BenQ has revealed a new addition to its Creative Pro monitor line-up: the PD2732U. This 27‑inch 4K display has been designed for photographers, videographers and creatives who need a wide-gamut, color-accurate display. It boasts 99% Adobe RGB, 99% DCI‑P3, and 100% sRGB coverage – percentages that few other monitors can compete with, regardless of price. The Adobe RGB coverage is especially impressive, and it means on-screen colors can be more accurately matched to CMYK print output.

Every PD2732U is factory calibrated to an accuracy of Delta E <2, and is Calman Verified and Pantone Validated for additional color dependability. BenQ’s AQCOLOR Pilot calibration software enables hardware and software calibration management for long-term color accuracy. The PD2732U is also said to “ensure reliable color performance and brightness across the entire display, minimizing color deviation with advanced corner-to-corner uniformity correction”.

In addition to the display’s pro-grade image credentials, the PD2732U also features Thunderbolt 4 connectivity for single-cable video, data, and power delivery, along with Smart KVM with daisy‑chain support, enabling you to control multiple computers through a single monitor. Mac‑optimized color matching eliminates differences between Mac displays and the monitor – ideal when using the PD2732U alongside a MacBook. Each monitor is supplied with BenQ’s wireless Hotkey Puck that gives quick access to modes and settings.

The BenQ PD2732U is available to pre‑order at B&H for $699, which considering its superb color space coverage makes it a bit of a bargain. Alternatively, it can be bundled with BenQ’s Ergo Arm for a $50 discount. Retail availability at B&H starts on July 22, with Amazon and other retailers stocking the display from September 1.

EIZO has announced two new curved ultrawide monitors for professionals, both backed by new, industry-leading warranties:

FlexScan EV3851X

This 37.5-inch display replaces EIZO's existing EV3895 and runs at a UWQHD+ (3840 x 1600) resolution, for a pixel density of 111 ppi. It is based around an IPS LCD panel - unusual for a curved ultrawide display, as these usually use VA panels - with a 2300R curvature. Though aimed primarily at commercial, business and office use, the FlexScan EV3851X can still display a respectable 96% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, despite not being a 10-bit display. Convenient front buttons enable easy switching between color pre-sets that include DCI-P3 and BT.709. A 300-nit max brightness and 2000:1 contrast ratio are respectable, if not particularly special. The FlexScan EV3851X is also a USB-C monitor, enabling a single-cable link to an attached laptop or SFF PC, with the monitor able to supply up to 94 watts of Power Delivery. Other connections include a built-in LAN port for a stable wired connection, and this can be accessed by a laptop via the USB-C link. A 4-port USB hub with an additional USB Type-C port and three USB Type-A ports further enhance the FlexScan EV3851X's versatility.

Expect retail availability of the FlexScan EV3851X in July. We await pricing information.

FlexScan EV3451X

Like the EV3851X, the EV3451X is a curved ultrawide display, just with a slightly smaller 34.1-inch screen size, and a lower UWQHD (3440 x 1440) resolution. Pixel density is almost as high as the EV3851X though, at 109 ppi. Although marketed in the same product family, the two monitors do differ in most of their image quality specs. The EV3451X's curvature is noticeably more subtle at 3800R, and its contrast ratio is only 1000:1. Unlike the EV3851X, there's no mention of DCI-P3 gamut coverage, so it's likely the percentage coverage is considerably lower. The EV3451X can reach a slightly higher 350-nit brightness, however. There's little to separate the two monitors when it comes to connectivity though, as both share the same USB-C and power delivery specs, along with identical LAN and USB hub features.

The EV3451X is scheduled to begin shipping in Autumn 2026. Pricing has yet to be revealed.

7-Year Monitor Warranty

Both new monitors benefit from EIZO's newly-launched 7-year warranty. This supports longer product lifespans, helping reduce TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), while contributing to more sustainable use over the product’s life. For over 20 years EIZO has backed its monitors with a 5-year warranty, so extending its coverage to 7 years marks a further commitment to the quality and dependability of its products. Not only does the 7 year warranty apply to the two newly-launched FlexScan displays, it is also being applied retrospectively to the current FlexScan EV2740S, EV2720S, EV2410R and EV2400R monitors for additional peace of mind.

Here's something you don't see very often: a double-sided monitor! The new Philips 24B2D5300 is equipped with two 23.8” IPS LCD panels (placed back-to-back), each displaying at Full HD resolution with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

Though positioned as a business monitor, with obvious use cases being point of sale or front desk applications, the display could also work well for professional photographers shooting tethered, allowing clients to easily review images from their position on set, without needing to physically move to the photographer's location.

The 24B2D5300 allows you to display two separate video feeds on each screen in SmartView mode, or alternatively the display can be configured in DualView mode, whereby the rear screen can mirror or extend the primary display. Applications and sensitive information can be set to only be visible on one side of the monitor, with the other side reserved for customer-facing information. It's also possible for two people to work simultaneously on either screen, while the 180-degree swivel base makes it easy to collaborate between two users.

The monitor is also USB-C compatible, ensuring stress-free connectivity with compatible computers. Two USB-C ports are provided so each display can function as an independent monitor, enabling the 24B2D5300 to be used in place of two standalone monitors. Each USB-C connection can output up to 65W to power a connected laptop, plus there are dual HDMI ports if you want to simultaneously connect two computers that don't support USB-C.

The Philips 24B2D5300 dual-sided monitor will be available to buy in June 2026, priced at £359.99. Pricing in other regions has yet to be announced.

EIZO is set to reveal its first OLED monitor in its ColorEdge series of premium displays designed with photo and video editors firmly in mind. Until now the respected monitor brand has focussed on high quality IPS LCD panels, but with the increased contrast, vibrancy and color space coverage that OLED is capable of, it makes sense for EIZO to exploit this next-generation monitor technology.

As yet we've only got a teaser for the new display, but we know it'll be a 31.5-inch, 4K (3840 x 2160) panel featuring an anti-glare, low-reflection coating. It's also an HDR display, thanks to a healthy 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio, and what will also presumably be a high maximum screen brightness. This level of OLED contrast can result in color fringing around high-contrast details like black text on a white background, but EIZO says it has developed its own circuitry which is able to minimize such aberrations.

There are currently no statistics available for the monitor's exact color space coverage, but EIZO is keen to promote its custom ABL (Auto Brightness Limiter) system. The purpose of ABL is to lower overall screen brightness in order to protect an OLED panel during bright scenes. However, an unwanted side effect is often the altering of tonal balance and color perception. EIZO says it has engineered a more refined approach that maintains tonal accuracy and color stability, as well as preserving brightness across a greater proportion of the image.

EIZO's OLED display will also allow you to choose between Highlight Dimming and Uniform dimming, so can opt to preserve mid- and low-tones as the screen will intelligently dim only highlight areas. The Uniform Dimming option reduces brightness evenly across the entire image for a consistent balance between light and dark areas.

In keeping with recent high-end EIZO monitors, the new OLED display will also feature hardware calibration, along with a built-in colorimeter for totally automated self calibration: a handy feature which ensures consistent color accuracy with zero inconvenience to your workflow.

If you can't wait for the full launch of EIZO's first OLED ColorEdge display and you're in the UK, you can preview it in person right now at the 2026 MPTS show in London, stand M60.

EIZO has announced the ColorEdge CS3200X: a new 31.5-inch 4K display designed for color-critical workloads. It's the first 4K (3840x2160) 31.5-inch model in the CS line-up; a range positioned as an entry point into EIZO's monitors for creative pros, offering premium performance at a more accessible price point than EIZO's CG monitor series.

The CS3200X boasts wide color gamut coverage, including 96% DCI P3 and an impressive 99% AdobeRGB coverage, the latter being on par with some of the best photo-editing monitors on the market. The monitor includes various color preset modes, including a Display P3 setting that provides consistency with mobile devices and MacBook computers. To ensure the best possible screen uniformity, the CS3200X features Digital Uniformity Equalizer technology for consistent color and luminance across the display.

The CS3200X also supports Hybrid Log‑Gamma (HLG) for broadcast and Perceptual Quantization (PQ) for film and streaming production, though the CS3200X's maximum 350-nit brightness isn't quite high enough to earn it VESA DisplayHDR certification.

Despite not being in EIZO's top-tier CG series, the CS3200X still includes a new Sync Signal feature which automatically adjusts brightness, gamma, and color gamut based on the input signal's metadata. According to EIZO, "this ensures accurate viewing conditions when switching between SDR and HDR or moving across color spaces, reducing manual steps and maintaining consistency from the start of each project".

Other useful features include one-cable USB-C connectivity with up to 70W of Power Delivery to an attached laptop, plus the CS3200X includes a magnetic shading hood - an extra traditionally reserved for CG-series displays.

Though EIZO monitors tend to prioritize function over form, the CS3200X has been designed with aesthetics in mind. It sports a new three-sided frameless design that minimizes borders to "reduce visual interruptions".

The EIZO CS3200X will be available from June. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but we can assume it’ll be priced somewhere between the 27-inch, 4K CS2740 that currently costs $1600, and the $5,900 31.5” ColorEdge CG319X.

Atomos is a brand we know primarily for producing some of the best on-camera monitors, but it's now seeking to expand into desktop monitors, used for post production and video editing. To that end it has acquired Flanders Scientific (FSI). Flanders produces reference monitors for professional video production companies, and therefore occupies a different market sector to the consumer-orientated monitors from the likes of Dell and BenQ which we usually feature on Digital Camera World. Atomos's aim is to have a foothold in every aspect of video monitoring, from initial capture with its Shinobi and Ninja on-camera monitors and recorders, through its rack-mounted Shogun AV monitors used for broadcasting and corporate workflows, and now into post production and final delivery courtesy of FSI reference displays.

Atomos's decision to purchase FSI in particular is said to be on account of Flanders' highly respected position within the reference monitor sector. According to Atomos, "reference grade monitoring is not simply defined by higher performance, but by industry validation and trust". Atomos states that FSI screens are already approved by postproduction houses and major content studios due to their exacting standards and accurate performance. This kind of trust takes years to develop, but Atomos is able to skip this lengthy brand-building by purchasing an established, reputable company.

As it stands, Flanders will continue to operate as its own brand, but now under Atomos ownership. Atomos asserts that "there will be no change to [Flanders'] product philosophy, engineering approach, or the high standards that professionals rely on. Customers can expect continued delivery of the same trusted accuracy, consistency and performance that defines FSI".

Check out our guide to the best monitors for video editing

BenQ has long been a go-to brand if you wanted a premium monitor suitable for color-critical creative work. It’s SW270C, SW271C and SW272U 27-inch monitors have consistently delivered superb image quality at a fair price. The PD2770U isn't in the same model range as those monitors, but it's aimed at similar users. It boasts excellent image quality specs and a host of extra features designed for discerning creatives. On paper at least, it seems like the PD2770U has it all. Let's see if it delivers in real-world use as well.

Specifications

Display area: 27 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Pixel density: 163 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Color space coverage: 100% Rec.709, 99% AdobeRGB, 99% P3
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Read more:
The best monitors for video editing
The best photo-editing monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Key features

The PD2770U has pretty much every conceivable monitor feature you could ask for from a photo or video editing perspective. It nails the basics with an impressive 99% coverage of the wide-gamut Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, along with 100% Rec.709 coverage. Each PD2770U comes pre-calibrated to a color accuracy of less than Delta E 1.5, so you can be confident it'll display accurate color right out of the box.

To ensure it continues to be color-accurate, the PD2770U features hardware color calibration, meaning when you recalibrate its color, the adjusted color balance look-up table is stored within the monitor itself, rather than on the host computer. That way you can connect any computer you like and the monitor will always display the same, accurate color. What's more, you don't even need a separate monitor calibrator to calibrate the display in the first place. Built into the PD2770U's top screen bezel is a small colorimeter on a motorized hinge. When you want to calibrate, the colorimeter rotates out from its slot, then the monitor fires a sequence of pre-set colors. The entire calibration process is completely automatic and hassle-free, plus it can adapt to ambient lighting conditions. You can even schedule the process to take place at a day/time convenient for you.

But it's not just color accuracy that defines good image quality. You also want a monitor to display consistent color and brightness across its entire screen area, not just the central region. The PD2770U achieves this with a dedicated uniformity mode that keeps brightness consistent right to the corners of the display.

You can have all the image quality features out there, but they won't be much good if you can't see what's on screen. To ensure on-screen content is clearly visible, the PD2770U sports BenQ's Nano Matte coating to reduce reflections and ambient glare. It's also claimed to improve eye comfort during long editing sessions.

And the extras don't stop there. In addition to standard on-panel controls, BenQ includes its Hotkey Puck. This wireless remote control is designed to make navigating through the monitor's menu and settings a more ergonomic experience. The central, clickable dial is ideal for fine-tuning screen brightness, while the buttons surrounding the dial enable instant switching between your preferred three color modes. The buttons are also customizable, and though I personally don't find the Puck to be an essential accessory as I tend to stay in one color mode and screen brightness setting for the majority of my work, it's nonetheless a nice extra to have.

Build & handling

As you'd expect for a monitor at this price point, the PD2770U looks and feels like a high quality product. The screen's casing feels solid and well assembled, while the adjustable stand is predominantly metal and weighty; it’s a reassuringly stable base for the screen itself. It also has a decent range of height, tilt and swivel adjustment. The overall design of the monitor and stand is quite conservative - its substance over style - but one noteworthy visual feature is the screen’s oversized top bezel. The reason for this is to make room for the calibration colorimeter, which hinges out of a slot in the middle of the bezel so it can analyse and calibrate the display.

Directly below this, at the base of the screen, is a row of buttons and BenQ's classic joystick controller for navigating the various on-screen menus and monitor settings. This system works well, and feels more intuitive than a button-only interface, though don't forget you can also use the included Hotkey Puck remote dial for an even more ergonomic control system. Also on the bottom of the display are a pair of USB-A sockets, and a 3.5mm headphone socket.

At the rear of the panel are fairly standard input sockets, including a pair of HDMI ports, a single DisplayPort connection, dual USB-C ports, and an RJ45 LAN connection which is used for network-managed firmware updates and synchronized color management. If you connect a laptop via USB-C, the monitor can supply it with up to 96W of power, so you can have a single cable carrying power and video data.

BenQ supplies the PD2770U with a separate shading hood to guard against unwanted screen reflections. This is a one-piece design that easily attaches to the monitor using magnets - no prior assembly or annoying clips required.

Performance

The PD2770U uses a wide-gamut 10-bit IPS LCD panel, and to great effect. To the naked eye and in the default color pre-set, the display looks great, with vibrant but not over-saturated color, along with consistent color and contrast, regardless of your viewing angle. The 4K resolution on a screen this size results in a crisp 163 pixels per inch, though you will need to use approximately 150% operating system scaling in order for text, icons and toolbars to be easily readable. The Nano Matte coating does an excellent job of minimizing reflections, so unless you have a strong light source nearby, the shading hood shouldn't be required. One small quirk I noticed with the screen is how the extreme left and right edges appear to curve away from you just as they disappear behind the frame bezels, rather than having a defined edge. This seems to be by design, and while it does look a bit strange at first, you do get used to it.

Lab results

Color gamut:

A key selling point of the PD2770U is its excellent color space coverage; BenQ claims impressive 99% Adobe RGB and 99% DCI-P3 coverage. Testing our sample monitor revealed 97% P3 coverage, while Adobe RGB was exactly as advertised, at 99% - both terrific scores, and very welcome if you edit in either of these color spaces.

Color accuracy:

BenQ advertises the PD2770U as factory calibrated to a Delta E accuracy of less than 1.5. I managed a marginally worse deviance of 1.58, though I was able to get this down to 0.97 after a manual calibration. While this level of color accuracy is respectable, I was expecting better. For context, BenQ's SW272U monitor managed 1.07 out of the box during my testing, and its 5K PD2730S returned a superb Delta E deviance from ideal color of just 0.42.

Brightness and contrast:

Maximum brightness is advertised at 400 nits. I managed to record 367.1. That may be a little short of the claimed brightness, but in an ideal world you'll want to be editing in room that doesn't have strong ambient lighting, and therefore you shouldn't need your monitor to be set at a retina-searing brightness level.

If you choose to enable the screen's brightness uniformity mode, maximum brightness is reduced to 286.3 nits. This does appear noticeably dimmer to the naked eye, though again, it’s still well above the brightness level you'll likely be editing at.

Brightness uniformity:

With there being little practical penalty from using the uniformity mode, I kept it enabled when testing the PD2770U's brightness and color uniformity. I recorded a 4% difference between the brightest and dimmest screen regions, whether overall brightness was set to 100% or 67% - a very impressive result.

Color uniformity:

Color uniformity isn't quite so great, with a difference between the most and least accurate screen regions of Delta E 2.4, but it’s by no means a bad performance. What's more, reduce brightness down to a more usable 67% and color uniformity improves considerably, to a deviance of just Delta E 1.4.

Verdict

There's no denying that the BenQ PD2770U is a serious investment, but you do get a heck of a lot for your money. Excellent color space coverage, USB-C connectivity with Power Delivery, an included shading hood and Hotkey puck remote, plus the fully automated color calibration with built-in calibrator: the PD2770U has pretty much everything you could want from a high-end monitor designed for demanding creatives. For context, the Eizo CG2770X is another 27-inch 4K display with similar color space coverage as well as a built-in calibration sensor, yet it will set you back around $3400/£2500, making the PD2770U look like great value.

The PD2770U would easily be worth a full 5-star rating, if it wasn't for one thing: its color accuracy. Although BenQ advertises it to be within Delta E 1.5 of perfect color out of the box, I've tested many monitors of similar or lower cost that return a deviance of less than 1, making our 1.58 figure comparatively disappointing. Thankfully this score was improved by a manual calibration, and it's entirely possible other PD2770U examples could perform slightly better out of the box than our test sample.

Ultimately, if you need a high-quality monitor for color-critical image or video editing, the PD2770U should be high on your shortlist. It's ideal if you edit in Adobe RGB or DCI-P3, and it's completely automated hardware calibration is a blessing for creatives who require long-term color consistency. Even so, there are plenty of compelling alternative monitors at this price point, not least from BenQ itself. The aforementioned PD2730S lacks hardware calibration and a built-in calibrator, and its Adobe RGB coverage is only 86%, but it boasts a 5K resolution and has even better color accuracy, while costing around 30% less than the PD2770U.

Most of the monitors we review are mid-range to premium models built with color accuracy in mind. We select these as they should hopefully be reliable displays on which to edit images or video. But the Eizo ColorEdge CG3100X goes beyond our usual definition of "premium". It's designed for professional creatives and includes features you simply don't find on most other high-end displays. Naturally, a no-compromise display like this doesn't come cheap, so let's see if it can differentiate itself enough from cheaper competitors to justify its price.

Specifications

Display area: 30.5 inches
Aspect: 17:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 4096 x 2160
Pixel density: 152 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 15ms
Brightness: 500 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1800:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 97% AdobeRGB, 99% P3
Video inputs: HDMI, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Read more:
The best monitors for video editing
The best photo-editing monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Key features

The CG3100X replaces the ColorEdge CG319X in Eizo's monitor range, and though it's slightly smaller (30.5 inches vs 31.1 inches), it has more modern features like USB-C single-cable connectivity to an attached laptop, as well as a higher 500-nit max brightness that qualifies it as an HDR display.

Probably the most obvious difference with the CG3100X compared to other monitors is its DCI 4K resolution. Where the vast majority of 4K monitors have a resolution of 3840 x 2160, the CG3100X runs at 4096 x 2160. DCI 4K is almost exclusively used in professional filmmaking, so if that's your preferred recording resolution, the CG3100X is ideal for reviewing your footage full screen with no black bars top and bottom, as would be the case with a conventional 4K display. If you don't record in DCI 4K, the CG3100X's resolution can still be useful, as it results in a slightly wider than normal 17:9 aspect ratio. This gives you more horizontal work area for displaying pallets alongside a 3:2 still image in Photoshop, or extra room for split screen multitasking. On the downside, it means every standard 16:9 video you ever watch will have black bars down the left and right sides when viewed full screen.

Other, more subtle features that set the CG3100X apart include its support for HDR, hybrid log-gamma and the perceptual quantization (PQ) curve for film production and streamed content. The latter allows you to display areas of an image that are clipped when displayed at a specified brightness level. These areas can be highlighted in yellow or magenta to make them easily visible. Additional viewing aides include 4K Zoom, whereby you can enlarge a chosen area of the screen to examine fine detail, simply by pressing one of the monitor's front touch buttons. It's also possible to set up and customize a Safe Area Marker within which captions or other information will appear, ensuring they are visible during broadcast.

In keeping with its video focus, the CG3100X is able to display an impressive 99% coverage of the DCI-P3 video gamut, and it supports the BT.2020 standard used in broadcasting. Photo editors will also appreciate the high 97% AdobeRGB color space coverage.

To ensure the CG3100X continually displays accurate color, not only does it have built-in hardware calibration, it also has its own colorimeter. This means it can self-calibrate without the need for you to place a separate monitor calibrator on the screen. It achieves this by using a small motorized colorimeter arm that pivots out of a slot in the top bezel.

Build & handling

First off, the CG3100X is heavy, or at least heavier than I'd expect for a monitor of its size. That bodes well for its build quality, and while I can't yet comment on the long-term longevity of the CG3100X, I do have an old Eizo 20-inch 4:3 monitor in my office which is around 20 years old and still going strong, though it's long since been retired from front-line duty.

The CG3100X won't win any style awards: its thick black bezels look clunky and dated, and the hefty stand is equally bland. But pandering to style trends is the antithesis of what Eizo CG-series monitors are about. These are screens 100% focussed on function over form. They're designed to be used by professionals who need the best possible image quality and long-term performance, not ultra-slim bezels or a sleek stand. The CG3100X delivers where it counts: its touch buttons along the lower bezel are super-sensitive and function perfectly...

...and thanks to being back-lit and on the front of the screen, there's no fumbling around the side or rear of the display to find the controls, as can often be the case with other monitors. That said, a row of buttons isn't totally intuitive - BenQ's joystick control, while mounted on the rear of some of its monitors, is arguably a more intuitive means of navigating through on-screen menus.

The CG3100X's stand, if not much to look at, is exceptionally solid. I would like a little more height adjustment though, as I couldn't quite get the screen to my preferred viewing height.

Connectivity includes HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C. The latter enables a one-cable connection with a laptop, supplying it with up to 94W of power. You also get a RJ45 LAN port, headphone jack and multiple USB-A ports on the side of the display.

Eizo supplies a shading hood with the CG3100X. Unlike some Eizo monitors of old, this one is a simple fold-out affair that snaps instantly to the display using magnets.

When it's time to calibrate the CG3100X, the process is surprisingly unobtrusive. I was expecting the monitor to display full-screen test patches that would require me to stop work, but not so. Only the screen area directly in front of the pop-out colorimeter is used for calibration, so you can continue using the monitor.

The calibration process is slower than with an aftermarket Calibrite or Datacolor colorimeter, taking around 10 minutes (and that's in addition to the required warm-up time), but this is of little concern when you can use the monitor during calibration. Alternatively, you can schedule the calibration to take place at a time more convenient to you. Once calibrated, the updated color settings are stored in the monitor, so they stay with it regardless of the computer you're using.

Performance

I've reviewed dozens of high-end monitors, and they almost always impress straight out of the box. But Eizo CG-series displays have that little bit extra. They're not ultra-vibrant or anything similarly attention-grabbing. Rather, it's how supremely comfortable they are to view which sets them apart. The balanced color and contrast, along with near-flawless brightness uniformity, give the impression that you could be looking at a perfectly lit print rather than a backlit LCD display. It's a subtle difference compared to other premium photo-editing monitors, but it's noticeable.

The CG3100X has multiple color pre-sets, including common stills and video color gamut standards, but even left in the default 'User' pre-set I couldn't fault the picture quality. Even so, to get a truly objective measure of the CG3100X's image quality, the human eye just won't cut it - you need a colorimeter, commonly known as a monitor calibrator. My device of choice is Datacolor's Spyder Pro, which in addition to calibrating a monitor can also measure key aspects of its display output, to see whether the CG3100X actually performs on par with Eizo's advertised specifications.

Lab results

Color gamut:

Eizo claims 99% DCI-P3 coverage, and 97% Adobe RGB coverage. We couldn't quite match the latter, recording 94%, though this is still a very high percentage of such a wide color gamut. As for DCI-P3; we recorded a full 100% coverage, so slightly higher than Eizo's advertised P3 figure.

Color accuracy:

For the amount of money the CG3100X costs, you'd expect it to be pretty darned color-accurate out of the box. Thankfully, our test sample didn't disappoint. A Delta E deviance from perfect color of just 0.26 is a phenomenal result, and is one of - if not the - best scores we've ever recorded.

What's more, where other monitors may get close to this with a decent overall Delta E result, one particular test color - usually cyan, ID 1F - may tend to have a much higher Delta E than the other colors. This one anomaly won't raise the overall Delta E score by much, however it will produce a visible cool color cast to the overall image quality. That may be acceptable for average users who believe a cool, crisp white tone is a marker of superior screen quality, but it's no good for color accuracy. Eizo evidently hasn't tuned the CG3100X to have an artificially cool color cast, and it pays dividends for its color reliability.

Brightness uniformity:

Another metric of high image quality is the uniformity of a screen's brightness across the entirety of the display area. Eizo has traditionally been strong in this area, and the CG3100X continues the trend. A maximum difference between the brightest and dimmest screen regions of 6% is a very respectable score, and this variance is consistent whether the monitor is set to 100% brightness, or a more usable 67%. This isn't quite the best uniformity score we've recorded - that honour goes to Eizo's CG2700X with its 3% figure - but in real-world use you won't see any brightness inconsistencies with the CG3100X.

Color uniformity:

Color uniformity is also excellent, varying by a maximum Delta E deviation of 2.4 between the most and least color-accurate regions of the display. Again, that's not quite as impressive as the score we recorded from the CG2700X, but reduce screen brightness to 67% and the Delta E deviation drops to an impressive 1.4.

Brightness and contrast:

Eizo specifies a 500-nit peak brightness for the CG3100X. We recorded 485 nits, which is close enough to spec, and frankly unless your office/studio is outdoors, you wouldn't want to edit at anything close to this brightness anyway.

Verdict

Along with its smaller sibling, the ColorEdge CG2700X, the CG3100X is the most accurate monitor for image or video editing I've ever used. Its image quality is as close to flawless as you'll find from an LCD monitor, with exceptional color accuracy, gamut coverage, and excellent uniformity. Then there's the plethora of premium features like hardware calibration with a built-in colorimeter for fully automated calibration, and the unusual DCI 4K resolution with its resulting 17:9 aspect ratio. They give the CG3100X special appeal to professional videographers, and the same can be said for the screen's HDR ability with support for hybrid log gamma and perceptual quantization.

