BENQ PHOTOVUE SW271C
Upgrading your monitor can save you time and money. ANGELA NICHOLSON takes a look at the latest screen for photographers from BenQ
This screen for photographers has specialist calibration software and a bespoke lens hood
The PhotoVue SW271C from BenQ is a 4K (3840x2160) 27-inch IPS LCD monitor, which means it has both the scale and resolution to make it attractive to photographers. However, what really makes it interesting is its 10-bit colour technology that means it’s able to show up to 1.07 billion colours covering 99% of the Adobe RGB colourspace and 100% of the sRGB space. So you’re not just seeing the detail in your images, the tonal range and gradations should be accurately represented as well.
As it has a display area that measures 59.6 x 33.5cm, the PhotoVue SW271C has a 16:9 aspect ratio, which while not suiting the native stills output from most cameras, works well by the time you’ve factored in things like the toolbox and control panel in software packages like Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom.
It’s also possible to rotate the SW271C so it’s in portrait orientation, which seems a major bonus for editing portrait images, but the 16:9 aspect ratio doesn’t actually work so well for processing vertical stills. The screen seems longer and thinner in portrait orientation.
A plastic bezel of around 2.5cm surrounds the screen giving it dimensions of around 64.7 x 38.8cm. Although it can be mounted on a VESA wall mount or desk stand, the SW271C comes with a stand that has a substantial base. It only takes a couple of minutes to assemble the stand and clip the monitor in place. Also, since the screen rotates, there’s easy access to the connection ports. Before you can rotate the screen, you need to lift up and turn it in a clockwise direction; it won’t go anti-clockwise from horizontal. BenQ also supplies a five-piece hood to fit around the monitor whether it’s in landscape or portrait orientation. This slots neatly into position.
As the PhotoVue SW271C has a maximum brightness of up to 300 nits, which isn’t particularly bright, it’s best suited to use in rooms with subdued lighting.
Although the screen looks pretty good straight from the box, BenQ recommends downloading its Palette Master Elements calibration software to calibrate the monitor’s colour and brightness. However, there’s no measurement device in the box so you need a calibrator such as the X-Rite i1 Display Pro or the Datacolor
Spyder X. You can also use the calibration software
that’s supplied with those devices if you prefer, but according to BenQ, only Lightspace and CalMAN have full access to the monitor’s colour adjustments.
You can calibrate the monitor in several different colourspaces and swap between the profiles. So while Adobe RGB is the natural choice for photographers, you can switch to Rec. 709, for example, for video editing.
If you have a Canon Pixma Pro-10 or Pixma Pro-100 Epson SureColor P600 or SureColor P800 printer and you like using Canon Matt Photo Paper, Photo Paper Pro Platinum, Photo Paper Pro Luster or Photo Plus Semi-gloss or Epson Premium Semi-gloss Photo Paper or Velvet Fine Art Paper, it’s worth installing the free Paper Color Sync software that’s designed to match the onscreen image to the final print. However, this uses a generic profile system rather than a custom one that’s designed to match individual printers.
Thanks to its IPS (in-plane switching) technology and matte finish, the SW271C doesn’t suffer from troublesome glare and there’s a wide viewing angle. Compared with an iMac, which was freshly calibrated using a Datacolor SpyderX Pro and the supplied SpyderXpro software, the SW271C, which was calibrated using the SpyderX Pro with BenQ’s Palette Master Elements software, looks a little warmer and more vibrant while subtle colour transitions are more apparent. High contrast images also have greater dynamic range and images generally look a little brighter.
The BenQ PhotoVue SW271C is an excellent monitor for photographers. It provides an accurate view of images and any adjustments you apply, with a good level of detail and nice colour reproduction.