BenQ EW277HDR Monitor Review

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published

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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag

Viewing Angles

VA panels have off-axis image quality that falls somewhere in between the best IPS and TN panels. While detail holds up well in both the horizontal and vertical planes, there is an obvious red/green color shift. Output drops by around 30% as well. The EW277HDR’s 27” screen size is in the sweet spot for head-on viewing on the desktop.

Screen Uniformity

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.

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Our EW277HDR sample shows excellent uniformity in both the white and black field tests. There are no visible hotspots, nor is there any sign of bleed or glow from the backlight. In the color test, which uses an 80% field pattern, we detected the slightest red shift on the left side of the screen. Real-world content had no visible issues.

Pixel Response & Input Lag

Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

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Gamers are hotly anticipating HDR-ready titles and the gear to go with them. The EW277HDR is not likely to be on any player’s short lists with its 60Hz refresh rate and lack of adaptive sync. Remember, it’s less than $300. When compared to other business-class and professional monitors, it slots right in with a respectable 23ms response time and 64ms of total input lag. Casual gaming while be fine, but those desiring greater speed will have to wait a bit longer, and spend more money, to get the performance they crave.

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Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

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6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • blackmagnum
    Benq monitors always strive to win the value point.
    Reply
  • AgentLozen
    This seems like a good 2nd monitor to have if you're a gamer. It looks like it would work just fine for gaming but it's missing features like GSync or 120+hz that would elevate it to true gaming levels.
    Reply
  • cwolf78
    My 4K HDR TV has ruined me from gaming on my ASUS 144 Hz TN gaming monitor. To me, the reduced motion blur doesn't make up for seeing jaggies everywhere (24" 1080p) and the muted color reproduction. This BenQ monitor would be more tempting if it were QHD or 1080p at 21 or 22" and supported Gsync.
    Reply
  • WyomingKnott
    I don't understand the color charts at all. Delta E of up to ten being praised? What am I missing?
    Reply
  • gdmaclew
    The Amazon specs list it as having HDMI, VGA and DisplayPort inputs, which it obviously doesn't have.
    Reply
  • beaulieu80
    Background image come with it?
    Reply