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BenQ's SW272U - their new flagship, 27 inch, 4K colour accurate monitor - is without question a huge leap forward for BenQ.
Alongside BenQ's excellent new calibration software (words I thought I might never write!) - there can now be no question that BenQ have fully grown into maturity in the colour accurate market. With very substantial, useful improvements to all aspects of performance, they have now completely assumed the position held by NEC a few years ago. That is, they are now genuinely a true rival to Eizo (particularly for still image work) - with, of course, considerably more competitive pricing.
(We also have a mini evaluation of the companion 2.5K model, the SW272Q - but read this one first to understand all the new improvements in the range!)
Read on for our full thoughts on the very impressive BenQ SW272U and you will also want to read our evaluation of, and user guide to, Palette Master Ultimate - which, as you will see, is a big part of what make this cycle of BenQ monitors very special.
Arriving in mid 2023, the BenQ SW272U is the new jewel in the BenQ colour accurate range.
For context, the SW272U is the model that we really had hoped the SW271C would be (read our SW271C evaluation). The SW271C replaced the very popular, and very competitively priced, SW271 model. Coming after the excellent SW321C release - until now, our favourite model in the BenQ range - we had hoped the SW271C would pick up all the improvements from the SW321C. However, Covid supply chain difficulties meant that model was good-but-not-great - lacking, in particular, the superb matte coating that the SW321C featured - and it came in at a price tag way higher than the very popular SW271. Not a bad model, at all, but definitely it was one hard to get really excited about.
Fortunately, the SW272U leaves that older model in the dust. It is the new, 27", 4K (UHD) flagship model of the BenQ PhotoVue range. Alongside it's release comes another key part of the new BenQ master plan - Palette Master Ultimate. We've recently published an evaluation of, and comprehensive guide to, Palette Master Ultimate. Without repeating all that content here, this too is a great leap forward for BenQ.
The SW272U will shortly to be complemented by an excellent looking and very competitively priced 2.5K version - the new SW272Q. We will of course have an evaluation of that one up as well as soon as BenQ can get us a sample. (Edit - here is our SW272Q evaluation).
Let's start by look at the key specifications of the BenQ SW272U - what do you get for your money ($2499, at time of writing)?
As ever, keep in mind that specifications tell you next to nothing about what counts - the actual quality and performance when it comes to colour accurate viewing and editing. This is a monitor built with the primary purpose of being an excellent tool for that specific job. Of course it's an excellent general purpose monitor as well - but it's not e.g. the fastest monitor around (so not the best for, say, gaming). It's just really (really!) good with colour and image quality & accuracy.
In addition to the key specifications listed at right, there's also the usual USB hub, an innovative new menu/control mechanism, an integrated SD card reader, a leather(ish) coated stand base - and more!
In short, in specification terms, the BenQ SW272 is clearly and squarely aimed at photographers and higher end content creators, including 'desktop' video makers (i.e. not your Netflix grading work, but great for e.g. YouTube/Real Estate/Corporate video etc.)
These specifications mean the BenQ SW272U model lines up head to head with the venerable, but noticeably more expensive, Eizo CS2740 model. As always, we have a comprehensive evaluation of the Eizo CS740 available.
That particular model has been a massive success for Eizo (as we always told them it would be!). For a couple of years now, it's been a real favourite here at Image Science, has been wildly popular with our customers, thus that is really the model for BenQ to take on. Unfortunately, the SW271C was simply too close in price to the CS2740, but not close enough in quality, to really compete - so the CS2740 had an easy run for a while, as the obvious choice for a colour accurate, 4K model - despite it's quite substantial price, running generally a bit north of $3000.
However, the BenQ SW272U is - in all - much much closer in performance to the CS2740 - in some areas it's actually even better, others only just behind, if at all. In all, it's very competitive with the Eizo CS2740, and runs about $750 cheaper than Eizo's offering!
As you'll read below, it's also noticeably easier to use than the Eizo, thanks to the wonderful new Palette Master Ultimate software.