As is probably becoming clear though, the CG3100X isn't intended to compete with typical consumer monitors of this size; rather, it's a no-compromise tool for professionals, and its price reflects this. If you're after a decent quality display for photo or video editing at home, it simply doesn't make sense to spend anything like this much money - other monitors will get close to the CG3100X's performance for a fraction of the cost. But if you need an utterly dependable display for mission-critical production work, a screen that produces near-perfect image quality and should reliably continue to do so for many years, then the CG3100X will be worth the investment.

2026 marks the fifth anniversary of Calibrite; the brand that was created to take over X-Rite's photo and video calibration product division. Since then, Calibrate has launched a whole new range of color calibration devices, from the entry-level and accessibly-priced Display 123 colorimeter, through its core trio of Display SL, Display Plus HL and Display Pro HL monitor calibrators, to its flagship ColorChecker Studio complete monitor and printer calibration solution.

Calibrite's latest development is a new version of its Profiler calibration software package which works in conjunction with its hardware products. Profiler 3.0 gives you complete creative control over color, letting you build custom profiles for any printer–paper combination. Whether you prefer beginner‑friendly pre-sets, or have the expertise to make the most of advanced tools for precise colour tuning, Profiler 3.0 provides a clear and logical user interface.

There are pre-sets for photo, video, and pre-press, along with one-click functions for streamlined profiling. Delve deeper and settings such as luminance, white point, contrast targets and patch sizes are all customisable, saveable to custom pre-sets, and even sharable. Profiler 3.0 also includes a suite of utilities to evaluate monitor image quality, including colour and luminance uniformity across the screen, while Monitor Validation can be used to check the color accuracy of an existing color profile.

If you want to find out how to get the most out of Profiler 3.0, as well as learn about Calibrite's range of calibration devices, then head to The Photography & Video Show 2026 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK, which takes place 14-17 March. You'll find Calibrite's products available to sample at Stand G62 (Lumesca Group).

Apple has launched new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR monitors, aimed at enthusiast creatives to demanding professional users.

Apple Studio Display

At the heart of the new Studio Display is a 5K, 5120 x 2880 Retina panel that supports DCI-P3 color and is rated for 600 nits of brightness. New features include a 12MP Center Stage camera, now with improved image quality and support for Desk View - a feature that can show your face and an overhead view of your desk at the same time. 

The new Studio Display also has a studio-quality three-microphone array, along with a six-speaker sound system that includes woofers that deliver 30 percent deeper bass than the previous generation, plus two high-performance tweeters for immersive audio.

At the rear you'll find two Thunderbolt 5 ports, enabling daisy-chaining of up to four Studio Displays, or connection of high-speed accessories, with up to 96W of charging power.

Apple Studio Display XDR

The all-new Studio Display XDR is a 27-inch 5K (5120 x 2880) display that utilizes an advanced mini-LED backlight with 2,304 local dimming zones to enable high contrast. It's also capable of up to 1000 nits of SDR brightness, and 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness. The result is said to be HDR that can make content "pop off the screen", without distracting halo or blooming effects.

A 120Hz refresh rate should deliver smooth motion, while Adaptive Sync dynamically adjusts frame rates for content like video playback or graphically intense games. Studio Display XDR includes the same camera and audio system as the Studio Display, as well as Thunderbolt 5 connectivity with up to 140W of charging power to simplify pro workflow setups.

The new Studio Display with a tilt-adjustable stand starts at $1,599, and Studio Display XDR with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand starts at $3,299. Both are available in standard or nano-texture glass options, and can be pre-ordered from March 4, with availability beginning Wednesday, March 11.

BenQ's Professional-line monitors have traditionally hit a sweet spot between offering very high image quality and premium features, but at a (relatively) accessible price. The new PD2730S is no exception. Though it's far from cheap, with a list price of $1,499.99 / £999.99, you get an awful lot for you money. Headline features include 5K (5120 x 2880) resolution, 98% DCI-P3 coverage, HDR support, factory color calibration, USB-C connectivity at Thunderbolt 4 speed, and plenty more besides.

Let's see if the PD2730S can live up to expectations...

Specifications

Display area: 27 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 5120 x 2880
Pixel density: 218 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 2000:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 100% Rec.709, 98% P3
Video inputs: HDMI, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Read more:
The best monitors for video editing
The best photo-editing monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Key features

The headline feature of the PD2730S is its resolution. Where the vast majority of 27-inch monitors top out at 4K (3840 x 2160), the PD2730S goes a step better, to 5K (5120 x 2880). Though only a 1K difference, this actually equates to nearly 80% more total pixels over the screen area, in turn making individual pixels essentially impossible to see from any reasonable viewing distance. It means this is one of the sharpest standalone monitors money can buy, with a pixel density of 218 PPI.

And the image quality doesn't stop with just high resolution. The PD2730S has an advertised 98% coverage of the wide-gamut DCI-P3 video color space, along with a high 2000:1 contrast ratio, earning it display VESA DisplayHDR 400 certification. Color accuracy should also be excellent, as BenQ ships each PD2730S pre-calibrated to an accuracy of within Delta-E 2. Even the best image quality can be ruined by unwanted screen reflections, so to avoid this the PD2730S features a Nano Matte anti-reflective coating to diffuse ambient light, making the display TÜV-certified reflection-free.

The PD2730S is also a USB-C monitor, meaning you can connect a laptop to it via a single USB-C cable which will both power your laptop while also carrying the video signal to the monitor. What's more, the USB-C connection operates at a blazing-fast 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 speed, making it possible to daisy chain two 5K monitors together, both linked via a singe Thunderbolt 4 cable to a compatible laptop. The connection is capable of up to 90W of Power Delivery, which should be enough to power all but the thirstiest laptops.

Build & handling

BenQ has designed the PD2730S to be stylish yet understated. The display panel itself is nothing particularly special - the screen bezels aren't the narrowest, but the professional users this monitor is targeted at will likely care far more about the monitor's image quality than how it looks when turned off. The stand is a high quality item, constructed almost entirely of metal. It's solid, weighty, and more than up to the job of supporting the screen. There's plenty of adjustability, including swivel, tilt, and a generous amount of height adjustment. The screen can also be rotated through 90 degrees so it can be used in portrait orientation if required.

At the rear you'll find a standard AC power input socket (no separate power brick required), along with a single HDMI port, a Display Port connection, plus three USB-C ports, one of which doubles as a Display Port connection with 90W of Power Delivery. There are additional USB ports on the base of the display panel, effectively enabling the PD2730S to double as a USB hub/docking station. These include one USB-C and three USB-A sockets, all running at USB 3.2 Gen 2 speed (10Gbps), and providing up to 7.5W of charging power each.

BenQ supplies a variety of display cables and USB leads in the box, but the most interesting included accessory is the Hotkey Puck G3. This is a remote control that we've seen supplied with high-end BenQ monitors for several years, and is designed to make navigating through the monitor's menu an settings a more ergonomic experience than fumbling around with the tiny joystick and buttons on the base of the display.

Unlike older versions of the Puck, the G3 incarnation is wireless, and it's also nicely weighted so it sits securely on most desk surfaces. The central, clickable dial is ideal for fine-tuning screen brightness or adjusting the volume of the built-in speakers, while the buttons surrounding the dial enable instant switching between your preferred three color modes. The buttons are also customizable, and though I personally don't find the Puck to be an essential accessory as I tend to stay in one color mode and screen brightness setting for the majority of my work, it's nonetheless a nice extra to have.

Performance

Right out of the box, the PD2730S immediately impresses with its super-bright, high-contrast, vibrant image quality. This is helped by BenQ shipping the screen pre-set to 100% screen brightness and the wide-gamut Display P3 color profile, but even with brightness reduced to a more comfortable 50%, this is still a stunning screen to behold. The IPS LCD panel gives uniform viewing angles, with little - if any - observable variation in color or contrast consistency between the center and edges of the screen.

Then there's the huge 5K resolution. Though very impressive on a spec sheet, I find the benefits to be harder to quantify in real world use. 4K on a 27-inch screen is already a high enough resolution to make pixels so small that they're not individually visible at a normal viewing distance. One advantage is you can preview a 4K video at 100% size and still have space around it for a timeline and toolbars. But in terms of outright sharpness, there's little visible difference between 4K and 5K - the former is already more than sharp enough for a 27-inch screen size.

What matter's far more than outright resolution for color-critical image or video editing is a screen's color accuracy, as well as color and contrast consistency across the whole screen area. To properly assess this without merely relying on the subjective naked eye, you need the help of a specialist measuring device called a colorimeter, better known as a monitor calibrator. A calibrator such as DataColor's Spyder Pro can not only calibrate a monitor's color, it'll also measure its out-of-the-box color accuracy, brightness, color space coverage and brightness uniformity:

Lab results

Color gamut:

BenQ claims 98% DCI-P3 color space coverage - I recorded 97%. Close enough to be within an acceptable margin of error. sRGB coverage is 100%, just as advertised. BenQ doesn't state AdobeRGB coverage, but I measured it at 86%.

Brightness and contrast:

Peak brightness is listed as 400 nits. Try as I might, I couldn't match that figure in my testing, and could 'only' record around 340 nits. Even so, for long-term eye comfort and for optimal image or video editing, it's best to stay below 200 nits brightness anyway. I measured a peak contrast of 1890:1, which isn't far off the claimed 2000:1 figure, although this ratio was only achievable at around 25% screen brightness. At any other brightness setting, contrast drops closer to 1000:1.

Color accuracy:

Every PD2730S comes pre-calibrated to an accuracy within Delta-E 2, but our particular test monitor was better still, measuring just 0.42 (a perfect score being zero). However, as we find with many new monitors, the cyan reading isn't as accurate as the other tested colors. This slight blue shift is often favored by monitor manufacturers, as it makes white tones appear cooler and crisper, but naturally this comes at the expense of true color accuracy.

Luminance uniformity:

Screen brightness (luminance) uniformity is fairly good, with a maximum 12% difference between the brightest and dimmest regions of the display. I've recorded more consistent results than this, but it's a moot point, as you're highly unlikely to notice this minimal variance in real-world use.

Color uniformity:

Color uniformity is excellent, never exceeding more than Delta-E 2 (values closer to zero are better) between the most- and least color-accurate regions. This drops to just 1.4 with brightness set to a more usable 67%.

Verdict

There can be no doubting that the BenQ PD2730S is an excellent monitor for creatives. Its high DCI-P3 color space coverage makes it a particularly good choice for video professionals, although photographers who work in the AdobeRGB color space will probably want to consider other options. Decent color and brightness uniformity, teamed with excellent color accuracy, further enhance this screen's appeal for color-critical workloads.

But the real selling point here is resolution. 5K monitors are relatively rare, and the PD2730S offers an exceptional level of crispness and pixel density. While this is noticeable in day-to-day use (you can display more of an image on screen at any one time, and a 4K video preview can be displayed full-size, with space alongside for a timeline and tools), the difference in terms of clarity is minimal. Where a 27-inch 4K screen is noticeably sharper than a 27-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) display, there are diminishing returns by going higher still, as you already can't make out individual pixels at 4K.

Though I may not be convinced by 5K on a 27-inch screen, it's not as if the PD2730S relies solely on its resolution to be a compelling monitor. Its image quality is excellent in plenty of other ways, while build quality is first class. The super-fast USB-C connectivity is genuinely useful for laptop users, and the Hotkey Puck remote dial further justifies the price. What's more, when you consider that BenQ's own SW272U 27-inch 4K display costs more than the PD2730S (though it does have better AdobeRGB coverage), you're at least not paying a premium for 5K.

If you're a videographer shooting primarily in 4K and need that extra screen space around your video preview, the PD2730S makes sense and is worth the money. Photographers won't be disappointed either, but for image editing I personally would probably save a few bucks and go with a 4K screen instead.

Datacolor has just announced the launch of the SpyderExpress, its most affordable display calibration tool yet – and it looks like a great fit for photographers, designers, and anyone who relies on accurate colors when editing, but who have never dabbled in color calibration tools.

The SpyderExpress promises to deliver professional-grade color calibration in as little as 90 seconds, using a simple three-step process. That means less time fiddling with settings and more time actually creating. It’s designed to take the guesswork out of whether your screen is showing you the real picture, so your edits will look just as you intended when printed or shared online.

What’s particularly appealing is its support for Apple’s latest XDR displays, including the MacBook Pro M4 series with mini-LED technology. That makes it one of the few budget-friendly calibrators ready to handle the most advanced and widely used screens around. And for those juggling multiple monitors, SpyderExpress can handle up to three displays on a single workstation.

The real twist with this launch is Datacolor’s new upgradeable platform. Starting in October 2025, SpyderExpress owners will be able to unlock advanced features through software upgrades – features that were previously limited to pricier Spyder and Spyder Pro models. These include Device Preview, soft proofing, display matching, video tools, and expanded support for OLED and mini-LED panels. In other words, the SpyderExpress can actually grow with you as your creative needs expand.

Heath Barber, Datacolor’s Director of Product Management, summed it up nicely: “SpyderExpress gives creators the fastest way to ensure their screen reflects their vision. They can edit faster and share with confidence, knowing their work will appear exactly as intended. And when they’re ready for more, Spyder’s new upgradeable platform makes it easy to unlock powerful features with a simple software update.”

The new Datacolor SpyderExpress is available now for $119 / £119.

Check out our existing guide to the best monitor calbrators to see the alternatives.

Spending hours on color editing only for a different screen to throw the colors all out of whack is a frustrating experience – but BenQ’s newest monitor is designed to help vloggers and video editors minimize unexpected color shift. The BenQ PV3200U is a 32-inch, 4K monitor made for video-based content creators and YouTubers.

The BenQ PV3200U targets video-focused users by mixing a monitor geared towards color accuracy with dual 2W speakers and an independent 5W subwoofer for audio.

The monitor comes color calibrated out of the box and boasts 95% DCI-P3, 100% Rec. 709, and 100% sRGB color specs. But the monitor also has a color mode preview that allows creators to view their work on the colors to simulate an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to help avoid unexpected colors on other devices.

Those color preview options can also be easily accessed using the Hotkey Puck, an external monitor control that also allows users to customize shortcuts for color and audio modes.

Geared towards video production, the monitor also has integrated speakers designed to allow creators to take a break from headphones during long editing sessions. The built-in audio system uses a 2.1ch frequency, dual 2W speakers, and an independent 5W subwoofer. The monitor also has a Studio Mode, which BenQ says delivers unprocessed sound true to the source.

“Creators shouldn’t have to guess how their content will look and sound once it’s live,” Peter Huang, President of BenQ Corporation, said. “Too often, post-production color shifts and flat audio edits hamper YouTubers. PV3200U’s precise color, clear sound editing, and seamless device compatibility empower creators to trust the creative process from first cut to final upload.”

The monitor uses a single USB-C connection that’s capable of 4K video transfer as well as recharging devices with up to 65W to create a desktop with fewer cords. The monitor also comes with a stand that supports height, tilt, swivel, and pivot for users to customize an ergonomic position for the screen.

The BenQ PV3200U lists for £699.99, which converts to about $946 / AU$1,457.

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Few monitors can match a curved ultrawide screen for sheer viewing immersion. The Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor (S3425DW) is an example of one of the most common curved ultrawide variants: the 34-inch, 21:9, 3440 x 1440 display. It also supports USB-C connectivity with power passthrough to a connected laptop, while gamers will appreciate the 120Hz refresh rate with AMD FreeSync Premium compatibility. A high 3000:1 contrast ratio and 95% DCI-P3 color space coverage also make the S3425DW a tempting option for video playback and editing.

Specifications

Display area: 34 inches
Aspect: 21:9
Panel type: VA
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3440 x 1440
Pixel density: 109 ppi
Refresh rate: 120Hz
Response time: 1ms
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 3000:1
Color space coverage: 99% sRGB, 95% DCI-P3
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode)

Read more:
The best curved monitors
The best ultrawide monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Key features

At the heart of the S3425DW is a 34-inch VA (vertical alignment) LCD panel running at a resolution of 3440 x 1440 and a 120Hz refresh rate. Characteristically of VA panels, contrast is a relatively high at 3000:1, enabling HDR10 support, though brightness is quoted at a somewhat mediocre 300 cd/m2. This is also a 10-bit panel, capable of displaying 1.07 billion colors, which translates to a respectable 95% coverage of the wide-gamut DCI-P3 color space. A 1ms response time and fairly fast 120Hz refresh rate make the S3425DW a viable option for gamers. The exact curvature radius of the monitor isn't quoted by Dell, but some sources suggest it's a relatively tight 1800R, meaning that you'd only need to sit 1800mm (1.8 meters) from the screen for the center of the display to be the same distance away from you as the left and right edges.

The S3425DW is also a USB-C monitor, meaning you can use a single USB-C cable to connect the monitor to your laptop, powering the laptop through that same cable, thereby cutting cord clutter. Charging wattage is capped at 65W though, so don't expect particularly quick charging speeds (higher wattage USB-C monitors are available). The monitor also packs a pair of stereo speakers.

Build & handling

The S3425DW is a typical Dell monitor design, with slim screen bezels and minimalist styling. Combined with the white-finished stand and white rear casing, the monitor certainly looks the part. The stand enables -4°/4° of slant angle adjustment and -5° to 21° of tilt adjustment. There's also 130mm of height adjustment, but even at maximum height, I found the screen to be slightly too low for my preferred viewing position.

Being a USB-C monitor, you can use the S3425DW as a USB hub and plug in USB devices like flash drives or a phone. Concealed in the bottom of the screen is a pop-out module containing a USB-A and USB-C port, both of which face forward when the module is ejected, so plugging in devices is far easier than trying to fumble around the back or sides of the display. I found the pop-out mechanism on our particular sample monitor to be a bit sticky though. The USB-C port provides up to 15W of charging to a connected peripheral, while an additional USB-A port is located at the back of the monitor. All three USB ports run at 5Gbps, as does the USB-C upstream connection to your computer. That's not particularly fast, so while the S3425DW can technically double as a docking station, it's not suitable for high speed data transfer.

Video connections include two HDMI ports, while the USB-C upstream port is DisplayPort 1.4 certified. There's no conventional DisplayPort socket though.

Performance

In general, VA LCD monitors like the S3425DW don't tend to provide quite the same quality of color and contrast consistency across the whole scree area as monitors that use IPS LCD technology, and VA screens also have slightly more restrictive viewing angles. However, I found the S3425DW's viewing angles to be surprisingly wide, helped be the fairly tight curvature of the screen surface which angles even the extreme corners of the screen into a more favourable viewing position. Highlight and shadow areas of an image are easily visible regardless of their location on the screen, and colors stay pleasingly consistent right out to the corners of the display. One area where VA panels often noticeably out-perform IPS screens is contrast, and the S3425DW is no exception. Blacks are deeper and more inky than they'd be on a typical IPS screen, and the S3425DW manages to simultaneously display highlights surprisingly brightly for its modest 300cd/m2 maximum brightness rating.

With its 3440x1440 resolution, the S3425DW's pixel density is perfect for displaying apps at their native 100% size with no upscaling required for them to be comfortably viewable. Interface fonts are therefore always crisp, no matter the age of the app you're using, which could otherwise cause it to have issues upscaling text and icons on a monitor with a higher pixel density. The 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio is ideal for displaying two windows side by side, as well as allowing you to display additional editing pallets beside a 4:3 or 3:2 image, or even a 16:9 video. Think of the S3425DW as a 27-inch 1440p monitor, just with extra screen real estate added to each side - the vertical height and pixel density is virtually identical. This does however mean that when playing regular 16:9 video, it won't be any larger than when played on a 27-inch, 16:9 monitor.

I also tested the monitor's built-in stereo speakers, and was pleasantly surprised. Often built-in speakers like this are a token effort and sound so thin and muted that they're virtually unusable. Dell's speakers actually go up to a decent volume, and there's a degree of bass which gives some weight to voices. Music also has a fairly wide soundscape, and the overall result is such that you could conceivably use the S3425DW as your primary speaker output, providing you're not expecting HiFi audio quality.

While the S3425DW's relatively tight screen curvature is great for immersive gaming and movie watching, it does make it tricky to edit particularly geometric subjects. Horizontal lines appear obviously bent, and I found it difficult to get used to this.

Apart from the distortion caused by the display's curve, I was impressed by the S3425DW's vibrant, punchy and crisp image quality. But to objectively measure a monitor's display performance, you need to use a specialist device called a colorimeter - otherwise known as a monitor calibrator. My calibrator of choice is DataColor's Spyder Pro. This can not only calibrate a monitor's color, it's also able to measure a screen's out-of-the-box color accuracy, brightness, color space coverage and brightness uniformity:

Lab results

Color gamut:

Dell advertises the S3425DW as being capable of displaying 99% sRGB and 95% DCI-P3 color space coverage. While I found the former to be accurate, I was unable to match Dell's 95% P3 figure, despite trying every available screen color profile pre-set. I also connected to the monitor to a different computer to rule out any possible color profile interference, but was still unable to exceed 85% P3 coverage. Dell doesn't state the S3425DW's Adobe RGB coverage - I measured this to be 81%.

Brightness and contrast:

Dell quotes a maximum brightness of 300cd/m2, and a peak contrast ratio of 3000:1. I found both these figures to be rather modest, as I recorded nearly 400cd/m2 brightness and a contrast ratio of almost 3600:1 with brightness set to 100%.

Color accuracy:

The S3425DW isn't marketed as a color-critical display, and hence the screen isn't sold as being pre-calibrated to within an advertised tolerance from perfect color reproduction. For reference, premium monitors designed for color-critical workflows are often calibrated to a Delta-E of <2 from perfect color. I measured an impressive Delta-E average score of 1.17 with the screen in its sRGB profile, placing the S3425DW on par with some of the most color-accurate monitors on the market.

Luminance uniformity:

Brightness uniformity isn't the best, with the right side of the display being up to 21% dimmer than the brightest portion of the screen (the bottom left, in this case). While this result seems poor, in real-world use the brightness irregularity is quite hard to spot with the naked eye. Only when viewing a single color covering the whole screen area is the inconsistency visible, and even then I didn't find it distracting.

Color uniformity:

While brightness uniformity may be disappointing, color uniformity is excellent.

Verdict

The Dell 34 Plus USB-C Monitor (S3425DW) is somewhat of a mixed bag. On the one hand its image quality looks great to the naked eye, with surprisingly decent viewing angles, punchy contrast and vibrant color rendition. Color accuracy is also unexpectedly good, and there are nice touches like the pop-out front-facing USB ports, along with USB-C connectivity.

While the S3425DW performs well for casual use, movie watching and gaming, it's harder to recommend for editing. Try as I did, I couldn't get the screen to display more than 85% of the DCI-P3 color gamut - some way short of Dell's claimed 95% coverage. Brightness uniformity also proved to be disappointing, though this could be an issue confined to our test monitor, and even then it was more apparent in lab tests than during real-world use.

If you want a curved ultrawide monitor for general use, gaming, or light image/video editing, the S3425DW is a pleasure to use. Demanding editors who want to edit stills in Adobe RGB or color grade video should look elsewhere though, and preferably to a flat screen that won't distort geometric subjects.

Ultrawide monitors are great if you want extra horizontal room to display two windows side by side, or simply a more immersive viewing experience. The latter is improved still further if the screen is also curved, so that ultrawide perspective actually wraps around you. This is exactly what you get from Eizo's FlexScan EV3450XC, along with extras like a built-in webcam and microphone, plus USB-C connectivity with Power Delivery.

Specifications

Display area: 34 inches
Aspect: 21:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 8-bit
Display colors: 16.77 million
Resolution: 3440 x 1440
Pixel density: 109 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Color space coverage: Not stated
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Read more:
The best curved monitors
The best ultrawide monitors
The best monitor calibrators

Key features

There's no shortage of 34-inch curved ultrawide monitors, but the vast majority tend to be based around VA LCD panels. The EV3450XC is unusual in this sector as it utilizes an IPS LCD panel. IPS screens offer wider viewing angles and better brightness and color consistency than VA-based monitors. This is especially important on a large display like this, where your viewing angle to the extreme edges of the screen is significantly different to the optimal, dead-ahead angle at which you view the center of the display. It's also vital for accurate image or video editing, where you don't want color or contrast to appear different at the edges of the screen relative to the middle.

However, despite the premium LCD underpinnings, Eizo doesn't advertise the EV3450XC's color space coverage, instead simply stating that it has "wide gamut coverage" of the sRGB color space. This is due to the screen only supporting 8-bit color (16.77-million hues). Coverage of the more demanding Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 color spaces require a wide-gamut, 10-bit panel capable of displaying 1.07 billion colors.

Build & handling

The EV3450XC is typical Eizo: simple, well made, with an emphasis on substance over style. Eizo monitors are made to be long-lasting functional devices for discerning professionals, not fashion-focussed designer products that sacrifice performance for good looks. Some may find the EV3450XC's matte black plastic casing dull, but it does the job, and the large horseshoe-shaped stand provides a solid, stable base. This has plenty of tilt, swivel and height adjustment, so you shouldn't have any problem finding a comfortable viewing angle.

A row of touch-sensitive controls lets you navigate the monitor's menus and settings - they're very responsive and easier to access than conventional buttons that tend to be hidden on the base or rear of many monitors. If we're to nit-pick, the bezels appear to be very slim at the edges, but when the display lights up the actual viewable screen area is around a quarter-inch smaller on the left, right and top edges than the bezels would have you believe.

Though the top bezel is quite thick, it does house the monitor's built-in webcam and microphones. These are often tacked-on modules that sit atop the screen, but Eizo has neatly integrated a webcam into the EV3450XC. If you connect the monitor to your PC via USB-C, that single cable can carry the camera feed as well as the monitor signal. Use the conventional video inputs (HDMI, DisplayPort), and you'll need to run a separate USB cable (included with the monitor) between monitor and computer for the camera to function.

Performance

VA-based curved ultrawide monitors can appear overly vivid and contrasty - great for eye-catching gaming and movie watching, but less beneficial for color-accurate editing. The EV3450XC exhibits more restrained contrast and color saturation that's typical of IPS displays, which is better for accurate editing, and causes less eye strain than overly-saturated screens. Color is subjectively consistent across the whole screen, and I found setting the brightness to around 70% was ideal for comfortable viewing.

The exact curvature radius of the display is 3800R, meaning you'd have to place the screen 3800mm (3.8 meters) away from you for the center of the display to be the same distance away from you as the left and right edges. That's a very subtle curvature in the world of curved monitors, but I'd prefer this than a tighter radius when it comes to image editing. While a tighter radius works well for immersive, wrap-around gaming, it causes horizontal lines in images to look obviously bent, making it difficult to accurately manipulate images containing geometric subjects. Even the minimal curvature of the EV3450XC still causes horizontal lines to appear slightly distorted, but the effect is subtle enough that I got accustomed to it quite easily.

