BenQ SW271C 27" 4K Monitor

Monitor panel sizes are measured across the diagonal, in inches.

They are approximate only, so the actual measurement might be 27.1" for example. Note that panel size in inches is only one part of the story - the other being the aspect ratio. For example a 24" monitors doesn't sound much bigger than a 23" monitor, but 24" monitors are normally 16:10 versus most 23" monitors being 16:9. This means a 24" monitor is much taller than a 23" and the working size is much greater than one inch difference would suggest.

The panel ratio gives the relative size of the horizontal to the vertical. Older monitors were 4:3, but most modern monitors are widescreen, with 16:10 or 16:9 being the common ratios. 16:10 is distinctly taller, and common with 24 and 30 inch monitors. 23 and 27 inch monitors are normally 16:9 - the same ratio as widescreen televisions. For monitors 24 inches and below, we recommend going with a 16:10 monitor if you can. Once you're over 24 inches you've got sufficient vertical working space it doesn't matter so much.

Native resolution is simply the number of pixels a monitor has, stated as horizontal x vertical.

LCD monitors really want to receive their native resolution and look pretty terrible when scaling other resolutions to the native resolution of the panel.

Most modern computers have no trouble outputting up to 2560 by 1600 (e.g. all Mac Pros/Macbooks/Minis/Airs etc. from the last 5 years or so can do this without issue, usually to 2 or more displays simultaneously). The only time it becomes particularly important is with older machines, particularly laptops, many have a maximum external display resolution of 1920 by 1200. If in doubt send us the full model number of your laptop and we can double check this for you!

There are three major types of monitor panels. IPS (aka PLS) - are the best for image makers. They have the best colour accuracy and uniformity characteristics. The can sometimes have weaker blacks, so gamers and video editors sometimes lean towards PVA monitors. However these days good IPS panels have excellent blacks so we recommend that all image makers use an IPS panel. The latest panel type, TN, is generally only used in laptops and low end devices and should avoided for imaging work at all costs!

The two major types of backlighting are CCFL (Flourescent tube based) and LED. CCFL is the older type of light source and offers good uniformity and it has been traditionally easier to engineer colour accuate monitors with flourescent tubes. However recent LED backlit monitors can be excellent - very uniform, and of course they use much less power. The latest LED backlit monitors from the good makers now offer excellent colour accuracy - at least as good as the older CCFL models.

LEDs also uses significantly less power (although CCFL monitors are already much better than old CRTs of course!) - and tend to have better uniformity.

Whether or not the unit needs a fan for cooling. Most monitors fortunately don't need a fan, rather using passive cooling through heatsinks and vents.

However, some monitors do require a fan, which can be of concern given the monitor's proximity to your ears. Generally the fan will be a low dB fan not audible above a typical computer fan, but if ambient noise is of concern to you the we suggest you choose a monitor without a cooling fan.

Direct Hardware Calibration is the process of calibrating directly into the monitor's hardware. This is both more accurate, and typically more easy to do, than traditional software calibration. See the 'Calibration Information' section above for more details about this monitor and calibration.

In built correction sensors come in two forms:

• Full Calibration Sensors - behave just list external calibration sensors and can build full colour profiles for your monitor. These are designed to allow for fully automatic regular calibation with no user intervention.
• Correction Sensors - these can not make colour profiles, so you will still need access to a compatible external sensor about twice a year, but the correction sensor is used to keep the monitor as close to the profile as possible inbetween calibrations.

Until around 2010, almost all monitors were 'standard gamut' - meaning they could display a moderate range of colours (roughly around the size of the sRGB colour space). In recent years we've seen the development of wide gamut monitors that can display a much wider range of saturated colours (about 25% more) - equivalent to approximately the gamut of AdobeRGB.

We recommend wide gamut monitors for all image makers, but especially for anyone working regularly with saturated colour. Wide gamut monitors can also emulate standard gamut monitors very well, so it's more future proof to choose a wide gamut model, and there really aren't any disadvantages (apart from the generally higher price of wide gamut models!).

