ASUS VA278Q (2560 x 1440) IPS Monitor Gets Detailed

[Cristian_25H]

Earlier this week at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, ASUS showcased a brand new monitor designed for professional artists and photographers, a 27-inch model called VA278Q that features an LED backlight, an IPS panel, a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, and 178/178 degree viewing angles.

ASUS' widescreen also has a 'Smart Contrast Ratio' of 80,000,000:1, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity, a stand enabling tilt, pivot, swivel, and height adjustments, and the Splendid Video Intelligence Technology providing six pre-set modes (Theater, Scenery, Gaming, Night View, sRGB, and Standard) that 'optimize colors and image fidelity for the onscreen content'. No word yet about the price tag or availability of the VA278Q.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ZoneDymo]

Do want, but it will probably cost me an arm and a leg.

 

[imitation]

Do want, but it will probably cost me an arm and a leg.

+1'd

This will probably go head to head with the Dell, Samsung and Apple 27" LCDs, landing it in the 700-800€ range.

 

[radrok]

Just one question, why LED backlit?
LED backlighting kills the IPS hence the color accuracy of the monitor, takes a lot more time to calibrate a LED backlit one and the colors are still oversaturated even after careful calibration.
CCFL all the day on an IPS, it gives you back more realistic colors.

 

[GSG-9]

I would like to know this things refresh rate, if it breaks 60hz that would make it quite a unique product.

Just one question, why LED backlit?
LED backlighting kills the IPS hence the color accuracy of the monitor, takes a lot more time to calibrate a LED backlit one and the colors are still oversaturated even after careful calibration.
CCFL all the day on an IPS, it gives you back more realistic colors.

Can you link me to documentation about this? I would like to know more. Googles of 'led ips color accuracy' variants did not get me anything useful.

 

[radrok]

Personal experience, put a LED backlit IPS close to a CCFL backlit IPS panel (both calibrated with a colourimeter) and you'll see the difference.
The CCFL is much more photorealistic and the colour accuracy is what you'd expect from an in plane switching panel, on the other hand with the LED backlit the colors are unnatural, it's hard to explain but unnatural is the best term that comes to my mind.

 

[GSG-9]

Personal experience, put a LED backlit IPS close to a CCFL backlit IPS panel (both calibrated with a colourimeter) and you'll see the difference.
The CCFL is much more photorealistic and the colour accuracy is what you'd expect from an in plane switching panel, on the other hand with the LED backlit the colors are unnatural, it's hard to explain but unnatural is the best term that comes to my mind.

Is it possible the LED panel was not set to a neutral brightness (50%) before color calibration? That can make a huge diffrence. In any case I would like to find an article about it as monitors like these are in no way a cheep investment (and in my mind I would rather have an ips led/oled panel). I am sure they will get better with time also.

 

[radrok]

It all depends on what you are going to do with the panel, if you work with PS and do a lot of photowork as job I cannot recommend you a LED backlit panel, colors will never be as good as a CCFL because the blacks are different. It's like the LED has less levels of lighting, if you get what I mean.
If you are going to use it for gaming, browsing etc then you won't see any difference.
Also they are not a cheap investment, I paid my 3008 WFP almost 2k euros back in the day, now I got my U3011 for 1,200 euros each.

 

[GSG-9]

It all depends on what you are going to do with the panel, if you work with PS and do a lot of photowork as job I cannot recommend you a LED backlit panel, colors will never be as good as a CCFL because the blacks are different. It's like the LED has less levels of lighting, if you get what I mean.
If you are going to use it for gaming, browsing etc then you won't see any difference.
Also they are not a cheap investment, I paid my 3008 WFP almost 2k euros back in the day, now I got my U3011 for 1,200 euros each.

I do quite a bit of photo color correction but it is not required (Web Developer). My current display (home) is a SP2309W (TN Panel). I know lower end LED displays simply do not produce the color gamut/grey precision of higher end ips displays. My understanding was that this was not a technical limitation of the backlight but simply these displays were not manufactured to a higher level of precision. I don't have experience with any LEDs though. I am very happy with the Apple 27in IPS display at work, (I could never use it at home because of its damn ghosting though).