With its 3440x1440 resolution, the EV3450XC's pixel density is perfect for displaying apps at their native 100% size with no upscaling required for them to be comfortably viewable. Interface fonts are therefore always crisp, no matter the age of the app you're using, which could otherwise cause it to have issues upscaling text and icons on a monitor with a higher pixel density. The 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratio is ideal for displaying two windows side by side, as well as allowing you to display additional editing pallets beside a 4:3 or 3:2 image, or even a 16:9 video. Think of the EV3450XC as a 27-inch 1440p monitor, just with extra screen real estate added to each side - the vertical height and pixel density is virtually identical. This does however mean that when playing regular 16:9 video, it won't be any larger than when played on a 27-inch, 16:9 monitor.

I also tested the EV3450XC's built-in webcam - a key feature of the monitor. Its video quality is fairly average though; quite grainy, and lacking fine detail. In low light color accuracy and saturation also take a noticeable hit. The camera does expose well though, even if you're heavily back-lit.

While the EV3450XC's image quality looks great to the naked eye, to get a truly objective perspective you need to measure the screen's output with a colorimeter - otherwise known as a monitor calibrator. A device such as DataColor's Spyder Pro can not only calibrate a monitor's color, it can also measure its out-of-the-box color accuracy, brightness, color space coverage and brightness uniformity:

Lab results

Color gamut:

Eizo doesn't advertise the EV3450XC's exact coverage of major color gamuts, but I measured 97% sRGB, 82% DCI-P3 and 75% Adobe RGB coverage. The sRGB figure is good, but plenty of budget monitors can match it. The Adobe RGB and P3 scores are downright poor, but these numbers are to be expected from an 8-bit display.

Brightness and contrast:

Eizo claims 300cd/m2 maximum brightness and 1000:1 peak contrast ratio. I measured 346.6cd/m2 and 1050:1 contrast - no issues here.

Color accuracy:

The EV3450XC isn't marketed as a color-critical editing display, and consequently the specs don't include any Delta-E color accuracy figures. For reference, monitors with an emphasis on color accuracy usually claim to be accurate to within a Delta-E of 2 (the smaller the number, the closer to perfect color). I measured the EV3450XC to have a deviation from optimal color accuracy of just 0.76 - a highly impressive figure. It is however worth noting that prominent blue/cyan bar in the chart above. Many manufacturers tune their monitors to have a slightly blue shift to make white tones appear cooler and crisper, but naturally this comes at the expense of true color accuracy.

Luminance uniformity:

Screen brightness (luminance) uniformity is fairly good, being up to 14% dimmer at the edges of screen compared to the center. This difference isn't obvious to the naked eye, but I've measured flat Eizo screens with significantly more consistent brightness uniformity than this.

Color uniformity:

As with brightness uniformity, the EV3450XC's color is reasonably consistent across the screen, but again it could be better.

Verdict

The Eizo EV3450XC is a bit of an oddity. On the one hand it doesn't really do anything wrong, but on the other it's difficult to work out who should actually buy it. Eizo markets the EV3450XC as a display for business and video conferencing, and sure, with its webcam, mic, built-in speakers, USB-C docking and LAN features, the EV3450XC would work well in an office environment. However, office apps and web conferencing don't require color-critical image quality, and there are other VA-based curved ultrawide 34-inch monitors with webcams that'll fulfil the same role, but for around half the price of the EV3450XC.

It's also hard to recommend the EV3450XC for image or video editing. Curved screens in general are not really advantageous for these workflows, likely explaining why Eizo isn't explicitly promoting the EV3450XC for editing. Keen editors will also find the monitor's restricted color space coverage tough to justify at this relatively high price point. And there's not a lot here for gamers either, who will snub the EV3450XC's 60Hz refresh rate and lack of G-Sync/FreeSync support.

That said, I always prefer an IPS display over a VA-based monitor for accurate image or video editing, and the EV3450XC is one of only a handful of IPS curved ultrawide monitors. Its out-of-the-box color accuracy is also excellent, and there are no obvious shortcomings with the screen's uniformity, brightness or contrast.

If your monitor absolutely must be curved, and you only edit images in sRGB, then the EV3450XC won't disappoint. But if you can do without the curve, a flat, wide-gamut display makes much more sense for serious image editing.

Eizo has revealed a new professional-grade monitor ideal for color-critical video editing. The 30.5-inch ColorEdge CG3100X color management display boasts a true 4K resolution (4096 x 2160), as well as HDR workflow support thanks to its high 500 cd/m² maximum brightness and impressive 1800:1 contrast ratio. 

Additional pro-level features include compatibility with hybrid log-gamma (HLG) transfer function for broadcasts and the perceptual quantization (PQ) curve, giving more true-to-life color rendition than SDR (standard dynamic range).

USB-C connectivity enables the monitor to power a connected laptop with up to 94W of Power Delivery via a single cable transferring power and the video signal, leading to a less cluttered desktop. There's also support for network access through the monitor's built-in LAN port.

As you might expect from an Eizo display, the CG3100X's color accuracy is first class, with the screen able to display 97% of the wide-gamut Adobe RGB color space, and 99% of DCI-P3. To ensure colors stay consistent, the monitor is equipped with a built-in calibration sensor, which combined with Eizo's ColorNavigator 7 color management software means there's no need for a third-party monitor calibrator. Color and brightness uniformity should also be top notch thanks to Eizo's digital uniformity equalizer (DUE) technology.

Also included is a light-shielding hood to protect the display from unwanted reflections, while the monitor's casing is constructed from over 85% recycled plastic. A 5-year manufacturer's warranty adds additional peace of mind.

The Eizo ColorEdge CG3100X will begin shipping in July. Pricing is still to be confirmed.

See our full guide to the best monitors for video editing

This ultra-large LED wall measures 24 x 4.5 meters – that's 960 inches across if you wanted to compare to the TV screen and is designed to be big enough as a backdrop in a massive sound stage at one of London's big film studios

The screen features Samsung's cutting-edge Virtual Production technology, built to create the highest picture quality in a virtual production environment. It was developed through a partnership with industry leaders to lead the future of virtual production capabilities in the UK.

Samsung is known for its commitment to supporting the creative industries, and its superior picture quality – this commitment formed the foundation of its partnership with Twickenham Film Studio (TFS) and the award-winning Virtual Production (VP) experts Quite Brilliant (QB).

This partnership promotes Virtual Production as a creative, cost-effective, and more sustainable production process within the industry. To represent this collaboration, Samsung's first major LED screen of this size (and its third globally) will be installed at Twickenham’s Stage 3, a film studio famous for outstanding post-production work backed by an Oscar-winning team. The installation is scheduled to be completed by the end of May 2025.

The LED screen is a monster of its kind, measuring a 24 x 4.5 meters back wall, a 105 sq meter LED ceiling, and additional LED mobile totem walls along with a permanent turntable and motion control crane.

It is designed to create virtual content that integrates seamlessly with real-time visual effects technology. To provide a more realistic field of view, the design features a curvature range that can extend up to 5,800R (ie it is a section of a circle that has a radios of 5800mm or 5.8m)

Quite Brilliant's Managing Director, Chris Chaundler, explained that the stage was created to meet the needs of producers and directors, designed by filmmakers for filmmakers. He continued, "The stage will service all projects from features and television to advertising and social content. This is a bold statement about Twickenham's commitment to the future of the UK film, television and media industry."

Features

The LED stage features Samsung's top-notch technology, including its latest IVC 2.1 pixel pitch technology, and ARRI color calibration management system. The integrated Virtual Production Management (VPM) software features an intuitive interface for effective scene management while also identifying and resolving potential LED-related issues.

• Improved 4:9 ratio, providing a variety of installation options to maximise results in different production environments, for instance, enabling the screen to be hung or stacked with other devices
• A 12,288 Hz refresh rate to guarantee high-quality performance, minimizing flicker lines, no matter what camera device is used for filming
• Black Seal Technology+ that delivers the purest black levels for new depth, creating striking contrast to beat dust that is often found in production environments
• 20-bit processing for exact color mapping, featuring a precise linear greyscale to show the intricacies of every scene, enabling users to see realistic textures, volume, and continuous shadow details

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Ultrawide monitors can significantly enhance your photo editing experience. While they may not be as large as the Samsung LED screen mentioned in this article, having a slightly larger screen for post-processing can be quite beneficial. If you're interested in learning more, you can check out our guide here.

Asus could be getting close to launching what's still an incredibly rare thing in the world of monitors: a new 8K display. If it does indeed make production, the ProArt Display 8K PA32KCX would be, to my knowledge, only the second true 8K (7680 x 4320) consumer monitor to ever be released. The first 8K monitor was the Dell UltraSharp UP3218K, launched back in 2017, and now showing its age.

But it's not just outright resolution that sets this screen apart: the PA32KCX is also capable of high color gamut coverage, being able to display an impressive 95% of the Adobe RGB color space and 97% of DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020. The monitor is also calibrated to a high accuracy of Delta-E <1, while a high 1200-nit peak brightness and 1000-nit sustained full-screen brightness helps earn the monitor multiple HDR format support, including Dolby Vision, HLG and HDR10. Contrast is further helped by the 4032-zone local dimming mini LED backlight. This is the first 8K display to feature mini LED backlighting, allowing it to focus the backlight more accurately, reducing visual artifacts like halos around bright objects.

To maintain optimal color accuracy, the PA32KCX contains its own built-in colorimeter which can perform automated hardware color calibration. Other extras include an Ambient Light Sensor and Backlight Sensor, plus dual Thunderbolt 4 ports capable of supplying up to 96W Power Delivery to a connected laptop. A built in KVM is also on hand if you want to use the use the monitor to display the output from two computers.

All very impressive, but this isn't the first time a super-spec 8K monitor has been announced, but never actually materialised. Back in 2021 Viewsonic wowed us with the press release for its then-new ColorPro VP3286-8K, but that 8K monitor never reached production.

The signs don't look great for the new Asus PA32KCX, either. It was originally unveiled in April 2024, promoted again at CES2025 in January, but has still not made it to retail. However, at an Asus event in London showcasing its new range of ProArt monitors, the PA32KCX was on display, and our sister website Creative Bloq reports a potential May release date. That's encouraging, but it also means you may not have long to save up for this world-beating monitor: rumor has it the price tag could be a jaw-dropping $8,000!

Eizo has announced a new 24.1-inch, 1920 x 1200 monitor aimed at demanding image and video creatives. The ColorEdge CG2400S replaces the ColorEdge CG2420 in Eizo's line-up, with its stand-out benefit being new HDR workflow support. This is made possible by the display's high 1800:1 typical contrast ratio, enabling deeper black reproduction and enhanced highlight rendition. Eizo has also applied a special film coating to the screen to overcome color distortion from optical shifts, allowing tones to retain their depth even when viewed from an angle. The CG2400S is Eizo's first 24.1-inch CG-series monitor to support hybrid log-gamma (HLG) transfer function and perceptual quantization (PQ) curve for displaying and editing HDR content. These gamma curves mean the monitor displays images closet to how the human eye perceives real-world color.

The CG2400S is also a USB-C monitor, enabling video and power to be transmitted over a single cable connection between the monitor and a connected laptop, with up to 70W Power Delivery available. Another handy feature is the monitor's built-in colorimeter, which combined with Eizo's ColorNavigator 7 color management software means color calibration can be performed automatically at pre-set times, and with no additional calibration device required.

This helps you get the most out of the display's impressive 98% DCI-P3 and 99% AdobeRGB color space coverage, while the Sync Signal function automatically adjusts the monitor’s settings, such as input range and color format, according to the video signal. Eizo also states that the CG2400S is its first ColorEdge monitor to feature a housing manufactured from over 85% recycled plastic, with even the packaging produced from moulded pulp made from recycled cardboard and newspaper.

The Eizo ColorEdge CG2400S due to go on sale in April. Pricing has yet to be revealed, but the monitor will be supplied with a full shading hood and is backed by a 5-year / 30,000-hour warranty.

See the ColorEdge CG2400S for yourself on the Eizo stand at The Photography & Video Show 2025

Book your ticket to The Photography & Video Show and save 20%

The Photography & Video Show 2025 is at the London Excel exhibition center, running for four days from Saturday, March 8 to Tuesday, March 11. It is open 10:00 to 17:00 every day. You'll find everything you need to know here.

The Photography & Video Show is presented by Future plc, which is also the parent company of Digital Camera World.

ASUS has announced a new 27-inch OLED monitor with screen specs that should impress any imaging enthusiast. The ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM is marketed as a gaming display, but its premium OLED screen tech makes it equally suitable for photo or video editing. 

The new monitor is capable of 99% coverage of the demanding DCI-P3 color space, while offering color accuracy to Delta-E <2. The screen is also DisplayHDR 400, HDR10 and Dolby Vision certified, which along with a 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio and OLED's ability to display true black makes it ideal for HDR content. ASUS is also promising uniform screen brightness, and being a gamer-centric monitor, there's a super-fast 0.03ms response time and FreeSync/G-SYNC compatibility.

Read more:
The best monitors for photo editing
The best video editing monitors

But what makes the ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM particularly special is its 4K (3840 x 2160) screen resolution. This is nothing unusual for a 27" LCD monitor, but we reckon the PG27UCDM is only the second-ever 27" OLED display to be launched with a 4K resolution (the ASUS ProArt Display OLED PA27DCE-K being the first). As it stands, if you want a 27" OLED monitor, the vast majority are still QHD (2560 x 1440).

OLED displays have been common on high-end laptops for several years, and have since trickled down to even entry-level machines. Standalone OLED monitors are less common however, with traditional LCD monitors still being massively more commonplace, but OLED displays are slowly gaining market share. And that's a good thing for photo and video editing, as OLED is the gold standard for monitor image quality, offering unparallel contrast, a huge color gamut, stunning vibrancy, and usually excellent color accuracy.

The ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM will be available for pre-order in the US from January 21st. Until then, the ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG27AQDM (non-4K) is available to buy now, priced at $749/£699

Pen displays offer the most tactile and natural approach to fine-tuned digital drawing and direct input photo editing in software including Photoshop and Lightroom. The XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K is a high-resolution pen display with features that will appeal to enthusiasts and professional photographers and digital artists.

There's also a QHD (2560x1440px) version with a faster screen refresh rate, but we're focusing on the 4K version because this will be more suitable for photographers. The Artist Pro 24 is undoubtedly one of the esteemed best drawing tablets and also one of the best tablets for photo editing and photographers thanks to its reasonable cost and overall performance.

With its high-resolution display and an advertised color gamut of 99% sRGB, 99% Adobe RGB, and 98% Display P3, the onscreen image is clear with reliable colors – 1.07 billion in total. It's also Calman Verified, so it leaves the factory with a color report, and can also be calibrated using a compatible colorimeter.

This display is large and pretty heavy, so you're going to need plenty of desk space for it, and it's not a portable option. The advantage, however, is that you can enjoy a large working area for drawing and editing with an excellent level of precision on offer for a more natural direct input than using a mouse or graphics tablet.

One feature that makes it stand out from much of the competition is the pressure sensitivity levels available offering a high level of precision. Plus, it also comes with a robust built-in stand offering multiple viewing angles allowing it to be laid almost flat or almost upright like a monitor.

XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K Specifications

XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K Price

The XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K launched on 22 October 2024 and costs 4K $1300 on the XPPen website; this converts to £1000 at the time of writing. This is a reasonable price considering that competitor pen displays don't all come with a stand included for multiple viewing angles; these have to be purchased separately, and color calibration software is also included, although you will still need a compatible colorimeter.

There is also a less expensive model, the XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2), which features a faster 165Hz refresh rate and a 2560x1440px resolution. This model is also Calman verified and costs $900, which converts to £615. This is a more affordable option for consumers providing a much more accessible entry point to 24-inch pen displays.

XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K Design & Handling

As previously mentioned, the Artist Pro 24 is a large pen display so you'll need plenty of desk space to use it. So, to put that into some perspective, the overall dimensions are 25.1x16.1x1.7in / 638x408x44mm, which is about the size of a 32-inch TV, and it weighs 16.09lbs / 7.3kg including the stand; it certainly isn’t a portable pen display and is one that requires a hefty chunk of desk real estate.

The bezel is quite wide, so from an aesthetic point of view the Artist Pro 24 isn't quite as slick-looking as a modern TV with an ultra-narrow bezel. This is of no consequence to performance, and the 16:9 pressure-sensitive screen is generous at 20.7x11.7in / 526x296mm, so the working area is the size of a 20-inch monitor of the same aspect ratio.

Connection to computers can be via USB-C only, which provides both the image and input. You can connect computers via HDMI or Display Port for image transmission with the included USB-A to USB-C cable for input. And although you can't see the rear of the Artist Pro 24 when in use, there's a cover for the cable connections, including power, that tidies everything up. It's arguably unnecessary but is a well-thought-out design element at the same time.

You can also use the USB-C to USB-C cable to connect the pen display to Android and Apple smartphones, which seriously improves the mobile photo editing and drawing experience. I tested Lightroom Mobile on my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra connected to the Artist Pro 24, which opened the Samsung DeX app allowing me to use my smartphone more like a computer with the Artist Pro 24 acting as the screen and input device. It was undoubtedly a positive experience and vastly improved the mobile editing experience.

Build quality is excellent, as you'd expect for a pen display of this price, with a clean design that focuses on functionality. A couple of examples of this are the two pen clip compartments where you can attach the pen clips that conveniently hold one or both of the two included pens, and also the built-in stand.

The stand can be adjusted to between 16 and 72 degrees, which means it can be laid almost flat or propped up to a similar angle as a monitor. So, not only can you use it as a pen display alongside your main monitor or laptop screen, but you could even use it as a monitor in itself, but one with the added advantage of pen display functionality.

Moving back to the pens, the X3 Pro Slim Stylus and the X3 Pro Smart Chip Stylus are included allowing you to select the one that you find most comfortable. The Slim may be better for drawing since its diameter is similar to a pencil, while the wide and grippier Smart Chip may be better for photo editing where a pencil-like experience isn't necessary.

XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K Performance

With any pen display, you can always use your keyboard to access shortcuts and modifier keys, but like most mid-range pen displays, the Artist Pro 24 comes with a wireless controller/mini keyboard that can be customized. The dial and buttons are blank, so you have to memorize what's applied to each, which is naturally something that takes time. But what makes this controller stand out is the ability to set up, up to four shortcut/modifier/action configurations.

In use, the Artist Pro 24 is comfortable to use and the stand allows users to set an angle that works best for them. The pens are incredibly accurate once calibration has been completed, and this takes just 30 seconds or less. The X3 Pro Series pens combined with the pen display provide impressive and, indeed, useful 16,384 pressure levels with up to 60-degree tilt recognition. This is undoubtedly more useful to digital artists than photographers, but still great to have if you are a photographer.

The 4K screen isn't OLED and has a contrast ratio of 1000:1, so it does look slightly dull when sitting next to my laptop with its punchy OLED screen. But what was interesting during testing, is that when I processed Raw files in Lightroom only looking at the color-calibrated Artist Pro 24, the color corrections, brightness, contrast, localized adjustments, etc. looked correct on both screens.

Of course, they did look different, but I was impressed by the fact that everything I applied on the Artist Pro 24 translated well to my laptop screen. This suggests that what is being displayed is reliable. An OLED screen would be preferable for obvious reasons: a better-quality onscreen image, but for a Pen Display of this size, it would undoubtedly drive up cost.

Despite not being as punchy as an OLED screen, the Artist Pro 24 offers a maximum brightness of 300cd/m² alongside color gamuts of 99% sRGB, 99% Adobe RGB, and 98% P3. Plus, using a compatible colorimeter alongside the free ColorMaster software allows you to calibrate the display for more reliable colors. The software is less 'guided' than other calibration software though, so you may need to check the best settings for your intended use of the pen display.

XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K Verdict

The XPPen Artist Pro 24 (Gen 2) 4K is incredibly easy to set up and use, offering a large workspace for digital artists and photographers looking for a more tactile and direct approach to drawing and editing. Set up is easy, and with several computer connection options, as well as a smartphone connection, it's a versatile pen display.

The screen provides a clear and reliable onscreen image, but not being an OLED screen means that it's not the punchiest pen display available. However, the onscreen image is reliable in terms of brightness, contrast, and colour, and can be confidently used for colour-critical work. At $1300 it's fairly priced and offers several features, such as greater pen sensitivity levels and a built-in stand, that typically aren’t available with the direct competition.

Alternatives

Video monitors are undoubtedly a must-have for capturing video because they make composing, focusing, and assessing exposure much easier and more effective. The Atomos Shinobi II is the successor to the popular Atomos Shinobi, bringing with it features and functionality that make it one of the best on-camera monitors available.

Atomos is best known for its video monitors/recorders offering Raw video capture. These are, of course, most useful for higher-end users who require codecs including Apple ProRes Raw, but for those who simply need a larger screen, video monitors are a far more cost-effective solution.

Ultimately, why pay for features you don’t need, if in-camera codecs, color profiles, and video capture cover your needs? One of the great things about monitors like the Shinobi II is that they're not confined to video use; photographers working in slower fields such as product, macro, and landscape photography can also benefit from the larger screen on offer.

The Shinobi II is incredibly easy to use and offers camera control for several camera manufacturers and models, with an ever-expanding list. But it's well worth checking compatibility before purchasing if this functionality is important. You can, however, still enjoy a camera feed via HDMI.

Atomos Shinobi II: Specifications

Atomos Shinobi II: Price

The Atomos Shinobi II was announced in July 2024 and is available to buy now for $349 / £354. This is more expensive than lower-end monitors that can be larger and brighter, but what you're getting here is a quality device that's slim, lightweight and offers direct camera control. It's also priced according to other Atomos models with recorder functionality, so it sits within the correct price bracket.

Frustratingly, the Shinobi II only comes with a USB-C / PD cable included and no HDMI cable or mounting device, so you'll have to use what you already have or purchase separately. You may be wondering why this is frustrating, and it's simply because the device has a screw-on locking cable adaptor for Atomos locking HDMI cables, to provide a more secure cable connection.

Atomos Shinobi II: Design & Handling

The slim and lightweight design of the Shinobi II is a breath of fresh air with it weighing in at just 7.4oz / 210g. I don’t know about you, but I've never been a fan of attaching heavy accessories to my camera hotshoe, not to mention the imbalance it can create. The build quality is also excellent with the device being made of tough ABS polycarbonate plastic to support the 5.2-inch SuperAtom capacitive IPS touchscreen.

The up to 1500-nit touchscreen is responsive, and brightness can be adjusted to suit the conditions you’re shooting in, including bright sunlight. The user interface is also easy to navigate, although for first-time use there are some easy-to-follow video tutorials available if you need them. The most useful focuses on making sure everything is set up correctly for camera control.

On the back of the Shinobi II, there's a locking battery slot that's compatible with NPF-type batteries. There's also a vent for the passive cooling system that maintains silent operation. Power can also be delivered via the USB-C / PD port on the back of the monitor using a power bank, but this removes camera control. So, a second USB-C / PD port would be useful.

Atomos claims that you can enjoy a full day of shooting from a single battery, and Atomos NP-F750 batteries are 5200mAh. I can’t fairly comment on battery life because the NP-F550 battery used for testing was a lower quality 2600mAh capacity, so battery life wasn't the best during continuous use. Full-day use could be based on NP-F970 batteries that are 8800mAh. Either way, the ability to use three different battery capacities or a power bank is useful.

Other controls and ports include the power button and SD card slot on one side, with the latter being only for firmware and LUT installation of up to eight LUTs in .cube format, with 17 and 33 points supported. On the other side, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for sound monitoring and a remote port, with a 1/4-inch thread with anti-rotational points for mounting the monitor on the bottom. It's a fairly minimalist design with all features and functions accessed within the user interface.

On the back of the Shinobi II, there's a locking battery slot that's compatible with NPF-type batteries. There's also a vent for the passive cooling system that maintains silent operation. Power can also be delivered via the USB-C / PD port on the back of the monitor using a power bank, but this removes camera control. So, a second USB-C / PD port would be useful.

Atomos claims that you can enjoy a full day of shooting from a single battery, and Atomos NP-F750 batteries are 5200mAh. I can’t fairly comment on battery life because the NP-F550 battery used for testing was a lower quality 2600mAh capacity, so battery life wasn't the best during continuous use. Full-day use could be based on NP-F970 batteries that are 8800mAh. Either way, the ability to use three different battery capacities or a power bank is useful.

Other controls and ports include the power button and SD card slot on one side, with the latter being only for firmware and LUT installation of up to eight LUTs in .cube format, with 17 and 33 points supported. On the other side, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack for sound monitoring and a remote port, with a 1/4-inch thread with anti-rotational points for mounting the monitor on the bottom. It's a fairly minimalist design with all features and functions accessed within the user interface.

Atomos Shinobi II: Performance

The Shinobi II certainly does what it says on the tin, and does it well to deliver a significantly larger screen than a camera rear LCD. The screen resolution is 1080p, but it can monitor HDMI signals up to 4K 30fps, with FHD monitoring available up to 60fps. There are also several different guides available, such as the rule-of-thirds grid and framing guides to aid with composition when outputting to social media or cine aspect ratios other than 16:9 landscape format.

The exposure and focusing guides available include waveform, histogram, vectorscope, false color, and focus peaking. All of the usual suspects are here and can be used equally successfully for photos and videos. For the former, the Shinobi II may not be the most obvious option, but as previously mentioned, it can be useful for slower tripod-mounted photography.

Camera control is one of the most useful features because it allows you to adjust shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance, and shutter angle (if used by the camera) on the Shinobi II screen. This provides a streamlined experience where you can also initiate in-camera video recording on the Shinobi II; a useful red rectangle appears around the edges of the screen to indicate recording.

Camera control via the Shinobi 2 is most convenient when the camera is on a tripod, gimbal, or shoulder rig mounted, but for holding the camera 'normally', the camera's direct access controls are easier to use. It just depends on how you're using the camera and, of course, personal preference. Versatility is never a bad thing, and if you don’t need camera control you can leave the USB-C / PD cable out of the equation, using just an HDMI cable for the camera feed.

The screen monitoring mode can be set to SDR, HDR HLG, HDR PQ, 709 LUT, or to a user-installed LUT for a closer to 'finished' view of your footage as it's captured. This can be in either a bit depth of 8- or 10-bit depending on the monitoring mode selected, with anamorphic desqueeze also available. You can also calibrate the monitor using Atomos Calibrator on a computer with Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro and ColorChecker Display Plus if you require this at the point of capture.

Atomos Shinobi II: Verdict

The Atomos Shinobi II is smaller and lighter than the comparable competition with everything you need to enhance and ultimately improve your shooting experience. It's not perfect, but the niggles are extremely minor and not everyone will have them.

