ViewSonic VP2785-2K
A 2K productivity panel in a 4K world
The screen is punchy and vibrant with good contrast for an IPS panel
£599 FROM ViewSonic, ViewSonic.com/uk FEATURES 27-inch IPS display, 2560x1440 resolution (2K), 300cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms pixel response, VESA mount, 2x DisPlayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 1.4,
1x USB-C with 60W charging
ViewSonic goes against the now conventional grain of UHD or 4K displays for content creation in the form of the VP2785-2K. It’s a 27-inch monitor with an in-plane switching (IPS) panel. The display boasts wide colour coverage, extensive configurability and calibration options, plus USB-C connectivity complete with support for device charging. But instead of the usual 3840x2160 pixels of the 4K masses, the monitor sports an old school 2560x1440 native, aka 1440p.
At £599, the VP2785-2K clearly undercuts most other comparable displays that offer 4K. Indeed, ViewSonic’s own 4K version of the monitor currently retails for £899.
Design and features
With slim bezels on three sides, the monitor cuts a contemporary dash. The battery of soft-touch on-screen controls on the bottom right, each denoted by a tiny LED, looks pretty slick, too. By contrast, the base and stand are a little clunky, but you get a full range of adjustment, including rotation into portrait mode. Another minor demerit is the external power supply; an integrated unit would be preferable.
That’s especially true in the context of the USB-C connectivity. It’s the full job, including 60W of device charging support. You can use a single cable to hook a laptop up to the monitor, drive the display, charge the laptop itself and connect various peripherals like mouse, keyboard and memory card readers.
ViewSonic rates the VP2785-2K good for 96% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut, along with 100% of Adobe RGB. There’s 14-bit LUT (look-up table) support, resulting in a palette of 4.39 trillion colours, and the monitor is rated as having a high level of reliability in terms of visual match to printed materials.
Despite the advertised factory calibration, a slight imbalance is obvious right away with flesh tones pushed towards the pink and the overall colour temperature a little warm.
That’s a disappointment given the content creation and colour-accurate remit, especially as it’s carried over into the various colour space presets. That said, with full hardware calibration support, dialling this display in for a given workflow should not be a problem.
That aside, the VP2785-2K is punchy and vibrant with good contrast for an IPS panel and impeccable viewing angles save for a touch of unavoidable IPS glow. It’s also a reasonably quick panel in terms of both pixel response and latency. ViewSonic has included user-configurable settings for both pixel overdrive and input.
Inevitably, the 1440p resolution can’t compete with 4K for visual detail and sharpness. Likewise, depending on your DPI scaling preferences, you may lose out on desktop real estate. But that’s a given going in.
With 4K approaching almost default status, a high-quality productivity monitor with genuine content creation chops based around 1440p IPS panel almost feels like a novelty. However, if 4K isn’t required for your workflows, the option of a cheaper 1440p option is welcome.
Certainly, the monitor offers a strong feature set when it comes to colour coverage and calibration support.
Jeremy Laird