. Even high-end displays are normally a tad off in no less than one among these two measurements. The PA279CRV’s glorious end in each assessments signifies that most content material considered on a PC will seem to have an correct luminance and shade temperature at default settings. And, as talked about, the monitor has a number of gamma and shade temperature choices, which is helpful in case you are working in content material with a special gamma or shade temperature goal. 

Sharpness is nice, too. The monitor’s 3840×2160 decision packs 163 pixels per inch throughout the 27-inch widescreen panel. It’s attainable to discover a larger decision within the uncommon 5K or 8K monitor, however that is in any other case the sharpest picture you’ll discover on a PC-compatible show. 

The ProArtwork PA279CRV’s SDR picture high quality has its ups and downs however delivers what most creators want: a shade gamut broad sufficient to deal with almost any SDR workflow. The sharp 4K panel additionally permits enhancing of 4K content material at native decision. The downsides are present in brightness and distinction, which might restrict the monitor’s picture high quality in video games and films.

How is the Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV HDR picture high quality?

The Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV is VESA DisplayHDR 400 licensed and suitable with HDR10, however it’s not an incredible performer. It lacks the brightness and distinction required to ship on the promise of HDR. Bright scenes and objects will nonetheless seem blown out and lack refined particulars.

Attempting to view HDR content material alongside SDR (as is frequent on a Windows or Mac desktop) is an issue. The lack of a Mini-LED backlight or OLED panel means the monitor can’t dynamically dim or brighten areas of the show and, consequently, SDR content material considered on an HDR-enabled desktop tends to look washed out and uninteresting. The monitor does present a dynamic backlighting mode, however the monitor’s edge-lit LED backlight can’t supply the element required to make the mode usable. I usually discovered the monitor much less interesting when HDR was on than when it was off. 

In quick, don’t purchase the ProArtwork PA279CRV for HDR. Creators trying to work in HDR  ought to take into account Mini-LED and OLED displays such because the Agon Pro AG274QZM and Alienware AW3423DWF, although these sadly lack the ProArtwork’s depth of picture customization choices.

Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV movement efficiency

Gamers aren’t the ProArtwork PA279CRV’s goal, and it reveals. Fast-moving objects undergo important movement blur that obscures nice particulars. Scrolling check photographs of League of Legends and DOTA confirmed some character silhouettes had been exhausting to make out. Character names had been fully unreadable and well being bars lacked element.

The monitor no less than helps Adaptive Sync, although it doesn’t promise official assist for AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync. AMD FreeSync functioned when the monitor was linked to an AMD Radeon RX 6600 video card and I had no points with its efficiency. 

Is the Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV price it?

The Asus ProArtwork PA279CRV is right for creators who want a particularly broad shade gamut and intensive picture high quality choices. Most will discover the PA279CRV is usable straight out of the field. It’s additionally an incredible general-purpose residence workplace monitor with a pointy, vivid picture and intensive connectivity.

Entertainment is the place the PA279CRV stumbles. The monitor struggles with darkish content material, which frequently seems hazy and lacks shadow element. Motion readability is a sore spot, too, permitting important movement blur to creep into video games. 

These flaws are forgiven by its $469 MSRP. The PA279CRV can’t do all the pieces, however it may deal with an enormous swath of artistic duties for lower than $500. It’s a straightforward alternative for creators on a funds.