There's simply no question BenQ are closer than ever before to Eizo's most popular model and I think inevitably a lot of people will want to save that $750 and choose BenQ, going forward. Especially in these tight economic times. The Eizo CS2740 of course remains a spectacular monitor and if the price is ignored, we'd probably still (just?) choose the Eizo, but largely out of habit - but when is price ignored, realistically? (And the longer we spend with the new BenQ the SW272U, the more we find ourselves leaning towards it...)
The BenQ SW272U is squarely aimed at photographers and content creators needing colour accuracy. People who need to see and edit colour accurately and reliably, day after day, for either professional purposes, or as keen enthusiasts. People who take real care with, and joy from, their colour. That is, in fact, a pretty big target market! It's a near perfect monitor for serious enthusiast or typical professional photographers, camera club members, small studios, and so on. If you're a colour perfectionist - like, say, a high end automotive, decor or fashion photographer - there is of course a yet higher level of accuracy and reliability (as found in the Eizo CG models), but you really need to be working at the pointy end of colour to experience a practical difference.
Whilst BenQ marketing would perhaps also point to the video arena as another area, I would argue the brightness and contrast are simply not at the levels needed for professional grading work for e.g. broadcast or motion picture use. For that, a monitor like the Eizo CG2700X remains very substantially ahead. This is true even for SDR (standard dynamic range) work, and doubly so for HDR (high dynamic range) work. Whilst there is, technically, HDR support here (it just hits the levels for HDR400 and supports HDR10 and HLG), the fundamentals of the monitor don't really make it a suitable choice for anything resembling serious HDR editing.
On the flip-side, with proper video timing support, the BenQ SW272U is certainly appropriate for all typical cutting tasks, and editing video for the 'desktop' domain - i.e. video content destined for the web - which, for many (even most?), is realistically all that actually matters. For that sort of work, it's a very good choice.
For less than the price of a single good lens, the BenQ SW272U delivers a truly remarkable amount of colour accurate value - coming, as it does, as a very complete, integrated package, and one with a genuine focus on ease of use.
First - the box itself. It's a very substantial box, to keep the precious contents safe, but full credit to BenQ here - they have gone full cardboard with the packaging. There's no chunks of polystyrene at all, and cables etc. come in boxes rather than plastic bags. This is great to see. As ever, we suggest you keep the box for a few months after your purchase, just in case of issues - but once you do come to dispose of it, it's pretty much entirely recyclable.
Once unboxed, it's very easy to get going with most modern monitors, and the BenQ SW272U is no exception.
All the key port options are covered - USB-C (including 90W power delivery), Display Port, and HDMI are all offered. You can connect multiple machines and easily switch between them, using the integrated downstream USB ports as a sort of KVM. (And there's even PIP/Dual display support if you're into that sort of thing).
But for most, it's just pop out of the box, screw the base into the stand pole, clip that into the back of the monitor, pop in power and USB-C - and you're done. (One minor thing worth noting - with the power cord on our unit → it felt like this was properly inserted, but we had some initial issues with our unit spontaneously turning off. These were completely solved when we gave the power cord a really firm push to get it all the way in - it's a tight fit!).
You'll immediately notice the much improved industrial design of the SW272U. (In actual fact, it's visually near identical to the beloved older SW271 model, which was a design much more appreciated, in fact, than the SW271C which came after).
There are narrow bezels around the sides and top (less than 1cm) - which really modernise the appearance. (Normally, narrow bezels are avoided in colour accurate monitors as they can exacerbate uniformity issues near the edges, but I see no evidence of that here). The bottom bezel is more like an inch in width, but there are no buttons or controls on it at all, so the overall appearance is very clean and professional.
Once you've got it an SW272U and running, you'll want to clip in the monitor hood (which, with the SW272U specifically, can be used in both traditional landscape orientation, or in portrait - there's even a BenQ-unique option for dual monitor setups!).
The hood itself is, as far as I can see, unchanged from the last generation of models - BenQ are still using the clip in plastic mount approach with their hoods, with the little trapdoor to pass the calibrator though. It's a little fiddly and takes a few minutes to mount. This is one area that is not nearly as slick as Eizo with their superb magnetically mounted hoods - but generally speaking once you've put it on, it never comes off, so it's not a big bother.
