Asus ProArt PQ279Q Monitor Review: 27-Inch, Wide-Gamut, QHD

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Sid Jeong

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I think it's gonna be a hit with small studios and many freelance designers. I'd consider it when I upgrade my monitor in the future.
 

zentrope

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People who cannot buy Eizo,Nec,Lacie...
And are not happy with Dell and HP...
You should be smiling now!
Also at some places you can even get this around $800..
 

slomo4sho

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It appears that my three Asus VS238H-P which cost me $360 total are going have a fairly long life span since 1440P still demands a hefty premium over quality 1080P displays. Hopefully we get some quality 4k displays for around 1k soon, the ASUS PQ321Q needs some competition :)
 

JeanLuc

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The same panel can be found in Korean import models such as the Achieva Shimian QH2700-IPSMS which is roughly half the price. I would love to see Toms benchmark these premium panels against the cheap imports.
 

lhughey

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I want a QHD monitor, but I can't afford a gaming card that will work well with that resolution just yet. Maybe in a six months when Nvidia drops its Maxwell cards.
 

Nintendo Maniac 64

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Am I the only one that wants to know about upscaling quality? Last time I checked most monitors upscale pretty badly, and considering that this has an HDMI input I don't think it'd be unthinkable to have a 720p or a 1080p external video source.
 

Bondfc11

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Why doesn't Tom's do the Overlord Tempest 2560x1440 IPS that will overclock refresh rates up to 120Hz? they are sellign for like $500 now and are killer!
 

Niva

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This is a gorgeous monitor that is very tempting. I can't wait for the review of the monster one with 4k...

Not this year but sometime next year I'd love to upgrade my system. I built my current workstation when the phenom 1 chip came out and other than a CPU upgrade after the phenom 2 came out and graphics card revision (old one died) I've not needed to do anything else to it. Starting to get a bit long in the tooth though.
 

ceberle

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120 cd/m2 would be ideal for a darkened room but we calibrate to 200 to better replicate an average viewing environment. Most graphics pros would opt for a darker space but the average user will have more ambient light to compete with. Since we're reviewing all types of displays, we need to place them on equal footing.

-Christian-
 

lalutte

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I would have loved to see a direct comparison to the Dell U2713H. That's the monitor I've had my eye on. It gets down to $800 when on sale and has Dell's great warranty. Rec709 is pretty compelling though...
 

catswold

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The Achieva version of this is less than half the price . . . IF you can live with: "Up 5 dead pixels are normal. These are not the reason of return or compensate. Dark (gray color) dot may be on the panel, it is not the standard of Defect."

If you want "pixel perfect" from Achieva, it'll cost you the same. Quite a gamble, big savings vs. a few dead pixels.
 


It's technically the same panel, but it's a rejected panel by Apple and sold to 3rd parties like Achieva. That means dead pixels and irregular lighting and color are normal. That also means fewer input options (to save money), hardly any screen controls and settings (to save money), no height or tilt adjustment (to save money), cheaper components internally (to save money), and of course, a very weak warranty.

Tie all this in with poor build quality (some of those displays have been reported as having dirt behind the panel!), and IMO it's just not worth the savings/risk. And considering manufacturers of these "affordable" QHD monitors use cheaper internal components, I'd be most concerned about how long the thing will last even if I got a perfect panel. That would always be in the back of my mind every time I touched the power button.

So while you may be saving 50%, you are paying elsewhere by short changing yourself. I know what 5 dead pixels are like on a QHD monitor, because I had them on my ASUS PB278Q 27". They were concentrated within a 4-inch square in the middle of the screen and impossible to not notice. That monitor is known to have a pretty high dead pixel rate. I promptly returned it to Fry's and stepped up to the more professional factory Adobe RGB calibrated LG 27EA83.

 

Shneiky

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The model is not PQ279Q (as stated on the page names) it is PA279Q (as it is stated in the review and the Asus website). Please correct it, it got me confused for a second, and I guess a lot of other people, specially the not tech-savvy ones.
 

In addition to 10tacle's reason, you also lose the USB ports on that model.



Guess that kinda depends. I don't know why many people would spend $800+ on a 27" display only to hook it up to a cable box or PS3. That much money will get you a very nice, rather large, TV.



As do I. Sadly, the price premium for 16:10 over 16:9 is pretty ridiculous. A quick search on Newegg shows the only 2560x1600 monitor with USB 3.0 is a $1500 30" Lenovo.


I only wish this thing was 120Hz
 

60 Hz is really about all that's needed to fool the human eye.

TVs went to 120 Hz because of a problem peculiar to displaying movies. Most movies were shot at 24 fps. 60/24 = 2.5 which isn't an even integer. If you try to display them on a 60 Hz screen, you end up having to show one movie frame for 2/60 sec, the next frame for 3/60 sec, then repeat. The result of this uneven timing is something called judder, where smooth motion (especially panning shots) appear to stutter.

With a 120 Hz refresh, you can show each movie frame for 5/120 sec, and a smooth panning shots remain smooth. 240 Hz is just the same thing except for 3D video - 120 Hz for the left eye, 120 Hz for the right eye.

So unless you're planning to watch a lot of 24 fps movies, 60 Hz is just fine. And unless you're planning to watch 3D movies shot at 24 fps, 240 Hz is overkill. If you're watching video shot at 30 or 60 fps, it'll look the same at 60 Hz, 120 Hz, or 240 Hz.
 

ceberle

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Only a handful of monitors have this capability. The Samsung Series 9 screens are an example. However, LUTs are typically stored in the connected PC. Both CalMAN and Spyder can do this. This Asus does not have internal LUT access.

-Christian-
 

GordonRD9

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I am considering the purchase of a pair of Asus "IPS" LED 27" monitors (PB278Q - great sale price, & PA279Q - full Adobe RGB) to use for video and still photography editing. I just purchased an Asus CG8270-CA0002S desktop PC (discontinued sale price) and an Asus G46VW notebook PC (great connectivity) primarily for these purposes, although they will be used for general purpose activities as well. I cannot identify the video card installed in each machine (they use Nvidia GeForce GTX660 3GB & GTX660M 2GB chips, respectively) let alone their detailed specifications so I do not know if the PB278Q & PA279Q monitors will match the computers without one limiting the potential of the other (screen resolution, bit depth, frame-rate, etc). Both monitors would normally be connected to the desktop PC with the notebook PC using them occasionally. Would anyone with experience with Asus hardware please inform me if these monitors are a good match for my 2 new PCs. Thx.
 

qwerty111

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Asus ProArt PA279Q with Nvidia GeForce 645 2 gig memory. Will I be able to take advantage of this monitor's 10 bit color with this video card and CS6?

Windows 8.1 3.7 i7 processor w/16 ram
 

ceberle

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The PA279Q utilizes an 8-bit with FRC panel. Therefore any native signal greater than 8 bits-per-pixel may show banding in areas of fine color gradation. Modern FRC algorithms have nearly eliminated this artifact but the PA279Q is not a true 10-bit native monitor. It is however compatible with CS6 and your GeForce card at up to a 12 bits-per-pixel color depth.
 
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