BenQ GW2780 W LED
A reliable workhorse
PRICE $ 319 www.benq.com.au
F
rom one extreme to the next. The Asus PG27A costs a huge $1,199, while this 27-incher costs a mere $319. It just goes to show how far prices have dropped in recent years that it’s now possible to get a screen this big for just over $300. Obviously it’s going to be rather feature-lite, but how many sacrifices has BenQ had to make to deliver such an affordable 27inch display?
First and foremost is image quality. As you can see in our benchmarks, the BenQ came last in three of the four tests. Especially dramatic was the drop in contrast ratio, down to a meagre 189:1, while most others sat at 600:1 or above. This is in stark difference to the 1000:1 contrast ratio that BenQ claims in the specs. The result of this is a relatively washed out image in comparison to the others, yet BenQ has managed to use an IPS panel even at this price. This means the colours don’t shift until the user hits a viewing angle of 178 degrees, and is generally limited to more expensive displays.
If you think you’re going to get a 144Hz display for this price, think again. It’s limited to 60Hz, and the pixel response time is also rather high, at 5ms. There’s no advanced gaming features either, such as G-Sync or FreeSync; what you see is what you get. Thankfully that includes an ultraslim bezel, though the stand itself isn’t very flexible.
BenQ was one of the first company’s to really focus on technologies that lower eye strain, and they’ve employed them here. ‘Brightness Intelligence Technology’ adjusts the screen’s brightness based on an ambient light sensor, which could be why it scored so low in our contrast ratio tests. It also has Low Blue Light technology, which lowers the amount of eye-straining blue light coming from the backlight. Finally, it has a flicker-free backlight, further helping to minimise eye strain.
One big drop in quality is the resolution, which sits at 1920 x 1080. On a 27-inch panel this is rather noticeable, but is likely one of the main reason’s BenQ can deliver such an affordable display. There’s a very limited range of inputs, with a single HDMI and DisplayPort, though it does have built-in speakers. Unfortunately they sound like tin cans paired with string, but that’s to be expected on even more expensive displays.
So there’s nothing special about this display, and the 5ms pixel response time means image blur is a bit of an issue. It’s not great for gaming, but it’s
there’s nothing special about this display, and the pixel response time means image blur is an issue
a good solid workhorse for day to day duties. And at this price, if you’re looking for a cheap, productivity monitor, you can’t go wrong.