The Shinobi II has all the features you'd expect and too many more to simply list. Camera control and the fact that it's 30% lighter and 50% brighter than its predecessor, with HDR monitoring, make it a worthy upgrade. Not to mention a compelling introduction to video monitors if you've been thinking about investing.

One of the most useful aspects of a monitor over a monitor/recorder with camera control is that it opens up a larger screen with multiple shooting aids available to videographers and even photographers. Photography isn't the most obvious use or selling point for such a device, but it's certainly something to consider for some photographers.

Alternatives

Philips has announced a new, well-priced 27-inch, 4K (3840 x 2160) monitor suitable for image or video editing. The Philips 27B2U6903 uses a 10-bit IPS panel for smooth color reproduction, along with consistent color and contrast rendition, regardless of your viewing angle. Color accuracy is quoted at a respectable Delta E <2, and peak brightness is rated at 350cd/m2, though 96% sRGB color space coverage doesn't bode well for high Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 coverage. The 27B2U6903 does however excel in other areas.

Read more:
The best monitors for photo editing
The best video-editing monitors

The most significant of which is its Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, which enables significantly faster data transfer speeds compared to conventional USB-C monitors. The connection is also capable of supplying up to 100W of power to an attached laptop or other USB-powered devices.

The 27B2U6903 has been designed with long editing stints in mind, as it includes a 'Compact Ergo Base' with extensive tilt, swivel and height-adjustment. The display also employs SoftBlue LED technology and an always-on blue light filter to reduce digital eye strain. Other handy features include a built-in earphone hook on the side of the monitor, a smart KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) hub for easy switching between multiple computer sources, and PowerSensor 2 energy-saving tech will detect your proximity and automatically wake/sleep the monitor and connected PC/laptop accordingly.

The Philips 27B2U6903 will be available soon, priced at £449.99/€549. We await details of US pricing and availability.

Datacolor has launched a new range of display, photo, video, and printer calibration products.

Read more: The best monitor calibrators

SpyderPro

The centrepiece of the range is the new SpyderPro colorimeter for display calibration. This replaces the previous Spyder X2 Ultra, and though it looks almost identical to the outgoing X2, the SpyderPro can calibrate a wider range of monitor types. Like the old X2 Ultra, the SpyderPro is able to calibrate standard and HDR LCD displays, but it adds compatibility with mini-LED panels, along with Apple XDR/Liquid Retina monitors, as well as OLED displays, making it the most versatile Spyder colorimeter ever. An unlimited number of connected displays can be calibrated to ensure consistency across monitors, and the SpyderPro is capable of calibrating monitors with a screen brightness of up to 2000 cd/m2. To ensure your monitor is set to the correct brightness to suit your ambient lighting, the SpyderPro can measure ambient light brightness and monitor it periodically to ensure your display is always set to the most appropriate brightness.

SpyderPro is available to buy now, priced at $269/£249.

Datacolor SpyderPro: buy now from B&H

Spyder

If you're looking for your first monitor calibrator, Datacolor has also launched a new, entry-level calibration product, simply named: Spyder. This is quite similar to SpyderPro, but where the Pro can calibrate 2000 cd/m2 HDR displays, the more basic Spyder is only compatible with monitors outputting a maximum 750 cd/m2 brightness. Spyder also only has 5 gamma curve settings and 5 white point settings, compared to the Pro's unlimited adjustment. Spyder will also only let you calibrate a single connected display, so multi-monitor users will need the SpyderPro. But if you can do without these features, Spyder is priced at a more accessible $169/£159 and is available to buy now.

Datacolor Spyder: buy now from B&H

In addition to the standalone Spyder and SpyderPro monitor calibrators, Datacolor is bundling the SpyderPro in two different kits: the Spyder Photo/Video Kit, and the Spyder Print Studio.

Spyder Photo/Video Kit

The Spyder Photo/Video Kit contains a SpyderPro colorimeter, along with a Spyder Cube, Spyder Checkr Video, and a Spyder Checkr Photo Card Set. Spyder Cube is an alternative to a traditional gray card - use it to set white balance and correct exposure. Spyder Checkr Video is a passport-sized color reference target containing several precision-calibrated reference cards. These feature various color and grayscale swatches which are used to align the white balance and color of video footage once it's imported into editing software like Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere. When shooting stills, the video color reference cards can be swapped out for the Spyder Checkr Photo Card Set so you can ensure consistent color during post production in Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Camera RAW or Hasselblad Phocus. The Spyder Photo/Video Kit is retailing now for $349/£349.

Datacolor Spyder Photo/Video Kit: buy now from B&H

Spyder Print Studio

If you want to accurately color match your monitor with printed output, you'll need Datacolor's Spyder Print Studio kit. This contains the SpyderPro and a Spyder Cube, but adds a Spyder Print colorimeter for calibrating your printer. By printing a sheet of color swatches, Spyder print can measure the exact color of each target swatch in order to build a printer profile that compensates for any printed color inaccuracies. The system can also be used to create bespoke profiles to suit a variety of printer, ink and paper combinations. The Spyder Print Studio kit is on sale now for $499/£479.

Datacolor Spyder Print Studio: buy now from B&H

BenQ specializes in products that improve people’s lives. This includes electronics, computing, and communication products, with a significant focus on things like projectors and monitors.

The product I have before me today is related to these but in many ways unique. It’s the ScreenBar Pro and is designed to provide workspace lighting for those who find themselves working in poorly lit environments.

At £119, this is far from the cheapest lamp you could buy for your desk but it does have the benefit of providing bright and even lighting across your whole workspace. This sets it apart from standard lamps, which often provide spotlighting, a type that is far from ideal for reading.

Having never tried a monitor-mounted workspace light before, I was really intrigued and excited to give it a whirl. I mounted it on top of my 32-inch Philips Evnia monitor located on my 180cm wide and 60cm deep desk. Read on for what I thought of it.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Specifications

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Price

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light attracts a cost of £119. From the price, you can tell that this is no ordinary desk light and you’ll be paying for certain privileges that are not available on standard lights.

As far as monitor light bars go, this is definitely on the more expensive end of the spectrum. If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly alternative, then the Xiaomi Mi Computer Monitor Light Bar can be bought for around $40/£50 (check Amazon). Keep in mind that it is not as feature-rich as the BenQ alternative.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Design & Handling

My first impressions of the ScreenBar Pro were that BenQ have created a beautifully built device. The excellent build quality spans right across the button strip, the clamp, and the lightbar itself. I’ll take these in order of how I interacted with them.

The first was the clamp mount. Prior to attaching it to my monitor, I was concerned that it would damage my display. I needn’t have worried. The clamp includes two rubber pads that are large enough to ensure no other part of the light bar touches the monitor itself. The quality of the hinge is also up there with the best. It’s a spring-loaded hinge that is robust enough to withstand regular movement as well as the pressure of being applied to a monitor over a long period of time. It’s very good indeed.

The light bar itself continues BenQ’s commitment to excellence. The 50cm bar is constructed of Aluminum alloy, PC / ABS, Polycarbonate, and Zinc alloy, making it very strong indeed. I tried bending the bar with all my strength and it didn’t budge even a little. The LED lighting strip is protected by a thin strip of plastic, which is the biggest letdown to the overall quality. I knew I would damage it if I pushed my finger through it too hard. The bar can rotate a small number of degrees so you can direct the light towards or away from your monitor.

The final part of the product is the button bar. This is located in the middle of the light bar and contains a set of buttons for operating the light. I really like the design, with lit-up icons telling you what is active at any point in time. Unfortunately, I found the button presses to be a little temperamental and unpredictable. Buttons with some haptic feedback would definitely be preferable.

I was also incredibly impressed to see that all of the protective film, cushioning, and tape in the packaging had been made from wood fibers instead of plastic. As a result, everything could be recycled. BenQ is clearly committed to the planet.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Performance

I’ve covered a lot of how the light bar performs from a design and handling perspective in the previous section. But most people don’t buy a light bar because of what it looks like; they buy it because of the light it’s able to generate.

The BenQ ScreenBar Pro offers a fantastic level of brightness with a whopping 1,000 lux at the centre, spreading out to 500 lux at the edges. This makes it the brightest light bar on the market at the moment. It’s brightness capabilities don’t just make it ideal for dimly lit spaces but also make it usable when it needs to compete with lighter environments.

Other than the light brightness and colour, the other consideration with any light bar is the coverage area. BenQ’s offering covers an area of 85 x 60cm (at 500 lux), which was more than enough coverage for my desk and I imagine most people’s desks.

The light bar includes motion controls, which turn the light on and off automatically. This is a fantastic little feature, as you don’t need to worry about wasting and paying for precious electricity. The motion sensor performed well enough to be a reliable inclusion for the product.

I’ve previously talked about the issue with the capacitive touch controls, much of which could have been overcome with a simple remote control. At this price, I would have expected one to be included but alas, there isn’t.

BenQ ScreenBar Pro: Verdict

I really love the BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light and it has been a pleasure to interact with it ever since I unboxed it. The light quality is excellent and the ability to adjust the brightness is incredibly useful. The light bar lit up the whole of my desk with no problems and the light was surprisingly even across the space. The buttons didn’t have any haptic feedback and were a little unresponsive and unpredictable at times. That being said, this is a classy light bar that delivers where it matters most.

Alternatives

If you’re looking for a premium alternative to the best Wacom tablet on the market, then Xencelabs’ range of creative peripherals is worth a look. We rate its Pen Tablet Medium as one of the best drawing tablets available, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on its latest pen display, the Xencelabs Pen Display 16. What sets this device apart from its competitors is its 4K OLED screen, a particularly tantalizing feature from a photography perspective that could make it the best tablet for photo editing and photographers. 

If you typically like to work on a larger pen display, Xencelabs has you catered for via its Pen Display 24. But what makes the Pen Display 16 so attractive, is its portability. Sure, it’s certainly not as portable as, say, the XP-Pen Magic Drawing Pad or Apple iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2, but when you consider it’s a pro-grade pen display with decent screen real estate, it’s surprisingly slender and lightweight. So, if you’re looking for a premium pen display that can slip into a rucksack, read on… 

Xencelabs Pen Display 16: Specifications

Xencelabs Pen Display 16: Price

The Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is available in two guises: Essentials and Bundle, with the former priced at $999 / £969 and the latter at $1249 / £1199. Even the Essentials package includes a healthy haul of accessories including two styluses, a pen case, spare nibs, a glove, and a carrying case. But the Bundle is rammed with all that and more, most notably a power adapter and hub, the Mobile Easel (a stand), and Xencelabs’ very own Quick Keys remote. 

If you already have a Quick Keys device, then you’re probably better off going for the Essentials package. And even if you don’t, the Quick Keys is available standalone for (£95.90 / $99.99). If you’re buying the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 at its RRP, you can pick up the Quick Keys separately totaling just $1,099 / £1,065. But you won't have the hub and Mobile Easel.

At face value Essentials sits within a similar price range to the XP-Pen Artist Pro 16TP ($899.99 / £799.99) and Kamvas Pro 16 Plus (4K) ($899 / £899), but at the time of writing, both of these tablets are available for much less on sale. 

With that in mind, it sits somewhere between the aforementioned competitors and the Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 ($1,599.95 / £1,399.99), but when the Wacom's are on sale, the margins close up a bit more. Overall, the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 splits the Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 and cheaper 16-inch, 4K alternatives, making it competitively priced. 

Xencelabs Pen Display 16: Design & Handling

The Xencelabs Pen Display 16 isn’t a standalone device. It requires a compatible PC or Mac to operate and works as a second, stylus-operated screen for use with your choice of software. How you connect the Pen Display 16 will depend on your computer. If you’re plugging into a USB-C DisplayPort you can simply use the included USB-C cable to connect the Pen Display 16, which will emit a minimum brightness of 170 nits. Otherwise, you’ll need to use the included powered hub (Bundle only) and the necessary combination of cables. 

Xencelabs has helpfully simplified things by color-coding the cables and providing a handy color-coded connection chart. It’s important to note that using the hub will also provide the maximum 300-nit brightness. A QR code is included in the paperwork to download the necessary driver and you only need to select the corresponding driver for your OS, regardless of the Xencelabs product you’re using. 

The tablet itself feels very solid and well-built, it also runs quietly and coolly. A thick 1.3-in border surrounds the 16-inch display and while this may feel a little dated – in a world of slick-looking iPads and Galaxy Tablets with edge-to-edge screens – it’s a great feature for pro retouchers and illustrators, providing run-off areas for the palm of the hand to rest, should the stylus stray close to the edges of the display. And since it surrounds the entire tablet, both left-handed and right-handed creatives will benefit.

I also like how the edges of the tablet don’t have a trim. Other tablets on the market do have this and if the trim is slightly raised or there’s a small gap between the trim and screen, it’s less comfortable on the palm.

Most high-end pen displays are removing shortcut keys from the face of the display nowadays, a huge boon for left-handed creatives. Xencelabs gets around this via its Quick Keys remote (Bundle only, but sold separately), a free-standing shortcut peripheral that fits the bill perfectly. It can be operated wirelessly or wired via the included dongle and USB-C cable respectively. It doesn’t feel as premium as the pen display itself and the buttons feel a bit unsatisfying and plasticky, but the command wheel is buttery smooth and I like the rubber grip on the back of the device. This stops it from sliding, should you work on a slanted drawing surface.

Just like the Wacom Cintiq Pro 16, the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is not a touch-screen device. This will disappoint those who like to quickly pinch to zoom in and swipe their way around their canvas, while pleasing others who detest wearing a glove, leaving them prone to activating touch controls with their bare palm accidentally. I’m used to using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2 for drawing and although constantly reaching for the mouse, keyboard or Quick Keys takes a bit of getting used to, I certainly didn't miss having to constantly undo or erase accidental palm inputs. 

Kudos to Xencelabs for including a pair of styluses, its Thin Pen v2 and 3 Button Pen v2. As you’d expect, the pens don’t require charging to operate and both feel durable and are made from decent plastics. That said, the buttons do feel a little plasticky and clicky. The thicker 3 Button Pen v2 has a nice rubbery grip, while the Thin Pen v2 will feel instantly recognizable to anyone who’s used an Apple Pencil. 

What pen you prefer is entirely up to you and photographers will likely stick with their favorite. But illustrators who enjoy using, say, a thinner pen to sketch and a thicker pen to ink and add color, are well catered for. 

The Mobile Easel that comes with the Bundle package is plastic and features a pair of flaps that lock into place so you can set the pen display at two different heights. And while it might not look like the sturdiest stand in the world, it cradles the device perfectly and can easily withstand as much pressure as you’d care to inflict on a pen display.

Xencelabs Pen Display 16: Performance

Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is the first pen display with a 16-inch 4K OLED screen and for many, this will be worth the price of admission alone. It delivers beautiful colors and vivid brightness, making it a fantastic choice for illustrators and photographers. This is important. Photographers demand accurate colors and the Pen Display 16 delivers that. That said, some degree of sharpness has been sacrificed in favor of an anti-glare, paper-like coating to the display’s surface. 

What Xencelabs calls its Super AG Etching Display isn’t quite as tacky as some displays (what you prefer is down to personal preference), but it still offers a pleasant surface on which to draw. In my opinion, this is absolutely essential for illustrators. Photographers can work around this by mirroring the pen display’s screen on their computer monitor, so they have a super sharp reference.  

I’m very much of the opinion that more is more when it comes to pen display screen size. If you’re used to editing on your 24-inch iMac, 16 inches will take some getting used to. Then again, if you’re used to drawing on a 12.9-inch iPad, the Pen Display 16 will feel like a marked step up. If you’re drawing or editing at the same workstation 24/7 and budget isn’t a consideration then by all means check out the Xencelabs Pen Display 24. If you’re looking for a decent-value tablet that’s beefy enough to become a desktop staple but small enough to slip into a rucksack, then a 16-inch pen display is ideal. In fact, both versions of the Pen Display 16 come with a soft, padded carry case, with room enough for all of the Bundle’s many accessories. 

I spend a lot of time with my 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2, and the jump to 16 inches is definitely noticeable. The larger space is quite simply nicer to draw on. As is the thick, inactive border that surrounds the device. Tablets like the iPad Pro actually encourage you not to use all of the screen real estate, because it’s easy to run out of screen, be it your stylus meeting the edge or an unsupported palm causing your lines to jitter. The Pen Display 16’s border makes these problems much less likely and the overall drawing experience is all the better for it. 

Another key detail when it comes to this display’s suitability for drawing is the lack of any onboard shortcut keys. This means left-handed creatives don’t have to worry about their palms resting on a row of unhelpfully placed shortcut keys and you can happily sit on the couch, swiveling your device every which way while drawing, without fear of accidentally triggering undo or enlarging your brush. However, this device isn’t touch-sensitive. And while that’s good news for anybody who doesn’t like wearing a drawing glove to prevent accidentally triggered touch functions, you will have to frequently reach for your mouse or touchpad. 

Thankfully, Xencelabs has remedied the lack of onboard shortcut keys and touch functions via its existing Quick Keys remote. This wireless device features eight quick keys and a button to toggle between five sets, totaling 40 fully customizable functions. That’s not including a big command dial, with a button to toggle between four additional functions. The Xencelabs software that you install with the driver can be used to customize the pen display, styluses, and Quick Keys. What I really like about the Quick Keys remote is that you can customize it for a specific application. So, if you use Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, and want it to perform different functions for each, it’ll remember the settings for both. 

With extended use, I’m sure you’d learn to get the most out of the Quick Keys. But even during my limited time with the device, I was instinctively reaching for the command wheel to rotate my canvas, hitting buttons to undo/redo and alter my brush size. Because it’s a separate peripheral, I could rest my palm on it comfortably, just like a mouse, rather than having to reach over my tablet to tap an awkwardly positioned shortcut button. 

According to Xencelabs, the Quick Keys remote is compatible with other pen displays, too. It’s only available in the Pen Display 16 Bundle, but this makes sense because it can be purchased separately if need be and if you already own the device, you won’t end up with two. My only gripe is its build. The buttons feel a bit cheap and the device could certainly be more ergonomic. 

Drawing with the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is very enjoyable, if not revolutionary. If you’ve drawn with a decent pen display before, you’ll know what to expect. The screen is optically bonded so there’s no noticeable gap between the protective layer of glass and the display itself. The styluses support a 60-degree tilt angle. And pen-to-screen contact feels suitably papery.  I did experience a slight jitter when drawing lines at slower speeds and like most displays, when you draw gentle, sweeping lines, the line itself will lag a cm or two behind the stylus ( this could simply be a processing limitation of my MacBook). 

Ultimately, the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 provides as good a drawing experience as you could hope for on a dedicated pen display. But, I still think the Apple Pencil 2 delivers a better physical digital drawing experience with its whip-fast responsiveness, pinpoint accuracy, and extreme tilt angles. And yet, that’s not to say Apple’s solution is a better professional solution. 

You see, an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil 2 deliver an outstanding drawing experience, there’s no doubt about it. But if you’re a professional illustrator or a photographer looking to add pen display functionality to your editing regime, a tablet like the Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is arguably still the better option. Apple’s iOS ecosystem is its own worst enemy here. You’re locked into some admittedly fantastic iOS apps such as Procreate and Affinity Photo 2 for iPad, but if you want unbridled access to desktop industry-standard software, a device like the Pen Display 16 allows that. After all, it’s running through your MacBook or PC. And of course, the 16-inch screen is bigger than any iPad’s and you can jump up to 24 inches if you so wish. 

Finally, the styluses are really enjoyable to use. Personally, I find having a thin and thick stylus to be really beneficial since I’m prone to a little RSI when using the same stylus for long periods of time. Having the option to swap helps to keep this at bay. 

Xencelabs Pen Display 16: Verdict

The Xencelabs Pen Display 16 is capable of going pound for pound with the biggest name in the drawing tablet biz. The slick 4K OLED screen is a huge selling point and none of its few shortcomings are deal breakers. Crucially, the vibrant and accurate colors make this an excellent choice for photographers looking to add a pen display to their editing workflow and digital illustrators alike. 

Unless touch-sensitive controls are your line in the sand, it delivers an excellent drawing experience and a solid build to boot. Overall, you can expect a premium performance for slightly less than other premium offerings. It’s also incredibly simple to set up and small enough to slip into a roomy rucksack, making it a great choice for those who require a portable display, without giving up too much screen real estate. Even the Essentials package delivers a formidable roster of accessories. However, I would recommend opting for the Bundle package to get the Quick Keys remote (or purchasing it separately), because this really does enhance the pen display’s usability.

Alternatives

Elgato is an absolute juggernaut in the streaming space, offering just about everything a prospective streamer or video creator could need, from microphones and webcams to stream decks and capture cards. Now it’s adding teleprompters to that impressive line-up with the Elgato Prompter.

Most of the best teleprompters on the market are little more than fancy boxes with two-way mirrors in them. This means they’re reliant on you using a teleprompter app on another device, like a smartphone or tablet, to display the actual text. The Elgato Prompter differentiates itself here because it has a built-in display.

I’ve been dipping my toes into the world of making YouTube videos recently and wanted to check out a teleprompter to see if it made recording easier, so this is the perfect opportunity to put the Elgato Prompter through its paces.

Elgato Prompter: Specifications

Elgato Prompter: Price

The Elgato Prompter costs $279.99 / £279.99 and can be purchased directly from Elgato, as well as third-party camera and electronics retailers. That makes this teleprompter significantly more expensive than the other options on our best teleprompters list — but, as it’s the only one that includes a display device, this makes sense 

When ordering via Elgato, you can also create your own bundles with other Elgato products to save money. At the time of writing, you can get a key light mini and cold shoe add-on for free (normally costing $84.98).

At launch, the Prompter was so popular that it was damn near impossible to actually find — it was out of stock on Elgato’s site regularly. Now that the launch buzz has died down, supply has caught up with demand.

Elgato Prompter: Design & Handling

Even just unpacking the Elgato Prompter, it’s clear that it’s a premium product thanks to the custom-cut cardboard packaging (which is almost entirely recyclable). Inside the box you get the Prompter itself, USB-C to USB-A 3.0 cable (78.7in / 200 cm), L-bracket for attaching cameras, DSLR/Mirrorless camera ring backplate, 9x DSLR/Mirrorless step-up rings, Facecam Pro backplate, universal shroud backplate and all the mounting screws required. You also get a handy quick-start guide and a cleaning cloth too, which is a nice touch.

Measuring 8.9 x 8.6 x 11.1 inches with the universal mount attached, the Prompter is made primarily from matte black plastic and weighs just 690g / 1.52 lbs without accessories. The Elgato logo is etched into the top of the device, flanked on either side by two hot shoe mounting points, where you can attach lights, microphones, etc.

On the business end of the Elgato Prompter, you’ll find the 9-inch, 1024 x 600px resolution display mounted facing upwards with a sheet of “beamsplitter” glass above it — this glass reflects the image coming up from the screen, acting as a two-way mirror to let your camera see through from behind. Overall, it's a slick piece of kit that looks professional and high quality, which is what I’d expect from Elagto.

I found setting up the Prompter was a breeze. First, figure out which backplate you’ll need. If you’re using a DSLR or mirrorless camera with a compatible, threaded lens, then you’ll want to attach the ring backplate. Figure out which step-up ring you need by matching the listed diameter to your lens — you can find your lens diameter quickly by looking at the inside of the lens cap. Screw on the step-up ring to your camera’s lens, and then attach the camera to the teleprompter by slotting the ring into the backplate (and screwing the camera in place with the included ¼in screw for added stability). In this setup, the Elgato Prompter effectively hangs off the front of your camera, which will be mounted on a tripod. Note that there are extra ¼in mounting points on the Prompter if you want to add an additional anchor point.

Delightfully simple… for people who have a compatible lens. I do not, as it turns out — I’m using a Nikon Z-30 with a NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens, which is not threaded and, at 46mm in diameter, is smaller than the smallest step-up ring to boot. So, I got to test out the process for mounting generic cameras (and smartphones, although you’ll need to provide your own phone mount) to the Prompter. Fortunately, it’s just as simple.

If you’re using Elgato’s Facecam Pro webcam, then there’s a specific backplate for that. For everyone else, the generic camera option is suitable for any kind of proper camera, as well as webcams and smartphones. You attach the included L-bracket to the Prompter, then attach your camera to the bracket via a ¼in screw, cover your camera with the built-in shroud to block out light spillage and you’re good to go.

Honestly, I much prefer this setup to Elgato’s needless complex ring system. You don’t need a specific lens, and you don’t end up hanging a heavy teleprompter from your expensive camera lens since it mounts on the L-bracket. Without the ring as a guide, you need to manually make sure the camera is pointing straight ahead, but that’s easy enough.

Once the camera is mounted, you’ll need to connect the Prompter to a computer, laptop, or tablet via the included USB-C cable. This cable plugs into the back-right side of the screen and has a 90° angle connection to keep everything looking nice and tidy. From there just load up the Elgato Camera Hub app (available as a free download on Elgato’s website) and it should automatically detect the Prompter. I had to update my DisplayLink driver on my PC before it would work, which was frustrating, but to Elgato’s credit, they do have an article addressing this issue on their website.

Elgato Prompter: Performance

Continuing the focus on ease of use, setting up the Prompter using the app is a breeze. The Elgato Camera Hub app has a simple and easy-to-follow layout, with all the options for configuring your text appearing on the left-hand side.

From here you can easily change the text speed, size, font, color, and more to suit your needs. As a big nerd, the first thing I did was change the text color to yellow so it looked like the Star Wars text scroll.

The controls mean that you can increase the text size, so you can use the Prompter from further away. The larger your text, the more precise your scroll speed timings will need to be if you’re reading longer sections of text. I found it easy to tweak these settings to the perfect combination by doing some practice readings. While the app will remember your previous settings by default,  it’s a shame that there is no way to save multiple different profiles. There is also no button to reset everything to default, which seems like a strange oversight.

Once I had all my text set up, I found the Prompter to be a joy to use. It displays text super clearly, and there is enough brightness from the display to create the necessary two-way mirror effect. You can kind of see the camera behind the screen if you look for it, but it’s not distracting and doesn’t muddy up the image quality at all.

Being able to read my script as I recorded meant that I could concentrate on being more animated and entertaining in my presentation. This is true of any teleprompter, yet what I appreciated about the Elgato was how simple it made everything, from set up and use, to being able to quickly tweak the text speed or size on the fly.

I do wish it had a remote control, or even just an app that syncs up with your computer so you can quickly pause and rewind the Prompter. You can use a Stream Deck if you have one, but it’s annoying to have this functionality locked behind another proprietary device. Even with the perfect speed nailed down, during testing I would occasionally flub a line and then I’d have to wander over to the computer and reset the text position, which ruined my flow even more.

