The EX2780Q supports FreeSync Premium via DP and HDMI on compatible GPUs and systems. Featuring BenQ proprietary HDRi technology, plus 144Hz, and FreeSync, EX2780Q is to … This is the lowest level that VESA certifies for and therefore means that only a basic HDR experience is offered. We’ll therefore simply focus on a single title for this section, which as usual will be. The purple block appeared a slightly pinkish purple with a slightly stronger pink hue towards the very edges. You can also switch between HDR modes. This comes at the expense of contrast, as explored shortly. There was also some overshoot for a minority of transitions, but neither this nor the ‘powdery trailing’ impeded our enjoyment on this title. This contrasts with digital saturation enhancement (such as ‘Nvidia Digital Vibrance’ or the ‘Color Vibrance’ feature of the monitor) where shades are simply pulled closer to the edge of the gamut without the gamut itself being expanded. Monitors most commonly support the HDR10 pipeline, the most widely supported HDR standard used in HDR games and movies. We’ve also included our preferred ‘AMA’ setting and the refresh rate used in Windows, just for reference.

Ideally the monitor would support per-pixel illumination (OLED etc. We also noticed that the backlight tended to stay on to quite high levels during predominantly dark scenes. With ‘VSync off’ the frame rate is free to climb as high as the GPU will output (potentially >144fps). Brightness= 32 (according to preferences and lighting) For this section we’ll mainly focus on manual adjustments that can be made in the OSD and a small selection of the ‘Color Mode’ presets. There was a moderate amount of ‘IPS glow’, lightening up darker elements towards the bottom corners of the screen in particular. We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Darker elements such as dimly lit building interiors lacked the depth and atmosphere shown on models with much stronger static contrast, but were decent in this respect for an IPS-type panel. The backlight adjusts, as a single unit (global dimming), to changes in the levels of light and dark in the scene. Darker elements such as dimly lit building interiors lacked the depth and atmosphere shown on models with much stronger static contrast, but were decent in this respect for an IPS-type panel. These pixel transitions were slower than on some of the fastest IPS-type models, like the ViewSonic XG270QG. There was a moderate amount of ‘IPS glow’, exacerbated in places by the moderate backlight bleed on our unit as well (mileage there may vary). The colour temperature uniformity was less impressive than the brightness uniformity. Colour gamut 'Test Settings' AMD GPU

As usual, if you’re running the monitor at 2560 x 1440 and viewing 1920 x 1080 content (for example a video over the internet or a Blu-ray, using movie software) then it is the GPU and software that handles the upscaling. The stronger settings proved useful in significantly reducing blue light output from the monitor. The monitor supports 10-bits per channel colour output, as required for HDR10 content. Aside from our ‘Test Settings’ where various adjustments are made, assume factory defaults are used with the monitor running at 144Hz. The EX2780Q combines a pair of 2-watt speakers with a 5-watt subwoofer. You may still wish to run through the ClearType wizard and adjust according to preferences, however. We take this monitor for a spin, testing out many of its intriguing features and seeing how it performs in our usual suite of tests. The fairly smooth screen surface helped the brighter elements appear quite smooth without obvious graininess, whilst the consistent gamma handling avoided excessive detail for darker elements. As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor.

This more accurate use of the gamut took an edge off the saturation levels, making things appear more natural and appropriate. Colour in games and movies You will also see in the image above that it states: “Selected Display in not validated as G-SYNC Compatible.” This means Nvidia hasn’t specifically tested and validated the display, not that it doesn’t work. The bottom line; a competent all-round performer with some unique features – a good mix of colour quality and responsiveness, but the contrast experience on our unit and pricing in some regions was less impressive. Refresh rate (Windows setting)= 144Hz It’s important to remember that uniformity varies between individual units and you can also expect variation beyond the points measured.

The colour temperature uniformity was less impressive than the brightness uniformity. This was significantly weaker than at 60Hz and was only apparent for the light background. At a basic level, a mismatch between the frame rate and refresh rate can cause stuttering (VSync on) or tearing and juddering (VSync off). Any issues identified on one specific title would suggest a game or GPU driver issue rather than a monitor issue. Brief glimmers of overshoot or a very small amount of powdery trailing for a minority of transitions. The deviation between each quadrant and the quadrant closest to the 6500K (D65) daylight white point target was analysed and a DeltaE value assigned. You can see this as a bright ‘halo’ trail behind the UFOs. The Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and speaker array let you customize your experience for depth, emotion, and intensity like never before. Nonetheless, brighter shades still contrasted well against darker surroundings. This behaviour is shown in the viewing angles video deeper into the review. This reflects a moderate level of perceived blur due to eye movement. But nothing that stood out or potentially interfered with gaming enjoyment in the same way as VA pixel response weaknesses. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with Adaptive-Sync active in a variable refresh rate environment or with HDR active in an HDR environment. This requires that the frame rate comfortably exceeds the refresh rate, not just peaks slightly above it. Donations are also greatly appreciated. You can see slight shifts in colour and contrast for the mixed desktop background, particularly from sharper viewing angles.

Distinct brightness stages were apparent for the remaining blocks. It was still nice having FreeSync doing this thing, however. Responsiveness A DeltaE >3 represents significant deviation that most users could readily notice by eye. This excludes the black boxy area which hangs down another 5mm or so centrally.

From the Audio menu, you not only can control the volume or mute the sound, but you can also switch through five audio modes: Live/Pop, Cinema, Dialogue/Vocal, Game, and Rock/Party. The perceived blur was also reduced by the mechanisms explained and demonstrated earlier, due to this high frame and refresh rate combination. If you’re really interested in HDR, you’ll likely want to consider something that meets a higher DisplayHDR standard and offers clear support for popular HDR formats like HDR10 or Dolby Vision. It’s also worth noting that the panel used in this monitor has a shifted blue light energy peak from the usual 450nm to 455nm, regardless of whether LBL settings are being used or not. It also gives the monitor the potential to output all shades in the sRGB colour space (for normal SDR content) with quite a bit of extra vibrancy and saturation. Note that individual preferences and units of the same model vary, so these settings should just be considered a suggestion. The monitor was left to run for over 2 hours before readings were taken or observations made. Depending on local pricing and your own preferences for some of the unique BenQ features, we think this model is worth strong consideration. Any issues identified on one specific title would suggest a game or GPU driver issue rather than a monitor issue. It also automatically tweaks color balance and saturation, depending on the displayed content. The Lagom tests for contrast allow specific weaknesses in contrast performance to be identified. For AMD GPU users the monitor will handle the scaling by default, when gaming at non-native resolutions. Such an option does usually exist – it may be called ‘sync every frame’ or something along those lines rather than simply ‘VSync’.