Question Being a VA panel, is BenQ EW3270u good for photo editing??

[nittinn]

Hello folks,
Currently I was using a mid 2017 MacBook Pro 13inch for my programming, web designing, Adobe illustrator, Adobe Photoshop for photo editing and designing.

After two years display of my MBP is giving me some issue and now it’s totally dead! And Apple gave me an expense of $650 for the replacement.

At this moment I don’t want my MBP to get repaired. Instead, I’m thinking to buy an external monitor that should work for me; for MacBook and for my Desktop.

After soo many searches, I came across the BenQ’s EW3270u; a 32 inch 4K monitor with 95% DCP-P3 wide gamut but only downfall is it’s a VA panel not an IPS panel! But it’s pretty cheap $480 10bit monitor!

So I just wanna ask will this monitor serve my purpose of photo editing, designing, and gaming also!!

Will their be any major or mild difference between MacBook Pro’s Retina display and this monitor ?? Will the colours be as accurate as on the MacBook pro’s?? Should I consider this for my purpose??

 

[Aeacus]

There are 3x kinds of monitor panels: TN, VA and IPS. Actually there are more (variations of the main three) but i focus on these main ones.

TN panel is oldest of the three and also cheapest. Where TN panel excels is it's performance, most notably response time (1ms) and refresh rate. At current date, only TN panel monitor can achieve 240Hz but other panel types are catching up with refresh rate.
Though, TN panel also has it's downsides. Prominent ones are: poor color accuracy (washed out colors), very narrow view angle and poor contrast ratio (max 1000:1).

Gaming wise, TN panel monitor is best suited for fast-paced games (FPS, racing etc), where you don't care as much about pretty colors as you do about smoothness of movements.

IPS panel has been around for some time and is also the most expensive of the thee.
Where IPS panel excels is it's color accuracy, which is the best of the thee. Also, it has widest viewing angles of the three.
But where IPS panel falls short is response time. IPS technology by design can't be any faster than 4ms (compared to the 1ms most TN panels are). Another area where IPS panel falls short is it's poor contrast ratio which is equal to a TN panel (max 1000:1), despite it's great color accuracy. This is most prominent when looking at black image and where black isn't black but instead gray or some form of blue. Refresh rates aren't IPS panel strong side either and many IPS panels are 60Hz, especially on higher resolutions. There are some 1440p 165Hz and 4K 120Hz IPS panel monitors out there but they are few and far apart, also costing a fortune.

Gaming wise, IPS panel monitor is best suited for slow-paced games (RPG, strategy etc), where you have time to see all those pretty colors and where smoothness of movements isn't that important.

VA panel is the newest of the three and price wise, it falls between TN and IPS. VA panel was created to take the best of both worlds (TN and IPS) and combine them.
Where VA panel excels is it's contrast ratio (min 3000:1), where you'd see the deepest and richest blacks. Also, it doesn't fall short on other aspects as well. VA panel color accuracy isn't as good as it is for IPS panel but it's close to the levels of IPS panel (considerably better than TN panel). It's viewing angle is also a notch smaller than that of an IPS panel but again, considerably better than that of a TN panel. Refresh rate wise, VA panel is more capable on different resolutions than IPS panel but it doesn't match the 240Hz of a TN panel (at least not yet). Response time is another area where VA panel does good. While VA panel can't naturally be any faster than 4ms (just like IPS panel), it can achieve the magical 1ms response thanks to the software solution in it.
Downside of VA panel monitor is that not many of them are around at current date.

Gaming wise, VA panel monitor is suited for all kinds of games. VA panel is like Jack of all trades but master of none.


I had TN panel monitor for a long time and since i also edit photos regularly, i needed better color accuracy monitor. While i did consider IPS panel as well, i went with VA panel mainly because i need high contrast ratio for my photo editing. (Black must be black, not gray or blue.) Of course, i also game casually on my monitor and do other tasks on it as well. I went with MSI Optix MAG241CR monitor since it's one of the best VA panel monitors out there and it reviewed very well,
MAG241C review: https://www.displayninja.com/msi-optix-mag241c-review/

Differnce between the two:
MAG241C - monitor adjustment: tilt only; backside LEDs: single color
MAG241CR - monitor adjustment: tilt and height; backside LEDs: RGB

 

[USAFRet]

The specific monitor can matter far more than whatever letters or tech is associated with it.

I had a very nice matched pair of HP IPS panels. Incredible color.
They eventually died, and were replaced by Asus TN's.
The Asus were better in every realm. Viewing angle, contrast, color range...

 

[Nestea_Zen]

The Asus were better in every realm. Viewing angle, contrast, color range...

somehow hard to believe. But I'm curious what models these were.

 

[USAFRet]

HP IPS were ZR22W.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02000657
Bought as a set, almost sequential serial numbers.


Current ASUS are VS247H-P

Monitors - All series｜ASUS USA

ASUS monitor is a frontrunner for innovative technology. ASUS produces a broad range of displays to satisfy diverse usage scenarios and needs like gamig, content creation, business.

www.asus.com

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS247H-P-23-6-1920x1080-Monitor/dp/B005BZNDS0


For a while I had one of each, side by side.
Yes, the Asus is/was better.

I do a lot of photo work, and had a hueyPro calibration tool to get the best out of them.