Design and Build Quality
The BenQ SW2700PT has a sturdy build quality and feels quite solid. Though the bezel and frame are polycarbonate, it feels strong. The pivot stand is made of metal and feels heavy, while the base is polycarbonate. The monitor has a smooth moulding with a matte finish on its exteriors. The shading hood fits perfectly.
Key Features
The BenQ SW2700PT is a 27-inch monitor, and is, according to BenQ, capable of reproducing 99 percent Adobe RGB gamut. The monitor is capable of hardware calibration. The monitor is specially designed for photographers, who need absolute colour management. The SW2700PT offers QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution and AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) IPS backlight technology.
BenQ provides a software called Palette Master Element to manage the calibration settings, and remind you when it is time for re-calibration. The monitor offers a Black and White photo mode for better control over luminosity. This mode also allows you to preview the colour image in Black and White mode before converting them. The shading hood prevents stray light from falling on the monitor and the OSD (Onscreen Display) controller allows you to control the properties of the monitor without using the buttons on the panel. The OSD controller has three shortcut buttons to switch between the modes along with directional buttons to navigate between the on-screen display items.
The monitor uses a 10-bit display, which allows smooth colour transitions for a natural feel and produces a wider range of (about one billion) colours so that nothing appears out-of gamut. The unit has a pixel density of 109 pixels per inch, which provides better clarity than the standard 72 ppi offered by traditional monitors. Hardware calibration capability utilises the monitor's on-board processing chip to control the output without changing the graphic card's output data. You can save two different calibration settings diijectly on the monitor.
The BenQ SW2700PT supports hardware such as X-Rite il Display Pro, il Pro, il Pro 2, Datacolor Spyder 4 and Spyder 5.
The monitor has maximum dimensions of 566.7 x 652.8 x 322.8mm (H x W x D) and weighs 8.3kg without the hood.
Ergonomics
The SW2700PT is easy to set up. We used it with a Windows 10 PC and the configuration was a breeze. The monitor is heavy when mounted on the base, but the heavy base provides better stability. This is very important for a calibrated monitor, for which it is important to maintain the ambient light position and intensity. Rotation, pivoting and height adjustment motions were smooth and effortless. The monitor can be easily positioned to portrait mode. The OSD controller makes it easier to switch between modes and make adjustments without touching the monitor.
Performance
The BenQ SW2700PT performed well in our tests. We did our evaluation of the monitor using the Passmark Monitor Test software, which displays a set of test targets and patches for evaluating the display. The monitor produced even illumination from corner to corner and was free of any distortion. Greyscale values were easily distinguishable in the 8-shade patch, and we did not observe any colour smear in fine lines and text. Gamma was found to be 1.25, which is within the recommended range for graphic monitors.
We calibrated the monitor using a Datacolor Spyder 5 PRO colorimeter. At first, we used BenQ's Palette Master Elements software to calibrate the display using the Spyder 5. The calibrated display looked overly warm and unnatural. We did a few more attempts in both Basic and Advanced modes, but the results were more or less similar (we attempted the calibration setting with White Point set to 6500K and 5500K with Gamma set to 2.2). Every time, the software reported that the calibration Tailed'. Though BenQ insists that the display is capable of reproducing 99 percent Adobe RGB colour space, the Palette Master software indicated that it reproduced only 65 percent Adobe RGB and 86 percent sRGB. Although the target colour temperature was 6500K, the calibration achieved a final colour temperature of 7200K.
We then decided to use the Spyder 5 PRO software (version 5.0.2) and recalibrated the display. This time, the whites appeared white after calibration and the colours looked close to natural. So in our case, we had to let the Datacolour software manage the colours instead of BenQ's own software. But Palette Master could not evaluate this profile created by a third party software. Although we do not take this as the best method to evaluate the capability of a monitor, we are convinced that colour management on this monitor is not as simple as connecting a calibrator and pushing a button. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to check it with a different calibration device.
Our graphics card (AMD Radeon R5 240) displayed a maximum reported resolution of 1920 x 1080 and would not allow us to set a higher resolution.
The monitor is ideal for still photographers. The pixel persistence was acceptable up to a speed of 100 pixels per second, but this is not the best for viewing fast action.
KEY SPECIFICATIONS
LCD Size: 27 inches
Resolution (max.): 2560x1440
Pixel Pitch (mm): 0.2331
Brightness (typical): 350 cd/m2
Native Contrast (typical): 1000:1
DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio) (typical): 20M:1
Panel Type: AHVA (IPS)
Viewing Angle (L/R;U/D): 1787178°
Response time: 5ms (GTG)
Display Colours: 1.07 В
Colour Gamut: Adobe RGB 99%
Hardware Calibration: Yes
Palette Master: Yes
Support OS: Win7,8,10/Mac 10.6.8- 10.11
Support Calibrator: X-Rite il Display Pro / il Pro / il Pro 2 8c Datacolor Spyder 4 / Spyder 5
Regulations: Energy Star 6.0 Input Ver. Frequency (Hz): 50-76
Input/Output Connector: DVI-DL+ HDMI 1.4 + DP 1.2 + Headphone Jack
Dimensions with Wall Mount (HxWxD mm): 396.7X 652.8 X 211.4
Dimensions (HxWxD mm): H:566.7 x 652.8 x 322.8 L: 445.2x 652.8x322.8
Net Weight: 8.3kg (without hood) 9.17 kg (with shading hood)
Gross Weight: 12.44kg
Colour Temperature: 6500°К/ 5000°К/9300°K/User Mode
Swivel (left/right): 35735°
USB Hub USB 3.0 (Downstream x 2 (side), Upstream xl)
Tilt (down/up): -3.5-20
Height Adjustment: 130mm
PLUS
Even brightness
Shading hood
Hardware calibration
Wide colour gamut
OSD controller
MINUS
Sub-optimal calibration with Palette Master software
Pricey
VERDICT
Hie BenQ SW2700PT is monitor capable of hardware calibration and ideal for photographers with distortion-free image reproduction and uniform illumination from corner to corner. Just make sure that it is compatible with your existing hardware. Best buy!