BenQ SW272Q 27-inch 2K 90W USB-C Photographer Monitor, 99% Adobe RGB, 98% DCI-P3/Display P3, Nano Matte Panel with TUV Anti-Reflection Certification, 1.07 Billion Colors, 16 bit 3D LUT, HDR

The TL;DR is simple: I have found the SW321C to be a phenomenal, no-compromises, nearly flawless monitor. Great stand, great user interface (I love the puck), outstanding image quality, even backlight, no backlight bleed. It's superb for work and leisure. There's IPS glow, but that's unavoidable. I'm a programmer who spends most of his time on his computer -- reading/writing text, watching video, and playing games. Previously I was using 2 Dell U2518D monitors, which, even after calibration with an iDisplay Pro Plus, had the following issues: * Crushed blacks * Poor contrast * Uneven colors * Uneven backlight * Backlight bleed * Glare, despite the matte surface After deciding I didn't want to put up with those issues any longer, I did a week or two of research on what the best no-compromises monitors were in late 2020. That led me to the SW321C, a professional monitor rather than a gaming/consumer monitor, because consumer models -- no matter how fancy they claimed to be or how slick the marketing -- all seemed to fall short and require me to resign myself to compromises in at least one area (and I didn't want FALD). The BenQ SW321C is expensive (though not as expensive as the EIZO and Dell screens that it's often compared to), but I consider the money well spent. The image quality is outstanding. Colors are stunning. Images and text are markedly sharper and crisper than they were on my 25" 1440p monitors (though this would be true of any 4k 32" screen). The backlight is the evenest I've ever seen. There's no backlight bleed that I can detect. I love the shade hood and never take it off. The matte coating is far and away the best I've seen/used. For the movies and tv shows I've watched on it (Blade Runner, Ex Machina, The Witch, The Expanse, The Man in the High Castle, The Midnight Gospel), I couldn't be happier with the quality of the picture. The HDR may be "fake," but it still massively improves the viewing experience, especially in regard to handling of darkness/shadows. Last year I bought and returned the BenQ SW271. I loved it, but the backlight was uneven, there was backlight bleed, and 27" was too small for 4K". (32" is, for my eyes (late 30s), the perfect size for a 4k screen.) If I was going to spend $1,500, I wasn't willing to put up with those issues. The SW321 isn't as bright as the SW271, which is a shame, but it also fixes every issue I had with the SW271. == Update: the blacks aren't as dark as I'd like them to be. (EDIT: correction, for $2k you can NOT get a very decent oled tv with perfect blacks. You will experience burn in.) The monitor also seems to produce a lot of heat. I'm not sure I regret the purchase. It still ticks all the boxes for me, and I consider the money well spent, but if I could do it again, and my living quarters allowed it, (EDIT and recantation: I would not opt for an OLED) Update #2: Scratch that. I still wish the blacks were darker, but this is as good as it gets on an IPS panel. OLED TVs aren't meant to be used as PC monitors, and if you use one that way, there will inevitably be burn in. I'm still quite happy with the purchase, despite the one, single, occasional stuck sub-pixel. I've seen a few reviews here that fault the hardware calibration, but for me it has been superb -- certainly better, to my untrained eye, than the i1 Display Pro Plus's software calibration. That being said, I encountered a couple of bugs/problems when using the Palette Master software: it didn't detect my calibrator until I set colors to 10 bit, full output, and I had to plug it into a USB port on my desktop, not one of the SW321C's USB ports. Update #3: The stuck pixel started to occur more frequently, so I contacted BenQ customer service and asked them to service the screen. The customer-support staff, who were phenomenal -- prompt, professional, understanding, knowledgeable, and incredibly to work with -- helped me, despite a couple of mix ups (which weren't their fault), resolve the matter to my satisfaction. Update #4: The top review is... awful. What on earth sort of person brags(?) about bossing around delivery people? The top item in this person's list of pros is "high Quality Display Monitor," but the review also states that the screen was defective, that s/he has seen better image quality on $200 monitors, and that the colors look "horrible." Garbage. Neither of us is an expert. Ignore amazon reviews. Read reviews written by professional photographers, for whom this monitor is intended. Dec 2022 update: my sw321c is one of my favorite possessions. Even my partner who isn't finicky about screen quality loves it. Watching movies or shows on it is always a treat. I can't praise it highly enough. And I can't believe I omitted from my review that its cardboard box is the nicest, most thoughtful I've encountered for anything I've purchased. It's huge but well worth keeping, as it protects the monitor perfectly and stores and organizes everything incredibly cleanly and effectively. No loose cables. No textured carton compartments. Everything has its isolated section, or its own box (which perfectly fits into only one place). My only complaint with the monitor concerns the shade ood, which has started to fall apart easily. I doubt it's meant to be handled, put on, or taken off as much as I have though. I cover the screen with several layers of cloth when I'm not using it, e.g. at night, because I want to keep it pristine, and they don't fit over the hood. 27 Sept 2024 update: I love this thing just as much as I did when I first posted this review. There are now OLED monitors, and I guess people think matte screens aren't maximally sharp. Maybe that's true, but I've never had a problem with that, and neither, as far as I'm aware, have the photographers who apparently love the SW321C.

What a great monitor. Went together without issue. Gorgeous colors and great size (it’s big). I decided I don’t really need a second monitor. I calibrated it using a spyder pro. The colors look very good. They kind of over did it with both the hockey puck and the bezel keys to control various things, but better too many ways to control than not enough. (I don’t really make use of either after initial setup)

Fantastic quality display for the money! Have run a full test in all test from ports to updated firmware and paper sync settings. NO Dead pixels!! The Boxing seemed bullet proof and very well packed. Will run more test in the future for print comparisons with the macro settings saved.