You can also mirror your screen on the Prompter. So, if you’re chatting over Zoom or Skype, you can display the video on the Prompter and whoever you’re calling will see you looking straight at them. It’s a niche use case, probably best suited to recording video interviews and giving presentations, but if you need a Prompter for work, it’s a nice little bonus.

The ability to put Twitch chat in there is potentially much more exciting. Not only does it act as a second screen for streamers, freeing up your main screen for your game, but it also means that when you’re reading out chats, you’ll be looking right at the camera, establishing a more personal connection with your audience.

Needing to be connected to a device in general is another drawback here, as it kind of defeats the point of the integrated screen. Sure, you don’t need to use your phone or tablet to project the image, but you still need to film near your PC, or have a laptop on hand to run the app. But at that point, you’d be bolting a tiny tablet to this thing, instead of a tiny monitor, and that would certainly have just increased the weight and cost. I can see why Elgato made this trade-off, but it’s a flaw worth noting.

Elgato Prompter: Verdict

The Elgato Prompter does exactly what you’d want and expect it to — it simplifies the experience of setting up and using a teleprompter, making it more accessible to even more people. You don’t need to download sketchy apps to your phone or tablet, you just plug it in, open the tailor-made app, and away you go. It’s thoughtfully designed to ensure compatibility with just about any camera, and the wealth of customization options means that you’re able to modify the display to suit your video style.

The ring system is a neat, if slightly over engineered, way of attaching cameras with perfect alignment. However, I wish they’d included a 46mm ring as that’s quite a common diameter for vlogging/video lenses. Thankfully, their universal attachment method works a charm. 

I think the Elgato Prompter offers tremendous value for the cost, but it’s still not cheap. If you’re already making videos and want to improve your on-screen presence, this is the best teleprompter out there. If you’re just starting out, I’d say get a less pricey option or just skip the teleprompter altogether until you’re more invested in videography and content creation.

Alternatives

The Elgato Prompter is fairly unique in the market in that it has a built-in screen. If you don’t mind using your phone or tablet as the display, there are a bunch of cheaper options out there that you could try.

Whenever most of us speak to camera, whether that's for a livestream or recording a video, we want to have a script to follow, or at least some notes; no one wants to hear our ums, ahs and ers. 

But if you're constantly glancing down at your notepad, or off to the side at your laptop, you'll come across as distracted and unprofessional. More to the point, you won't be able to create that instant engagement with an audience that comes with looking them straight in the eye.

A teleprompter squares that circle, by allowing you to read a script naturally while maintaining eye contact with the camera. It's pretty simple really: it reflects your script onto glass, which you can shoot through without your camera picking up any of the text. 

The Glide Gear TMP100 is a mid-range teleprompter designed for just those purposes, and it's priced for vloggers, YouTubers, and other content creators on a limited budget. As Glide Gear is a well-regarded brand in the video gear space, we had high hopes for this model, particularly as it has excellent buzz online: an average of 4.5/5 on Amazon based on 2,449 reviews.

There's no substitute, however, for actually using a teleprompter in practice. So I got hold of a review model, and put it through its paces on a series of recordings and an actual live stream.

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Specifications

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Price and availability

At the time of writing, the Glide Gear TMP100 was available via Amazon.com for its RRP of $199/£129. That puts it right in the mid-range of teleprompters on the market today.

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Design and build

Out of the box, the first thing I noticed about the TMP100 was its all-metal chassis. It feels nice and solid, and there was no flex or creaking even when fully loaded with a camera and tablet. This incorporates an adjustable tray that can accommodate various tablets and smartphones up to around 10.5 inches in size. Even 11 and 12 inches tablet models seemed to fit okay on the tray, to be honest. Note, though, that Glide Gear specifically warn it won't fit an iPad Pro.

The beamsplitter glass also seems like pretty good quality. It's nice and thick and apparently scratch-resistant; I certainly haven't had any scratches over my months of use.

The frame and glass are surrounded by a hood that attaches via velcro and can be zipped up for full blackout, more or less hiding your camera lens from view. Well, you can sort of see it there in the background, but it certainly isn't distracting while you focus on your script. 

Setup, meanwhile, is very straightforward. The teleprompter comes fully assembled right out of the box, with no building required. It comes with 1/4" and 3/8" threaded mounting points to integrate seamlessly with most tripods and video rigs. Glide Gear has also thoughtfully provided spare screws and a phone mount adapter in the package.

The TMP100 does come with a nice carrying case, although if I had to pick holes, I'd say that while this is broadly protective, I'd have preferred a more rigid shell for peace of mind (as I am personally quite clumsy).

Finally, do note that when it comes to providing and projecting the script itself, that's all down to you. In other words, not only do you have to provide your own tablet but your own teleprompter app as well. There are some good free ones on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, though, so this needn't cost you any money, only a bit of time faffing around.

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Performance

When it came to the task at hand, the TMP100 performed admirably in all my tests. The large tablet display provided ample room for scripts to be displayed, and there was plenty of space to make the font for my script large enough to read, easily and comfortably. 

The high-quality glass delivers a clear, artifact-free reflection. The blackout hood effectively minimized my view of my camera; so while I could see its lens pointing at me, it wasn't in the least bit distracting. Overall, then, I had no problem maintaining natural eye contact while speaking.

In short, I had very little to quibble about. It all took just a few minutes to set up, the glass was easy to move if I needed to channel, and basically performed the task it was supposed to. 

Okay, it would have been nice to have had a dedicated cleaning cloth; again that was something else I had to source, to keep the glass free of smudges and fingerprints. But otherwise, the TMP100 looks and feels professional, works well in practice, and is nicely pick-up-and-put-downable.

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Verdict

If you're a content creator, looking for a well-built, mid-range teleprompter then I'd highly recommend investing in the Glide Gear TMP100. Its robust build quality and capable functionality means that it really feels like a professional choice. The large size of the glass means it's a particularly good choice if you want to use a larger tablet and/or project larger fonts for reading.

That said, it's not for everyone. Firstly, it won't fit an iPad Pro. Secondly, it's not the cheapest on the market, so if you have a very limited budget, you may prefer something cheaper that still does the same basic job. And thirdly, bear in mind that you'll have to separately source a teleprompter app and a cleaning cloth, so if you're primarily interested in minimizing effort, you may want to purchase an alternative.

Glide Gear TMP100 review: Alternatives

Hollyland Technology has just launched the Pyro series, a new wireless video transmission system designed for monitoring video capture while filmmaking. 

Hollyland is a specialist wireless technology brand, manufacturing wireless headphones, microphones, and intercom systems, and it has now turned its hand and released a video transmission system. The Pyro Series enables filmmakers to transmit video and audio from one transmitter to up to multiple monitors, making 'transmission and monitoring more flexible, stable, and professional'.

Using a dedicated transmitter and receiver it transfers data captured from point to point. In the case of the new Pyro Series from Hollyland, the transmitter will send video to up to four receivers, and when used with a monitor, enables real-time viewing of what the camera is recording in your desired output – think video village on a TV or movie set.

The Pyro range comprises the Pyro H, Pyro S, and Pyro 7, bringing 'innovative multi-person mobile wireless image transmission and monitoring solutions to small or medium commercial and television shooting teams'.

Experts in wireless technology, Hollyland has packed the Pyro series with useful features to make the lives of filmmaking crews easier. Hollyland’s self-developed 2.4GHz and 5GHz Auto Dual-band frequency Hopping (ADH) wireless technology provides enhanced anti-interference capabilities while reducing lag and improving range, providing security that no connection will be lost. 

The wireless frequency enables the transmission of smooth and stable video at 4k/30fps at a range of up to 400m, making it ideal for large sets and professional filmmaking environments. This means that, in real-time, footage can be monitored by the director, producer, lighting, and audio teams simultaneously.

The Pyro Series is lightweight and constructed from aerospace-grade magnesium-aluminum alloy enabling easy portability and robustness for the demands of fast-paced video creation. 

The Pyro S and Pyro H feature a vivid color LCD control display, on both the transmitter and receiver. The display makes it easy to read in low light conditions, and the intuitive interface makes changing settings quick and easy. It should be noted that the Pyro S and Pyro H need to be connected to an external monitor for viewing, however, the Pyro 7 has an inbuilt 7-inch viewing monitor. 

Other notable features include configurable user modes including HD and Smooth modes, flexible HDMI, SDI, and Loopout output. 

The Pyro H, Pyro S, and Pyro 7 will be launching globally on May 22, 2024, and be available through Hollyland's Amazon store for $699 | £656 | AU $1,1250.

You may also be interested in our guides to the best cameras for filmmaking, the best lenses for filmmaking, and the best cinema camera. 

We've seen a steady stream of 8K-capable cameras released over the last couple of years, but if you wanted an 8K monitor on which to edit your footage, you had a choice of.... one: the Dell UP3218K UltraSharp 32 8K, launched back in 2018. But after six years of Dell having the 8K monitor market to itself, Asus has now joined this super-exclusive club with its first 8K monitor, the ProArt Display PA32KCX.

This 32-inch, 7680 x 4320 display is also the first 8K monitor to include Mini LED backlighting, which offers higher brightness, improved contrast and better HDR performance than conventional LED backlighting. Consequently, the PA32KCX is capable of a retina-searing 1200 nits peak brightness, and 1000 nits of sustained brightness, allowing the screen to support multiple HDR standards, including HLG and HDR10. The display should also be exceptionally color-accurate, covering 97% of the DCI-P3 gamut, while being calibrated to an ultra-precise Delta-E of less than 1.

Read more: The best 8K monitors

To ensure that accuracy is maintained, a built-in motorized colorimeter provides automatic self calibration, eliminating the need to do it yourself with an aftermarket monitor calibrator. Anti-glare, anti-reflection and eye-strain reduction features add additional viewing benefits, as does the supplied shading hood. Video connectivity is via HDMI or DisplayPort 2.1, while dual Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports offer class-leading speed, along with 96W of Power Delivery to charge an attached laptop. 

Pricing and availability for the PA32KCX has yet to be revealed, but given the 8K monitor market isn't exactly plentiful, and Dell's 8K UP3218K still commands around $4000, you can bet the Asus ProArt Display PA32KCX will cost a small fortune.

Asus has also announced a new 4K 32-inch display: the ProArt Display OLED PA32UCDM. Despite its more conventional resolution, this being an OLED panel makes it rather special. OLED display technology offers superior brightness and contrast to even the best LCD-based monitors, as its individual pixels can be completely shut down. This enables any black areas of an image to be displayed as true black, giving an unrivaled depth and richness to an OLED display's image quality. With such high dynamic range possible, the PA32UCDM supports HDR formats like HDR10 and HLG, while offering 1000 nits of peak brightness. Color accuracy is also first class, being factory-calibrated to an accuracy of less than Delta-E 1. 99% DCI-P3 color space coverage is equally impressive, and the PA32UCDM works seamlessly with Calman and Light Illusion ColourSpace CMS professional hardware calibration software. Like its new 8K sibling, the PA32UCDM benefits from Thunderbolt 4 connectivity with 96W USB Power Delivery. 

We await details of price and availability, but it is rumored to cost in the region of $8,000.

The Calibrite Display 123 is, at the time of this review, the most affordable monitor calibrator on the market. It's intended to be a no-frills, super-easy-to-use device that will ensure your monitor is displaying color as accurately as it can. The accompanying software has been designed with a minimal, 3-step wizard-driven interface that makes the calibration process effortless. We've seen calibrators with a similar ethos before - Calibrite's corporate predecessor, X-Rite, marketed a calibrator called the ColorMunki Smile around a decade ago which delivered a similar blend of simplicity and low cost, but sadly that was discontinued several years ago. The Display 123 picks up the baton where it left off.

Read more:
The best monitor calibrators
The best monitors for photo editing
The best video-editing monitors

Why calibrate?

You can go to great lengths to ensure accurate in-camera white balance and consistent color in software raw processing, but all this effort is wasted if your monitor is deceiving you by displaying incorrect color.

Fortunately there's a quick, easy and effective fix for this: monitor calibration. By analysing a series of pre-set colors emitted by your monitor, a monitor calibrator (sometimes called a colorimeter) will detect any color discrepancies, and your computer is then programmed to compensate for them.

After this short process you could be amazed at the color transformation many monitors are capable of, and how a screen you once thought was accurate is revealed to have been displaying a pronounced color cast all along.

Features

The features list offered by the Display 123 is intentionally short - the main feature here is simplicity, so there are no extras that could confuse the calibration process. Features you'd find on Calibrite's more exotic devices - ambient light monitoring, projector profiling etc, are absent in the Display 123. For most users, these absences won't be missed.

However, it's worth noting that the Display 123 cannot be used to calibrate mini-LED displays, or monitors with a peak brightness of over 1000 nits. This includes the latest M3 MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch models with their Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED displays. To calibrate these screens, you'll need to step up to Calibrite's Display Pro HL calibrator.

What you get here is a small, easily portable device that simply plugs into your laptop or desktop computer via its USB-C cable. Once connected, Calibrite's Profiler software takes care of the calibration process, and that's it - job done!

Build & handling

At 3.3cm high and the same in diameter, the Display 123 is easily the smallest monitor calibrator we've ever reviewed. It's a fraction of the size of Calibrite's other models, as well as Datacolor's rival Spyder products. This downsizing is partly due to the lack of an ambient light sensor, but you do get a small LED status indicator on the top of the device to indicate when the calibrator is operating.

The distinctive yellow finish is a welcome change from the muted black or white finishes of most calibrators, and fun fact, it's exact shade of yellow is Pantone 123 C - that's no coincidence!

Calibrite has fitted the calibrator with a generously long USB cable - useful, given our test PC is placed on the floor, quite a distance away from the monitor we were calibrating.

Performance

In recent years both major players in the monitor calibration industry - Calibrite, and Datacolor - have simplified their calibration software apps to be less intimidating to novice users. But the Display 123 software is in a different league of simplicity. As the name suggests, calibration is just a 3 step process.

1: Select the monitor you wish to calibrate (a maximum of two displays are supported, so calibrating a dual-screen set-up is possible), and decide if you want to leave your monitor's brightness as it is, or set it to a typical photo editing brightness of 120cd/m2.

2: Position the calibrator on your monitor. This is actually the most fiddly part of the process, as you'll need to tilt your monitor upwards so the device more readily sits flat on the screen. This is where the small size of the Display 123 somewhat works against it, as it has a tendency to tip away from the screen surface. When you're confident the device is resting flat on your monitor, you can:

3: Run the calibration procedure. The software then does the rest, firing dozens of pre-set colors through the screen for the calibrator's lens to analyse and determine how close the monitor's rendition of color is to the Profiler software's pre-determined ideal color values. This process takes just shy of 4 minutes 30 seconds. For reference, we timed a high-end Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator at around 3 minutes for its calibration process, making the Display 123 slower, but not frustratingly slow.

Once the calibration is complete, the software displays a reference image you can use to see the before and after difference in color accuracy. We found the color went from having a cooler/bluer cast to a slight but noticeably warmer tone. This is fairly typical before/after change for a modern LED-backlit display. You then save the new color profile and it'll automatically load each time you turn on your computer.

So far, so easy. But what about the quality/accuracy of the calibrated color profile generated by the Display 123? To assess how well the Display 123 had calibrated our test monitor, we measured the calibrated monitor's color accuracy using our reference Datacolor Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator. It revealed the Display 123 had calibrated our test monitor to an accuracy of Delta-E 0.50 - very accurate indeed, as a 'good' accuracy score is generally considered to be anything less than 2.00.

We also calibrated the same monitor using the Spyder X2 Ultra, then measured its color profile, revealing it had managed a slightly less accurate Delta-E 0.64. To the naked eye there was no difference between the two calibrators' color profiles, but it's good to know the Display 123 can calibrate your monitor with excellent color accuracy.

Verdict

Monitor calibration is often seen as a nerdy, complicated process only undertaken by media/publishing professionals, and computer geeks. But Calibrite has proven with the Display 123 that this definitely doesn't need to be the case. Monitor calibration, at its heart, simply tweaks your monitor's color so it's free of any subtle color casts. This is exactly what the Display 123 does - nothing more.

For the vast majority of users, its lack of extra features won't even be noticed, and by eliminating them, Calibrite has made the calibration process beautifully simple. We're also happy to report that the pared-down feature-set doesn't extend to pared-down quality: when it comes to calibration accuracy, the Display 123 is a match for calibrators costing more than twice the price.

If you want to calibrate your desktop monitor or laptop display, the Display 123 will do the job simply, accurately, and cost-effectively - it's a great buy.

As a photographer, it’s very easy to become obsessed with detail. You zoom in and in and in until you can find a flaw, and then you obsess over that flaw, and you spend more and more time comparing lenses and test charts, edges and centers, focal lengths and apertures.

In the days of film, there was a limit to how far you could zoom in. With transparencies it was the magnification of your slide viewer or the loupe you used with your lightbox. With prints it might be the magnification of your focus checker when making enlargements, or just the maximum size of the enlargements themselves. 

One of the advantages of these tools was that there were optical limits to how far you could pixel peep – or optically obsess, if we want an analog equivalent. And all the time, you had a physical slide or negative or print in front of you so that you were always aware of the level of magnification you were using and just how persnickety you were being.

You don’t get any of that with computers and digital imaging. Your software’s zoom tool does not have the optical limits of old-school loupes, and it can just keep on going until every pixel is visible and every defect becomes a pain point. Even the best photo-editing software can lead you down this dangerous path.

And while you’re doing this, you’re losing sight of how far you’ve zoomed in, and losing sight of just how important – or how unimportant – any lens blur, digital noise or color fringing actually is. You’re not leaning over a print with a magnifying glass, you’re filling the screen at a level of magnification that’s just a number. You might have a navigator window in the corner of the screen that shows you the zoom area, but it’s not the same.

I don’t think any of us intended to become pixel peepers. I do think digital images and displays have opened a Pandora’s Box of pixel perfectionism that should have been kept shut.

How a 4K monitor can help

It actually started with the Retina display on my 13-inch MacBook Pro. This was the first monitor I’d ever used where the dots were too small to see. If I could see any dots in my photos, that was noise, not the screen. I also realized that if an image looked sharp when displayed full size on my 13-inch Retina screen, and I was going to use it on a web page or make a print of roughly the same size, then maybe I didn’t need to zoom in to check. 

This is why I think MacBooks are amongst the best laptops of all. Not because I’m some kind of OS zealot, but because the screens have the resolution to do your photographs justice. I have Windows laptops too, but even my latest 15-incher tops out at 1920 x 1080 and, small as they are, those dots are visible.

This really came to the fore when I swapped to a 21.5-inch 4K iMac. I could fit the image to the screen and if it looked sharp there then it was certainly sharp enough for use online and even in print, which is where many of my photos end up – and rarely at the same size as my 21.5 inch screen. I recently reviewed the iMac 24-inch M3, and I think the screen is probably its best feature.

Currently I use a 4K 27-inch BenQ PD2705Q as my main screen with my Mac Studio – in reality, I suspect any of the best 4K monitors would do. This does of course give me plenty of scope for zooming in to check the detail, but do I really need to? Now I can just display an image full-screen to get a much more useful reality check. If it looks sharp here, it’s sharp enough.

I also use a 24-inch 1920 x 1080 screen alongside for admin work, and the comparison is painful. Text characters look rougher and if I look at images on this screen then I do need to zoom in, because the screen does not have the resolution to give me proper indication of sharpness if I don’t. And of course, once you start zooming in, you don’t stop. It also becomes very difficult to separate the resolution limits of your photo from those of the screen.

So that’s a rather roundabout explanation of why I think a 4K monitor is the best possible cure for pixel-peeping. It COULD make you pixel-peep worse than ever, but for me it was the perfect antidote.

See our guide to the best monitors for photo editing

Calibrite has a released a new entry-level monitor calibrator called Display 123. Marketed as the most affordable monitor calibrator on the market, Display 123 is designed to be a simple, intuitive device that'll calibrate your monitor as easily as possible. Able to calibrate most laptop and desktop displays, simply plug the calibrator in via its captive USB-C cable, set display brightness to either Native or Photo (120 cd/m2) and the software does the rest, leaving you with a before and after color comparison at the end of the process.

Read more: the best monitor calibrators

The distinctive yellow device looks unlike any previous calibration device from the company, and is radically different to the rebranded X-Rite colorimeters that we've seen before. We currently have a review sample in for testing and our first impressions are just how small the device is, measuring only 34mm (1 3/8”) tall and 37mm (1.5”) in diameter - considerably more compact than Calibrite's own Display SL colorimeter, and also Datacolor's rival Spyder calibrators.

Though the Display 123 may lack the extra features of other monitor calibrators on the market, we don't think this is a deal-breaker. The primary goal of monitor calibration is to simply correct the color cast that the majority of displays will ship with, and usually goes unnoticed by the end user, as the human eye tends to subconsciously adapt to minor color casts. However, once a monitor is calibrated and the before/after comparison then shows up how inaccurately a display has previously been displaying color, the difference suddenly becomes clear and highlights the value of even a basic monitor calibrator like this.

The Calibrite Display 123 is due to ship later this month, priced at $119/£109. It will make its first public appearance on the Lumesca stand at The Photography & Video Show next week, which runs at the NEC from March 16-19.

What is the best TV for a computer monitor? In this handy guide, we'll run you through the best options when it comes to turning your TV display into a dedicated monitor – ensuring any images, videos, or software on your MacBook or PC can shine on a whole new display.

So, why use a TV as a computer monitor? People have different priorities when it comes to their home devices – some prioritize a good laptop and are content watching Netflix on an HD screen; others prioritize a good television and keep a low-cost computer for handling simple online tasks. But there's often a big overlap between the best TVs and the best monitors, and that means it makes a lot of sense to use one capable display for the functions of both.

The big advantage of using a TV is that there's a lot more leeway with sizing. Most monitors sit in the 24-32 inch bracket, whereas TVs can come in astronomically larger sizes. A bigger screen can be a big help for showcasing your photographic portfolio or showreel to groups of people, or simply getting to see your work up close on a larger scale – with the option to watch TV and film in style the rest of the time, too.

You need to keep in mind where you'll be sitting in relation to the screen! Sitting on the sofa and balancing a keyboard and mouse on your lap isn't the most ergonomic setup, so we'd really recommend going for a TV that's 50 inches or less – or, at the most, 55 inches, which has become the standard television size these days. Smaller sizes are much better suited to a closer viewing distance, with the added bonus of increased pixel density compared to larger TVs.

Do note that TVs and monitors often work towards different color accuracy standards. TVs generally prioritize bolder colors and contrast over accurate presentation of a picture – hence why there's been such a call for processing-free 'Filmmaker modes' in home televisions in recent years. If it's important to see and edit files in sRGB and Adobe RGB, you won't get those standards outside of a dedicated computer monitor.

Quick list

Best TV for a computer monitor 

Best overall

LG's bestselling C Series OLED is a must-buy television. The C5 continues to offer that perfect price point for a premium OLED TV, particularly thanks to this compact 42-inch size – despite packing in a gorgeous OLED panel, vibrant colours, exceptional contract, deep blacks, and brightness control to die for. I own an older LG C Series model, and this is the version I personally recommend to people who aren't in the know.

You can count on high specifications, including HDMI 2.1, 120Hz refresh rate, and a host of gaming features like VRR and an auto-low latency mode (ALLM) that reduces image lag. All in all, the LG C5 is a great choice for PC gamers. Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync compatibility ensures the frame rate of the TV matches that of your game, therefore eliminating any screen 'tearing' interference.

You won’t find many 42-inch OLEDs on the market yet, but this compact size will ensure that it works both as a TV screen and a desk monitor, offering the best of both worlds. The LG C5 also works in tandem with LG’s Gallery Stand, though only at larger sizes – so do have a think about what works best for you.

Best for photographers

Samsung’s The Frame should be a go-to television for budding photographers hoping to display their works in style. This compact screen is designed to blend in with the decor of your home, with a dedicated Art Mode that lets you display either your own images or classic artworks and paintings. I've tested this TV extensively and can vouch for its style and well-made exterior, even if the picture quality suffers a little compared to the LG C5.

The 43-inch size can also be wall-mounted in both portrait and landscape, making it a versatile display – just keep in mind that the picture quality won’t be on par with some of the more premium options in this list, given some basic edge-lighting that may make for inconsistent brightness across the screen.

Samsung’s QLED (quantum dot) technology, though, does offer a decent minimum standard for contrast and color richness – and should cover 100% of the DCI-P3 color space.

Read more: Samsung The Frame full review

Best big screen option

The Sony Bravia 5 is another great choice for a TV that can moonlight as a computer monitor. It comes in various sizes, but we've chosen the smallest 55-inch option here, as it still gives a good upgrade over the average computer monitor. You'll get 4K resolution, with increased pixel density and sharp detail at this size, meaning images will hold up even when viewed up close.

The Bravia 5 is an LCD TV, meaning it's not as premium a choice as some of Sony's OLED options. But with a powerful Cognitive Processor XR chipset, Dolby Vision HDR, and a full-array backlight with local dimming to ensure good brightness control wherever the highlights of your images are, it packs a serious picture punch.

It's also a very practical television: the Bravia 5 comes with adjustable feet to help locate it in the best place in your home, with four HDMI ports and two USB ports for connecting computers, consoles, and other devices. As a high-spec Sony TV, it's designated as 'PS5-ready' too.

All this quality doesn't come cheap, but if you're after a great TV first and foremost, which can occasionally double as a computer monitor, this is a superb choice.

Best value

The Q7F is one of the cheapest models in Samsung's QLED range. Its 43-inch screen size makes it an ideal balance between TV and computer monitor, with the 4K resolution making computer visuals crisp at fairly close viewing distances.

What's more, Samsung claims the QLED screen tech is also capable of displaying "100% color volume", which in theory should mean it also covers 100% of the extensive DCI-P3 video color space – something even a high-end computer monitor would struggle to match. The Q7F's HDR and image processing capabilities aren't quite on par with Samsung's larger QLED offerings, and viewing angles won't be a match for a true OLED display, but remember it does cost less than an OLED TV.

Three HDMI ports could also be a tad restrictive if you want to connect a lot of AV equipment in addition to your computer, but we still reckon this is a great value TV/computer monitor double act.

Best luxury option

The Samsung S90F is a truly next-gen television. Thanks to Samsung's technical wizardry, the S90F packs in an OLED panel – with all the infinite contrast, vivid colours, and precise brightness control that entails – as well as the company's long-running QLED (or 'quantum dot') filter to help enhance the image further.

As someone who's tested both technologies often over the years, and largely had to compare and contrast between them, it's incredible that we're treated to the upsides of both in a single screen.

The OLED tech means you get superb viewing angles, even when sitting off to the side, and there's no doubt this is the screen to get if you plan to use it for TV, games, and showing off your photography skills.

This 55-inch model is notably larger than the average computer monitor, with a host of PC-friendly specifications: there's low input lag, and a 144Hz frame rate (when used with a PC) - a common feature on gaming monitors, making this TV ideal for someone who wants a TV first, and an oversized monitor second.