The monitor stand is simple but very nice - with all the ergonomic up/down adjustment potential you're likely to need, and whilst the base is still a bit bigger on your desk than it perhaps needs to be, it's now styled with a 'leatherette' section that is pleasantly tactile. (It feels perhaps like a slightly missed opportunity that this is not a wireless charger, actually - but we're yet to see any monitor with that!).
In all, the design of the SW272U is very modern, sleek and appealing - I'd call it better looking than the slightly chunkier Eizo CS2740, although side by side there's not much in it - but it's certainly much better looking than the SW271C. It would not look out of place on any professional desk.
Cable management is done with a little purple loop thing on the back of the stand, and there is also a cover panel to clip over the ports area once you are all hooked up. That said, this cable management is very basic and it would be nice to see a system that hides the cables more completely because they're still easily visible from the front with all this in place (this is true of the Eizo CS2740 too, though).
BenQ have gone from irritating touch buttons to a new, innovative menu/control panel system - that is, somewhat unusually, mounted along the bottom (i.e. underneath) the front bezel!
It's an interesting place to put things - and is not unlike the control system in the popular DesignVue PD Series monitors, where the controls are similar, but are usually mounted around the back. These are easier to reach than those, and perhaps slightly more intuitive to use than those round-the-back versions, but there's no labelling and the little directional joystick seems overly fragile to me - the sort of thing that might just break if accidentally caught when reaching for something under the monitor - I can thus see support requests in my future coming about these!
These under bezel controls work with an entirely new, and dramatically improved, monitor menu system. The menus are far better designed than previous models, and it's easy to find what you need, when you need it. It's basically just a process of find the joystick, click it in to bring up the menus, and then it's a very easy menu and clear menu system to navigate.
One thing that is just great is that when the BenQ SW272U fires up, or changes inputs, all the key information (input, resolution, refresh rate etc) is shown in a very clear pop up info panel. And one of the under screen buttons also shows this info, if you need it. This makes it MUCH easier to work out if anything is not working as it should in your system, for sure. Eizo do this too, but they go too far, with a bunch of complicated info no one, or next to no one, normally needs - which can end up being more confusing than helpful in practise (e.g. if it says 'Legacy RGB' - is that a bad thing or a good thing?). The BenQ info strikes just the right balance between informative and easy to use.
Whilst the inbuilt joystick and buttons are, to my taste, a little bit flimsy and I'm still a little not fully decided on the whether the under bezel location really makes sense, the definite upside to the controls is that is that you can re-program some of these controls for easy access to your most essential adjustments.
This is a rotary dial/multi-button control that sits on your desk (and is also programmable). You can use it to do all sorts of things - flip between calibration modes, for example, or adjust brightness, etc. And, at last, it's fully wireless!
The previous versions were all corded, and thus really made for a cluttered desktop - we found a lot of people just stuck them in a drawer because they didn't want the clutter. Wireless is a usability revelation here - you can put it basically anywhere nearby that suits you, and it just looks so much better. It can even be set up to simultaneously control multiple monitors if you're lucky enough to have two SW272Us set up, side by side. It's very slick and unique to BenQ.
Also worth mentioning is SW272U monitors have an in-built USB hub, and an SD card reader. Rather than being in the traditional but rather awkward spot - around the back of the monitor, and behind the hood - which has irritated me with so many monitors, for so many years - these are handily placed underneath bottom bezel. But this too has pros and cons. It's considerably less neat for permanently attached peripherals (if you're e.g. using one monitor with two computers, and want to share the mouse and keyboard) - but it's much handier for plugging in a USB key or SD card to quickly grab some files, say. However, it is worth noting these ports are not as fast as desktop USB 3.1 ports, though, so these are probably not the best solution to your regular file transfer needs (you can make them faster actually, but due to connection bandwidth limitations, you can then only achieve display at 4k at 30hz, not 60Hz - so it's not a compromise worth making).
