Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Incredible sharpness from its paper-like show
- Wide colour gamut and excessive colour accuracy
- Excellent ergonomic stand
- Extensive picture quality control accessible by way of bundled distant
Cons
- Disappointing distinction ratio
- Modest connectivity for the worth
- Very costly for its characteristic set
Our Verdict
BenQ’s SW272U is a perfect monitor for photographers and publishers. It serves this area of interest very effectively however exterior of the professionals who want these options, the extraordinarily excessive value will imply all different customers ought to look elsewhere.
Price When Reviewed
$1,499.99
Best Prices Today: BenQ SW272U
$1,499.99
$1499.99
The most engaging screens offered in 2024 are good HDR beasts with punchy, ultra-saturated colour and jaw-dropping distinction, however there stays a distinct segment {of professional} customers preferring (or want) a monitor that prioritizes accuracy and sharpness over all else. The BenQ SW272U leans onerous into that area of interest with success, although its perks come at a really excessive value.
Further studying: See our roundup of the best monitors to study competing merchandise.
What are the BenQ SW272U’s specs and options?
The BenQ SW272U is a 27-inch monitor with a 3840×2160 with a refresh fee of 60Hz. It shares these specs with dozens of different 27-inch screens, lots of that are cheaper.
- Display dimension: 27-inch widescreen
- Native decision: 3840×2160
- Panel kind: IPS “fine-coated panel”
- Refresh fee: 60Hz
- Adaptive sync: None
- HDR: Yes, HDR10
- Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts Power Delivery, 1x USB-B upstream, 2x USB-A 3.1 downstream, 3.5mm audio-out, SD card reader
- VESA mount: 100x100mm
- Speakers: None
- Price: $1,499.99 MSRP
But the small print trace on the monitor’s function. It has USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts of Power Delivery, in addition to a built-in SD card reader. It additionally has a “fine-coated panel” which, in response to BenQ, creates a “simulated paper-like texture.”
How is the BenQ SW272U’s design?
BenQ SW272U (bottom).
Matt Smith
The BenQ SW272U abandons the modern design typical of client screens for a sturdy, industrial look. While it options skinny bezels on three sides, the decrease bezel is thick, and the panel is reasonably girthy. It stands in distinction to the ultra-thin profile of most OLED screens.
Despite this, the SW272U appears reasonably good-looking. Its supplies have a pleasing texture that conveys a way of high quality, surpassing the toy-like plastic of some rivals. It’s a monitor that may by no means flip heads however will at all times look skilled.
The monitor has a wonderful ergonomic stand that adjusts for top, swivel, tilt, and might pivot 90 levels into portrait orientation. The stand reaches as much as 140mm in top adjustment and 60 levels of swivel. If that’s nonetheless not sufficient, it has a 100x100mm VESA mount for attaching a third-party monitor stand or arm.
The BenQ SW272U comes with an enormous stand.
Matt Smith
The stand’s base is large. That’s typically an issue, however BenQ’s intelligent design makes it a perk. The base is just some millimeters skinny and lined in a leatherette materials that provides an upscale really feel. It’s additionally grippy, which makes the stand a handy spot for putting a notepad, pens, or a smartphone.
BenQ features a show hood to scale back glare from ambient gentle. The hood ships in three separate items that snap to the monitor and to one another with out want for a screwdriver. It additionally has a hatch-like opening that enables using monitor calibration instruments whereas the hood is put in.
How is the BenQ SW272U’s connectivity and menu?
BenQ affords typical however enough connectivity choices for the SW272U. The monitor comes with two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, and a USB-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 and 90 watts of USB Power Delivery.
The monitor’s downstream USB connectivity is mediocre, because it has solely two USB-A ports. It compensates for that with an uncommon characteristic good for its target market: an SD card reader. That’s an incredible perk for photographers and videographers.
Additional connectivity features a USB-B upstream port, which supplies PCs with out USB-C a approach to entry the 2 USB-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio-out jack.
