[marioagmu]

Hello!

I want to apologize for my English.

My old monitor died and I’m looking for a new one for photo editing. Since I cannot make a very large investment right now, I am content if it covers the sRGB gamut. I don’t have a calibrator, and although I would like to buy it in the future, now I wanted to work with the factory calibration.

After a lot of looking, I bet on the BENQ PD2700Q, but the unit they sent me and the replacement one came out defective (The first monitor had a dead pixel and the second had serious temperature uniformity problems). Now I have many doubts. I do not know whether to buy the BENQ PD2700Q again or bet on another option.

I have read that the ASUS PA278QV and DELL U2719D are fine. They are a bit more expensive (at least in Spain, where I live), and although newer, they have similar characteristics. I am concerned about everything that is not explained in the specifications (uniformity, calibration, qualities, etc). It really is a subject that I do not understand and on which I am asking too much time and effort. And the more I read, the more doubts I have.

Another option that I had thought about is to buy the PHILIPS 276E8VJSB … and although the factory calibration is not as demanding as the other options, try to work until you buy a calibrator. Although after reading the review I am concerned about the uniformity of brightness and color.

Any opinion?

[PCM2]

Hi marioagmu and welcome,

You’ve clearly done your research in other threads and pages on the website given the models you’ve shortlisted – which is good to see. Unfortunately colour temperature and luminance uniformity is something that varies between units. And it’s not unusual with any of the models you’ve listed, or indeed some significantly more expensive options, to have units that have issues in this respect. Some will be better than others – it’s a complete lottery and there are really no guarantees. Some models include digital Uniformity Compensation (UC) settings that aim to improve uniformity at the expense of contrast. In my experience these don’t always works as expected and can have quite a negative impact on overall image quality. They tend to be quite decent on significantly more expensive monitors, but for most mainstream monitors they’re pretty hit and miss.

The Philips 276E8VJSB we reviewed didn’t have particularly problematic uniformity. To quote the review: “the luminance uniformity was respectable overall” and for colour temperature uniformity “results here were decent overall”. The DeltaE 3.9 towards the top left corner wasn’t great, but again it’s not unusual and something that varies between units anyway. So obsessing over it is pretty pointless – especially for the price point you’re considering. I feel the resolution of the 276E8VJSB is very nice for photo editing, the screen surface isn’t overly grainy (also nice) and the sRGB coverage is good but not excessive. It performs well with a few OSD tweaks, but as with any of the models you’re considering you’ll get the most out of it with full factory calibration. This is especially true because even on models which offer good gamma calibration and an appropriate colour gamut for sRGB work, you can expect the colour temperature to be off target and other colour imbalances to be present. This is something that shifts over time as well, so even if a manufacturer perfects this in the factory, it doesn’t mean you can just forget about it and expect constant perfection in that area.

The WQHD models you’re looking at are all quite good for image editing purposes. The main reasons we recommend the ASUS PA278QV are summarised in this thread. It’s partly due to its very attractive pricing, if you look at the price compared to the other WQHD models you’re looking at in the US at least. Pricing in Spain is quite different, so it doesn’t become so attractive based on pricing alone. Aside from the strong factory calibration and overall performance, the PA278QV is also something we’d recommend for its 75Hz refresh rate and Adaptive-Sync capability. Not really crucial for your uses, but even on the desktop the extra refresh rate can be nice.

[marioagmu]

Thank you very much for your help!

I fully understand that the brightness and temperature uniformity varies between monitors and that in this price range it is even more difficult. Still, my two Benq had serious problems that were clearly visible. But I know that can be a lottery.

In Spain, the ASUS PA278QV and DELL U2719D is 100€ more expensive than the Benq PD2700Q. So he asked if that difference was justified or was just a consequence of being newer.

I’m getting more and more excited about the Philips option. I’ve been looking for more information and reading the Philips 276E8VJSB review in depth. I found the Philips 278E1A, which seems to be an updated version of the Philips 276E8VJSB (newer, another look, VESA support and Delta E <2 calibration) and with a very similar price (cheaper than Benq). Do you know him?

[PCM2]

Yes, I’m familiar with the 278E1A and have commented on it in various other threads on the forum. It’s also listed in the recommendations section, where it’s listed as an alternative to the 276E6VJSB. The main differences of note are aesthetic, the inclusion of VESA holes and integrated speakers. The claimed factory calibration is pretty meaningless in practice and just marketing as they are both calibrated in a similar way really, with the 276 also offering a strong and consistent factory calibration. Neither model will give any guarantees when it comes to colour temperature as I explored in my first post. I also referred to UC settings that can be quite variable in how well they do – the 278E1A includes this as a ‘Smart Uniformity’ mode, but I don’t put much faith in this working as it should. I’ve tested enough monitors with this setting to know that it’s very much hit and miss.

