Experience the ultimate in visual artistry with the BenQ SW272Q Nano Matte Panel, designed to simulate paper texture on-screen while boasting TUV anti-reflection certification for unrivaled clarity in professional deliverables. Perfect for photographers and creatives, this 27-inch monitor elevates your workflow with its enchanting 2K QHD resolution, allowing you to delve into projects with an emotional depth that breathes life into your creations.
Immerse yourself in a vibrant realm of colors that resonate beyond mere visuals; the SW272Q transforms your screen into an expressive canvas where every shade tells a story. The panel’s exceptional color accuracy ensures that your artistic vision comes to life, delivering a vivid palette that stirs the soul.
Designed with your comfort in mind, the SW272Q embodies an empathetic design philosophy, fostering an inspired space where creativity flourishes. This monitor doesn’t just display images; it creates a sanctuary for your artistic expression, turning every moment of creation into a journey of ecstasy.
With BenQ’s Paper Color Sync technology, accurately edit photos with confidence. By selecting your desired color gamut, printer model, and paper type, you can enjoy screen-to-print consistency without compromise. Coupled with the exclusive Palette Master Ultimate software, hardware calibration is now 40% faster, ensuring your monitor is always tuned to perfection.
Weighing in at 18.29 pounds and boasting dimensions of 10.78 x 24.17 x 17.78 inches, the SW272Q is designed for seamless integration into your workspace. Equipped with multiple USB ports, including three USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0, it keeps your creative tools within reach.
Take your visual storytelling to new heights with the BenQ SW272Q, a monitor that not only meets the demands of today’s professionals but also inspires creativity, making each pixel a part of your artistic narrative.
Yann –
very good monitor, high colour accurracy, just had to upgrade my screen calibrator tool as my old Colormunki is not supported (works well with my new Colorchecker Display Pro) – so account for that extra cost if you buy it (in my opinion no sense having a great monitor if you don’t keep up with calibration as it changes ever so slightly over time). Very well made, feels solid. The foot/support is great and plenty of room for adjustments (height, rotation..) although if you use it in portrait mode it can get a bit tight on the bottom. The included shade works well and there are enough ‘pieces’ supplied to use either horizontal or vertical (have to change pieces if you wanna change position). The included ‘puck’ makes switching between modes (preset sRGB, Adobe RGB and B&W) very easy and also works very well in adjusting the monitor setting (hopping through the menu and adjusting settings or presets), no need to ‘fumble’ around with the buttons on armlength to adjust settings like on many other monitors. You’ll need a HDMI or DP cable AND the supplied USB data cable for calibrating (be aware of the USB port needed on PC, no HDMI or DP-port alone don’t support calibration). Overall a great buy and definitely happy that I invested the money.
Marik –
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.
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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.
Brad –
Nicely package, amazing quality out of the box. Design a bit oldish with thick bezel but definitely not a deal breaker!
tways –
I love the hood that comes with the monitor to keep glare from shining on the screen. The screen size, 27 inch, is a good size for a desk and you to adjust the height of the monitor. It has USB, C-USB and HDMI connections. It is a little bit heavier than other monitors, but is built very durable.
Earl H. Connors –
Outstanding choice for a color critical monitor for photographers and creatives. I needed to replace my previous NEC monitor and found this as great alternative. The BenQ is fully featured and at a moderate price compared with other brands in this market sector which are far more expensive. Allows quick change color profile with an included switch accessory. For print and prepress, the paper and media selection feature allows for more accurate printing. I am hard to please with any product but I am a true fan of this monitor.
wolfgang rmt –
Love this monitor for the moment
Arborwells L. –
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.
Amazon Customer –
I like the size and resolution of this monitor. It also has several nice connectors that allow me to connect several different types of devices.
Derek Johnson –
A little tricky to set up but easy to calibrate afterwords.
Great support from BenQ.
tways –
This is my first photography monitor and I did a lot of research before I chose this one. I use it for days and so far everything is fine and matches my expectations.