While the SW272U’s connectivity is okay, I feel BenQ missed a possibility to go the additional mile. Support for daisy-chained DisplayPort connections, Ethernet, or Thunderbolt could be appreciated. Dell’s new Ultrasharp screens, just like the U2723QE and U2724DE, present much better connectivity at a cheaper price.
The BenQ SW272U’s menu system.
Matt Smith
The SW272U’s on-screen menus could be accessed by way of a joystick on the underside bezel (a standard characteristic amongst fashionable screens) or by way of BenQ’s wi-fi Hotkey Puck G3. The puck is a compact wi-fi distant that gives easy accessibility to all of the monitor’s settings. It’s a faster, extra intuitive, and extra comfy consumer expertise than the joystick.
BenQ’s on-screen menu system is outstanding and full of intensive customization choices. The monitor supplies exact management over colour temperature and gamma, utilizing particular numerical values reasonably than imprecise phrases like “Warm” or “Gamma 1.” It additionally contains preset modes for a lot of colour requirements together with sRGB, DCI-P3, AdobeRGB, Rec. 709, Display P3, and DICOM.
The monitor features a one-year subscription to Pantone’s Connect Premium cell app, and it’s appropriate with BenQ’s Paper Color Sync app, a software program software designed to duplicate the looks of several types of paper on the monitor.
Most customers received’t want the SW272U’s superior options, however the monitor isn’t meant for many customers. It’s designed for professionals who tackle color-critical work, equivalent to photographers and artists who create works for print. The monitor is supplied with all the required picture high quality customization choices to help that.
How is the BenQ SW272U’s SDR picture high quality?
The BenQ SW272U’s concentrate on pictures, videography, and digital artwork makes picture high quality key, though there are some caveats distinctive to its supposed use. It delivers an especially sharp, colourful, and correct picture, although it received’t match the immersive, visceral punch of OLED and Mini-LED screens.
The SW272U is the proper monitor for writers, publishers, photographers, and artists who crave a paper-like show.
Matt Smith
First up is brightness, the place the SW272U delivers a considerably low most brightness of 302 nits. That’s lower than many comparable screens, and the SW272U could seem a bit dim when utilized in a really shiny room, equivalent to a company bullpen.
But a pair components make this much less regarding. As talked about earlier, the monitor ships with a hood that can be utilized to scale back ambient gentle. The monitor additionally has an efficient anti-glare coating that makes essentially the most of its brightness. I count on only a few house owners will really feel it’s too dim in real-world use.
Matt Smith
Contrast is the SW272U’s greatest flaw. The monitor has an IPS show panel and doesn’t use a dynamic Mini-LED backlight to reinforce distinction. That critically reduces distinction, which finally ends up in direction of the low finish of all screens out there on the market in 2024. Its picture can look flat and uninteresting, an issue that’s most noticeable when viewing high-resolution video or enjoying a PC sport.
It’s essential to notice the SW272U’s low distinction ratio is arguably much less essential for its supposed viewers. Printed works have a restricted distinction ratio to start with, so a excessive distinction ratio will not be essentially required. However, the restricted distinction ratio limits the breadth of the monitor’s attraction. I’d like to see a future BenQ monitor, maybe with a Mini-LED backlight, which lets customers select between a low-contrast and high-contrast mode.
Matt Smith
Next up is colour gamut, and right here the SW272U as soon as once more requires some rationalization.
The monitor’s default colour profile, which targets the AdobeRGB colour gamut, covers 99% of sRGB, 90% of DCI-P3, and 98% of AdobeRGB. Those are good outcomes however totally different from most screens. It’s typical for a monitor to attain greater in DCI-P3 than AdobeRGB.
But the SW272U has many colour modes that focus on particular colour gamuts, and in my testing these modes optimized effectively for every colour gamut. Switching to the DCI-P3 colour gamut, for instance, boosted protection from 90 to 95 p.c.
If that every one sounds a bit complicated, right here’s the takeaway: The monitor’s colour is vibrant and beautiful, although no extra so than different costly screens.