[shutterbox]

Hi all, (to start off my first post)

I’m also looking for a 27″ monitor to replace existing Dell U2412M

Between the ASUS PA278QV that’s being mentioned here, and Benq EX2780Q, which would provide a more accurate colour out off box, and better uniformity?

I do only casual gaming sometimes, so gaming performance is not a priority.

price wise, both the Asus and the Benq are about USD50 apart (at where I live).

[PCM2]

Hi shutterbox,

As discussed in its dedicated thread the PA278QV provides strong sRGB colour accuracy out of the box, its native gamut extends only a little beyond that. The BenQ EX2780Q‘s colour gamut strays way further, closer to DCI-P3 than sRGB. This can in itself be useful, but only if you intend to use the DCI-P3 colour space. As covered in the review, the BenQ offers a good sRGB emulation setting (Rec.709). Brightness is adjustable, which is good, although colour channels are not and sRGB coverage is 98% (very good but not perfect). You could adjust the colour channels in the graphics driver should you need to, but the best results usually come from making such adjustments monitor-side. It has less effect on the image elsewhere, including contrast and even shade variety for more extreme adjustments. If your unit has white point that’s way off-target this could pose some issues – the PA278QV therefore gives more flexibility, but some extension beyond sRGB. As discussed above its sRGB emulation setting isn’t perfect due to lack of flexibility to even adjust brightness, but the ‘out of the box’ performance and flexibility (without sRGB emulation mode) is actually quite nice for work within the sRGB colour space anyway.

I’d recommend investing in a colorimeter with either option if you take your photo editing seriously, it will help get the most out of either model. But they both provide good colour accuracy without, provided you make the necessary adjustments mentioned in the previous paragraph. Uniformity varies between individual units and neither is usually stronger than the other, so that’s not a valid point of comparison.

[andreymagnus]

The only monitor I’ve had is an old 21.5″ Acer V225HQLAbd, so most monitor specifications which I require in a new one are based on various reviews and recommendations. My PC using scenarios are primarily design (Adobe Photoshop CC), editing (Adobe Premiere Pro), 3d modeling (Blender) and mostly single-player games. Sadly, I did not have a chance to experience any IPS / VA / sRGB / 10-bit/ HDR / high refresh rate panels, but based on constantly watching and reading about specific monitors I’ve come to a conclusion that I need a 27 inch 1440p non-curved IPS monitor with preferably high refresh rate (although I’m not playing any competitive games as I’m using my RTX 2070 SUPER + Ryzen 3700x to play single-player games) and sRGB (or whatever colour space is best for my purposes) and without bright glow to edges under $600.

For now I consider BenQ EX2780Q 27″ but it has some backlight issues.

[PCM2]

Hi andreymagnus,

I’ve merged your thread with an existing one. Whilst your uses are broader and less specific, there is sufficient crossover with the recommendations. So the advice given in this thread applies. A few notes:

– The BenQ EX2780Q isn’t any more prone to uniformity issues than other models. It’s something that varies between individual units and there are no guarantees in that respect.

– The BenQ would be a key recommendation for you if you wish to work within the DCI-P3 colour space, but as covered here it offers a decent sRGB emulation setting as well.

– The DCI-P3 colour space can make sense if you wish to view your creations on other screens with similar colour gamuts. Or if they’re for your own enjoyment and you’ll be viewing them only on your monitor. If your designs are digitally distributed to a wider audience then the sRGB colour space might make more sense. Since many screens still lack the ability to display wider colour spaces than that.

– Consider the ASUS PA278QV as a 75Hz alternative with strong sRGB performance.

– A colorimeter or similar device is always going to yield superior results to any factory calibration and will allow suitable re-calibration to be made over time. Your uses are quite colour-heavy, so this is to be strongly considered.

– The only curved IPS models are 34″ UltraWides, so you don’t need to specifically worry about that aspect with any 27″ WQHD models.

[andreymagnus]

I’ll consider that greatly. Thank you for your answer and your in-depth reviews.

[shadrix]

Since the monitor is 2 years old, I was wondering if there is something similar to it, before I am going to buy the PD2700Q.

My only goal: I‘m doing some colourist work for videos as a hobby. I know this price range is waaaay to cheap, but who knows maybe you know something better than this.