An area where I have been significantly critical of BenQ models has been the quality of their panel coatings. Whilst technically, they were 'matte' panels, previous models were very much at the glossier end of matte panels. It's an area where Eizo panels were significantly ahead.
Matte panels are essential colour accurate work - especially for accurate, low key, work - you simply do NOT want to see your clothing/desk/wall tones being reflected in, and thus altering your perception of, your deep shadows.
(This is one main reason why those glossy Apple 'fused glass' screens will simply never be useful for truly colour critical tasks).
The BenQ SW321C came along with the first genuinely very matte panel on a BenQ monitor - and was by far their best model to date, with this excellent matte coating being a big part of what made that monitor great, and on par with the best matte coatings on Eizo's best monitors, for sure.
We still love our SW321C here and it remains a great model in BenQ's line-up (Eizo lack an affordable 32" option so it's the obvious 'big screen' choice). The SW271C model did NOT receive this coating, and this was a big part of why it was an underwhelming model.
The new SW272 models have a matte coating that is much closer to the SW321C performance. Not quite as gloriously matte as the SW321C, apparently, but to my eye the SW272U is in fact definitely noticeably more matte than the Eizo CS2740 I currently have sitting next to it. BenQ have apparently achieved 'TUV Rheinland Reflection-Free Certification' - not something I had yet heard of, to be honest, but in a nutshell, these SW272 monitors have completely fixed the issues I had with BenQ models in this area - it's a vast, vast improvement over previous models.
Well done, BenQ!
The BenQ SW272U comes with a number of factory calibrated presets. But if you're buying a monitor like this, then you will probably want more control than these presets offer. And, you will also know that monitors drift through use - thus for the longer term, ongoing regular calibration is an essential part of getting the best from even an inherently great monitor, like the BenQ SW272U.
Alongside the SW272U, BenQ have released their first new calibration software in many years. This software is of course compatible with both of the new SW272 models → but is also backwards compatible with the SW240, SW270C, SW271C and the current SW321C.
This is another great move by BenQ. This new software delivers substantial new value to their existing users - and it would have been easy for BenQ to only offer this to new buyers. It shows a commitment to their customers that they've reached back to their older models with this support.
I've written an entire article on this software, that I strongly recommend you read:
The short version is this new software is just superb and, if you have a compatible monitor, you should switch over immediately.
For over a decade now, I have relentlessly and unforgivingly criticised BenQ's software. This was completely fair criticism - their previous efforts have been quite simply replete with bugs, unattractive, and fundamentally unpleasant and unreliable in use. The software has always been far behind the quality of the hardware, and a thoroughly problematic and disappointing part of the BenQ package.
This has all now changed. Palette Master Ultimate is the epitome of sensible design. It works perfectly in all our testing (barring one minor issue we've encountered in dual monitor setup that BenQ are already fixing) - and is positively pretty to look at.
Remember, though, you must set things up properly before you calibrate - this is essential!
It's honestly (given the issues over the years) a little hard to believe I am writing this - but BenQ have quite simply nailed the software side - at last!
Importantly, it's not just robust and beautiful, but it is powerful as well. Admittedly not yet quite as powerful as Eizo's ColorNavigator - but all the core features that 99% of people will ever use are already in place (with BenQ promising more to come).
Most importantly of all - and this is where they are now without question definitely ahead of Eizo - is that Palette Master Ultimate is perhaps the easiest to use calibration software we've seen in more than two decades of evaluating and using pretty much all monitor calibration software of note.
In comparison, ColorNavigator 7 from Eizo is, frankly, a distinctly more difficult to learn package - the user interface is, in comparison, a complicated mess (as are most other calibration packages, unfortunately).
ColourNavigator is certainly quite usable, once you know how, but it's irritatingly fiddly and non-intuitive (and I judge this from an informed standpoint - I am an ex-high end software engineer, and one who specialised in graphics and UI development).
Ease of use is, genuinely, critically important - especially when you're trying to solve complex problems, like colour accuracy. People get put off by complexity & difficulty - the danger being they simply end up not calibrating, and thus don't end up getting the full value of the money they've spent on their hardware. We've seen this time and again over the years.
