Continued from page 2
Night Shift, Eye Care, and User Manual
The BenQ 27 features flicker-free technology to help prevent harmful effects of prolonged display use on the human eye. Along with the anti-glare technology (non-glossy screen mentioned earlier), there is something called Low Blue Light mode—similar to Night Shift mode on Apple’s latest products—which reduces the blue light in the image producing a slightly warmer image. This is beneficial for eye fatigue and for diminishing sleep interference for those who, like me often, work late into the evening just before going to sleep.
17 – User manual diagrams are clear. Back is side shown with ports.
18 – Isometric view showing ports at the base.
We didn’t yet mention how easy it was to unpack and assemble the display. BenQ does a very nice job of packing and instructions. (image 02) While the instructions card was clear the user manual was equally straightforward with good diagrams to aid understanding where various connections and port types are. (images 17 – 18) The product does come with a CD-ROM with driver software that adds a few additional features and controls—like the ability to divide your screen up into panes—but those features and the CD-ROM are Windows-only.
It should be said that this monitor does have a VESA standard mount with 1oo mm pattern, for wall mounting conditions.
Closing Comments and Recommendations
The BenQ 27 (PD2710QC) is a solid monitor product that we think many technical, creative pros will enjoy. It is also good for web design professionals and the vertical (portrait) turn mode worked like a charm. (image 16 above) The simplicity of the USB-C connection from the new 2017 MacBook Pro was delightful and easy. While some have claimed the monitor base is too big, personally it serves as a perfect place to put your laptop in clamshell mode.
19 – M-book mode is designed to match up to your MacBook’s display as best as possible. It did a very good job, despite the Retina display on the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
One of the best features of the BenQ 27 is the 7mm thin bezel at its edge. It means you can park two of these babies side by side and have blissful screen real estate. We only had one to test, but we could easily imagine it. While not a Retina Display level monitor with 500 nits of brightness (the BenQ 27 has 350 nits) the anti-glare matte finish screen means that the user gets zero reflections and plenty of brightness. The Standard, Animation, and CAD/CAM modes give the creative and technical pro many options to think about, and it’s easy to switch between these modes with the controls.
Things we’d love to see in an updated version of this product would be one more USB-C port and Thunderbolt 3 so users can park external drives—always useful to creative and technical pros working with laptops in particular. And speaking of that. While this review was conducted with the MacBook Pro (Touch Bar) BenQ should be thinking about optional and cost-effective display options aimed at users of the future modular Mac Pro computer anticipated in 2018. If Apple delivers matching displays for it, they will no doubt be expensive. But many users would prefer non-glare displays to pair with such a machine, and this particular display’s overall quality inspires.
For today, the BenQ 27 we reviewed offers a very solid value with good screen visual performance and plenty of options to tailor the experience to the type of creative or technical professional you are. —— ANTHONY FRAUSTO-ROBLEDO, AIA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF.
Pros: A beautiful 2K monitor offering excellent visual display qualities, color accuracy, user controls and pre-set workflow modes for CAD/CAM, Animation, Darkroom, sRGB, etc.; there is a mode that is similar to Night Shift on Apple devices and lots of customization potential; monitor comes factory calibrated; adjustable vertical arm and rotation controls are superb; build-quality is excellent, and the base has good heft and is stable; clear instructions and good manual.
Cons: The user controls on the back of the machine need ergonomic cues, adjust controls was sometimes challenging because all you can do is “feel your way” with your fingers. The unit is lacking one more USB-C port and Thunderbolt 3 would be useful. It was not possible to adjust the display’s speakers from the MacBook Pro but the sound was decently good.
Advice: Our advice is this is a great display today for your professional laptop, and it paired beautifully with the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. We like the build quality, design, adjustable arm and super thin 7-mm bezel means side-by-side units will literally almost feel as one.
Cost: The BenQ 27-in display we tested cost $599.USD. Learn more here.
Reader Comments
[…] Product Review: BenQ 27-in PD2710QC Display Monitor for CAD & Animation Architosh […]
Perhaps, in the cons section, you meant “ergonomic cues”?
Nice comprehensive review. Thanks.
The Benq arm seems to take the Dell arm with an iMac touch.
It’s a pity that they stopped making notebooks.
The second section of the review has a duplicate section at the end: the last paragraph is nearly identical (except for a figure reference) to the last sentences of the preceding (next-to-last) paragraph.
Nice comprehensive review. Thanks.
The Benq arm seems to take the Dell arm with an iMac touch.
It’s a pity that they stopped making notebooks.
The second section of the review has a duplicate section at the end: the last paragraph is nearly identical (except for a figure reference) to the last sentences of the preceding (next-to-last) paragraph.
Sigh. Please correct my comment: second sentence should read “an iMac twist”.
Sigh. Please correct my comment: second sentence should read “an iMac twist”.
Perhaps, in the cons section, you meant “ergonomic cues”?
Assfalkpaniago,
Many thanks for the kind comments. We love hearing positive news about our efforts here at Architosh..and in particular about the thoroughness of reviews. Also, much appreciation for pointing out the sentence error.
Assfalkpaniago,
Many thanks for the kind comments. We love hearing positive news about our efforts here at Architosh..and in particular about the thoroughness of reviews. Also, much appreciation for pointing out the sentence error.
Comments are closed.