Photo Editing Monitor BenQ SW2700PT Review

“With the BenQ SW2700PT I am able to calibrate all my devices to the same measure, but the true beauty comes once I view my images on the screen. I perceive the most accurate color mixtures courtesy this monitor’s 14-bit 3D LUT with its superb RGB color blending accuracy. My color images are simply brilliant due to the monitor’s 99 percent Adobe RGB coverage. My black and white photos reveal amazing ranges of black, white and gray tones.”

Viewing a Wider Spectrum of Black and White, Plus Red, Green and Blue

Avid adventurer, conservationist, teacher and outdoor photographer Andy Biggs recently added the BenQ SW2700PT monitor to his studio. With this as his core monitor (both proofing and soft-proofing), Biggs is confident that every one of his files preserves not only its color consistency and accuracy, but also the most supreme tonal gradations and image sharpness. “For many, the color management process can be confused with making decisions about what or how your monitor renders color,” shares Biggs. “It’s more than obtaining a match between how colors look on your screen and how colors print. To the point--it’s about achieving color accuracy and consistency across all devices in your workflow.”

With a studio set-up that includes an Apple MacBook Pro 15” computer as a main machine, X-Rite profiling equipment for displays and printers, numerous Canon and Epson wide format inkjet printers and the BenQ SW2700PT monitor, Biggs says that having universal device consistency brings more confidence in not only how he can work, but in being able to see the true color space resident within each and every file. “Having that universal color consistency eases my mind and lets me focus on the things I need to work on.”

Biggs has consistency throughout his workflow courtesy the ability of the SW2700PT monitor to tap into the built-in “Palette Master Element” calibration software. For very precise device tuning during hardware calibration, a user has the ability to directly adjust the image processing chip within the BenQ monitor without changing the graphics card’s output data.

Many of Biggs’ fine art pieces are printed in black and white, so having a precise monochrome view shown on the monitor during the retouch process allows him more flexibility to perfect dodging and burning. “The BenQ monitor renders excellently in black and white, and allows me far more freedom to create as I desire. Reproducing to a monochrome view conveys the feelings I want to share in my images. I am looking to create photos that feel remote, powerful, uplifting, regal and hopeful.” Hardware-to-software integration, with the ability to custom adjust controls (via the 14-bit 3D Look Up Table*), empowers the monitor to display more distinct tonal granularities and the smoothest of transitions*. For his color images, Biggs notes, “Blue skies and subtle color transitions can be challenging for displays, and my BenQ monitor delivers these smooth transitions with ease.” *Using the 14-bit 3D Look Up Table (LUT), users may fine tune a monitor to display the most accurate color mixture. 14-bit 3D LUT improves RGB color blending accuracy, which results in impeccable color and gray tone reproduction.

Biggs enthuses, “I view image files on a 2560 X 1440 QHD resolution, which is one of the sharpest ratings for display devices. The sheer pixel density of this monitor permits me to zoom in before I start to notice an image’s pixels; I get 109 pixels per inch. This ultra-high density means that every photograph is displayed with amazing clarity and definition. Every detail can be perceived”. Biggs also references excellent corner-to-corner brightness and color uniformity from the 27-inch display. “Corner to corner consistency is imperative for my work, and I have faith in the displayed images as a result."
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The BenQ SW2700PT monitor ships with a detachable shading hood that extends around the top and sides. A hood helps eliminate glare and reflection that interferes with a user’s view, plus it assists the eye in viewing not only a more accurate color, but also fine gradations and values. “I like that there is a small slot at the top which permits the placement of a profiling device cord. I can easily affix the spectrophotometer to any area of my screen and measure my color display**.”

**Compatible spectrophotometer/colorimeter for hardware calibration is a separate purchase.

The BenQ SW2700PT offers maximum value for the investment, rendering 99% Adobe RGB color with the purest reproduction of reds, blues and greens. Users see the truest appearance of their image files, with consistent and correct display at every stage of photo retouch, Web design and/or pre-press workflow courtesy a color fidelity rating of Delta E≤2 for both Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces.* * Delta E≤2 ensures colors are displayed accurately in every stage of the digital workflow. Delta E≤2 offers viewers the truest appearance of the original file.

This outstanding color range is rendered courtesy the monitor’s 10-bit IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel, which provides 64X times more than the industry-norm 8-bit monitor panel. A 10-bit panel can present more than one billion colors. Out of the box, the BenQ SW2700PT comes with factory calibrated preset modes: Standard, Adobe RGB, sRGB, illumine. A, D50 and D65. Users also have the option to set two custom calibration settings, or create and set a Custom Mode for delicate color tuning. The BenQ Palette Master Element supports not only X-Rite calibrators, but also ones from Datacolor, which permits a user to tune and maintain color performance of the monitor to its optimal performance.
* * List of supported calibrators can be at http://g4-hq.benq.com/product/monitor/sw2700pt/features/

The BenQ lineup of professional monitors features technology that is able to reduce blue light emissions. Reduction of blue light emission may bring users longer and more productive time, and protect the eyes from damage due to long hours of exposure from electronic devices. BenQ offers adjustable Low Blue Light settings with four presets developed for four work modes. Additionally, BenQ monitors feature the proprietary ZeroFlicker Technology, which eliminates backlight flickering at all brightness levels. This technology helps reduce eye fatigue. Conventional LCD screens flicker 200 times per second. The flickers may not be detectable, but the eye can perceive the motion.

“I love working on my BenQ SW2700PT. The monitor displays outstanding tonal precision and more fidelity than other monitors. Having a more precise view of my photographs saves me an immense amount of retouch time.”

Individuals whose livelihoods depend on color accuracy and file integrity from point of capture to final form rely on BenQ. More and more professional photographers are seeing their workflow in a whole new way.