[Jay88]

I am looking for a 3-monitor, 27″, 2560×1440 setup that doesn’t break the bank. After days of research, I have short-listed these three monitors. The grouping of these may look a bit odd, but I will explain and hopefully you can help me with some advice.

Usage Profile:
-99% of the time I am doing basic multimedia and office viewing (web browsing, youtube, MS office, etc.)
-1% of the time I am doing gaming which may only occasionally include an FPS title like Quake or something
-0% of the time I am doing video editing
-No need or desire for wide gamut. I don’t want my colors to have extra unnatural pop, I want them as vibrant and rich as possible but within the scope of sRGB (of course a tiny bit more isn’t an issue)
-I am extremely sensitive to ambient light, reflections, and monitor brightness. I tend to turn my brightness to 20% or lower and my room will be dimly lit
-I don’t have a need for HDR
-I currently am using the Acer Predator X34P. I want to shift to a 3-monitor setup which allows me to keep the same general resolution/pixel density experience with much more screen real estate and much better productivity. I will be selling the Acer to help fund the new monitors (expect about 600 USD on ebay)
-27″ IPS panel only, no VA or TN

BenQ EX2780Q
Pros: Based on reviews and especially information here, it is the best bang for the buck in the 1440p 27″ space as an all around performer (including higher refresh rates)
Cons: I really don’t love the aesthetics (color, front speakers, HDRi sensor plate), I prefer a minimalist monitor and don’t have use for the housed speakers. It is 50% more expensive in the USA (450 USD) vs. the Asus and the Viewsonic (300 USD).

Asus ProArt PA278QV
Pros: Of the three probably the best out of the box and post-calibrated picture quality. Only 300 USD. Simple thin bezel design.
Cons: Only 75hz refresh

Viewsonic VX2758-2KP-MHD
Pros: Uses the same panel as the much praised BenQ. Only 300 USD. Simple thin bezel design.
Cons: Potentially lower quality control vs the BenQ and Asus? Potentially worse non-gaming performance than the BenQ and Asus?

My questions are:
1) For the BenQ, purely from a picture quality perspective (not factoring gaming, and in sRGB mode), how does it compare with the Asus? A more detailed feedback would be appreciated, i.e color vibrancy/saturation, color accuracy, contrast, panel uniformity, text display, screen reflection, etc.

2) Does anyone have direct comparison experience for the Viewsonic and the BenQ? I Did a search in the forums here, but could not find anything directly comparing them from hands on experience.

Summary:
I was going to just get the BenQ, but I can’t get over the aesthetics, it’s a deal breaker…maybe. If the BenQ overall picture quality is very close to the Asus, and the Viewsonic performs very similar to the BenQ, then the Viewsonic may be the winner here due to price and aesthetics (over the BenQ). If it doesn’t, however, then I need to decide if i want to stomach the price and aesthetics of the BenQ over the Asus, or forego the high refresh of the BenQ/Viewsonic and just go with the Asus.

I hope that all makes sense! Thanks!

[PCM2]

Hi Jay88 and welcome,

Thanks for providing a comprehensive and well thought-out initial post. I always appreciate seeing this kind of thing here! With your usage consisting almost entirely of general purpose (non-gaming) usage, your preference for natural colours vs. an oversaturated and more vibrant appearance to things and preferring simple and unfussy aesthetics – the ASUS PA278QV seems the natural choice. Some key points to consider:

– As you’ll be aware from reading the reviews on this site, I’m very picky about screen surface. I preferred the slightly smoother appearance (less grainy) on the ASUS compared to the surface you get on the 144Hz models. This doesn’t dramatically affect text clarity, that’s similar on all screens. And it’s just the surface texture appearance that’s different, they’re all ‘light matte anti-glare’ so offer similar glare handling.

