Philips definitely thinks outside the box with some of its desktop monitors. The 40-inch BDM4065UC Ultra HD screen comes immediately to mind. Today, it announced a more mainstream product, the 272P4APJKEB, that caters to professionals seeking a wide-gamut IPS screen with QHD resolution and 12-bit color.
Like its competitors from Dell, NEC and others, it sports a factory calibration, called PerfectKolor, for both the sRGB and Adobe RGB gamuts. Users desiring custom gamut settings can employ a six-axis color management system to create anything within the Adobe RGB colorspace.
On the surface, it seems Philips has joined a crowded market with this professional offering, but it's gone one better by adding a built-in webcam. Now, users collaborating on projects can communicate more easily while they work by simply connecting their computer to the monitor's USB 3.0 hub. Additional inputs include two HDMI and one each of DisplayPort and dual-link DVI. Stereo speakers round out the convenience feature set.
The panel is an AHVA part with extremely wide viewing angles. This is not to be confused with the high-contrast AMVA technology. AHVA stands for "Advanced Hyper Viewing Angle." We've reviewed a similar screen at Tom's Hardware already, the BenQ BL3201PT. While AHVA offers the same color and contrast performance of standard IPS panels, it has visibly superior off-axis image quality.
Other features include a 10-bit native color depth with internal processing capable of 12-bit output. That should alleviate any banding found in content with subtle shades and gradations like images of sky and water. Of course, you'll need a 10-bit capable video card to take full advantage.
The backlight, which peaks at 350 cd/m2, is a constant-current design, which means it's free of the flicker caused by pulse-width modulation. This is a trend we're seeing in most new monitors, and we like it. Although the vast majority of users won't see a problem with a PWM screen, constant-current ensures minimal eye fatigue during long work sessions.
The 272P4APJKEB is available now at Best Buy, Amazon and B&H Photo for an MSRP of $899.
Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Monitors and TVs.
