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Packaging, Physical Layout And Accessories
We received our press sample in a road case rather than its normal carton, so we can’t comment on packaging quality. The monitor is quite heavy; we can only hope that Sharp provides sufficient protection for it. Any mail-order product you buy at this price should be thoroughly checked for damage, regardless.
The accessory bundle is minimal and consists only of a DisplayPort cable and a dongle to convert a 9-pin RS-232 connector to the mini-headphone type used by the PN-K321. It’s designed for control purposes. You also get a CD containing the user manual and drivers. A printed setup guide is included, along with a stick-on control key label for the bezel. An external power brick takes care of the electrical requirements.
Product 360
Weighing almost 30 pounds and measuring nearly 30 inches wide, the PN-K321 is quite substantial in both size and mass. The anti-glare layer is light like all of the Ultra HD screens we’ve worked with. This mitigates any impact on image clarity. Given such small pixels, an aggressive front layer would destroy detail. In all our tests, both benchmarks and in use, we observed a sharp image free of visible grain or other degradations.
The bezel is one inch all around and, along with the rest of the chassis, is finished in a matte black plastic that feels very solid. Medium silver trim is found on the panel’s top and bottom edges, and on the upright. The base is fairly large. Expect it to consume about one square foot of desktop space.
There is a full range of ergonomic adjustments available. You get 5½ inches of height plus the usual 25 degrees tilt and 90 degrees swivel. There is a portrait mode, but you have to reattach the stand to use it. You can’t simply rotate the panel.
For such a heavy monitor, the side profile is surprisingly thin at less than two inches. In the photo, you can see the control buttons that aren't visible from the front. They must be operated by feel, although Sharp provides a stick-on label for the bezel. The buttons require firm pressure to operate, and we found them less than intuitive for navigating the old-school-looking OSD.
There is more than enough ventilation around back. You can also see the two connection panels. The power brick connects to the left side and there’s a toggle switch to shut down power completely. On the right are the video, audio and control inputs. Sharp provides stick-on cable clips to keep things neat and tidy. VESA bracket mounts are provided at both 100 and 200mm sizes.
The inputs face sideways; they're very easy to see and reach. At the top is an RS-232 jack (adapter included) followed by two HDMI and one DisplayPort input. Last is a 3.5mm stereo audio jack driving the internal two-watt speakers. Like most monitors, they sound weak and tinny. The audio signal can come from either an HDMI- or DisplayPort-attached source device. Unfortunately, there is no headphone output or USB hub.