Matt Smith
Color accuracy can also be robust. It’s not one of the best I’ve recorded however it’s in league with different screens that ship top-tier colour accuracy. Content seen on the monitor will look extraordinarily near what its creator supposed, particularly when the right colour gamut is used.
The SW272U’s accuracy is additional improved by wonderful gamma and colour temperature outcomes and important customization. It delivered a spot-on gamma curve of two.2 and a colour temperature of 6300Okay, which is only a tad hotter than our goal of 6500Okay.
These are good outcomes, however not everybody prefers or wants these settings, and it’s seemingly these trying to purchase the SW272U have opinions on what they want. Fortunately, the monitor’s many gamma and colour temperature settings present a variety of adjustment, so tuning the monitor to your desire couldn’t be easier.
Sharpness is the ultimate piece of the puzzle, and that is the place the BenQ SW272U excels. It has a 27-inch 3840 x 2,160 panel, which works out to a pixel density of 163 pixels per inch. That’s near the best you’ll discover exterior of extra unique 5K or 6K screens, just like the Dell Ultrasharp U3223KB.
BenQ additionally makes use of a “fine-coated panel” that’s designed to scale back glare and simulate the look of bodily media. It’s convincing: Documents and photographs seen on the SW272U really appear as in the event that they had been printed, or very near it. The fine-coated panel can also be out there on the cheaper BenQ SW272Q, which sticks to 1440p decision, however the SW272U’s excessive pixel density higher sells the phantasm. Even the smallest fonts and particulars seem tack-sharp (at a standard viewing distance of about 3 ft, at the least).
The BenQ SW272U’s picture high quality will not be for everybody. That’s resulting from its distinction ratio, which lacks the depth and immersion movie followers and players will count on from a contemporary show. But should you want a monitor for work, and particularly care about how carefully the monitor represents the ultimate look of a doc or picture, the SW272U is very beneficial.
How is the BenQ SW272U’s HDR picture high quality?
The BenQ SW272U helps HDR, however it lacks VESA DisplayHDR certification and falls brief in real-world HDR efficiency.
I measured a most HDR brightness of 411 nits and a distinction ratio of 1010:1. Both are enhancements over SDR, however manner in need of what’s required for a superb HDR expertise. The low distinction ratio actually hurts in darkish HDR scenes, because the monitor can’t attain a deep black stage whereas additionally displaying shiny objects.
Whether that’s an issue depends upon your wants. BenQ markets the monitor as HDR succesful, and it may be helpful for previewing HDR content material in a pinch. But HDR is mostly much less essential should you’re engaged on paperwork or photographs for print, which is the SW272U’s focus.
How is the BenQ SW272U’s movement efficiency?
Let’s simply say movement readability isn’t the BenQ SW272U’s robust swimsuit.
Matt Smith
The BenQ SW272U is a 60Hz monitor with a modest 5-millisecond gray-to-gray response time. It’s additionally lacking adaptive sync, so no love for AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync right here.
None of it will thrill players. You’re prone to see important movement blur, which isn’t nice should you’re duking it out in multiplayer video games or need a clear view of distant vistas whereas shifting an in-game digital camera. The lack of adaptive sync means you’re caught utilizing V-Sync to stop display tearing.
The SW272U isn’t meant for players, however I’m starting to think that professional monitors shouldn’t skimp on refresh rates. A 120Hz refresh fee can show helpful even on the Windows desktop. It makes textual content simpler to learn in movement and reduces enter latency. Most of BenQ’s rivals are additionally caught on 60Hz, however the Asus’ ProArt and Dell Ultrasharp traces are beginning to enhance refresh charges as much as 120Hz.
Is the BenQ SW272U price it?
The BenQ SW272U is the best monitor for a particular function. It’s not a do-it-all monitor for work and play, and even for workplace productiveness. It completely targets individuals who wish to view their work with accuracy on a show that has a feel and appear extra like print. BenQ expenses an especially excessive value for its area of interest utility, and that makes the monitor not possible to advocate to most readers. Still, the SW272U is the proper monitor for writers, publishers, photographers, and artists who crave a paper-like show with wonderful picture accuracy.