Photography News Issue 39

Photography News | Issue 39 | absolutephoto.com

69 First tests

BenQPV270 27in IPS LCDMonitor £897

Specs

Price

£897

Aspect ratio

colour space for TV screens, and 99% of the Adobe RGB colour space. In practice, images were displayed very nicely on the monitor and that includes pictures that were exhibiting subtle hues as well as some more richly saturated shots. Shadows were well rendered with plenty of gradation and the blacks looked solid while the highlights still had plenty of sparkle in them. After a good warm-up period, I did check illumination evenness with a light meter and it is very impressive in this respect. Metering across the monitor showed almost no variance when the readings from the centre and the edges were compared. In fact, the only variance from the central reading came at the edges directly below and above the centre point and that measured just 0.1EV different so minimal indeed. WC

Physically setting up the BenQ monitor is dead easy and no tools are needed. Plenty of input options are provided, so too is a shade to keep ambient light off the matt screen. There is plenty of height adjustment available and the stand’s design is ideal if you have aMacMini (as I do) as it can nestle between the stand’s legs, saving desk space. The stand lets you swivel the screen 90° so no problem if you want to use it upright. Accessing the menu items with the small, easy-to-use touch-sensitive buttons is simple enough and the on- screen navigation prompts do their job well enough. BenQ supplies Palette Master software to help you calibrate the monitor with a compatible device or just use your usual software. The screen gives 100% of the Rec. 709 gamut, the current standard

16:9

Type IPS backlight LED Native resolution 2560x1440 Viewable image size 596.7x335.6mm Pixel pitch 0.233mm Display colours 1.07 billion, 10-bit Viewing angle 178° vertical/178° horizontal Height adjustable 135mm

Wide gamut coverage (typical) 99%Adobe RGB, 100% Rec.709/ sRGB Inputs 1xDVI, 1xHDMI 1.4, 1xDP1.2, 1x Mini PD, USB 3.0 (2x downstream, 1x upstream), SD card reader Typical power consumption 73W, 0.5W in power-savingmode In the box DVI-DL, miniDP to DPI, USB 3.0, CD, shading hood Dimensions (wxhxd) 639x552.x164mm (landscape) Weight (with stand) 8.3kg Contact benq.co.uk

Verdict

Images The BenQ PV270 offers an excellent viewing experience and your shots will almost certainly look utterly fabulous on it. Metering across the monitor showed almost no variance

This 27in monitor is a great investment if you have the budget and working space. It’s easy to set- up and delivers impressive results. I also found it comfortable to work with over long periods. Pros Image quality, height adjustment range, calibration software, comes with shade, touch-sensitive controls Cons Nothing notable

ViewSonic VP2468 24in £229

Specs

ViewSonic has 30 years’ experience in the visual display market and the VP2468 belongs to its family of professional-grade monitors. It is a Full HD IPS monitor with a 23.8in viewable area but the key thing is that it offers a pro-level imaging performance at just £229. If you are currently using the monitor that you bought with the computer, this screen is potentially a great first upgrade. A key selling feature of this screen is its very thin bevel or frame. It gives the ViewSonic VP2468 unit a modern look and also means the viewing image extends to the edge of the screen. The versatile stand allows swivel, pivoting in both directions and smooth height adjustment. ViewSonic has a uniformity correction function to give even across-the-screen illumination. A test with a light meter on a plain grey image revealed some variation in light levels across the screen. Let’s say that if the centre is zero, the edges and corners were slightly darker in the region of 0.2EV to 0.4EV. To be fair, to the naked eye these differences are not noticeable in normal use. I used default setting as well as explored the photographic subject options. There’s a Landscape setting, for example. On the whole, the screen image looked good with subtle hues well defined, smooth tonality and high contrast levels. The screen claims to show 99% of the sRGB colour space

Price

£229

Aspect ratio

but as that colour space is not as wide as Adobe RGB, I thought the greens ,where Adobe RGB is superior, would be less impressive. Youmight find that difference more evident with side- by-side testing but as it happens the ViewSonic images looked perfectly fine. WC with subtle hues well defined and smooth tonality The screen image looked good

16:9

Type SuperClear IPS LCD Native resolution 1920x1080 Viewable image size 527x296mm

Display colours 16.7 million, 6-bit Viewing angle 178° vertical/178° horizontal Height adjustable 0-130mm Brightness 250cd/m2 Wide gamut coverage (typical) 100% Rec. 709, 100% sRGB Inputs DVI-DL, 2xHDMI 1.4, 2xDP1.2a, USB 3.0 (A type 4xdownstream, B type 1xupstream) Typical power consumption 22W In the box MiniDP to DPI, USB 3.0 (B to A), ViewSonic Wizard CD, power cable Dimensions (wxhxd) 538x519.4x215mm (landscape) Weight (with stand) 5.65kg Contact viewsonic.europe.com

Verdict

Start looking at monitors for photography and you’ll see prices that can buy you a top-end full-frame DSLR, so for £229 it is impossible to argue that the ViewSonic VP2468 isn’t great value, because it is and it’s well worth checking out. Pros Price, thin bevel screen, low power usage Cons No hood supplied, 99% of sRGB not Adobe RGB colour space

Images This good looking screen displays a high-quality image and the thin bevel frame adds to the viewing experience. The unit also has plenty of interfaces to link up various devices.

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