BenQ PD2710QC QHD/IPS Designer Monitor Review

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Conclusion

It’s clear from our reviews of the latest business-class monitors that it’s becoming difficult to separate screens based solely on performance. The out-of-box and calibrated results are so close that most monitors will display identical images when set up properly. Pricing for the 27” IPS/QHD genre has come down some from where it was two years ago, but most products like this are still a premium purchase.

It becomes a challenge, then, for manufacturers to set themselves apart. BenQ always delivers good build quality and solid, accurate video performance. But it’s not alone in this regard. By adding function with an integrated docking station, the PD2710QC becomes unique in a large field of competing displays.

In our review of the 32” Ultra HD PD3200U, we posed the question: “Is this Designer Monitor simply a styling exercise or is it actually for designers?” Clearly both it and its 27” QHD cousin are ready for users and artists who demand maximum color accuracy with minimum fuss. The PD2710QC doesn’t require calibration in its Standard, sRGB, or Rec.709 modes. But if you wish to eke out that last 1% of performance, there’s the User mode with its gamma presets, RGB sliders, and color hue/saturation controls.

With a price of around $600 at this writing, it seems like a throwback to the numbers we saw three years ago, but those early screens didn’t offer such good performance, nor did they have a complete laptop docking station in their bases. BenQ is offering a unique feature here with full USB-C support, DisplayPort, Ethernet, and even a headphone jack.

As always, BenQ’s build quality is only matched or exceeded by NEC. For workaday tools that last through multiple system upgrades, there are few models from either company that won’t be there for the long haul. While they aren’t the least expensive displays out there, they offer a lot of value in their reliable and well-engineered designs.

We liked the PD2710QC very much, and it has certainly earned its place among the best. For its superb out-of-box performance, added function through its integrated laptop docking station, excellent build quality, and no-nonsense styling, we’re giving it our Tom’s Hardware Editor Recommended Award.

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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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10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kookykrazee
    Stop the autoplay videos from Fritz 'annoying' Nelson. THEY DO NOT NEED TO AUTOPLAY ON EVERY SINGLE AD, BLOG, AND ARTICLE YOU POST, they do not!
    Reply
  • tuvok
    60hz needs to die.
    Reply
  • milkod2001
    May be decent monitor but should have been $399 at most. They keep producing overpriced crap and wonder why sales are going down....
    Reply
  • 237841209
    Meh, wouldn't call it "designer". Especially considering it doesn't use OLED. It would be cool if the base was a some sort of touch pad.
    Reply
  • jholickysr
    Their site doesn't even list the warranty period. (Costco Canada has it already and lists it as 1yr but typically wrong information)
    https://www.benq.com/en/monitor/designer/pd2710qc/specifications.html

    I too concur with the first post - Fritz's video has been popping up for how long now? Weeks?
    Reply
  • sillynilly
    YES STOP THE AUTO PLAY!!!
    Reply
  • mrmez
    20254611 said:
    60hz needs to die.

    1440 needs to die too for non gaming screens. I've been using 5K for 3 years now.

    20255012 said:
    Meh, wouldn't call it "designer". Especially considering it doesn't use OLED. It would be cool if the base was a some sort of touch pad.

    OLED does have some drawbacks. Pixel colour fades over time, and since OLED can completely turn off pixels not in use (unlike LCD), different colours fade at different rates, leading to a growing colour imbalance over time. It's getting better of course, especially on high end displays, but still not ready for lower end.
    Reply
  • DrakeFS
    Is 10-bit panels not thing now?
    Reply
  • FritzEiv
    20254578 said:
    Stop the autoplay videos from Fritz 'annoying' Nelson. THEY DO NOT NEED TO AUTOPLAY ON EVERY SINGLE AD, BLOG, AND ARTICLE YOU POST, they do not!

    I will (and I do) pass along the comments on the video player. These players are a part of many sites these days, as I am sure you know. Further, I do agree with the Fritz 'annoying' Nelson part. Even *I* am annoyed with me. Every week I do ask that we change out what is played there, so that at least you get some variety. As we start to do more and more videos (and we have a few new ones coming), maybe you will have better things to look at each week, and eventually each day . . . (By the way, the ultimate idea here is that we'd have enough video whereby whatever article you are on, the video that we play is at least topically related.) Finally, the >audio< should never play out loud. I've found that it sometimes, on rare occasion, does, and I report it immediately to our ad team, because usually it's the pre-roll ad that is the culprit.
    Reply
  • mrmez
    Just being honest here...
    I ended up turning on my ad blocker for Tom's specifically because of those videos.
    Regardless of how great or entertaining, everything gets annoying with enough repetition, and if the average user is anything like me, reading/skimming up to a dozen articles in just a few minutes... well you get the idea. The same video playing automatically every time I open a new article is enough to exceed most people's tolerance and block every ad as a result.
    Like me right now, a lot of people slack off at work and read this site. I can get away with it (because I own the business) and because it KIND OF looks productive. As soon as there's a video that goes out the window. I'd scroll past it, block it, or simply stay off the site, either way I wouldn't be watching it.
    Reply