BenQ Announces the EX2780Q Monitor: 27", 2560 x 1440 IPS, 144 Hz, 5 ms, HDRi, FreeSync

[Raevenlord]

BenQ today announced the release of the EX2780Q monitor, a 27" affair sporting a WQHD (2560 x 1440) resolution across its 10-bit IPS matrix (95% DCI-P3 color space coverage). The monitor offers an 144 Hz refresh rate which, when paired with the usage of AMD's FreeSync, should enable smooth gaming scenarios - though the 5 ms GtG response time gives us a whole lot of pause. The resolution is a good compromise one between 1080p and 4K when it comes to graphics muscle requirements, and should thus make the 144 Hz refresh rates actually attainable in most scenarios (something that just wouldn't happen in a 4K screen).

One of the things about this monitor, however, is the inclusion of an "HDRi" badge, which simply denotes the usage of some of BenQ's proprietary technologies - Visual Edge, Black eQualizer and Color Vibrance - essentially auto-adjustable screen brightness, some sort of proprietary implementation of dynamic contrast, and automatic color balance adjustments. The EX2780Q includes a remote control that allows on-the-fly changes on some of the settings; and I/O is taken care of by 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort, 1x USB-C, and a headphone port. The sound system in this monitor has been upgraded compared to others - it offers a built-in 2.1 setup of treVolo speakers (2x2 watts + 5 watts subwoofer). Pricing stands at $599.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Chomiq]

At least this time they included VESA mount.

 

[Rahnak]

$599 and that stand? Oof...

 

[TheMadDutchDude]

Pretty meh for $599 unless I’m missing something...?

 

[Space Lynx]

Pretty meh for $599 unless I’m missing something...?

You're not missing anything, BenQ being super overpriced as usual.

i just ordered the Pixio P27 Prime 165hz 1440p 27" HDR 400 has 400 nits brightness and 95% dci-p3 and is 10 bit IPS as well.

I just got it recently, and have to say I am in love. My monitor search is finally over. Not bad for $429... for some reason it says its G-Sync official in nvidia settings, not gsync compatible... lol so thats a bonus I guess. its advertised as freesync only though.

This is just another case of TPU giving ad space to inferior companies, hopefully @W1zzard can fix this someday. Piixio P27 Prime at $429 is the place to be homies. -side note, the stand is effin amazing. it even has little metric readout on the swivel base, so if you get it just the way you want it, you can right down your settings on your rotation.

 

[Mistral]

Now give us a Frreesync2 version without the soundbar / twitters...

 

[Space Lynx]

Now give us a Frreesync2 version without the soundbar / twitters...

The Pixio P27 has freesync 2, well it does and it doesn't It has the 400 nits required for HDR400, but I thnk that costs money to get that certificate... but I can confirm this monitor is definitely HDR400, it s gorgeous.Easily best 1440p I have ever seen. It has LFC as well, I confirmed with their support team.

Only issue really is freesync range is 48hz t0 165hz. A bit annoying, wish the 48 was 30, i think that is required for freesync 2, but again not a huge deal.

 

[Solaris17]

The Pixio P27 has freesync 2, well it does and it doesn't It has the 400 nits required for HDR400, but I thnk that costs money to get that certificate... but I can confirm this monitor is definitely HDR400, it s gorgeous.Easily best 1440p I have ever seen. It has LFC as well, I confirmed with their support team.

Only issue really is freesync range is 48hz t0 165hz. A bit annoying, wish the 48 was 30, i think that is required for freesync 2, but again not a huge deal.

where did you even get it in the US? can you link?

 

[Fatalfury]

Finally , BenQ made an IPS gaming monitor....
All they were making were TN esports gaming monitor for many years....

good to see makers are jumping to the IPS 144/240 hz 23/27 inch panel since many are in pipleline from AUO and LG panels..

 

[ZoneDymo]

The Pixio P27 has freesync 2, well it does and it doesn't It has the 400 nits required for HDR400, but I thnk that costs money to get that certificate... but I can confirm this monitor is definitely HDR400, it s gorgeous.Easily best 1440p I have ever seen. It has LFC as well, I confirmed with their support team.

Only issue really is freesync range is 48hz t0 165hz. A bit annoying, wish the 48 was 30, i think that is required for freesync 2, but again not a huge deal.

This^

Honestly I dont understand these monitor makers, why oh why when you have freesync/gsync do you not go down as far as you can before it cant be considered playable anymore?

Imo freesync/Gsync should always start at 24fps and then go up to the maximum the monitor can handle.

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

The Pixio P27 has freesync 2, well it does and it doesn't It has the 400 nits required for HDR400, but I thnk that costs money to get that certificate... but I can confirm this monitor is definitely HDR400, it s gorgeous.Easily best 1440p I have ever seen. It has LFC as well, I confirmed with their support team.

Only issue really is freesync range is 48hz t0 165hz. A bit annoying, wish the 48 was 30, i think that is required for freesync 2, but again not a huge deal.

LFC means max range is 2.5x or better of min range. Yours is 48 minimum and 165 maximum, well over 120 max range required for LFC. LFC ensures that even if your fps drops below the minimum to say 36, the GPU will send double the frames 72 and ensure that you're within the Freesunc range.

This^

Honestly I dont understand these monitor makers, why oh why when you have freesync/gsync do you not go down as far as you can before it cant be considered playable anymore?

Imo freesync/Gsync should always start at 24fps and then go up to the maximum the monitor can handle.

Hardware limitations? I distinctly remember one ASUS monitor doing 30-90 out of the box. But if you OC to 144hz the minimum also increases to 48hz.