– Uniformity varies between individual units so that isn’t something it’s wise to cross-compare. Although I’d say the ViewSonic is usually a bit below average in that respect based on user feedback I’ve seen and the BenQ is a bit hit and miss as well. There are no guarantees with the ASUS, but I’d say you’ve got better chance of stronger uniformity with that one.

– The BenQ EX2780Q and ViewSonic VX2758-2KP-MHD have a significantly wider colour gamut than the ASUS (~95% DCI-P3 or ~131% sRGB vs. a bit of extension beyond sRGB). See below with the BenQ’s native gamut followed by the ASUS’s native gamut (green triangle is sRGB reference, red triangle is monitor gamut). There’s a huge difference there and there’s simply no contest for accurate and faithful colour reproduction within the sRGB colour space. The experience you can expect from both is explained very clearly in the respective reviews. It’s a shame I hadn’t adopted the SpyderCHCKR 24 back when I reviewed the BenQ, that gives a very nice visual point of reference. And of course there’s the sRGB emulation mode (‘Rec.709’) on the BenQ, but that is restrictive as you can’t change things like the colour channels. Plus there’s slight under-coverage. I don’t believe the ViewSonic has an sRGB emulation setting of any sort.

I’ve also received feedback from a user who actually swapped out the ViewSonic for the BenQ, due in part to me recommending they try the BenQ. They preferred the pixel overdrive on the BenQ as they found it better balanced for 144Hz using the ‘Premium’ AMA setting vs. the ViewSonic set to their preferred ‘Ultra Fast’ setting for the ViewSonic. Too much overshoot on the latter and dialing it back to ‘Advanced’ gave more conventional trailing. The ViewSonic also lacks gamma settings and he found things a bit off in that respect on the ViewSonic, the BenQ was better plus more flexible in that regard. I’d also say that I was unsure about the aesthetics of the BenQ myself, but I found I warmed to it in person. It blended in better than I expected from the pictures, let’s just say and I actually ended up quite liking the unique look. But I still maintain the ASUS PA278QV is the best overall fit for you.

[Jay88]

Thank you for such fast and thorough feedback!

For some reason I assumed the Viewsonic did have a sRGB mode like the BenQ, but searching I was unable to find confirmation that it does, so you are probably totally correct on that. If so, that is a big negative to me for the Viewsonic.

Out of curiosity, why do u think so many companies are putting out the wide gamut panels w/o a proper sRGB mode that limits even brightness settings? That seems outrageous to me and that failing alone dropped numerous otherwise decent monitors off my list. I get that uber popping colors and HDR are the hot thing nowadays, but not everyone wants it all the time. Seems weird to me. Is it a technical limitation? Even the BenQ locks some setting like you said, but at least brightness is still adjustable.

Based on your feedback, I will have to give a final thought on the BenQ vs. the Asus…but I am now leaning much more heavily on the Asus. I was also considering the BenQ PD2700Q but it seems like a much older monitor and does not have the adaptive sync, otherwise performance seems quite similar. Would you agree the Asus is a bit better than the BenQ PD2700Q overall?

[PCM2]

I agree with you completely on the sRGB emulation settings. For some reason manufacturers often treat it as an afterthought rather than a key feature. I’ve seen many users put off monitors due to their lack of a decent setting of that variety. I’ve fed this back to manufacturers and their Product Managers in the past but it’s disappointing to still see wide gamut models with such restrictive if any sRGB emulation. And with wide gamut models so prevalent now it’s becoming particularly troubling. I hope ViewSonic includes a decent one with their upcoming successor to the VX2758-2KP-MHD – the XG2705-2K. I’m not suggesting you should wait for this and I’ve got no idea exactly when it’s due out or pricing, though.

I’d say the 75Hz refresh rate is reason enough to go for the PA278QV over the BenQ PD2700Q. The sleeker bezels are also useful in a multi-screen setup as you’re going for and the pixel responsiveness is a bit better. The PD2700Q isn’t a bad monitor but I still feel the ASUS is superior.