With a monitor like the BenQ SW272U and using Palette Master Ultimate, it's becomes really very simple to achieve the level of colour accuracy most people need and will benefit from, without having to become a colour boffin. The software lets you do the things you need to do, quickly and easily.
There are still only 3 hardware calibration slots available with the BenQ SW272U - I'd like to see that improved (e.g. most Eizo models now feature 10 slots). At least, an easy way to load in other calibrations into those 3 slots would be useful. People working cross domain, in particular, very often need more than 3 different calibrations, and shouldn't have to re-calibrate to swap between modes. At least calibration with PMU is fast - much, much faster than previous BenQ calibrations.
And the results, too, are excellent. Very low delta E figures are achieved, even when used on older hardware PMU achieves significantly better results - let alone with these glorious new panels.
Also of note is that when switching calibrations, PMU does now change the operating system ICC profile for you automatically as well.
They're really soundly addresses all the criticisms I've made in the past of their software and all of a sudden their software is a real feather in their cap.
The new BenQ SW272U is a positive speed demon compared to previous BenQ SW models. A consistent minor annoyance with BenQ monitors in the past has been general sluggishness - slow to wake up from sleep, slow to calibrate, and so on. Nothing that couldn't be lived with, but certainly a frustration over time, particularly when computer encourage you to use sleep modes for even short periods of inactivity now, for environmental reasons.
The new model wakes quickly (almost identically in speed to the Eizo CS2740), is generally very responsive. Calibration speed is on par with other professional monitors (a tad over 5 minutes for each calibration & validation cycle). It's just yet another improvement that makes these new monitors more pleasurable to live with.
At time of writing I'm using an Eizo CS2740 and an Eizo CG2700X as my two 'daily drivers' - the first of those is Eizo's most popular model for photographers, and the second is their flagship cross domain (still/video) monitor. I use one at home, the other at work.
They are both unquestionably fabulous, trustworthy machines - and I love them. And by now, I know them both really well.
The CS2740 + Hood is about $750 more than the BenQ SW272U. For that, you get two years of extra warranty (5 with Eizo, 3 with BenQ). The Eizo is a very refined, polished, and professional package - and especially if you thoroughly know what you're doing with colour, it remains an excellent choice. However, ColorNavigator has a distinctly steeper learning curve, and can be intimidating for beginners. Once learned, CN is very powerful - it's just a shame that CN V7, their latest, is actually noticeably harder to use than CN V6 - which in turn was already distinctly less user friendly than BenQ's new PMU software! The SW272U makes plain that ease-of-use is a big area of potential improvement for Eizo.
The CG2700X is really another class of monitor (as it should be, at over double the SW272U price!). It's a dream machine - with distinctly, obviously, higher contrast and much better blacks than the CS2740 or SW272U. Plus built in, fully automatic, calibration (so convenient!). It's the one to look at if you simply want the best, or do higher end work, for sure. I consider it the all-round best monitor on the market right now. Exquisite, but expensive, and not a fair comparison for this BenQ -> but good to know where the benchmark lies.
The SW272U is simply much easier to learn and get going with than either Eizo model - all thanks to the wonderful new PMU software. Of course this suits the 'Prosumer' (AKA enthusiast) market perfectly. But, frankly, professionals want this sort of ease of use too - a person who actually enjoys calibration is a rare person indeed - most of us just want to get it done as easily, quickly, and reliably as possible, and the BenQ SW272U with PMU gets this absolutely right.
Once both an Eizo CS2740 and and a BenQ SW272U are calibrated, The SW272U is, side by side, very very close in all performance terms.
Both monitors have some IPS glow to their blacks - the classic but unfortunate price you pay for all the rest of the positive aspects of IPS panels (i.e. colour accuracy, wide viewing angles etc). In neither case it is severe or significant in normal use. But it is, fundamentally, why these monitors fall short of being suitable for the higher end of video editing work, where you really do need contrast that better approaches the final contrast of display scenarios like OLED TVs or cinema projection.