Thank you! And the budget can exceed to 400-600€ (BenQ PD2700U costs 480€ in Germany)

[PCM2]

Hi shadrix,

The BenQ PD2700U is certainly nicely calibrated, has a good robust and fully ergonomically flexible stand and a well-laid out and feature-rich OSD. However; I personally take issue with how grainy the screen surface is. It’s not something that bothers everyone, but given the overall colour performance, price and more pleasant screen surface our recommendation is clear and that’s the Philips 276E8VJSB. This model is discussed in a broad range of threads on this forum and compared with a few others. Some alternatives if you don’t like the design or restrictions imposed by it include the Philips 278E1A and AOC U2790PQU.

I’d recommend reading this thread – which I’ve merged yours with. It mentions these more affordable models with the 27″ Panda panel, such as the 276E8VJSB, in the context of colour-critical work. Photo editing more specifically, but the same points apply to video editing. These models are significantly cheaper than the PD2700U and offer similar core performance but with a less grainy screen surface. You’d be able to buy a colorimeter in addition to the monitor, if you don’t already own one, for the same price as the BenQ.

[Pauline]

As I had lots of bad luck with the Benq EW3280U and really wanted a 4K monitor but found the 32″ slightly too much screen to sit in front of all day, I took a gamble and bought the Philips 278E1A 27″ 4K. Similar to the Philips 276E8VJSB but I wanted the 100 x 100mm VESA holes and integrated speakers (for the occasional instructional video). I’m using a monitor arm to change the height of the monitor so I don’t mind it has a fixed stand.

I didn’t expect much from the monitor but I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. It is fantastic and certainly when you look at the price.
My particular monitor has a bit of backlight bleed/clouding in the 4 corners of the screen but a lot less than my previous Samsung S27A850D. I don’t watch movies or game or sit in the dark using my screen with a dark background, so it doesn’t bother me.

The matte finish exceeds my expectations. It is light and not grainy unless you look really closely on a white background. But it is indeed not “very” light like the Benq EW3280U, but the matte surface has nothing that detracts from the screen or that you notice constantly, unless you put the Benq next to it. The matte surface is better than my Samsung, and is better than a lot of other displays I’ve seen. I have no problem with IPS glow, the Benq was much worse in that respect, maybe because of the bigger screen.
The colors are good out of the box and I used the settings from your review to enhance them. I am planning on buying a colorimeter, but for now it’s already excellent. When I put the monitor next to my Macbook, the colors are nearly identical, which is great for my photo editing.

I sit between 50 to 60 cm from the monitor and I use scaling set to 3008 x 1692, which is a HiDPI setting on a Macbook and the text is as sharp as with the 4K resolution, because text using the 4K resolution on a 27″ is just too small. The text is crisp and smooth, which is important as I’m constantly working with text in my job.

I find the text on a WQHD 27″ just a bit too big (and not as smooth as you see the individual pixels in the letters), so this scaling setting on my new monitor is perfect for my eyes. I couldn’t use the full 4K resolution on the 32″ E3280u either, the text was too small for me, I also had to use scaling. And as you sit further away from a 32″ inch than from a 27″, I had to use more scaling.
So basically, comparing the scaling setting on my 27″ 4k and the scaling setting I used on the 32″ 4K Benq, I have almost exactly the same screen real estate, except that you lose a bit of space vertically with a 27″ monitor, but it’s minimal if you have to use scaling.

So, in my experience I can recommend this monitor for photo editing and working with text.

[PCM2]

Thanks for sharing your feedback on the 278E1A, Pauline. I’m glad you took the plunge and are pleasantly satisfied with it and indeed the ‘4K’ experience on the 27″ screen. It annoys me when people, often without experience of such models, discredit 27″ UHD models as “pointless” just because they might not be practical to use without scaling. Even with that you benefit from the excellent pixel density and a nice level of desktop real-estate. I certainly see the 2786E8VJSB (and by extension 278E1A) as hidden gems. They aren’t really advertised or widely reviewed, they don’t offer any (often pretentious at this price and ‘level’) HDR support or Adaptive-Sync capability and their design and port selection is simple. But for raw performance and price I really see them as excellent products that I’ll continue to recommend to people. 🙂

[ken]

Hello

I am looking for a simple to use 4K 27” monitor with the main objective that it can produce excellent quality/color reproduction images on screen. I will be using a Mac Mini M1 and editing raw images in Luminar. I would appreciate any suggestions that you could offer, thanks

[PCM2]

Hi Ken,

I’ve merged your thread with this one, which covers my recommendations. You haven’t set a budget, but your original thread title was “basic photo editing monitor”, so I assume you’re after a strong value for money proposition that will get the job done. That’s exactly what the Philips 276E8VJSB offers. This has also been a long-standing recommendation of ours as there has been nothing I consider fit to replace it with. It’s a bit stripped down in terms of ports, it has a basic stand and some glossy plastics but the value for money and overall performance it offers is very strong.