How to choose a TV to use as a monitor

Huion is a midrange graphics tablet and pen display manufacturer providing a competitive range of products aimed at enthusiasts and professional photographers and artists seeking the best drawing tablets. Huion is well-known for providing excellent value for money, and the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) follows this reputation by delivering a high-quality product at 1/3 of the cost of the Wacom Cintiq Pro 27. 

The Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) is the top-of-the-range pen display model offering a luxurious 23.8-inch 4K QLED screen with an advertised color gamut of 98% Adobe RGB 1998. At this size and with a 4K resolution, the Pro 24 looks more like a monitor than a pen display; the main giveaway that it’s not a monitor, at first glance, is that it sits at a slight angle on a desk using the integrated legs.

At this stage, you may be wondering why you might want or need such a large pen display, and this is a question I asked myself before I used the Pro 24. Having used multiple graphics tablets and smaller pen displays in the past, all of which I found to be excellent despite not necessarily being perfect, what could this much larger option provide – would it be too big to use comfortably?

It’s a large display and far too heavy to use on your lap. But after using it on a desk, I immediately understood that the high-resolution display combined with the large size of the display made working on my photos in Lightroom and Photoshop incredibly comfortable over long periods, especially compared to using a mouse. Plus, the large size drastically increased precision when working with masks and localized image adjustments, so its benefits quickly became apparent.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24: Specifications

Huion Kamvas Pro 24: Price & Availability

The Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) isn’t inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, but it still commands a price tag that some may find hard to swallow. But for the size, spec, and performance of the device, it’s an absolute bargain at $1199 / £999. Sure, a grand or thereabouts is a lot of money for something so specific. But in the world of high-quality pen displays, it’s an incredibly competitive price for enthusiasts and professionals alike.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24: Design & Handling

If your eyes are hungry for excellent image quality alongside build quality to match, the Pro 24 ticks these boxes and more. Build quality can’t be faulted and provides a device that’s better than you might expect for the price. The Pro 24 is home only to the 23.8-inch anti-glare etched glass screen that offers up to 220cd/d2 of brightness, a contrast ratio of 1200:1 with a color gamut of 98% Adobe 1998 displaying 1.07 billion colors. The screen response time is just 10ms, but this is fine for the intended use of the Pro 24.

There are no controls on the display, except for a power button, which certainly streamlines the appearance. The Pro 24 does, however, come with a Keydial Mini which is a small controller featuring 18 customizable buttons and a dial with a center button. Six of the buttons are labeled with arrows or dots, although it would be better if these were raised dots like braille so you could easily feel your way across the buttons. The advantage of the Keydial Mini is that it can be placed wherever is most comfortable, even at the edge of the display.

The Keydial Mini connects via USB-C or Bluetooth once charged. However, during testing, I was unable to connect the Keydial Mini to my laptop running Windows 11 via Bluetooth. I simply used it with a cabled connection because this was most likely an issue with the computer that I would have spent time resolving if I owned a Pro 24, but for the review, I wanted to spend my time using the display as much as possible. 

With overall dimensions of 23.19 x 14.33 x 0.89 in / 589.2 x 364 x 22.7 mm and a hefty weight of 13.89lbs / 6.3kg, the Pro 24 commands a presence alongside requiring plenty of desk space. The integrated legs raise the rear of the display and put it at a comfortable working angle, but it would be much better if Huion included the optional Adjustable Stand ST100 that provides more working angles and could be used to hold the display upright when not in use to act as a second monitor. This stand is available in the US but not the UK, but at $49.99 it’s not too expensive and is a worthwhile consideration.

On the rear/top of the device, you’ll find the power port for connecting the power adaptor, a USB-C port, a DisplayPort, and an HDMI port. While on the side there are two USB-A ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack, so plenty of connections overall. These are all recessed well behind the screen so even though you can see the cables, they never get in the way of the screen.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24: Performance

The Pro 24 is a pleasure to use, and the large wide gamut etched glass screen looks and feels great; the large screen undoubtedly provides greater precision and comfort compared to smaller pen displays. It can pick up smudges and fingerprints easily, so using the included palm rejection glove reduces smudging and friction between your hand and the screen. You don’t have to use the glove, but it does work well for its intended purpose.

The screen is large enough to be calibrated with a Datacolor Spyder X or similar for more accurate colors, or it can be left as it is while using your main monitor or laptop screen calibrated for color-critical work. Whatever you choose to do here, you can adjust brightness and contrast as well as change the color profile of the screen, although for most creatives Adobe RGB 1998 is the most appropriate profile to use and the one set by default. My personal preference was to keep my wide-gamut OLED laptop screen calibrated for color-critical work while adjusting the brightness and contrast of the Pro 24 to my liking.

Out of the box, the screen does look a little lackluster with brightness and contrast set to 50%, so it’s worth adjusting these for a more vibrant, faithful, and reliable display. These controls alongside the color profile can be accessed by holding down the power button for three seconds. All other settings and controls are accessed through the driver software, where you can set the software profile, calibrate the pen, pen sensitivity, customize the Keydial Mini, and set the work area, etc. 

The battery-free pen is comfortable to use, if a little bulky despite its lightweight, but Huion does sell alternative pens separately if you’d prefer something of a different size and weight. It comes with a handy stand that stores 10 spare pen nibs and a nib clip, which is great because it provides a convenient place to keep the pen and tips safe to reduce the risk of misplacing something – how often do you lose your regular pen?

Using the pen is intuitive for most people having grown up writing and drawing on paper, so using it feels completely natural and the pressure settings alongside the etched glass screen do indeed provide a paper-like feel. There are 8192 levels of pen sensitivity with tilt support up to +60 degrees, so the angle and pressure applied successfully change the way the pen inputs into drawing and photo editing software.

Overall, using the Pro 24 is a smooth and comfortable experience thanks to the large screen that increases the precision of what you’re doing. There’s no lag, jitter, or parallax between the pen and display so the input is reliable when drawing, although there is some lag when using sliders in Lightroom, for instance, while menus don’t suffer from this. Another slight anomaly is that on the Keydial Mini, in Lightroom, the dial works seamlessly for adjusting brush size, although in Photoshop this doesn’t work. Instead, for Photoshop, you have to assign two buttons to adjust the brush size.

Both of these minor issues don’t hugely impact negatively on workflow, although the dial issue in Photoshop is frustrating and requires a ‘waste’ of two Keydial Mini buttons. Both could and hopefully will, be ironed out with future firmware and/or driver updates. With these fixed, the Pro 24 would be an even more formidable pen display option.

One feature that’s missing and would be useful is touch operation. Sure, the pen is used most of the time and it works exceptionally well, but the ability to press a button or flick a switch for touch control would be useful for both digital artists and when working in office software and using the Pro 24 as a second monitor. It’s not a major flaw by any stretch, but it would be nice to have.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24: Verdict

The Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) is aimed at professional digital artists, photographers, and designers, delivering excellent image quality with a wide color gamut on its 23.8-inch QLED screen that can be calibrated if you require greater color accuracy. It’s easy to set up and use, with the main challenge being desk space to accommodate the device.

Working with the Pro 24 is comfortable and precise, providing a more natural editing experience that takes digital photo editing even closer to the tactile darkroom experience where you’re working directly on the image. And it’s well worth also buying the Adjustable Stand ST100 for the flexibility of additional working angles if it’s available where you live.

If you would like a high-quality large pen display that doesn’t cost as much as a pro-spec camera, the Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) is a hard option to beat. It’s certainly not perfect, although its slight Lightroom slider lag issue and the inability to use the Keydial Mini dial to change Brush size in Photoshop can, hopefully, be resolved in a future driver update. But if not, it’s still a great pen display for anyone who spends large amounts of time editing photos or drawing digitally as an enthusiast or professional.

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 Alternatives

LG MyView smart monitors let you stream movies, shows, and sports, listen to music, and work remotely without having to connect to a PC. I’m pretty new to smart monitors and quite intrigued to have both a TV and PC monitor in one unit. 

The new models for 2024, including the CES Innovation Award-winning 32SR85U, feature LG IPS 4K displays that deliver stunning picture quality. 

LG's latest smart monitors come with an intuitive webOS interface, a personalized user experience, and a wide range of apps to choose from. LG MyView models are available in a variety of colors, including essence white, mild beige, cotton pink, and cotton green, to suit different tastes.

The new LG MyView displays (models 32SR85U, 32SR83U, and 32SR70U) feature 31.5-inch, 4K (3,840 x 2,160) IPS panels that set a new standard for picture quality in the smart monitor category. 

The remote has shortcuts to a variety of streaming platforms, including Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime. It also has a shortcut to WebOS apps.

The displays have a slim profile and a 3-side “virtually borderless” design to enhance the viewing experience and save space. The 32SR85U and 32SR83U come with an adjustable stand with a circular cutout, while the 32SR70U has a low-profile base for a compact and stylish look. The 32SR85U has been honored with a CES 2024 Innovation Award, a 2023 Red Dot Design Award, and a 2023 iF Design Award, well decorated indeed.

With webOS 23 onboard, LG MyView supports remote work and home entertainment, offering access to a wide variety of popular streaming services, productivity programs like Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar, and compatibility with AirPlay 2 and Miracast for wireless screen mirroring.

Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth provide connectivity to the internet and compatible peripherals. The 32SR85U can be paired with a detachable Full-HD (1,920 x 1,080) webcam3 that's ideal for video conferencing and interactive applications.

Refresh rate is around 5ns across the range. Some hardcore gamers might be a little put off by that but on the whole most of the specs are similar with the same 4k specs, HDR output and the same colour spaces, colour accuracy is listed at DCI-P3 95%. The 32SR70U model is not as bright as the other two at 350nits vs 400nits. 

The best monitors for photographers and the best monitors for video editing.

LG has announced the OLED Signature T Transparent Wireless TV, and it's a world’s first apparently. While I've been very skeptical about these new displays, until you see it, you might not understand, but I'll do my best here to help you with that.

Before I talk about the obvious part, the juicy bit is easy to overlook and that's the importance of the word 'wireless' in the name – here it means more than just streaming. 

Similar to the M series, a separate box called the LG Zero Connect Box is required and supplied which can be placed anywhere in the room (30ft/10m away), maybe alongside your games console or hi-fi system, which relays the content wireless to your TV. Say goodbye to cluttered cables etc. 

This box serves as the connection point for streaming boxes and gaming consoles. Of course this is essential so you can hide a single power cable rather than a mix of HDMI, power, and optical (yes I still use optical for audio). Anyway, I thought I'd mention it at first as it's very easy to overlook.

The new OLED T is equipped with down-firing speakers located beneath the display, and the demo units are all wall or stand-mounted.

The 4K a12 engine and display is pretty epic and I really get a different depth of field experience watching these new see-through displays. I seriously thought I wouldn't want one but they really bring images to life when watching certain content. The USP on these is that the TV doesn't have to dominate your living space, but why wouldn't you want someone to look at? It’s actually really beautiful.

LG says that the recently introduced Alpha 11 chip, integrated into the OLED T, leverages AI (yes, AI again!) to achieve a up-to 70 per cent image enhancement in graphic performance and a 30 per cent increase in processing speed compared to the preceding generation chip. I'm sure thats marketing talk, but you can really see a massive improvement over the last gen of screens, the menus pop up without any lag and it's a modified version of LG's WebOS platform, which reminded me of an Android screen with icons for apps in small rows, rather then the previous WebOS of graphics blasted all over the screen.

You can raise a motorized black screen behind the panel (not sure what it's called) to give you a more traditional TV experience. There are a few small drawbacks in the brightness compared to a regular OLED set but I would argue that's minimal. Viewing angle is not a thing which is a feature of most OLED panels.

My question remains, though, who is it for? I think if the marketing department of these screens figures that out, it could be a winner.

Dell Technologies has been recognized as a CES 2024 Innovation Award Honoree for its latest innovation: the Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor (U4025QW). The world's first 40-inch 5K monitor is certified for five-star eye comfort and marks nine years of Dell dominating the monitor industry.  

Whether you are a content creator, a data scientist, an engineer or simply in need of a high-performance monitor, the U4025QW curved monitor promises the ultimate precision and efficiency to keep you productive in any work environment. This ultrawide curved VESA DisplayHDR 600 certified monitor boasts IPS Black Panel technology for superior color contrast and intricate detail in 5K resolution (5120 x 2160).

Dell has taken a step further in prioritizing user wellbeing by partnering with TUV Rheinland to enhance eye wellness. The U4025QW is the first monitor to receive the TUV Rheinland five-star eye comfort certification, setting a new industry standard for reducing signs of eye fatigue. 

Dell achieved this milestone by doubling the refresh rate to 120Hz, incorporating an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment, and enhancing Dell ComfortView Plus to reduce harmful blue light exposure by more than 30%.

Recent studies indicate that these improvements can lead to a significant reduction in eye fatigue, ensuring a more comfortable and healthier viewing experience for users engaged in prolonged screen use.

For tasks requiring pinpoint color accuracy, the U4025QW boasts a 99% DCI-P3 / Display P3 color space, making it perfect for color-critical professionals. The monitor also features Thunderbolt 4 for single-cable convenience with up to 140W power delivery, high-speed wired Ethernet connectivity at 2.5 Gbps via RJ45, and HDMI 2.1 FRL and DisplayPort 1.4 for smooth image transmission.

The monitor is presented in a premium platinum silver finish with front-facing quick-access ports for easy connectivity. For those seeking a smaller display, the Dell UltraSharp 34 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor offers similar features with a WQHD resolution (3440 x 1440).

Dell has also reinforced its commitment to sustainability by incorporating more sustainable materials in both the production and packaging processes. The packaging for the UltraSharp monitors is made from 100% recycled or renewable content, while the monitors themselves are made from 85% post-consumer recycled plastic and 100% recycled aluminum, meeting environmental standards such as EnergyStar and TCO Certified Edge, and achieving EPEAT Gold registration.

The Dell UltraSharp 40 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor will be available worldwide from February 27 with a starting price of $2,399.99 / £1,885 / AU$3,558. The Dell Ultrasharp 34 Curved Thunderbolt Hub Monitor will also be available on the same day with prices starting at $1,019.99 / £800 / AU$1,511. 

Check out the best monitors for photo editing as we round up a range of affordable and premium screens that'll help you get the most out of your photos

BenQ has a history of making some of the best monitors for photo editing, and the SW272U is its latest flagship offering for discerning photo and video editors. The new display boasts factory color calibration to an accuracy of Delta E ≤1.5 and is capable of displaying 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB coverage - impressive stuff.

The SW272U replaces the SW271C in the BenQ range. It inherits similar core specifications from the outgoing display, the main being its screen size, high color accuracy and 4K native resolution. But the SW272U does offer some improvements over its predecessor, including a better anti-reflective coating, a redesigned remote controller that's also now wireless, and an upgraded USB-C connection with more potent Power Delivery.

Let's see if the upgrades are enough to keep the SW272U ahead of some stiff competition...

Specifications

Display area: 27 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Pixel density: 163 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 99% Adobe RGB, 99% DCI-P3
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode) x1, DisplayPort v1.4 x1

Key features

The main selling point of the BenQ PhotoVue SW272U is its color accuracy. Plenty of low- to mid-range monitors cover 99-100% of the relatively undemanding sRGB color space, but its the percentage coverage of the far broader Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 gamuts that separate the best monitors from the rest. Here the SW272U really makes a case for itself, boasting 99% Adobe RGB and 99% P3 coverage - both highly respectable figures that few rival screens can match. The SW272U is also certified by Pantone Validated, Pantone SkinTone, and is Calman Verified for color performance and calibration. And it's not just the impressive DCI-P3 coverage that makes this monitor so appealing to videographers: the SW272U also supports HDR10 and HLG for playback of HDR video content.

To keep colors at maximum accuracy, the SW272U incorporates hardware color calibration. Unlike conventional monitor calibration where a LUT (look-up table) is saved to your computer to modify the graphics card's color output, the SW272U stores calibrated color data in the monitor itself, independently of the connected computer. A separate colorimeter from a brand like Calibrite, Datacolor or X-Rite is required, which is then used in conjunction with BenQ's new Palette Master Ultimate calibration software. BenQ says this has been in development for 6 years and is both easier to use compared to previous software versions, as well as being 50% faster. Palette Master Ultimate is also said to be twice as accurate as older versions, while offering a real-time comparison of pre- and post-calibration color.

Like the old SW271C, the SW272U is a USB-C monitor, able to be linked to a compatible laptop via a single USB-C cable that transfers both power and the video signal. But where the old monitor could only supply 60 watts of power, the new model is able to feed a more substantial 90 watts.

Another improvement to the SW272U is its new, fine-coated anti-reflection panel coating that's said to dramatically cut down reflections and glare, and should simulate the texture and experience of viewing paper - ideal when color matching with print output. And if the improved anti-reflection coating still isn't enough to banish reflections, the monitor is also supplied with a detachable shading hood which can be used in both landscape and portrait orientation.

Like most high-end BenQ monitors targeted at creative pros, the SW272U includes BenQ's Hotkey Puck remote control dial, now in its G3 revision. Core functionality remains largely the same as the previous G2 hotkey puck - it lets you take control of monitor settings, switch color spaces, etc - but now the controller operates wirelessly. The buttons have also been tilted slightly at an angle to better face the user, and as before, and they can be customised to suit your workflow.

Build & handling

The SW272U is subtly styled, with form definitely following function. This is a monitor with a firm focus on image quality and ergonomics, not superficial showy styling gimmicks. The overall build quality is solid, as you'd expect from a premium monitor, and the same goes for the included stand. This attaches easily to the monitor panel, with no screws required. It enables decent range of ergonomic adjustability, with 140mm of height adjustment, -5˚ - 20˚ of tilt, and 30˚/30˚ of swivel movement. The stand's base is generously large, giving the monitor an extra-stable footing. New for the SW272U is a leatherette insert in the base, adding an extra touch of luxury.

One area where the old SW271C frustrated was its control interface. Thankfully BenQ has replaced that monitor's row of buttons with a much more intuitive five-way joystick controller for the SW272U, which makes menu navigation much easier. The menu interface itself is typically well laid out and simple to operate.

If you don't fancy using the onboard controls to navigate the monitor's settings, you can always used the supplied - and now wireless - Hotkey Puck instead. This consists of a central rotating dial, surrounded by a Rotation Key, three function keys and a back button. It's certainly a nice extra to have as it does make it easier to navigate through the on-screen display, especially if you want to frequently switch between color gamut presents at the touch of a hotkey button, rather than scrolling through menus every time. However if, like me, you tend to work in one color mode, and leave brightness and other image settings alone once you've got the monitor set up how you want it, then the Puck will likely just gather dust.

At the bottom of the monitor you'll find an SD card reader, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. All these ports are actually rather useful, considering many new ultra-thin laptops now lack any USB-A ports, not to mention a card reader. Next to the video input ports there's also that USB Type-C port with its 90 watts of power passthrough.

Performance

As we've come to expect from BenQ's SW-series PhotoVue monitors, the latest SW272U performs admirably. Its IPS LCD panel provides excellent color vibrancy and consistency, regardless of your viewing angle. Contrast is also good, though deep blacks inevitably take on a little 'shimmer', which is inevitable for a backlit LCD display. BenQ's latest 'Fine-Coated' anti-reflection panel coating also did a good job of muting any reflections from the overhead lights in our testing lab.

The only aspect of image quality which doesn't instantly impress is overall brightness. Compared to the latest retina-searing OLED displays on many new laptops, the 400-nit maximum brightness of the SW272U seems relatively subdued. However it's worth remembering that around 120-150 nits is an optimal brightness for comfortable and accurate image editing, as a higher brightness setting can result in blowing out subtle highlight details.

As with any 27-inch 4K monitor, you'll be highly reliant on interface scaling from your computer's operating system. With scaling set as low as 100%, icons and toolbars will be tiny and almost illegible. Windows does a great job of upscaling its interface to whatever size you find comfortable to view, but some third-party apps which haven't been properly coded for optimal scaling may well look aliased and blurred when viewed on the SW272U. This is no fault of the monitor - it's just something to bear in mind when choosing a relatively small monitor with a 4K native resolution. BenQ does have an answer to this in the shape of its SW272Q, with its lower 2560x1440 resolution.

But to really assess a monitor's image quality, you need more than a subjective human viewpoint. So we broke out our DataColor Spyder X Elite monitor calibrator to really put the SW272U through its paces.

Lab results

Color gamut:

BenQ claims 100% sRGB and 99% DCI-P3 color space coverage, and our testing found that to be pretty much accurate. Our 89% Adobe RGB figure was measured with the monitor in the P3 color preset, so it's likely the monitor would have scored better in the appropriate preset mode.

Color accuracy:

BenQ claims the SW272U comes pre-calibrated to a Delta-E color accuracy of <1.5. We found this to be quite conservative, as we measured an impressive score of 1.07 (values closest to zero are better). We could not improve on this with further calibration.

Luminance uniformity:

Luminance uniformity simply measures the consistency of brightness across 9 screen regions. In this test the SW272U scores quite well, recording a maximum brightness difference of 7-8%, measured between the brightest and dimmest screen regions. You'd be hard pressed to spot this with the naked eye.

Color uniformity:

Color accuracy can fluctuate when you move away from the center of the screen, so this test measures how consistent color is in 9 regions spread across the display. Once again, the SW272U performs well. With brightness set to 100%, we recorded a Delta-E of just 2.7 (values closer to zero are better) between the most and least color-accurate regions. This drops still further, to 2.1, with brightness set to 67%.

Verdict

Taken in isolation, the BenQ PhotoVue SW272U is a terrific monitor that's a pleasure to use, both for image and video editing. Its high color accuracy and wide color space coverage are outstanding, it's also built to a very high standard, and it's packed with features orientated squarely at enthusiast and professional creatives. With no significant drawbacks, we could therefore end right here and award a full five stars. 

But, this isn't the only 27-inch, 4K monitor in town that can boast impeccable color accuracy. There's now a wide choice of sub $1000/£1000 screens that can match or almost match the SW272U's core specifications, with some costing even less. Take, for example, the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE. Apart from Adobe RGB coverage, its display specs are almost identical to the the SW272U, yet it can now be had for under $600. Sure, you don't get extras like a Hotkey Puck, a fancy anti-reflective coating or an included shading hood, but do these really justify spending well over twice as much for the BenQ? We doubt it.

If you're a professional or semi-pro creative who needs maximum Adobe RGB coverage and can really make the most out of the SW272U's features, then this monitor may just be worth the money. However, for the vast majority of buyers, it's far harder to justify the SW272U when you can get comparable performance from rival monitors that cost a fraction of the price.

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BenQ consistently makes some of the best monitors for photo editing, and now it's launching two new monitors aimed squarely at discerning photographers and videographers. The new PhotoVue SW272Q and SW272U replace the outgoing SW271C and SW270C, with the key difference between the two new models being panel resolution: the SW272Q is a Quad HD (2560 x 1440) display, while the SW272U has a Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolution. Both are 27-inch displays like their predecessors, and both boast USB-C connectivity for simple link-up with an attached laptop, but BenQ has now boosted Power Delivery from 60W to a healthier 90W.

But what really makes the SW272Q and SW272U special is their color accuracy and wide-gamut color space coverage. Both models boast 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB coverage, along with factory color calibration to an accuracy of Delta E ≤1.5. The PhotoVue SW272U and SW272Q are certified by Pantone Validated, Pantone SkinTone, and Calman Verified for color performance and calibration. Both also support HDR, though only the SW272U supports hybrid-log gamma, making it the more suitable display for video editing.

What's more, both models also feature hardware color calibration. Unlike conventional monitor calibration where a LUT (look-up table) is saved to your computer to modify the graphics card's color output, the SW272Q and SW272U store calibrated color data in the actual monitor, independent of the connected computer.

A separate colorimeter from a brand like Calibrite, Datacolor or X-Rite is required, which is then used in conjunction with BenQ's brand new Palette Master Ultimate calibration software. BenQ says this has been in development for 6 years and is both easier to use compared to previous software versions, as well as being 50% faster. Palette Master Ultimate is also said to be twice as accurate as older versions, while offering a real-time comparison of pre- and post-calibration color.

Like previous BenQ monitors, the SW272Q and SW272U are supplied with BenQ's Hotkey Puck remote control, but this time in a new G3 revision. Core functionality remains largely the same as the previous G2 hotkey puck - it lets you take control of monitor settings, switch color spaces, etc - but now the controller operates wirelessly. The buttons have also been tilted slightly at an angle to better face the user, and as before, and they can be customised to suit your workflow.

If you'd rather use the monitor's on-board controls, these have been upgraded from a row of button son the SW271C and SW270C to a new five-way controller for the SW272Q and SW272U. Also on the bottom of the monitor you'll find an SD card reader, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The monitor's stand has also been upgraded with a soft-touch rubberized surface on the stand's base, while a detachable back cover and cable hub improves cable management. As with previous models, the SW272Q and SW272U are both supplied with a detachable hood, though only the hood supplied with the SW272U can be used in portrait orientation. Both models also feature a fine-coated anti-reflection panel coating to dramatically cut down reflections and glare, simulating the texture and experience of viewing paper.

The Ultra HD SW272U is available imminently, priced at $1,599.99 in the US and is available for pre-order in Australia right now for AU$2,499. The Quad HD SW272Q will begin shipping July 3rd, priced at $799.99 in the US, and it will set Aussies back AU$1,299 with a shipping date TBC.

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Calibrtite has introduced its new range of display colorimeters for monitor calibration. Consisting of three new models, paired with brand new calibration software, the devices are said to have been designed for a new generation of displays.

The line-up consists of the range-topping Display Plus HL, the mid-range Display Pro HL, and the entry-level Display SL. All three models outwardly resemble past X-Rite-branded monitor calibrators, but since Calibrite took over the consumer division of X-Rite's calibration business in 2021 there has been considerable hardware and software development, culminating in the devices launched today.

Both the flagship Display Plus HL colorimeter and the Display Pro HL feature high-luminance sensors designed for more accurate calibration, including calibration of Mini-LED and OLED displays. The Display Plus HL is capable of measuring ultra-bright displays, with brightness up to a whopping 10,000 nits (cd/m2), making it suitable for calibrating Apple XDR displays. This colorimeter is pitched at filmmakers, editors, designers, photographers, and creatives who require the largest measurement capacity possible. It covers broadcast video standards like NTSC, PAL SECAM and ITU-R Rec.709, as well as BT.1886 tone curve for Rec.2020 – the standard for HDTV.

The mid-range Calibrite Display Pro HL is capable of measuring up to 3000 nits brightness, and even the entry-level Display SL calibrator - though aimed at standard dynamic range displays - can still measure up to 1,000 nits brightness, which is brighter than most conventional monitors can output.