Image rendering and quality is as close to Eizo performance as BenQ have ever come. Eizo, in the form of the CS2740, maybe still have just the slightest edge, to my eye, with the really difficult things. But I don't think, practically speaking, that almost anyone would find the slight improvements that remain with Eizo, would make a significant practical difference. It's just the most marginal things - the very highest of highlights seem cleaner and more natural with Eizo, the neutrals still just a tad more neutral, and the most saturated colours just a tad more separated. But it is truly hair splitting at this level and honestly we're entering levels of confirmation bias territory - it's that close.
For photographic work, it would be unfair to BenQ to claim there's any difference between these models that would effect real world work in all but a few, obscure, and super specialist scenarios. They are, effectively, equals in performance.
Perhaps this sounds a bit like faint praise - but it really isn't.
This means BenQ now have a solution on par with the very best in the business, but at a considerably more affordable price.
Eizo monitors are trusted by highest levels of industry professionals, and the SW27WU can very happily sit right next to one and be effectively identical in quality terms. BenQ have now reached maturity - something that no other company in this space other than Eizo has really achieved. Well, NEC used to be one such company, but went crazy, and effectively, then completely, dropped out of the market.
Indeed, BenQ really now, finally, truly land themselves properly in the spot NEC so bizarrely chose to vacate. High quality hardware AND high quality software - offering a well thought out, effective, and pleasant to use solution to the problems image workers want to solve.
Over the years, others try (Asus, LG, Dell etc) - but they just don't live up to the hype. The specs looks goodin theory, and some beholden-to-advertising dollars magazine will often give them a positive review - but when push really comes to shove, the quality just isn't there, the support is terrible, and the only advantage is price. We know, because those brands would love to join Eizo and BenQ at Image Science.
But the joy of a cheaper price very quickly fades when you're stuck with a shabby product (or, from our perspective, supporting a shabby product). Those brands just aren't serious players in colour accurate monitors.
I think these new BenQ models really hit the exact right balance between performance and price for the vast majority of people. Given the more matte panel surface, the longer I spend with the BenQ SW272U the more I find myself tempted to actually swap it in to my daily work, in place of my Eizo CS2740 - it really is that good.
Does it mean one would definitely choose the BenQ over the Eizo? Of course not.
They're both excellent, and the Eizo 5 year warranty and truly superlative backup and support will sway many people more than the $750 difference will. Eizo monitors are legendary for their reliability and consistency - we talk, almost daily, to people still happily using Eizo monitors that are a decade or more old.
But for many, the $750 saved will be more usefully spent on something else in their workflow, and the BenQ will be very very tempting.
Put simply - it's the first time this level of finesse and quality has hit this price point.
For their core market of enthusiast and professional photographers, and indeed for anyone working seriously with colour, I think BenQ have created just about the ideal monitor, at a price tag that feels very reasonable for what you are getting, compared to their competition.
27 inch, 4k monitors, are the sweet spot for image editing monitors right now, and of course we have thoughts on 4k in general. You get more advantage from the 4K resolution at 27 inches than at 32 inches, and you don't have give up so much desk space! (Of course, if you do prefer bigger monitors, BenQ have you very nicely covered with the BenQ SW321C!).
With the exception of higher end video editing, it's hard to think of a person working with images or video who would not find the BenQ SW272U a truly excellent solution, for all their daily work. It has great design, it's ergonomically excellent and a pleasure to look at and use (not least thanks to the wonderful matte coating!). It also sets the benchmark for ease of use - and the resulting accuracy and performance is superb. It's the whole package.
You can really see how much effort BenQ have put in to this one, and the accompanying software - which apparently has been six years in the making! Every aspect of this model shows care and attention to detail - each change on its own (apart from the radically improved software) is perhaps more evolutionary rather than revolutionary - but the total package that results from all those changes IS a revolution for BenQ - having a level of quality and finesse they simply haven't offered before.
We hope and expect the BenQ SW272U to be a very popular model - it certainly deserves to be a runaway winner for BenQ. There is currently simply no better choice for imaging work at this price point.
The BenQ SW272U is available now.
Stocks are limited and we expect there's a good chance this first shipment will sell through quite quickly, so if you're keen - don't delay!