Love this monitor! This 24in BenQ SW242Q has such a good image quality and out of the box color accuracy. It's built very well and even has a nice base as well as easy setup and instructions. I was also happy that it came with a DP, HDMI, USB-C, and Data cable. The nano-matte screen makes it so nice to look at and the brightness is not over-powering or a strain on the eyes. Creating both digital and print ready media made the functionality across both Mac and Windows systems essential for me. I needed a solid screen to print solution across Adobe Rgb, P3, and sRGB color gamut's. I have a large format Mimaki printer, and this was the best thing I could have invested in other then the printer. I am using a HP Windows desktop and M4 Mac Mini and M4 iPad Pro to create with if that helps anyone. I also use a Wacom to hook up through the monitor, it has multiple ports for other peripherals as well. If you're serious about your craft, then I would not hesitate to get this. Esp if you're printing, or into photography.

Perfect screen and great uniformity when tested with stand alone software. A perfect monitor for photography. All the advertised features check out so I won't go into those details. This is about the best you can get for photography without dropping $5,000+. That said, if Eizo had a 32" 4K CS range monitor at this time, I might have gone with that one instead. But this BenQ is still close to as good as it gets. One thing, the hardware calibration with BenQ's Palette Master Element software is pretty darn buggy on Windows but works well on Mac. I've been working around color calibration software buggyness on Windows for almost 20 years... It's a common problem, so I'm not sure this all BenQ's fault. All calibrators seem to have quirks on Windows. I can say the BenQ hardware calibration is a good and long one. Unfortunately it doesn't offer uniformity test though. I ran that first with X-Rite software before I dove into the full setup. Part of my problem was Windows installed a 2017 BenQ monitor driver first even though I had installed the download driver for this monitor before plugging it in. It fixed after some reboots while I was mucking with settings. Come to think of it, I think it fixed itself when I changed to the BenQ USB 3.0 A/B cable. Oddly if I set "Output dynamic range" to "Full" in Nvidia control panel, the hardware calibration fails. If I set it to "Limited" the calibration looks fantastic and at least reports crazy low deltas (0.3 avg, 0.67 max). I'm not sure why I can't use "Full" range nVidia settings with this monitor. My other monitor connected to the same Windows machine (ViewSonic VP3881 sRGB+) does its hardware calibration just fine at 10-bit with output range set to "Full". This impacts the darkest/lowest range, allows more near-black detail when set to full theoretically. I believe I can see more gradation steps at the low end on the cheaper ViewSonic monitor but I'm not certain of this. It's not a big deal, but the OCD in me will try again some day. It's possible this doesn't matter depending on how the BenQ is doing things with hardware and software I suppose. The Calibration could be failing because some conflict happening. There is definitely a wider color gamut on the BenQ than the sRGB+ Viewsonic, not yet sure about bid depth though. Pretty happy though. I've been doing a lot of printing with this monitor so far. I would say while a large gamut monitor isn't required for printing anymore since some of the sRGB+ monitors are so good, it does still help. And it is amazing to look at images from a quality modern camera in the gamut that this BenQ covers. Photo editing in wide gamut is more enjoyable than it ever has been thanks to improved monitors, 4K workspace, and the improved depth and quality of RAW images. Big step up from 10 years ago. I did some Photoshop black to white gradation tests and confirmed we are in 10-bit/30-bit (3 channels). It doesn't have the banding on either monitor that you see in 8-bit mode. I'm just not sure I have the full bit range yet at the low end on the BenQ. I suppose I can test this by skipping hardware calibration next time and see what runing a software calibration using X-Rite's software that came with my i1Display Pro Plus produces. (Please add a comment if you know what's going on here with "Full" range causing hw calibration fails.) The hood comes in about 9 pieces and is a bit annoying to put together and take apart again for storage. Everything needs to slide and snap together. A bit cumbersome. It does the job but a hinge based solution would be better IMO. I'm not one who uses a hood all the time since my room lighting doesn't force me to, but I like hoods during calibration.

Superb monitor for photography editing. Shap and clear, wish had bought this monitor sooner.

I like this monitor a lot. I had to get a friend to assemble and set it up for me. I didn't find any manual or instructions in the box and am not good with tech equipment. I like how adjustable it is. It's very sturdy and well built. I like that it has the cord guides on the back. The monitor provides a very clear image. I also appreciate that it has a hood included and that it has an opening for a calibrator.

I had a older monitor and just could not get the colors right even using the DataColor tool sooo! I read about these in a couple google news articles and looked at some YouTube for these were just made. All the pennies I spent never thought I would ever see things so colorful and sharp out of the box, Have not even used the new datacolor Spyder x2 on it for like they stated comes totally calibrated. I have a strange vision since some new glasses, icons on a computer screen are like 3D and can like see around the sides of them. With that I was editing a Milky Way right away and I got the colors of Pegasus and the Yin Yang right out of camera they were there just needed a little bit of help but the results sitting back a bit was like a 3D image I thought I could touch!!! The colors just pop like no other monitor and bright with black staying full black make sharp edges. It comes with all cables you will ever need just hook up before connecting to computer the connection are in the looking up position and hard to see after setup. it also comes with the top and side blinders. The hockey puck lets you adjust anything from it instead of trying to find a button along the bottom like other monitors, there are button along the bottom anyway. Just Have Fun Editing your images.