# BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor Review | Dustin



## TWI by Dustin Abbott (Apr 18, 2018)

Hi everyone. I've recently moved to the BenQ SW271 photo editing monitor after reviewing it and finding it pretty much fantastic for my work. Check out the video review here: http://bit.ly/benqsw271

It's not cheap, but it packs a lot of punch and has beautiful accuracy. It's made a lot of my photos really come alive.


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## Mikehit (Apr 18, 2018)

Great review, Dustin. I have the Dell 2412 and it is a great screen but have thought about gong 4k.


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## JPAZ (Apr 18, 2018)

Forgive my question.........I am running a Dell but have been looking at the BENQ. Don't I also need to consider the graphics card I am using to take full advantage of this monitor?


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 18, 2018)

TWI by Dustin Abbott said:


> Hi everyone. I've recently moved to the BenQ SW271 photo editing monitor after reviewing it and finding it pretty much fantastic for my work. Check out the video review here: http://bit.ly/benqsw271
> 
> It's not cheap, but it packs a lot of punch and has beautiful accuracy. It's made a lot of my photos really come alive.



Dustin, do you have any thoughts on other BenQ models that might be a reasonable compromise for those of us fighting expensive GAS.

Jack


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## scottkinfw (Apr 19, 2018)

Jack Douglas said:


> TWI by Dustin Abbott said:
> 
> 
> > Hi everyone. I've recently moved to the BenQ SW271 photo editing monitor after reviewing it and finding it pretty much fantastic for my work. Check out the video review here: http://bit.ly/benqsw271
> ...



I use the Photographer Monitor with 27 inch, Adobe RGB |SW2700PT which sells for %$599 at BenQ- and I love it.

Scott


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 19, 2018)

scottkinfw, I've been tempted for some time on that one but now I got this crazy 32" 4K irrational thought. Would my budding desire to do more serious 4K video make any difference at this point. I'm getting by with an old 24" Samsung and it's less sharp than my older 20" BenQ that sit's beside it. The Colormunkey at least gave me pretty accurate matching color profiles so I manage.

Jack


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## bhf3737 (Apr 19, 2018)

Jack Douglas said:


> Dustin, do you have any thoughts on other BenQ models that might be a reasonable compromise for those of us fighting expensive GAS.
> 
> Jack



Hi Jack 
I use BenQ BL2711U 
(27in 4K UHD w/ HAS, Tilt, Swivel, USB 3.0 Hub, Dual HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort)
On which I get enough good looking results for both photo and video.
Price is around 600CDN and I have got 3 of them connected to a PC via a GTX1080 video card.


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## YuengLinger (Apr 19, 2018)

32'' suits 4k much better, even with recent scaling improvements in Windows and Adobe products.

I tried a Benq with great expectations, but had quality control problems.

Very happy now with Viewsonic's 32" 4k. Sharp, accurate, reliable, reasonably priced.


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 19, 2018)

And I'm very happy with ... the comments and advice I'm hearing in this thread since there will be a new monitor one of these days and it will have to do maybe indefinitely.

As far as BenQ and QC I haven't heard too many negatives. Maybe they are slipping??

Here is roughly the Viewsonic price I'd be looking at in CAD - just over $1000. That seems pretty impressive.

https://www.amazon.ca/ViewSonic-VP3268-4K-Frameless-Monitor-DisplayPort/dp/B0731LYY9P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524153906&sr=8-1&keywords=Viewsonic%27s+32%22+4k

Jack


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## YuengLinger (Apr 19, 2018)

Jack Douglas said:


> And I'm very happy with ... the comments and advice I'm hearing in this thread since there will be a new monitor one of these days and it will have to do maybe indefinitely.
> 
> As far as BenQ and QC I haven't heard too many negatives. Maybe they are slipping??
> 
> ...



This is the one I have. Super accurate for prints. Makes photo-editing pleasurable. Bought from B&H.


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## keithcooper (Apr 19, 2018)

*Another BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor Review - by Keith *

I've been using this monitor for a while now and wrote this up last October

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/benq-sw271-monitor-review/

My only slight quibble is the dot pitch is a bit fine on any of my Macs, so I definitely prefer the SW320

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/benq-sw320-32inch-4k-monitor-review/


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 19, 2018)

Other than qualifying as a fairly particular person, I'm afraid I can't really justify this level of monitor ... but it doesn't mean I may not end up with one.  However, I need another computer too and ...

Amazing reviews!

Jack


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## Pure Photo N.I (Apr 24, 2018)

I have this monitor too but only for a short time a huge upgrade on the Dell Ultrasharps I have used up until now.


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## TWI by Dustin Abbott (Apr 24, 2018)

Interesting to read everyone's feedback here. I've used a number of Dell's Ultrasharps in the past, but the SW271 has been a serious upgrade for me. Price is obviously a pretty serious factor (unless you are a Mac user, where it might seem cheap ;D ).

So far I've got little to complain about.


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## TWI by Dustin Abbott (Apr 24, 2018)

*Re: Another BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor Review - by Keith *



keithcooper said:


> I've been using this monitor for a while now and wrote this up last October
> 
> http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/benq-sw271-monitor-review/
> 
> ...



I read and enjoyed your review, Keith. It seems like you and I were pretty much on the same page. Making the requisite adjustments to getting text to a size without eyestrain is the biggest initial challenge, though I've gotten everything setup the way I want now.

I found that creating the LUT during calibration (at the early stage) very much made it seem like nothing was happening. I actually aborted the first calibration because I thought I had something setup wrong!