[ken]

Hi
Appreciate your advice just had a quick look at the specification and it looks ideal just what I am looking for, just one thing that I want to ask you, when I looked on the Amazon site the latest review showed some concern about burn in?
“I switched it on and received a message saying ‘use of fixed pattern or static images for more than 30 minutes may result in burn in’ … seriously? I thought this was a thing of the past” is this anything to be concerned about?

Regards

Ken

[PCM2]

I had no such issues on my unit, I’ve recommended this model to many people and that is not a common issue with the 276E8VJSB. The message itself is absolutely nothing to be concerned about, it’s standard for Philips monitors to show that message regardless of whether it’s at all likely to occur. It’s also standard for them to include a feature called ‘Pixel Orbiting’ designed to mitigate that sort of thing.

[Pauline]

Hi Adam

I just wanted to give some feedback about the Philips 278E1A after having used it for 4 weeks. I still think it’s a great monitor but I have one problem with it and that is it’s high minimum brightness, which makes my eyes hurt.
My room is fairly well lit but there’s no direct sunlight on the monitor. I also use a 900lm 4000K desk lamp and and ambient lighting behind the monitor. During the day I have to set the brightness to 8 and in the evening brightness is 0 and I use the 5000K setting as low blue light mode. Even with brightness on 0 and several lamps switched on above and around my monitor, 0 brightness is still quite strong.

Compared to the Benq EW3280U I briefly had, the Benq is a lot easier on the eyes, not only the brightness but the whole screen quality for some reason. Unfortunately the Benq is not compatible with Apple M1 at the moment, only HDMI works, not USB-C or DP, which is a bummer.

So, I’m looking for another 27″ or 32″ 4k monitor, but I’m out of ideas. LG seems to be very popular with Mac users but from what I understand reading your reviews is that LG monitors have a grainier screen surface + some red corner problems?

[PCM2]

It’s a shame you’re enjoying the monitor aside from the one fatal flaw – brightness. There’s really not much you can do about that, if you’ve got your room lighting adjusted as best you can (within reason) but you still find the monitor too bright. I’m not sure what brightness the 278E1A goes down to, but I suspect it is similar to the 276E8VJSB which at ~90 cd/m² isn’t very low. The LG models actually use a range of panels and they’ve shifted away from using the one that caused the ‘red corner’ issue (that was one of LG Display’s own panels). They tend to use BOE panels now. Unfortunately I’m not able to review any of these models as LG aren’t forthcoming with any review samples. But I do know from user and reviewer feedback that the brightness regulation is more flexible than on the Philips monitor you’ve tried. Tough to say where the screen surface stands without properly testing it myself.

So it may well be worth giving one of the LG models a try. Not necessarily their latest 27UP850 which has only just emerged, but one of the older models like the 27UL650 might be worth checking out. Another possible alternative, which like the 27UP850 features a wide colour gamut, is the Philips 279P1. We’re currently reviewing this one and the review is due to be published later this week – I’ll put a link up here when it’s live. It’s based on the same panel (well, CELL) as the 278E1A and 276E8VJSB but has a different backlight which as well as providing a wider gamut will go a lot dimmer. Another possible alternative, with a standard gamut (100% sRGB specified), is the ASUS PA279CV, although I have very limited feedback on it so far and haven’t tested it myself. Based on other recent ProArt models I’d expect a lower minimum brightness than your current Philips but I couldn’t guarantee it.

Edit: Some summary discussion related to ~32″ options like the ASUS PA329C can be found on the 2nd page of this thread. More technical discussions can be found in this thread.

[Pauline]

Thank you very much for your helpful reply. I’m certainly looking forward to your review of the Philips 279P1. Thank you for the amount of work you put in the reviews. They are incredibly good and useful.

On another note, I think I prefer 32″ after having tried both sizes as besides photography, I work with a lot of text in my day job, so the extra vertical space of a 32″ 4K is welcome.

What would be a good 32″ 4K option? Are the LG 32UL950 or LG 32UN880 also a possibility? Since there seems to be a compatibility issue between Benq and Apple, I have to try another brand unfortunately. I don’t know if Asus has a good 32″ 4K option.

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