All three new calibrators feature a native USB-C connection for easy compatibility with current and recent laptops. A Type-C to Type-A adapter is included, along with a storage/carry pouch.

Accompanying the new calibration hardware is the latest Calibrite PROFILER software. Calibrite is claiming up to 30% faster calibration than previous software, while also offering the new addition of projector and large panel display calibration. When used with one of the three new colorimeters, users can take precise control of settings like white point, luminance, contrast ratio and gamma.

The new Calibrite devices are available to pre-order now from B&H, with availability scheduled for July 3rd. Expect to pay $169/£159 for the Display SL, $279/£229 for the Display Pro HL, while the Display Plus HL is priced at $339/£299.

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We've long been fans of Datacolor's last monitor calibrator generation, Spyder X, as we rated the value-packed Spyder X Pro the best monitor calibrator on the market. Now the time has come for a new range of Spyder calibrators: Spyder X2. Including a new expanded lens-based light sensor with support for high-brightness HDR displays, plus extensively redesigned accompanying software, as well as native USB-C connectivity, Spyder X2 promises the most comprehensive monitor calibration yet.

Read more: the best monitor calibrators

Why calibrate your display?

You can go to great lengths to ensure accurate in-camera white balance and consistent color in software raw processing, but all this effort is wasted if your monitor is deceiving you by displaying incorrect color.

Fortunately there's a quick, easy and effective fix for this: monitor calibration. Spend a couple of minutes calibrating your monitor and you'd be amazed at the color transformation many monitors are capable of, and how a screen you once thought was accurate is revealed to have been displaying a pronounced color cast all along.

Features

We're testing the top-of-the-range Spyder X2 Ultra calibrator. Both the X2 Ultra and slightly cheaper X2 Elite are compatible with HDR displays, but where the Elite is 'only' rated up to 750 nits of screen brightness, the X2 Ultra can measure up to 2000 nits - consequently, both X2 devices are suitable for photo or video use. However it's worth noting that the vast majority of consumer monitors max out at 600 nits brightness or less, so the Spyder X2 Elite should be suitable for most users.

The most obvious difference between Spyder X and Spyder X2 is the new accompanying software package. Spyder X2 version 6.0 has been extensively re-worked compared to the preceding Spyder X software, and now offers a much more modern, streamlined and accessible interface.

Spyder X2 connects via a native USB-C plug, replacing the USB-A connection used by Spyder X. A Type-C to Type-A adapter is included in the box, should you need to connect your X2 to an older computer.

Furthermore, Spyder X2 supports ambient room light monitoring, so you can adjust your monitor brightness and calibration settings accordingly. Studio Match enables multiple side-by-side monitors to be calibrated simultaneously to ensure the best possible color consistency across displays. The Soft Proofing function can simulate other displays or devices on a calibrated screen, including how printed output will look, right down to a specific printer, ink and paper combination.

As with previous Spyder products, Spyder X2 is also capable of advanced display analysis, allowing you to measure the performance of your monitor, including aspects such as color gamut coverage, brightness, contrast, screen uniformity, and the Delta-E deviance from ideal color accuracy.

Build & handling

Where Spyder X ditched the black finish of the previous Spyder 5 generation of calibrators in favor of a new white finish, Spyder X2 sticks with the same design as Spyder X. Side by side, the only way to distinguish Spyder X2 from Spyder X is its printed X2 logo, and that new USB Type-C plug. The build is robust - we've been using the Spyder X Elite as our go-to monitor calibrator for our monitor testing since it was released in 2019 and our only quality complaint is the printed lettering on the top is starting to wear off.

Performance

While the physical differences between Spyder X and Spyder X2 might not be noticeable, the software experience is very much improved. The new calibration software is significantly more user-friendly in its design, with a larger, cleaner, wizard-driven interface central to the calibration process.

You'll still need to provide some information about your monitor, most notably the type of backlight LEDs that it uses, which will require some additional research, but once you know these details, any future calibration is simple. Users of previous Spyder calibrators will find the core options and settings in the calibration process are the mostly same as in older Spyder software - it's just the layout and interface design that's been revamped.

Once you're ready to perform the calibration, rest the Spyder X2 on your display, with its sensor cover hanging over the back of your monitor to act as a counterweight. The software then fires a series of colors through the monitor which are then analysed by the Spyder X2 to see how close your monitor gets to meeting the Spyder X2's colour accuracy targets.

As for calibration speed, when the Spyder X launched in 2019, Datacolor made a big deal of how much faster it was than the outgoing Spyder 5, and indeed it was. In our Spyder X Elite review, we clocked the Spyder X at 1 minute 15 seconds for the automated calibration process, compared to a lethargic 5 minutes 17 seconds for the old Spyder 5. We weren't expecting the new Spyder X2 Ultra to necessarily be any faster than the already-rapid Spyder X, and it isn't, clocking the exact same 1 minute 15 seconds as the Spyder X Elite for a like-for-like calibration.

We did however measure a slight improvement in calibration accuracy with the Spyder X2 Ultra. Calibrating our Dell XPS 15 test laptop with a 4K IPS display and 100% Adobe RGB coverage, we measured a calibrated Delta-E color accuracy after calibration with the Spyder X of 0.64, but this improved to 0.54 when the display was calibrated with the Spyder X2 Ultra. Could we notice the difference with the naked eye? Absolutely not. But at least the X2 Ultra technically gives a more accurate result.

Verdict

The Spyder X2 is more evolution than revolution. It delivers excellent calibration accuracy and the calibration process is now considerably improved thanks to the improvements to the supplied software. Calibration speed remains the same, though that's no issue as the Spyder X was already fast enough. However, unless you're the proud owner of a very high-brightness HDR display, there's little reason to upgrade from a Spyder X device. Sure, the new X2 software interface is a welcome improvement, but the core functionality is largely the same as in the older Spyder X app. It's disappointing that OLED monitors and laptops are still not supported by Spyder X2, as this type of monitor is the new benchmark monitor image quality and is gradually becoming more commonplace.

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There’s no shortage of portable monitors that’ll extend your laptop’s display area with the least amount of fuss. Many are based around premium IPS LCD panels, so can produce decent image quality. So how do you make an impact in what’s now quite a crowded market? ViewSonic may just have the answer in the shape of its ColorPro VP16-OLED: one of very few portable monitors on the market based around an OLED display, rather than a conventional LCD panel.

This fundamental difference in screen technology gives the VP16-OLED the potential to leapfrog the competition, with superior color accuracy, brightness, contrast and uniformity. The end result is the VP16-OLED has all the ingredients to make it the very best portable monitor for creatives and imaging enthusiasts.

Specifications

Display area: 15.6 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: OLED
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Pixel density: 141 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 1ms
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 100,000:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 100% Rec 709, 100% DCI-P3
Video inputs: Micro HDMI x1, USB-C x2

Key features

The standout feature of the VP16-OLED is of course its OLED screen tech. This enables each pixel in the screen to emit its own light, as opposed to an LCD panel which relies on a separate backlight that shines through the pixels to illuminate them. By cutting out this extra element, an OLED display is able to deliver better color accuracy, significantly better contrast, and much improved brightness and color consistency across the entire screen.

The OLED panel in the VP16-OLED is a 15.6-inch, 60Hz Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with a 400cd/m2 maximum brightness, 10-bit color gamut, 100,000:1 contrast ratio and some rather impressive color gamut coverage specs. These include 100% coverage of the sRGB, Rec.709 and DCI-P3 color gamuts, and 96% coverage of the AdobeRGB color space. The VP16-OLED is also factory calibrated to Delta E <2 - a feature usually reserved for high-end desktop monitors.

Elsewhere, the VP16-OLED features a clever multi-folding stand for improved ergonomics, plus Micro HDMI and dual USB-C video inputs. The latter is also capable of up to 40W pass-through charging, as the monitor comes with its own AC adaptor enabling it charge an attached laptop or smart device if needed (the AC adaptor isn't necessary for typical use).

Build & handling

When not in use, the display panel of the VP16-OLED looks much like any other portable monitor - a 16:9 black plastic panel, with no indication of the rather special display tech within. More notable is the clever stand that’s incorporated into the back. Its folding design allows the panel to be propped up with the bottom bezel resting on the ground - nothing unusual about that, and in this configuration the screen can line up nicely alongside a laptop display. But flip the stand the other way and the monitor can be raised up higher, making it comfortable to use alongside a standalone desktop monitor. The stand also has a tripod mounting socket should you want to use the monitor in a studio setting alongside your camera, and if you extend both sections of the stand out straight, it’ll even prop the screen in a portrait orientation.

A row of four buttons on the stand control the monitor’s on-screen display. These are easily accessible when the stand is positioned in its lifted position, but fold the stand away from you so the screen sits lower and the buttons then face backward and you’ll have to feel your way around them. ViewSonic’s menu system is the same style as that used in its full-size desktop ColorPro monitors and includes a full range of options like color gamut pre-sets and extensive image quality adjustment - the VP16-OLED offers much more customization than your average portable monitor.

Video input ports are on the left edge of the stand, and next to these is a 3.5mm audio input, as the VP16-OLED has integrated stereo speakers. The power button is situated on the right-hand edge of the stand.

And if the special stand wasn’t enough, ViewSonic also includes a hood shade that neatly folds into shape and attaches to the screen magnetically. It’s a useful extra for preventing screen reflections if you’re working under harsh ambient lighting, and usually something only found with premium desktop monitors.

Performance

Firing up the VP16-OLED is as simple as connecting the included USB cable from your laptop to the screen. (USB-A and USB-C cables are in the box). Then, providing your laptop’s USB-C socket can output enough power, the monitor will run via that single cable - no extra power connection required.

Once up and running, you’re then treated to the OLED effect. The level of contrast and color saturation is unlike any LCD display - it’s an altogether punchier, more vibrant viewing experience. The lack of a separate screen backlight means any black sections of an image really are completely black and don’t ‘shimmer’ as they would when viewed on an LCD screen. This isn’t to say the difference between the two screen technologies is night and day: rather, the VP16-OLED offers a subtle yet clearly noticeable improvement over a well-sorted IPS LCD portable monitor.

However, to get an objective assessment of the VP16-OLED’s image quality, you need more than a subjective human viewpoint. So we broke out our DataColor Spyder X Elite monitor calibrator to really put the VP16-OLED through its paces.

Lab results

Color gamut:

ViewSonic claims 100% coverage of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, and we concur. What’s more, though the VP16-OLED is advertised as having 96% AdobeRGB coverage, we measured it as 98% - impressive stuff.

Brightness and contrast:

A 398.9cd/m2 maximum measured brightness is almost identical to the advertised 400cd/m2 figure.

Color accuracy:

OLED monitors are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to color accuracy, and even the little VP16-OLED is no exception. A Delta-E average of 0.47 (values closest to zero are better) is one of - if not the - best color accuracy result we’ve ever recorded from any monitor, and is significantly better than even ViewSonic’s advertised Delta E <2 accuracy for the VP16-OLED. What’s more, where some monitors can have one particular color that’s noticeably inaccurate (usually cyan, to give the display a cool overall hue) yet still produce an low average Delta-E score thanks to the other tested colors being accurate enough to compensate for the single inaccurate color, every single tested color is less than Delta-E 1.

Luminance uniformity:

Luminance uniformity simply indicates the consistency of brightness across 9 screen regions. Thanks to being an OLED panel, the VP16-OLED scores very well indeed, recording just a 2% difference in brightness between the brightness and dimmest screen region with overall brightness set to 100%. With brightness reduced to 67%, uniformity remains just as even.

Color uniformity:

Color accuracy can fluctuate when you move away from the center of the screen, so this test measures how consistent color is in 9 regions spread across the display. Once again, the VP16-OLED performs very well indeed. With brightness set to 100%, we recorded a Delta-E of just 3.1 (values closer to zero are better) between the most and least color-accurate regions. This drops still further, to 2.3, with brightness set to 67%.

Verdict

Let’s not mess about - the ViewSonic ColorPro VP16-OLED deservedly becomes the best portable monitor on the market right now. Its combination of class-leading image quality, a carefully considered and highly versatile stand design, plus decent connectivity and plenty of extra features means there are no weak links or compromises here - the VP16 is everything a creative could want from a portable monitor.

Of course, all this was never going to come cheap. At USD $399.99 the VP16-OLED isn’t just the best portable monitor you can buy, it’s also one of the most expensive. It’s fair to say a decent IPS LCD portable monitor will satisfy the vast majority of users, and for around half the price. But if you want a portable monitor that’ll do full justice to one of the best OLED laptops - or indeed one of the best laptops for photographers - the VP16-OLED will perform spectacularly well.

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Resolution is a word so entrenched that we barely even know what it means. That hasn't stopped some from making some pretty big claims about the human eye's resolution, though, so before we get to the big numbers, let's define our terms.

I think it's fair to say that, in the world of photography, resolution has two meanings. We talk about the absolute resolution of an image in terms of the square pixels that make it up: "That photo is 60 megapixels." We also speak of the physical resolution of a display in terms of PPI (pixels per inch): "That is a really high-res display, it is 460PPI." On a display, each pixel might actually be three points of light – red, green, and blue. Print is another matter, because a pattern of ink dots is needed, but we'll leave that discussion aside. 

• These are the highest resolution cameras, if you want to maximise your hi-res eyes!

Anyway, to the eye. If we're looking for the eye's resolution, do we think of the image that a static eye can see, or the entire field of view? The eye, after all, 'resolves' an image using motion. Eyes are not actually especially acute in their detail across the whole field of view, but they move a lot. Most photoreceptors – the cells equivalent to a photosite on a CMOS sensor – are in the fovea centralis (or fovea, for short). While the eye's macula (image sensor) is 5.5mm in diameter, the fovea is just 0.35mm according to the National Library of Medicine. 

Eyes build an image using 'rod' and 'cone' cells (the light-sensitive cells), and the fovea boasts around 50 cones per 100 square micrometer. Calculating for a circle, that's around 4.8 million distinctly biological photosites (or 'pixels'). This dense spot is the group that your eye moves over words as it reads, to get the sharpest detail.

That's just the middle, though. What about peripheral vision? It's likely obvious to you, as a user, that peripheral vision isn't quite so sharp, but it does have other abilities. The rods – which aren't in the fovea – are more sensitive, making them quicker to respond and better able to handle a wider range of brightness. Plus there are about 120 million of them (though they can't detect much by way of hue, especially red, according to SJ Williamson and HZ Cummins' 1983 book).

Okay, so 125MP give or take?

Wouldn't that be easy? It does fall down a bit because, as we said, the eyes can – and do – move. Even if you just took the area of the peripheral vision and imagined the fovea popping to any place there on its detail-gathering journey, you're looking at well over two billion pixels. We can't, of course, because things move. Perhaps even ourselves. And we start to forget the detail from the previous eye position, though we do retain important information further along the processing channels of our mind. 

Also, we're still treating each photoreceptor as a pixel. That's not the full level of 'processing' that an eye is required to do. It, after all, needs to make sense of the different wavelengths of light that each rod / cone receives, in the same way, cameras can downsample and eliminate noise.

But I read that human eyes have a resolution of 576MP?

This is a commonly quoted number, and this is where the logic comes in. Instead of thinking in terms of the biological components of the eye, it is easier to measure perception – what can you actually make out. Less dissection is involved, too, which is nice.

Scientist HR Blackwell's 1946 data – much quoted by astronomer / photographer Roger N Clark – suggests that 0.7 arcminutes can be resolved by the eye. So, now we need to understand arcminutes. Get out your protractors! One arcminute is 1/60 minute of a turn, of which there are 360 in a full turn. So there are 21,600 in a full turn.

Taking the field of view as being 130 degrees square, we're looking at ((1/0.7)*(60*130))^2 = 124 megapixels. Which, actually, is amazingly similar to the previous figure. Clark would point out, of course, that you need to at least double the number of pixels in both directions by halving the arc, which runs us up to 497 megapixels, similar to Clark's figure of 576.

This chimes with the advice that you won't see individual pixels of the best 4K monitors once you're 1.5x the screen height size away.

And close-up?

The human eye is happiest focussing at 25cm or further away, and struggles to focus on something smaller than 0.1mm even when closer – this is another aspect of resolution that is probably best considered in our guide to the best microscopes.

Eyes do not have a resolution

When we reported on a series of studies that suggested the human eye worked at about 10Hz it seemed to irk more than one of our readers, not least those reading on gleaming new 144Hz gaming monitors.

Our point, though, was not to suggest that it was impossible to perceive faster movement, but that we don't always look at things in the correct terms. The real point was that the eye doesn't have a refresh rate. It is not closed as much as it is open, like a projector, for example. Biology and technology aren't the same, and we can get into a very silly place when we start repeatedly thinking that way.

It's also worth remembering that our brain is smart enough to understand the limitations of display tech and to tune it out. The more you think about it, the more it will bug you!

If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in reading about the Canon EOS R3 – a camera that possesses Eye Control AF, which moves focus points by tracking the movement of your eyeball. If you're feeling creative, you may also like to read about worm's eye view photography or the best fisheye lenses.

I'm currently writing this story using a 32-inch monitor. It's already so big that I can easily lose track of where the mouse cursor is (first world problems right there), so I really don't feel the need for any more screen real estate. Clearly someone at ASUS doesn't agree though, as it's just announced at the 2023 NAB Show a 135-inch monitor. No, that's not a typo. One hundred and thirty five inches of diagonal screen space. Naturally this isn't a monitor designed for your desk, unless your desk happens to be about 20 feet deep. Rather, the new ASUS ProArt Cinema PQ07 is intended for applications like home cinema, virtual productions, broadcasting, etc.

The colossal size also means the standard 16:9 aspect ratio and 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution has plenty of room to scale to different sizes and aspect ratios. But even a high definition resolution like 4K is spread pretty thin when covering an area this large, equating to only 32.64 pixels per inch (PPI) - compare that to the 137.68 PPI you get from a 32-inch screen with a 4K res. However, given the much longer viewing distances involved here, the pixel density should be sufficient to maintain a crisp image.

Elsewhere, the ProArt Cinema PQ07 boasts a 95% DCI-P3 color space coverage, proving that the ProArt range's reputation for image quality hasn't be compromised in the pursuit of outright size here. 10-bit color fidelity, HDR-10 support and a retina-searing 2000-nit peak brightness further enhance the monitor's appeal.

Of course now you want one, or at least want to know how many limbs you'd need to sell to buy one. Sadly pricing and availability have yet to be announced (that goes for all the products in this announcement) so your legs are safe for the time being.

Another newly announced ASUS monitor that's likely to be far more affordable is the ProArt Display PA24US: a 23.6-inch display, yet still with a 4K resolution, making for an ultra-crisp pixel density. Like its 135-inch ProArt sibling, the PA24US supports HDR 10 and has 95% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, while also being capable of an impressive 99% AdobeRGB support. Factory color accuracy is exceptionally good, with a Delta E of <1, and the monitor contains a built-in motorized colorimeter for self-calibration. There's also USB-C connectivity with up to 80 watts of Power Delivery, but what really sets this monitor apart is that it's ASUS's first ProArt display with SDI connectivity, making it ideal for real-time on-set previews and playback during a shoot.

Also revealed on the ASUS stand at NAB 2023 are a pair of ProArt-branded graphics cards, namely the ProArt GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and ProArt GeForce RTX 4080. Though essentially the same as ASUS's more typical gamer-centric versions, these ProArt versions are distinguished by a sleek 2.5-slot form factor, Axial-tech fans with dual ball bearings for "higher airflow, lower noise, and increased durability", plus ASUS's Auto-Extreme manufacturing that "ensures the graphics cards are built to exacting specifications, ensuring the highest quality and reliability."

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In July 2022 we reviewed Viewsonic's excellent ColorPro VP2776 and found it to be a superb monitor for creatives and imaging enthusiasts. It wasn't quite perfect though - a sub-4K (2560 x 1440, QHD) resolution) was disappointing when 4K monitors are now becoming the norm, and it's coverage of the Adobe RGB color space was relatively poor. However, it seems someone at Viewsonic took note of our criticisms and now we have a new, improved revision, the ColorPro VP2786-4K.

Specifications

Display area: 27 inches
Aspect: 16:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Pixel density: 163 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 350 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1300:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 100% Adobe RGB, 100% Rec 709, 98% DCI-P3
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Outwardly the VP2776 and '86 look almost identical, and they share many of the same features. What's likely happened here is ViewSonic has simply swapped out the QHD panel in the VP2776 for a 4K LCD, retaining the existing design and extra features. The only significant differences are as follows:

As you can see, though the VP2786 does give you extra resolution, better color space coverage and an improved contrast ratio, there are some compromises to be made: brightness is reduced, as is refresh rate.

Key features

So with the increased resolution and Adobe RGB color space coverage, Viewsonic has in one fell swoop addressed the only significant shortcomings with the VP2776. Elsewhere, the VP2776's most compelling features are carried over to the new model, including factory color calibration, HDR, USB Type-C connectivity with Power Delivery, and even an included remote control dial and a detachable shading hood.

As with the VP2776, color space coverage and accuracy are major focusses, with the VP2786 covering an even larger gamut. You get 100% sRGB, 100% Adobe RGB, 100% Rec 709, and 98% DCI-P3 coverage - in other words, some of the highest coverage figures you'll find, period. Each monitor is also factory calibrated to display color to an accuracy of Delta-E <2. Not only this, but ViewSonic's Uniformity Correction feature promises to balance luminance (brightness) variance to < 5% across the display area, thereby eliminating any noticeable bright or dim spots.

A 350cd/m2 maximum brightness isn't quite a match for the 400cd/m2 of the VP2776, but it's more than enough for everyday use, and earns the VP2786 HDR10 status for displaying HDR content.

But the VP2786 doesn't just stop with color-control features. It's also USB Type-C capable, passing through a generous 90W of power to an attached laptop.

When you buy a VP2786, you don't just get a monitor. ViewSonic also includes a ColorPro Wheel. Not only can this conveniently adjust the monitor's display settings, it can also be used as a very handy clickable control dial for compatible software like Adobe Creative Suite and Capture One. And its versatility doesn't end there: the ColorPro Wheel even doubles as a colorimeter, enabling it to calibrate the monitor in much the same way as a third-party color calibration device from DataColor or X-Rite.

Build & handling

With its gunmetal grey exterior and fairly restrained design, the VP2786 may first appear a little bland, but that's not the full story. The stand's base and vertical upright are both beautifully-machined all-metal items, not just a basic metal structure clad in matte plastic, as you'd find with most rival monitors. Though the hinge assembly that links the display panel to the stand's upright is clad in plastic, the overall design is something special, and it enables a generous 130mm of height adjustment, 120º of swivel, -3º / 21º tilt and 90º / 90º pivot movement.

The stand isn't the only ergonomic aspect of the VP2786. Just above the stand, on the rear of the display itself, is a backward-facing LED strip light which can be configured to glow white, warm white or yellow. The effect is to add a soft glowing light behind the monitor, which if positioned in front of a white wall reflects of it and serves to reduce the glare coming from the screen itself when you're working in dim ambient lighting.

Conversely, if you're working in strong, directional ambient lighting, ViewSonic includes a simple but effective folding hood shade that effortlessly and securely attaches to the monitor with the aid of concealed magnets. Compared to some build-it-yourself plastic hood attachments, the VP2786's hood implementation is really neat.

But the star of the show is arguably the ColorPro Wheel. This superficially resembles the 'Hotkey Puck' included with competing BenQ AQCOLOR monitors, in that it's a control dial that sits on your desk. It can be used to navigate through the monitor's OSD and menu settings more easily than using the joystick control on the monitor itself. But considering the latter is already easy enough to use, the ColorPro Wheel isn't exactly essential for OSD navigation.

Fortunately, it can do a lot more. You can also use the wheel to adjust settings and move sliders in Adobe Creative Suite applications, as well as Capture One. Using the wheel in your left hand and the mouse in your right, it's possible to get a taste of image/video editing with a specialist console like a TourBox (image below) or Loupedeck panel.

The ColorPro Wheel can even be used to calibrate the monitor itself. An embedded, lens-based color sensor in the base means it'll function like a typical monitor calibrator, by resting the wheel on the display surface so it can detect the screen's color accuracy. For the sake of testing consistency, we stuck to our usual DataColor Spyder X Elite calibrator for our lab testing, but if you don't already have a monitor calibrator, then the ColorPro wheel is another very handy included extra.

Performance

The ViewSonic VP2786 impresses straight out of the box, with its respectable brightness and contrast helping produce a vibrant, punchy image in the default picture mode. Thanks to the IPS LCD screen tech, color and contrast doesn't noticeably shift depending on your viewing angle. What's more, the 4K resolution when spread across this 27-inch panel creates and exceptionally crisp image - you won't be able to spot individual pixels unless you almost park your nose on the screen surface.

The (slight) downside of a 4K resolution on a screen of this size means you'll have to rely on software scaling to enlarge text, icons and toolbars to a comfortable viewing size. While most modern software apps are coded to scale up without issue, the text in some older software could end up looking blurred. This is no fault of the monitor though.

But to really assess a monitor's image quality, you need more than a subjective human viewpoint. So we broke out our DataColor Spyder X Elite monitor calibrator to really put the VP2786 through its paces.

Lab results

Color gamut:

ViewsSonic claims 100% sRGB, 98% DCI-P3 and 100% AdobeRGB color space coverage, and our results are pretty much identical across the board.

Brightness and contrast:

We measured an impressive 335 cd/m2 peak brightness - not quite ViewSonic's advertised 350 cd/m2, but close enough to be acceptable . Contrast varies depending on screen brightness, though a range between 1240:1 and 1450:1, easily confirming the claimed 1300:1.

It's worth noting that while a monitor may be capable of extreme outright brightness, you generally wouldn't want to set brightness anywhere near this high for everyday use. For typical image editing, 200cd/m2 brightness is still more than enough.

Color accuracy:

ViewSonic claims the VP2776 comes pre-calibrated to a Delta-E color accuracy of <2. We found this to be quite conservative, as we recorded a superb out-of-the-box accuracy of 0.71.

After calibration, Delta-E deviance from ideal slightly increased (got worse), to 0.74, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Though the average deviance across the 24 tested screen colors was marginally worse, calibration did rectify a stong and obviously visible cyan color cast. This is evidenced by the maximum single color deviance reducing from 2.98 before calibration to 1.82 after calibration, resulting in a significantly more balanced color spectrum and better overall color accuracy.

Luminance uniformity (default):

Luminance uniformity (Uniformity Correction enabled):

Luminance uniformity simply measures the consistency of brightness across 9 screen regions. A maximum brightness deviation of 18% between the brightest and dimmest regions with the backlight set to 100% brightness sounds bad, but you'll struggle to notice this in real world use. Unfortunately, enabling the monitor's Uniformity Correction feature has little effect, barely reducing the deviation, to 17%.