Does the monitor accept a 10 bit incoming video signal? 10 bit video signals allow for more tonal level separation (i.e. smoother gradients).

PC: 10 bit is well supported and relatively easy to achieve with 'workstation' graphic cards (short version: buy an NVIDIA Quadro video card!). Since about 2020, even most modern consumer video cards now support 10 bit, but the consumer cards with their gaming optimised drivers do tend to be a lot more buggy.

Mac: 10 bit has been supported across the Mac lines since around 2016.

Note that there are often caveats to this support - such as 10 bit being available only on DisplayPort and not HDMI for UHD inputs, for example.

Do make sure you check the manufacturer's specifications very carefully if you have a particular requirement - like e.g. 10 bit over HDMI at 4K/60Hz.

Our comprehensive article on 10 bit support has more details. Important to note, also, that whilst 10 bit is definitely 'better' - in 20 years of professional imaging work, we have never really seen it make a practical difference to typical tasks (with the possible exception of HDR grading work).

The maximum achievable ratio of the brightness of a monitor's white to the depth of it's black. The stated figure is a maximum, achieved only when the monitor is running at high brightness in a darkened room.

A high contrast ratio makes things looks more contrasty (i.e. more 'pop') and is particularly of note with gaming, video, and image display scenarios. For example, if you're selling photos to clients straight off your screen, then high contrast has more wow factor.

However, for print work, it is typical practice to dramatically reduce the monitors contrast to as low as, say, 200:1 to better simulate paper. This is best done with monitors that feature direct hardware calibration support and allow you to specify the desired contrast ratio.

The maximum achievable brightness of the monitor in candellas per metre squared.

It is VERY unusual to run a monitor at maximum brightness, especially for imaging work.

The DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) specifications requires contrast of 1500:1 or more.

Most LCD monitors do not yet offer DCI True Blacks support (in practice 'true blacks' means a very low black point suitable for video editing in a dim environment). This doesn't mean they have bad blacks in typical viewing environments, but it does mean you may experience some 'glow' in your blacks if you're viewing in a very dim environment.

Achieving very high contrast ratios is difficult and a combination of technologies is used - changes to the panel, light retardation film and backlight are all required.

This is really only of relevance in video work - in still image work, and particualrly for print, it is common practise to actually raise the monitor's black point above the minimum to better simulate the printed output.

The wider the better! But as usual, on paper specifications tell you just about nothing about the actual performance.

Viewing angle is the maximum angle at which a display can be viewed with 'acceptable visual performance'. In the context of this specification, all that means is that the 'contrast ratio remains above 10:1' (which is laughably low). This is really a meaningless specification with regards to the colour accuracy of a monitor when viewed off angle.

Thus, we don't place any credence in the manufacturer stated numbers. Simply though, IPS panels have the best viewing angles by far, and all IPS panels sold here all have (relative to low quality monitors) excellent viewing angles for this type of monitor, so you won't see significant variance as you move you head around under normal circumstances (movements of 15 or so degrees, say). In general you and a colleague could sit side by side (closely) and work acceptably together on an image. Beyond that, though, like all LCD monitors, accurate display will drop off very quickly once you move off angle. That is simply a fact of life with LCDs, even the best ones.

Ironically, monitors with lower black points tend to be slightly worse in this area (e.g. the CGX range from Eizo) - as often part of achieving the low blacks is the use of a polarising film over the panel. As anyone who has ever used a polarising filter with a camera knows, the effect of such a filter is highly directional. Thus as you move off axis, you will therefore see change more quickly.

How quickly a pixel can change colour, in milliseconds (usually measured as grey-to-grey, but there's no real standard).

Basically, any value 16 or under is generally fine for all normal uses. Exceptions are high end gaming and possibly video production - but it's rare anything below 10 makes a significant difference, and monitors with very low response times typically sacrifice a lot of colour quality to achieve this.