Question BenQ PD2705Q or Dell S2721DGFA / LG UltraGear 27GL850-B or ...?

[andreas2y5]

Hello!
Like many of you at some point, I guess, I am sincerely struggling with which monitor to buy and would really appreciate to hear your views...

Setup & Use:

1. Mostly connected to my laptop, sometimes to my desktop PC (both can do 144Hz at 1440p) -> should be handy to carry with excellent ergonomics
2. Home office 70% (mails, very large excel files, powerpoint, some CAD graphics but only viewing), 20% netflix/youtube/films via PC, 10% gaming (low FPS)

I am considering:
410€ BenQ PD2705Q - IPS 1440p 60Hz - excellent ratings (prad.de), good response time (in "high" mode 12-17ms), excellent color/gamma/brightness, very good black uniformity, slight BLB
400€ LG UltraGear 27GL850-B - IPS 1440p 144Hz - excellent ratings (prad.de, tftcentral, rtings.com), amazing reponse time, DP-out for daisy chain, cannot swivel, not so good contrast (~700-800:1), bad black uniformity (quite some BLB/glow) -> bad for movies in a dark room? On the other hand, I will never watch movies in a completely dark room
420€ Dell S2721DGF / DGFA - IPS 1440p 165Hz - excellent ratings & ergonomics (better & newer than LG27GL850 ? according to rtings), uses same panel as the LG27GL850, slightly better contrast (800-900:1) but even worse black uniformity (quite some BLB/glow) -> difficult with movies in a darker room?, some annoying dimming feature that can't be switched off in HDR (?)

Or right away an older "budget" model:
290€ iiyama ProLite XUB2792QSU - IPS 1440p 70Hz - quite old but excellent "budget" , could be perfectly sufficient but I am worried about reponse time (10-25ms) and especially its sharpness & interpolation -> why not invest another 100 euro and get either the 60Hz BenQ PD2705Q or the 144Hz Dell S2721DGF which are clearly superior? On the other hand it gives 10Hz more than the BenQ - yes, not a major difference, but definitely noticeable (also could I get issues with films as 70Hz is not a multiple of 24/25fps?)
315€ BenQ PD2700Q - IPS 1440p 60Hz - predecessor of the PD2705Q, quite comparable to iiyama above but slightly more expensive with 10Hz fewer

Out:
370€ Acer Nitro XV272UPbmiiprzx - IPS 1440p 144Hz - inferior to LG 27GL850 at very similar price (not so good delta-c / color difference, slow response time)
380€ Gigabyte M27Q - IPS 1440p 170Hz - bad ergonomics (i don't want to buy a separate stand)

You may ask yourself why, if I mainly do home office & films, I think about 144 Hz

1. I have seen my eyes getting worse and worse, from heavy laptop screen usage in the past year, and I heard & read that 144 Hz is just more ... "pleasing" to the eyes. With my old CRT some x years ago, I got headaches at 50Hz
2. They are all excellent monitors in the same price range (~400€), so if the web surfing & motions are smoother to the eyes, why not...?
3. Invest into the future - yes, currently 60Hz would be sufficient / most films are still at 24/25fps, but I have also heard about more now being recorded at higher fps, e.g. 120. And I don't want to buy a different monitor every 2-3 years but invest in one for the next 5-10 years

I am quite "lost".
If the 144Hz is better for the eyes, and if everything is smoother, then I would definitely go for it - most probably the Dell S2721DGF, or the somewhat older LG 27GL850
If 60/70Hz is just as good for the eyes, and there won't be any sharpness&interpolation issues, then why not the "budget" option with very good black uniformity iiyama ProLite XUB2792QSU.
If interpolation is an issue, then the excellent "allrounder" with good reponse time & excellent image quality, BenQ PD2705Q.

If you could share your views/opinions, possibly some of you have one of the monitors above / can give a statement to strengths & weaknesses - much appreciated.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

The higher refresh rate does make things look more real-time but in reality I think that for everyday use and not for gaming scenarios, your need for a 144Hz monitor is moot. Sure if your GPU can handle it and the panel can do it, why not, but in real world use case scenarios, even content consumption isn't that great...well until you have all your content be made in 144Hz.

Personally I'd get the Dell S2721DGF / DGFA or the BenQ PD2705Q from the list above. You sure you don't want to look at the Ultrasharp or professional grade monitors? They're better on the eyes. As an architect myself, I think you need to also factor in ambient/surrounding illumination if you want to stave off the deterioration of your eyes. Poorly illuminated rooms can contribute to poor eyesight.

 

[andreas2y5]

Thanks for your response!

I have considered Dell P and U - what's in my budget:
355€ Dell U2719D - IPS 1440p 60Hz - good ratings from rtings.com but the S2721DGFA beats it in almost every category - black uniformity, post-calibration values (pre-calibration it loses), even in Adobe RGB coverage (!) the S beats the U
439€ Dell U2721DE - IPS 1440p 60Hz - again, good ratings from rtings.com, and clearly beats the S in black uniformity, but all other aspects, the S is either the same or better than the U (e.g. post calibration values, contrast, even SDR color)
454€ Dell U2722D - IPS 1440p 60Hz - too new for any ratings
300€ Dell P2720D - IPS 1440p 60Hz - no ratings but most likely inferior to U and also the BenQ
370€ Dell P2720DC - IPS 1440p 60Hz - no ratings but most likely inferior to U and also the BenQ

What's really the difference between S, P and U? Earlier, the U was hardware calibrated, so it did have a significant advantage - but not anymore - nowadays only the UP (Ultrasharp Professional) is being hardware calibrated. So the only difference is additional functionality, additional digital ports?

Between the Dell S2721DGFA and the BenQ PD2705Q, I must admit I am leaning towards the BenQ now. I've read mixed reviews about Dell's customer service but majority good. Whats your opinion? Any experience with BenQ?