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## kaihp (Apr 24, 2018)

Mikehit said:


> Great review, Dustin. I have the Dell 2412 and it is a great screen but have thought about gong 4k.



I moved from a pair of 2412M's to a SW320. I'm enjoying every moment of it (except for the sting of the credit card bill).


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## JPAZ (Apr 25, 2018)

Great review.

So now that I've been home for a while, I got a chance to look at my present setup vs the BenQ........

My Dell U2711 is not 4K but my graphics card can support 4K. A friend has a BenQ SW2700 (also not 4K). I'd have to say his color accuracy is a bit nicer than mine and I'll bet the SW271 is spectacular. Need to wait until some other stuff is paid for first 

Really trying to control GAS these days.


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## scottkinfw (Apr 25, 2018)

kaihp said:


> Mikehit said:
> 
> 
> > Great review, Dustin. I have the Dell 2412 and it is a great screen but have thought about gong 4k.
> ...



Hi Kaihp

Why were you working with two monitors? What benefit did it afford you?

Thanks.

Scott


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## fullstop (Apr 25, 2018)

prefer single monitor setup. got a 32" Dell UP3216Q for about 2 years now. lots of screen real estate and excellent image quality at a reasonable price. also looked at Eizo and NEC monitors, but did not see the huge price difference reflected in visibly better IQ. very happy with the dell - for my non-pro/amateur stills only PP workflow as well as general use, especially large spreadsheets. cannot imagine downgrading to any 27" monitor. 

will upgrade monitor in a few years, maybe to 34" and when i get 10k colour in practice, not only on paper. monitor, graphics card, OS and image processing software - all elements need to be capable and perfectly lined up. Very iffy. Cannot get it done in current setup.


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## kaihp (Apr 25, 2018)

scottkinfw said:


> kaihp said:
> 
> 
> > Mikehit said:
> ...


Two words: screen real-estate. Having two monitors allows you to put, say, the tools menus on one screen and the image on the other screen.

I designed a hardware board for a Raspberry Pi last fall, and there is is quite useful to have the schematics on one screen and the PCB layout on the other screen.

The drawback with a dual- (or even multi-) screen setup is the bezel is in the way when you'd like to put a window across two screens.


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## TWI by Dustin Abbott (Apr 30, 2018)

kaihp said:


> scottkinfw said:
> 
> 
> > kaihp said:
> ...



I too love working with two screens. Being able to put things in two places without covering over anything with another window is pretty fabulous.


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 30, 2018)

I wouldn't have it any other way as well. They don't have to reside in a single plane and the secondary one can be a cheaper model that's fine for most activities. 

My little 20' BenQ has performed flawlessly for about 12 years and is sharper than my 24" newer Samsung - that's why I have started to consider a pro BenQ model. Hope they continue to manufacture dependable products. 

Jack


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## kaihp (Apr 30, 2018)

Jack Douglas said:


> I wouldn't have it any other way as well. They don't have to reside in a single plane and the secondary one can be a cheaper model that's fine for most activities.



I played around with using the sw320 as the main screen and a 2412M as the secondary screen. The problem was that the ppi is so different (and I need to run at 125% scaling on the sw320 to see the icons) that it became too cumbersome to be really useful for me. The same window would be 1.5x as tall on the 2412M screen than on the sw320 :-\


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## Jack Douglas (Apr 30, 2018)

Very valid/good point you're making!

Jack


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## Frodo (Apr 30, 2018)

I bought a BenQ SW2700. The first had visible unhomogeneity in colour and brightness. It was replaced.
The second was better, but did not meet BenQ's standards, even though BenQ denied that. However, the retailer was excellent and gave me credit on an NEC PA 242W, which has near perfect homogeneity. 
I have a second Samsung screen that has the various menu options and sliders for Lightroom, while the main picture displays on the NEC. However, if I want to do soft proofing, this displays on the Samsung and I need to slide the screen over onto the NEC.
Otherwise, I am happy with this setup.


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## stevelee (May 1, 2018)

Jack Douglas said:


> I wouldn't have it any other way as well. They don't have to reside in a single plane and the secondary one can be a cheaper model that's fine for most activities.
> 
> My little 20' BenQ has performed flawlessly for about 12 years and is sharper than my 24" newer Samsung - that's why I have started to consider a pro BenQ model. Hope they continue to manufacture dependable products.
> 
> Jack



I used dual monitors for almost 20 years. From 2006 through most of 2014 I had my old LaCie CRT hooked up along with a 23" LCD. I used the latter for my main screen, and kept palettes and such on the CRT where color shifts and such didn't matter. Nor did difference in resolutions. I arranged them in software so that when I moved the mouse pointer between them, there was minimal vertical shift.

In late 2014 I got a 5K iMac, and figured I'd get an adaptor to add the 23" screen to it. But I have left the old Mac Pro hooked up to it, and still crank it up for an occasional project, mostly audio. Using both computers at the same time is a little confusing in that I will type something on the wrong keyboard or move the wrong mouse, but otherwise is easier than migrating everything to one computer just for doing something every few months. I've got used to having a blank screen to my right the rest of the time. Once I got my desk layouts to suit me in PS, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator, I find the 27" monitor is almost always plenty of screen real estate for what I do, and I can always preview video full screen at 5K. And even with the CRT and 23" LCD, it wasn't that handy to move the mouse pointer from one extreme edge to the other. That's likely a lot of why I like sticking with one fair-sized monitor. But back in Olden Times, dual monitors were really useful and handy.


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