Color uniformity (default):

Color uniformity (Uniformity Correction enabled):

With the monitor's Uniformity Correction feature disabled, color uniformity is disappointing. A Delta-E deviation as much as 11.5 between the most and least color accurate regions of the display is downright poor. This drops to a more acceptable Delta-E 8.2 with the screen brightness reduced to a more usable 67%, but it's still not a great result.

These are similar results to what we measured from the ColorPro VP2776, but where enabling Uniformity Correction with that monitor made a huge difference to color uniformity, the same feature is much less effective with the VP2786. Deviance does improve, from 11.5 to 10.5 at maximum brightness, and from 8.2 to 7.4 at 67% brightness, but it's hardly a miracle cure.

Verdict

The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K is a stunning screen for creatives and imaging enthusiasts Not only does it offer top-line screen specs, including excellent coverage of even wide color gamuts and a razor-sharp 4K resolution, you also get superb color accuracy as well as factory color calibration. Naturally, plenty of other premium monitors can boast such specs, but ViewSonic has done even more to set the VP2786 apart from its rivals: the inclusion of the versatile ColorPro wheel remote controller is a welcome one, as is the rear-facing backlight to reduce eye strain. Even the included shading hood has been well-designed.

In terms of image quality, to the naked eye at least, this monitor doesn't disappoint. But even the best human eye is subjective, and when assessing the VP2786's image quality with a more objective means of testing - a colorimeter - the results are more of a mixed bag. While the advertised color space coverage and color accuracy are indeed as good - if not better - than advertised, brightness and color uniformity (at least with our sample monitor) are disappointing, regardless of whether the Uniformity Correction is enabled. You're unlikely to notice this in real-world use, but it's still a pity the screen doesn't perform as well as some rivals in this area.

If you can do without 4K resolution, we'd still recommend the almost identical ColorPro VP2776 due to its superior panel uniformity. But the VP2786 is still a great choice for videographers working with 4K footage, providing you accept that the 4K upgrade does come with a few small compromises.

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BenQ makes some of the best monitors for photo editing, but these are almost always 16:9, conventional 'widescreen' displays. What if you want something wider? An ultrawide monitor offers a significantly wider perspective - at least 21:9 - giving you more space to display two windows alongside each other, or additional image/video editing pallets alongside a preview pane.

Often if you want an ultrawide monitor larger than 30 inches, it'll also be curved. That's great for gaming and movie immersion, and for making the corners easier to see at a glance, but it can come at the expense of image quality. Curved monitors almost always use VA-type LCD panels, which don't provide the same color and contrast consistency as IPS-type display - the gold standard (OLED being the exception) for image quality.

And here's where the BenQ PD3420Q makes a real case for itself: this is a 34-inch flat ultrawide monitor, based around an IPS LCD display, and boasts some very respectable image quality specs as a result. Let's dig in...

Specifications

Display area: 34 inches
Aspect: 21:9
Panel type: IPS
Panel bit depth: 10-bit
Display colors: 1.07 billion
Resolution: 3440 x 1440
Pixel density: 109 ppi
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Response time: 5ms
Brightness: 350 cd/m2
Contrast ratio: 1000:1
Color space coverage: 100% sRGB, 100% Rec 709, 98% DCI-P3
Video inputs: HDMI x2, USB-C (DP Alt Mode), DisplayPort

Key features

The main attraction with the PD3420Q is it's ultra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio. This gives you around 33% extra screen width over a conventional 16:9 monitor - great for multi-tasking. Take a conventional 27-inch, 16:9 screen monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution, add an extra 7.7 horizontal inches / 880 horizontal pixels, and you essentially get this 34-inch, 3440x1440 beast.

Photo and video editors are catered for with 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 color space coverage - the latter being a very respectable coverage figure for this wide-gamut video color space. The PD3420Q also comes factory calibrated to an accuracy of Delta-E <3 - not quite as impressive as many high-end monitors which promise a <2 accuracy. But as we'll find later, BenQ's accuracy figure is quite conservative, at least for our test monitor. The only potential weakness in the PD3420Q's color fidelity is AdobeRGB percentage coverage, which isn't stated by BenQ. A 350cd/m2 max typical brightness is good, though not class-leading.

The PD3420Q is also a USB-C monitor, so it can be linked to a Thunderbolt 3-equipped laptop via a single USB-C cable that also supplies power, with the monitor passing through 65W to an attached laptop. 3 additional USB 3.1 Type-A ports (two on the back, and a third on the side for easier access) would have once been barely worth mentioning, but now most new laptops are lucky to get a single USB-A port, having several more on your monitor could well be very useful for connecting devices like flash drives and older external hard drives.

Like most high-end BenQ monitors targeted at creative pros, the PD3420Q includes BenQ's Hotkey Puck remote control dial. This plugs into the monitor and is used as a more ergonomic means of controlling monitor settings like brightness, color modes and the volume of the built-in dual 2.5W speakers. The puck consists of a central rotating dial, surrounded by a Rotation Key, three function keys and a back button. It's certainly a nice extra to have as it does make it easier to navigate through the on-screen display, especially if you want to frequently switch between color gamut presents at the touch of a hotkey button, rather than scrolling through menus every time. However if, like me, you tend to work in one color mode, and leave brightness and other image settings alone once you've got your monitor set up how you want it,  then it's more difficult to make a compelling case for the Puck.

Lastly, the PD3420Q incorporates a built-in KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch, allowing you to control two computers from a single keyboard and mouse, with the Hotkey Puck able to perform the switch.

Build & handling

The PD3420Q is built to BenQ's typically high standard. The overall design is subtle and understated, with slim gunmetal grey screen bezels and a simple yet solid stand. The stand attaches easily to the panel - no screws required - and also incorporates some basic cable management. It enables decent range of ergonomic adjustability, with 150mm of height adjustment, -5˚ - 20˚ of tilt, and 30˚/30˚ of swivel movement. The stand's base is nicely machined metal, and is easily large enough to keep the extra-wide display securely anchored.

Accessible by your right hand on the rear panel are the controls for navigating the on-screen display. Thankfully BenQ has fitted a 4-way joystick controller for this, so there's no messing about trying to navigate using a row of buttons alone.

Monitor settings are accessed via a clear and easy-to-navigate on screen display. Settings include a color gamut presets like sRGB and DCI-P3, along with customisable picture modes, and settings for configuring the included Hotkey Puck G2 remote controller.

In addition to the extensive connectivity on the back of the monitor, BenQ also gives you a few side-mounted ports, including USB-C, USB-A, and a headphone socket. These are far easier to find than fumbling around behind the screen to locate the other ports.

Performance

In its default Display P3 color mode, the PD3420Q doesn't fail to impress, with vibrant colors and excellent color and contrast consistency - regardless of viewing angle - on account of its 10-bit IPS LCD panel. The consistently is especially important with a screen of this width, as the angle you're viewing the corners of the screen is very different from the perpendicular position of the center.

In our case, we did encounter a little difficulty in getting the monitor to run at its native 3440 x 1440 resolution, as the available options in our Windows display settings were all 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions. However, once we added a new, custom resolution in the PC's graphics drivers, all was well. This is not an issue with the monitor though, but rather our Windows 10 install not having the correct resolution as an available option by default.

The native 3440 x 1440 resolution produces optimally sized toolbars and icons on a on a display of this size, with no scaling necessary, while the lower overall pixel count is significantly easier for a graphics card to drive smoothly than a 4K resolution. Of course the downside are slightly larger individual pixels, but if you're not coming from an Apple Retina monitor, you're unlikely to notice. More problematic could be the lack of 4K support if you're editing 4K video footage, but 21:9 ultrawide monitors with a 4K (2160p) vertical resolution are very rare, and at least twice the price of the PD3420Q.

But to really assess a monitor's image quality, you need more than a subjective human viewpoint. So we broke out our DataColor Spyder X Elite monitor calibrator to really put the PD3420Q through its paces.

Lab results

Color gamut:

BenQ claims 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 color space coverage, and our testing found that to be spot on. AdobeRGB coverage isn't advertised by BenQ, but we found it to be 87%.

Brightness and contrast:

Although BenQ's specs say the typical max brightness of the PD3420Q is 350cd/m2, the display didn't seem that bright to the naked eye, and testing with a SpyderX Elite colorimeter revealed screen brightness at 100% to a somewhat mediocre 223cd/m2. However, for typical image editing, 200cd/m2 brightness is still more than enough.

Color accuracy:

BenQ claims the PD3420Q comes pre-calibrated to a Delta-E color accuracy of <3. We found this to be quite conservative, as we recorded a very good out-of-the-box accuracy of 1.4. Calibration improved this accuracy still further, to a very respectable average of 0.82, with all the tested colors being accurate to <2, resulting in a both color-accurate and also very neutral color balance.

Luminance uniformity:

Luminance uniformity simply measures the consistency of brightness across 9 screen regions. In this test the PD3420Q scores very well indeed, recording just a 4% difference in brightness between the brightness and dimmest screen region  with overall brightness set to 100%. With brightness reduced to 67%, uniformity remains almost as even.

Color uniformity:

Color accuracy can fluctuate when you move away from the center of the screen, so this test measures how consistent color is in 9 regions spread across the display. Once again, the PD3420Q performs very well indeed. With brightness set to 100%, we recorded a Delta-E of just 2.7 (values closer to zero are better) between the most and least color-accurate regions. This drops still further, to 2.1, with brightness set to 67%.

Verdict

If you're in the market for an ultrawide monitor that's going to give you solid, dependable image quality for image or video editing, the BenQ PD3420Q is a fine choice. Retaining a flat rather than curved profile means you get an IPS-based LCD panel, which is generally a superior panel technology for photo and video editing. Extras like USB-C connectivity with Power Delivery are also welcome when connecting the monitor to a laptop.

The only minor downsides are the screen's mediocre AdobeRGB color support, while the sub-4K resolution could be problematic if you regularly edit 4K video. However if the majority of your content is shot at 1080p, the 3440x1440 native resolution of the PD3420Q is ideal, with loads of space for pallets, timelines and toolbars around a video preview pane. We were also a little disappointed that our test monitor couldn't hit the advertised 350cd/m2 maximum brightness figure, but this is only likely to be an issue if you need to work with HDR content.

Overall, the BenQ PD3420Q is a well-specified, high-performing display with a super-practical screen size, and all for a fair price when you consider its wide color DCI-P3 gamut coverage.

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Eizo is one of the best-known names in computer monitor production and it has strong reputation amongst photographers and videographers. The ColorEdge CG2700X (3840 x 2160) was announced in November 2022 along with the ColorEdge CG2700S (2560x1440) as a more affordable alternative.

While it’s listed as a 27-inch monitor, the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X actually measures 26.9-inch (68.4 cm) across the screen and it has a viewable area of 596.2 x 335.3 mm. Its a 4K screen with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a pixel pitch of 0.155 x 0.155 mm.

While the pixel count and pitch ensure plenty of detail is visible, the fact that the ColorEdge CG2700X is a 10-bit display means it can also show up to 1.07 billion colours. That huge range of colours should help to ensure that gradations are smooth. 

Further good news is that the CG2700X can reproduce 99% of the Adobe RGB colourspace that’s commonly used for photography, and 98% of the DCI-P3 digital cinema standard. There are 9 display modes in total (User, BT.2020, BT.709, DCI-P3, PQ_DCI-P3, HLG_BT.2100, AdobeRGB, sRGB, Calibration (CAL), SYNC_SIGNAL) and all of them can be customised to suit the users specific requirements.

One of the most attractive features of the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X for photographers and videographers is that it has a calibration system built-in. The hardware is recessed into the edge of the screen ready for deployment and it operates with Eizo’s free ColorNavigator 7 software which also enables features such as the ability to control a network of screens with colour matching.

Eizo supplies the ColorEdge CG2700X on a stand that is adjustable in height and allows the screen to be rotated though 90° into portrait orientation to give a better view of upright images.

Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X: Specifications

Screen size: 26.9-inches

Max resolution: 3840 x 2160

Display size: 596.2 x 335.3 mm

Panel type: IPS

Brightness: 500 cd/m2

Contrast: 1450:1

Colour gamut: Adobe RGB: 99%, DCI-P3: 98%

Dimensions (without stand, W x H x D): 638 x 390 x 86.2 mm

Weight: With stand: 9.8Kg, without stand: 6.8Kg, with stand and hood: 10.3kg

Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X: Build and handling

Some 27-inch monitors are a pain to move, set-up and connect, but the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X makes life very easy. Firstly, it comes with the stand attached so there’s no worry on that score. And if you want to remove the stand to use a different mount, it can be taken off without the need for any tools. There’s also a handle on the back of the screen which makes it easy to extract from the box and position on a desk. 

With the screen on the desk, the next step is to connect it to the computer and power. The simplest option for the computer connection is to use the USB-C port and the supplied USB-C cable. However, there’s also the option to use an HDMI or display port connection. 

The ability to rotate the monitor is helpful at this point because when it’s in landscape orientation the connection ports are along the bottom of the screen. Rotating it to portrait orientation makes them easier to access. Meanwhile, there are four USB-A ports for connecting accessories on the side of the screen when it’s in landscape orientation. 

Once the monitor is powered up and displaying your computer’s interface, it only takes a few seconds to move it to the correct height (there’s a 15.5cm range) and to angle it how you want (it can be tilted up through 35° or down through 5°). 

Although the ColorNavigator 7 software gives you all the control you could want over the CG2700X, there’s a row of touch-sensitive buttons on the right below the viewing area. As well as a secondary power button for turning the screen on and off, there area six buttons for accessing and navigating the menu. These buttons are responsive and the menu is straightforward, but the ColorNavigator 7 software interface is clearer. 

ColorNavigator 7 is also used to calibrate the screen and it takes just a few minutes to run though the process. Helpfully, it doesn’t just calibrate the screen for the selected display mode, it does it for all of them so you can switch between Adobe RGB and sRGB, for example, without having to recalibrate.

It’s also possible to set the software to calibrate the screen automatically at a convenient time

Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X: Performance

The 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution and 0.155 x 0.155 mm pixel pitch ensures that images look detailed, clear and crisp on the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X. And while the colours look good on the screen straight from the box, the calibration system ensure that is always the case. 

Once the calibration system is started, a whirring sound heralds the calibrator rotating into position at the top of the screen. As usual, a series of coloured squares appears under the spectrometer as the calibration process takes place.

Comparing the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X to a calibrated 2019 iMac reveals only subtle differences in the appearance of my images, however, they look better on the CG2700X. The colours are slightly more natural, there’s wider dynamic range and tonal gradations look better.  

If you have a series of portrait orientation images, it’s handy to be able to rotate the screen to give them more space while you edit them, but the display needs to be rotated in the operating system so the image is shown in the correct orientation. The 9:16 viewing area is also rather long and thin for most portrait orientation images so you have to look up and down to see the whole picture. Any software control panels also need to be moved into an appropriate position to get the full benefit of the portrait orientation. It means that you won’t want to switch between landscape and portrait orientation on a shot-by-shot basis.

Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X: Lab results

Color gamut:

Eizo claims 99% AdobeRGB and 98% DCI-P3 color space coverage, but we recorded a stunning 100% Adobe coverage, with P3 performance being exactly as specified.

Brightness and contrast:

The CG2700X is said to have a 500 cd/m2 maximum brightness, which is already very high, but we recorded an even brighter 547 cd/m2. Our measured 1100:1 peak contrast is some way short of the claimed 1450:1, but is still very impressive.

Color accuracy:

A major benefit of Eizo's ColorEdge monitors is their tight color accuracy, and the CG2700X is a prime example. An overall Delta-E from ideal color of 0.40 is exceptional, but it's also the consistent accuracy of all the 24 measured hues that's particularly unusual, with not a single color measuring in excess of Delta-E 1. This translates to there being no chance of any color cast to the image you view.

Luminance uniformity:

Brightness uniformity is another metric where even premium monitors can falter, but not so with the CG2700X. With a maximum 3% difference between the brightest and dimmest regions of the display, the CG2700X recorded the most consistent brightness uniformity of any monitor we've ever tested!

Color uniformity:

As with brightness uniformity, the CG2700X's color is incredibly consistent across the screen, with color never deviating by more than Delta-E 1.2 from the most color-accurate region of the screen.

Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X: Verdict

A 27-inch screen is a nice choice for image and video editing, it has the size you need to give a decent preview without taking up quite as much room as a 32-inch screen. The ColorEdge CG2700X’s 3840 x 2160 resolution also ensures there is plenty of detail visible while the 10-bit colour means that gradations look great. Meanwhile, the calibration system is easy to use and ensures that the colours are accurate - taking into account the selected colourspace.

The fact that everything is built-in, and that the calibration can be automated increases the likelihood of regular calibration and therefore a better viewing experience.

There's no hiding that this is an expensive monitor, and there are plenty of other 27-inch 4K IPS monitors that cost a lot less. However these won't match the awesome color accuracy, 100% Adobe RGB color space coverage, and exceptional brightness and color uniformity that the CG2700X is capable of.

If you need/want the absolute best image quality a monitor can offer, and are willing to pay the required premium, the Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X doesn't disappoint.

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A monitor with a built-in webcam is a great thing to have if you regularly participate in video conference calls for work, or often make video calls with family and friends. It's just more convenient and elegant than balancing a separate webcam on top of a normal monitor.

In this guide, we've curated a selection of the best monitors with webcams available today, and at the best prices, ranging from budget bargains to high-end options filled with features.

(If you're not interested in a webcam, and just want a display that offers the best possible image quality, check out our guides to the best monitors for photo editing or best video editing monitors guides.)

Our top picks

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Best monitor with webcam

Best monitor with webcam overall

We reckon a 27-inch monitor is a great balance between a comfortable screen area, and a display that isn't overly imposing. This Dell video conferencing monitor hits that sweet spot, and its 2560 x 1440 resolution is also just right, as screen taskbars and icons will be perfectly sized without having to employ image scaling as you would for a 4K display of this size. The screen also uses an IPS LCD panel for more stable color and contrast - a must for photo or video editing, where image quality is paramount. In-keeping with its office-orientated design, you get plenty of display inputs, and even an RJ-45 networking port.

The included webcam is capable of Full HD 30fps recording, boasts a wide 178-degree viewing angle, and is assisted by a noise-cancelling microphone. Microsoft Teams certification means you can launch Teams, join meetings and respond to notifications with a simple button press. In short, if you're after a monitor with webcam that covers pretty much every base, the Dell P2724DEB is hard to beat.

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Best monitor with webcam for gamers

The HP E27m G4 offers pretty much everything the Dell C2722DE (number one on our list) does. They're both 27-inch, QHD monitors. Both have an integrated 5-megapixel webcam and 5-watt stereo speakers. Both offer excellent connectivity. So really, choosing between them comes down to very small differences.

For example, the HP's IPS panel is brighter, and the color coverage is very slightly wider. Conversely, though, the HP E27m G4 offers a refresh rate of 75Hz, which makes for smoother motion, while the Dell C2722DE is limited to 60Hz. So if you're a keen gamer, that's probably a good enough reason to choose this one over the Dell.

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Best cheap monitor with webcam

Looking to keep your costs down? Despite its low cost, this 24-inch 1080p IPS monitor manages to pack in an impressive array of features. The IPS panel at its heart should provide top-notch color and contrast consistency, regardless of your viewing angle.

Then there's the built-in 2MP webcam which can be rotated through 315 degrees and tilted up or down by 10 degrees. Audio is taken care of by stereo speakers, while the beam-forming microphone array separates speech from background noise. There's also an echo cancellation feature to further enhance speech clarity.

Connectivity options are plentiful with HDMI, DisplayPort, and analog video inputs, so connecting to your desktop or laptop computer should be a cinch.

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Best cheap monitor with webcam for Mac

There's no shortage of monitors with webcams that you could use alongside a MacBook or Mac mini, but the most fitting choice has to be the Apple Studio Display. Just be warned: it's very expensive.

If you can afford it, though, you'll be rewarded with a very lovely 27-inch 5K display. It has true and consistent colors, up to 600 nits of brightness, and an extremely wide viewing angle. The screen's nano-textured glass option reduces glare. Connectivity is excellent, too, with three USB-C ports and one Thunderbolt port.

Not only is the display impressive, but so is the webcam. Where most monitors with a webcam make do with a 2MP camera, the Studio Display rocks a 12MP ultra-wide camera with Apple's Center Stage feature, which uses machine learning to keep you in the center of the frame, even if you move around. A 3-mic array is on hand for premium voice capture, and don't forget about the SIX built-in speakers!

Naturally, all this doesn't come cheap - far from it - but if you've got the cash to splash, this is the ultimate monitor with webcam.

Read our full Apple Studio Display review

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Best multipurpose monitor with webcam

Want a monitor with a webcam that can do even more besides? The Samsung M8 can do much more than any other monitor on this list.

For starters, there's the magnetic 1080p SlimFit webcam that attaches neatly to the back, with only the small camera lens poking out over the top. Its tilt ability keeps you in the center of the frame, and there's a camera cover for privacy. The built-in microphone doesn't just record sound, it also works in conjunction with smart assistants like Alexa, enabling you to voice command the monitor.

Other smart features abound as well. It boasts adaptive picture and adaptive sound for a better visual and audio experience catered to you and your surroundings. It supports both Bixby and Amazon Alexa. And it comes with Samsung’s Automatic Source Switch+, making it more seamless for you to switch from one video source to another.

Dozens of video call apps are built in, as are numerous entertainment and productivity apps. In fact, there are so many app options that if you add a keyboard and mouse, you can use the M8 Smart Monitor as its own self-contained computer - no PC or Mac required!

The only downside is that this is a monitor designed for entertainment and productivity, not image or video editing. Consequently, the LCD panel at its heart uses VA screen technology, which can't match the color and contrast consistency of the IPS LCD screens on this list.

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Best ultrawide monitor with webcam

Proof that you really can have it all: this monitor not only has a built-in webcam, it's also an ultrawide 21:9 display, and it's curved for an even more immersive viewing experience. What's more, unlike most curved displays, this one is based around an IPS LCD panel, so color and contrast accuracy won't fluctuate depending on your viewing angle. You also get USB-C connectivity with Power Delivery to connect and power a laptop with a single cable.

The EV3450XC's webcam is neatly integrated into the top bezel of the screen - no tacked-on camera module here. It does a reasonable job, coping well if you're heavily back-lit, but don't expect the video quality of a decent standalone webcam. The isn't much fine detail to see, and if you're in low light color accuracy and saturation take a noticeable hit.

Read our full Eizo EV3450XC review

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FAQs

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How to choose the best monitor with webcam

First, focus on the webcam. Resolution is crucial – aim for at least 1080p for the clearest picture. Don't forget a built-in microphone for easy two-way communication. And a pop-up camera adds a nice touch for privacy.

Next, consider your workspace. Measure the available space to ensure a comfortable fit. Popular monitor sizes for video conferencing are 24 to 27 inches. Also think about screen resolution: 1080p is great for everyday tasks, while 1440p or 4K offers sharper details for professionals who work with intricate visuals. For optimal viewing angles during calls, an IPS panel is ideal - this "In-plane Switching" technology tends to give the best color quality too.

Built-in speakers can eliminate the need for a headset, simplifying your setup. A USB-C port is a game-changer, charging your laptop while transferring data and minimizing cable clutter. And finally, don't underestimate the importance of adjustability! A monitor that tilts, swivels, and adjusts in height allows you to find the perfect viewing position for long calls, ensuring comfort and focus.

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How we test monitors

We evaluate a monitor with particular attention given to its core image quality, including brightness, contrast, color vibrancy and accuracy. While this can - and will - be assessed by the experienced eye of our professional reviewer, some manufacturer screen specs can only be definitively judged by an 'electronic eye' - a monitor calibrator. Where possible, a calibration device will be placed on the screen to verify its advertised color space coverage, brightness output and consistency, and factory color calibration accuracy. Beyond image quality, we'll also scrutinise the monitor's display and data ports to ensure acceptable connectivity, and will give a thorough assessment of build quality, including the range of ergonomic adjustment in its stand. Only then will we determine if a screen is worthy of use by a discerning imaging or video enthusiast.

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From March 2023 the EU is introducing new energy efficiency rules which could effectively ban the sale of the most power-hungry televisions, with 8K models being top of that list. This came as a surprise to me. Not because the EU is making such legislation - that's nothing new (as detailed below) - but because I was under the impression that modern, flat panel LCD and OLED displays were already energy efficient.

The transition from inefficient analog cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions to LCD flat panel screens heralded a new era of low-power TV viewing. But since then both screen sizes and their native resolutions have climbed ever higher, and now we have huge 8K TVs which ravage far more power than you might expect.

Take for instance a comparison between two 65-inch Samsung QLED televisions: the 4K QN90B Neo QLED, and the 8K QN700B Neo QLED. Samsung rates the 4K model with a typical power consumption of 111 watts, whereas the 8K display typically consumes 219 watts - nearly double. Step down to the 55" version of the QN90B - still 4K resolution - yet its typical power consumption drops to 84 watts. It's therefore clear - from this admittedly small sample study(!) - that the push to ever larger, more pixel-packed televisions brings with it a significant increase in power consumption. 

And it's not just televisions that consume extra power when dealing with 8K content. The additional computer processing performance required to edit and export 8K footage also inevitably consumes additional power over that required to encode 4K content, though this is beyond the scope of the new EU energy efficiency rules.

This isn't the first time we've seen the EU impose power consumption restrictions on consumer appliances. Back in 2014 the EU ruled that vacuum cleaners sold in the union couldn't be fitted with motors exceeding 1600 watts. This reduced again in 2017, to 900 watts. Manufacturers - or at least one prominent producer of bagless vacuums - didn't take kindly to the legislation, and consumers apparently flocked to buy the most powerful models before they were banned, presumably for fear of losing precious suction power.

But are the efficiency rules affecting 8K TVs as significant? Here we're talking about a reduction of maybe 100 watts per appliance - a fraction of the energy savings made by restricting vacuum cleaner consumption. I think the more pertinent issue here is whether 8K content is actually necessary at all. According to some sources, you'd need to be positioned as close as 1.5 meters to an 80-inch television to really see the resolution difference of 8K over 4K, meaning that at any realistic viewing distance, an 8K TV offers no appreciable resolution benefit over a 4K display. And that's assuming you can even find any significant 8K content to actually watch in the first place.

Sure, the resolution jumps from SD, through DVD 576p, 720p, 1080p and then to 4K could each be justified by the perceptible improvement they gave in actual viewing quality. But by quadrupling resolution yet again to 8K (8K contains 4x times the number of pixels as 4K), we've now gone beyond the point where the vast majority of home consumers can actually perceive, let alone appreciate, the increase in resolution.

8K may be great for marketing, but it's got little use in the real world, and now it seems it might even be harming the world.

Story credit: IBC

• What is 8K? And what does it mean to photographers
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• The best TV for a computer monitor