And you shouldn't even play at such a low fps. Besides tearing which G-sync and Freesync mainly target you got frametimes, lag and shit.

 

[Vayra86]

You're not missing anything, BenQ being super overpriced as usual.

i just ordered the Pixio P27 Prime 165hz 1440p 27" HDR 400 has 400 nits brightness and 95% dci-p3 and is 10 bit IPS as well.

I just got it recently, and have to say I am in love. My monitor search is finally over. Not bad for $429... for some reason it says its G-Sync official in nvidia settings, not gsync compatible... lol so thats a bonus I guess. its advertised as freesync only though.

This is just another case of TPU giving ad space to inferior companies, hopefully @W1zzard can fix this someday. Piixio P27 Prime at $429 is the place to be homies. -side note, the stand is effin amazing. it even has little metric readout on the swivel base, so if you get it just the way you want it, you can right down your settings on your rotation.

Holy shit dude. That sounds good at that price indeed. Well played

 

[Space Lynx]

Holy shit dude. That sounds good at that price indeed. Well played

that's not even its sell price. it literally just came out last week. $429 is its regular price

 

[Rahnak]

If only Pixio was available here in Europe.. And Vizio, while we're at it.

 

[EmilBg]

Germany amazon is selling Pixio 27 Prime at 449€

PIXIO PX7 Prime 27 Zoll 165Hz 144Hz IPS 95% DCI-P3 HDR WQHD 2560 x 1440 Wide Screen Display 1440p Flat AMD Radeon FreeSync Certified Ultimate Esports Gaming Monitor: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör

PIXIO PX7 Prime 27 Zoll 165Hz 144Hz IPS 95% DCI-P3 HDR WQHD 2560 x 1440 Wide Screen Display 1440p Flat AMD Radeon FreeSync Certified Ultimate Esports Gaming Monitor - Kostenloser Versand ab 29€. Jetzt bei Amazon.de bestellen!

www.amazon.de

Have to think about Benq with the Hdri or just 27 prime with ordinary hdr support for future gaming's?

 

[INSTG8R]

Hardware limitations? I distinctly remember one ASUS monitor doing 30-90 out of the box. But if you OC to 144hz the minimum also increases to 48hz.

It was the MG279Q my previous monitor.(I honestly miss it) it was 35-90 FreeSync range but a 144hz IPS

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

It was the MG279Q my previous monitor.(I honestly miss it) it was 35-90 FreeSync range but a 144hz IPS

Honestly you shouldn't. The market is awash with great (and cheap) gaming monitors atm.
AOC 24G2U finally brought IPS 144hz to the masses. Should be under €200 for you Europeans. Acer, viewsonic, asus should release their own monitors based on the same panel in the coming months.

Cheap curved samsung VA has almost replaced TN in the budget market last few years however flawed they are.

LG has created the fastest (response time) IPS with GL850.

AUO is about to bring 240hz IPS panels too in the coming months.

If I'm being honest, we're living in LCD gaming monitor golden age atm. LG and Samsung pumping so much R&D in this sector has reinvigorated the space unlike few years ago where AUO was the only serious contender along with their piss poor defect rate on IPS panels.

 

[INSTG8R]

Honestly you shouldn't. The market is awash with great (and cheap) gaming monitors atm.
AOC 24G2U finally brought IPS 144hz to the masses. Should be under €200 for you Europeans. Acer, viewsonic, asus should release their own monitors based on the same panel in the coming months.

Cheap curved samsung VA has almost replaced TN in the budget market last few years however flawed they are.

LG has created the fastest (response time) IPS with GL850.

AUO is about to bring 240hz IPS panels too in the coming months.

If I'm being honest, we're living in LCD gaming monitor golden age atm. LG and Samsung pumping so much R&D in this sector has reinvigorated the space unlike few years ago where AUO was the only serious contender along with their piss poor defect rate on IPS panels.

I replaced it with the top Samsung FreeSync 2 HDR VA and it’s absolutely terrible in comparison.

 

[Space Lynx]

I replaced it with the top Samsung FreeSync 2 HDR VA and it’s absolutely terrible in comparison.

Do you mean you don't like the new VA panel you have and you wish you could have your IPS one back?

If so I kind of feel the same way about VA. The pixel smearing just ruins it for me in gaming. On the same hand, the IPS panel in dark games like Metro Exodus, in the subway tunnel for example where it is pitch black look awful on IPS... all I can see is backlight bleed, where as on the VA it is almost OLED level pitch black during those scenes and I quite like VA during those moments.

 

[INSTG8R]

Do you mean you don't like the new VA panel you have and you wish you could have your IPS one back?

If so I kind of feel the same way about VA. The pixel smearing just ruins it for me in gaming. On the same hand, the IPS panel in dark games like Metro Exodus, in the subway tunnel for example where it is pitch black look awful on IPS... all I can see is backlight bleed, where as on the VA it is almost OLED level pitch black during those scenes and I quite like VA during those moments.

Yep! The backlight bleed is utterly horrendous in comparison to supposed IPS bleed and ruin those blacks and makes those dark scenes a “tunnel” with the centre actually being black/dark it has to do with the local dimming zones not “dimming” I suspect but theres no setting to change to fix it either. And well whatever the Quantam Dot nonsense is about I don’t see it.

 

[Space Lynx]

@R-T-B What has your experience been overall with your particular VA panel? Just curious? What brightness do you play games at btw?

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

Yep. VA is worst for gaming tbh. Smearing is worst in high contrast scenes like for example aiming down sights in ACOG or sniper rifle scopes. The image in the middle is bright comparatively to the dark/black scope body.