[Jay88]

It’s good that someone is feeding back to them then. I do hope they listen, because it is quite a shame that so many good monitors get eliminated for lacking this sRGB mode feature.

I am quite picky about aesthetics. When looking at the Asus, I was annoyed by the ruler markings at the bottom bezel, the buttons on the right quite prominently displayed, and the large ASUS logo. The BenQ is much sleeker by comparison on the bottom bezel. But the BenQ side bezels are much thicker than the Asus, so for my multiple monitor setup, the Asus gets the aesthetic nod overall. The Asus is a much newer model (2020) vs. the BenQ (2016). As you noted the refresh rate, adaptive sync, and pixel response are all advantages over the BenQ. I am sure the BenQ would be just fine, but overall it seems like the Asus is a better package.

I think we may have a winner then 🙂

Thank you very much for helping me make this decision.

I may be ordering at least one of my three monitors from Amazon and if so will be sure to use the affiliate link.

[PCM2]

Just to note that the ViewSonic VX2768-2KP-MHD is replacing the ’58’ variant, or should do eventually. At this stage it isn’t clear what has changed compared to its predecessor. It could possibly use a newer Innolux panel variant, but I have yet to see anything suggesting this is the case. It offers 2 HDMI 2.0 ports rather than 1 HDMI 2.0 and 1 HDMI 1.4 port and the OSD controls are located on the bottom bezel rather than rear of the monitor. The rear design is a bit different, aesthetically. Other than that, there aren’t any clear differences in specification or featureset.

[KjellR57]

Hi

I am also looking at both BenQ EX2780Q and Asus ProArt PA278QV. My usage is though somewhat different. Daytime I use it for office work, but evenings and weekend I use it for photo (Lightroom) and video (BMD Resolve). I also have a photo printer (Epson R3000).

I have ordered the Asus monitor, but delivery has been delayed several time. But just know there is a significant price drop (for how long I don’t know) on the BenQ (it is now cheaper than the ASUS). So, should I cancel the order for Asus and order the BenQ or stay with the Asus order?
Any advice appriciated.

Thanks,
Kjell R

[PCM2]

Hi KjellR57,

This thread covers the the general purpose and colour-critical side of things as well as gaming, although the latter obviously doesn’t apply in your case. If you don’t own a colorimeter or similar device then the ASUS is more appropriate. If you own a colorimeter and can make use of the more generous colour gamut of the BenQ may be worthwhile. It’s not going to be suitable for work within the Adobe RGB colour space (it covers 90% Adobe RGB) but you may still like to use the DCI-P3 colour space which it provides better coverage of. However; I assume your work is largely within the sRGB colour space, which is why you opted for the ASUS in the first place. So I’d suggest just sticking with that.

[KjellR57]

Hi,

Thank you for your advice. I opted for the ASUS (based on your and other reviews) as I mainly makes photos for online viewing. But I sometimes make prints on my Epson photo printer. So, I am looking for a 27″ WQHD monitor with 100% sRGB/Rec709 coverage that also can be used in Adobe RGB/ DCI-P3. Perhaps Gigabyte M27Q would be an even better choice?

I calibrate my monitors using Spyder 4 and DisplayCal.

Thanks,
Kjell R

[PCM2]

Indeed the M27Q could work well, given it offers 95% Adobe RGB coverage and you will be fully profiling it with a colorimeter to take care of over-extension and make other corrections. The colour consistency is excellent, certainly on par with the other models you’re looking at. And the screen surface is also very agreeable in my view. The only potential issue to be aware of is the ‘fringing issue’ raised in the review, but as noted there and in other threads it really is something only a minority of users notice. I don’t think it’s right to ignore the issue entirely and pretend it doesn’t exist, but I always encourage users to give it a go if they can and try not to be put off by that aspect before giving the monitor a chance.

[KjellR57]

Thank you very much. Asus is cancelled and M27Q ordered.

KJell R

[PCM2]

Do you have any feedback to provide on the Gigabyte, KJell R?

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