BenQ SW2700PT 27-inch QHD Pro Monitor Review

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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response & Lag

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

AHVA and IPS are similar technologies but the former improves off-axis image quality through tighter tolerances between the backlight, TFT and LC layers. The result is far less brightness reduction and gamma shift as you move to the sides. And as you can see from the photo there’s no color shift either. From the top you can still see plenty of detail but brightness has gone down considerably and there is an obvious red tint present.

Screen Uniformity: Luminance

Many professional monitors offer uniformity compensation which we’ve found to be of little value since it reduces contrast and light output. BenQ has simply provided a quality panel with no light bleed or hotspots in evidence. Our measurements show a slight brightness increase in the lower right corner but we couldn’t see it with our eyes. The top-finishing PA272W has five levels of compensation available but it wins with the feature turned off.

Here’s the white field measurement.

All the screens do well in our white field test except for the PA322UHD. That monitor suffers from a slight center hotspot. The SW2700PT has no visible issues at 100 percent or any other brightness level.

Screen Uniformity: Color

We could see the slightest green shift on the sides of our review sample. It’s not significant and you won’t see it in content unless it contains a lot of bright white areas. In all our real-world use of the monitor it didn’t present a problem.

Pixel Response And Input Lag

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

We don’t expect gamers to shop the SW2700PT but if you are in need of a professional screen and you like to frag, it’s a decent choice. Obviously there’s no G-Sync, FreeSync or high refresh rate but the AU Optronics panel used here has decent response that’s a tad quicker than most IPS monitors. Motion blur is minimal in our moving object tests and BenQ’s AMA (overdrive) feature is there if you want it.

Here are the lag results.

BenQ makes some impressive gaming monitors so it’s not too surprising to see some of that performance leak over into the professional line. While not as fast as a 144Hz display, a 61ms input lag score is more than quick enough for most of us.

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.

  • muhammad_88
    Pretty Neat for 630$
    I Work in Offset Printing, and i'm considering this as a proofing monitor.
    The acceptable brightness range for this scenario is 80 cd/m2 to 120 cd/m2
    For the white point 5000K/D50 and 5500K/D55 are commonly used in CMYK reproduction. For a reference class monitor i hope you start adding these to your reviews for people like myself considering monitors for print proofing
    Reply
  • Kridian
    I only have $300. Someone spot me the other half. Come on... it's Christmas!
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    Wow. AHVA screens are awesome. I'm quite surprised with the lower than expected contrast ratio compared to the Philips 40inch screen with AHVA panel.
    This one ticks all my boxes though I wish it could come with 120hz refresh rate.
    Reply
  • ceberle
    The Philips BDM4065UC is an AMVA panel. This is not the same as AHVA. It's confusing but AHVA is an IPS variant. It has better viewing angles but no difference in contrast. AMVA is a completely different pixel structure which blocks the backlight better and renders lower black levels resulting in superior contrast.

    -Christian-
    Reply
  • byberkan
    60hz.... For that reason, I'm out! (I would consider to get 144hz 1440p BenQ)
    Reply
  • drewafx
    Bought it after reading this review.
    Definitely better than Dell ultrasharp 27"
    Anti-glare is different than typical LG matte ips panel (Better view when looking straight, noise pattern from angle)
    Love the color even at sRGB mode. Factory calibration brightness at 93 (too bright at night...need to buy calibrator)
    Hence Max brightness at 100 is not that bright (more brightness would be good for HDR)
    Backlight Flicker-free is noticeable when changing brightness (smooth transition)
    Slight backlight bleed (yellowish around corners)
    Doesn't matter when editing photos at center, just bothersome when watching movies with dark scenes
    No ghosting, 75Hz tested fine (custom resolution from gpu)
    miniDP to DisplayPort cable included, but monitor doesn't have miniDP port
    DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable is necessary to work with 10-bit desktop GPU (in my case)
    Low blue light mode is subtle and works well

    if OLED is not an option, this monitor is good enough for anything
    maybe next year...I'm waiting for AMD to release 10bit HDR GPU
    so the AdobeRGB space would be more useful...

    4K 144hz freesync is overrated...if you care more about vibrant accurate color

    I'm wondering how good it could be if BenQ released glossy display like Apple's iMac and Cinema Display
    Come on, we got light hood to cover reflections...no need for anti-glare coating
    Do Smartphones come with antiglare coating? Not needed even outdoors....just ruins the experience
    Reply
  • Nossy
    Interesting. Mine doesn't have the blue ring cable management hole.
    Reply