 

[imitation]

Just one question, why LED backlit?
LED backlighting kills the IPS hence the color accuracy of the monitor, takes a lot more time to calibrate a LED backlit one and the colors are still oversaturated even after careful calibration.
CCFL all the day on an IPS, it gives you back more realistic colors.

It depends on what setup they use for the LEDs. Pseudo-white (the ones sold as "white") have a high amount of blue and yellow, but not much else, and thus a very unnatural color curve: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#White_light
RGB LEDs, on the other hand, are a perfect fit for a monitor, since the wavelengths of each red, green and blue LED matches up perfectly to the corresponding colors in the LCD matrix. Most wide-gamut screen use RGBs nowadays, and produce über-natural colors and saturation.

 

[radrok]

I am very happy with the Apple 27in IPS display at work, (I could never use it at home because of its damn ghosting though).

And you are not bothered by the glossy finish? I couldn't work without a matte monitor.

It depends on what setup they use for the LEDs. Pseudo-white (the ones sold as "white") have a high amount of blue and yellow, but not much else, and thus a very unnatural color curve: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-e...de#White_light
RGB LEDs, on the other hand, are a perfect fit for a monitor, since the wavelengths of each red, green and blue LED matches up perfectly to the corresponding colors in the LCD matrix. Most wide-gamut screen use RGBs nowadays, and produce über-natural colors and saturation.

Bring me a LED backlit panel that comes close in colour accuracy to my U3011 or the Eizos and I'll gladly change my mind about LED.
For now all I know is that the one I tried was a big letdown.

 

[GSG-9]

And you are not bothered by the glossy finish? I couldn't work without a matte monitor.

It is not a current model, it is defiantly matte. It resembles this model.

After a through google it may be the 30 inch model as well, I don't see a 27 in the old Cinema style.

 

[n-ster]

it is a well known fact CCFL color accuracy > LED

 

[GSG-9]

it is a well known fact CCFL color accuracy > LED

Some of us have not kept up since LED was introduced (I was not in the market). Hence asking for any solid documentation/editorials/reviews.

 

[Wile E]

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/led_backlighting.htm

 

[Completely Bonkers]

I would love a 2k x 2k screen. No need to rotate and all the pixel density I need. Unfortunately, these BEAUTIFUL screens are air-traffic control prices and well out of my reach
http://www.eizo.pl/sites/default/files/ulotki/Raptor_SQ2801.pdf
http://www.jmsindustrial.nl/bestanden/Air Traffic Control LCD monitor.pdf
http://www.terma.com/multimedia/4628_pbl_hiakari_ARKIV.pdf

 

[Eva01Master]

Why 16:9?!!! I want a good gaming monitor 2560 x 1600 (Three of them in fact)

 

[GSG-9]

Why 16:9?!!! I want a good gaming monitor 2560 x 1600 (Three of them in fact)

You might need to grab three 7970s to match em.

 

[Eva01Master]

You might need to grab three 7970s to match em.

I know mate, I wouldn't be grabbing any AMD card but I'll build a new PC and I would like it to have Surround Vision.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Every supposedly decent IPS I've looked into has had some sort of issues. Backlight bleeding, grainy matte coatings, weird hues. They all seemed plagued with annoying issues. My TN panel, while still limited, is absolutely flawless for what it is. The best TN I've ever seen. If I'm to move to an IPS I'd need another home run like that and I don't see it happening. I think my only hope is OLED and I don't see any real timeline for their debut.

 

[Sinzia]

That resolution in a 23 to 24 inch monitor under $600 and I'd be happy.

 

[red99]

red99

Asus may ship this pre-calibrated at the factory. My 238 IPS from them was, and I believe
their 24" 16:10 IPS does also. That was the one I wanted, but was short the additional funds.

 

[Betty (Kung Pow)]

it is a well known fact CCFL color accuracy > LED

Colour Gamut - this is controlled in monitors by the properties of the colour filters of the LCD matrix, and by the backlight's radiation spectrum. You will see CCFL backlighting offering colour gamuts covering between 72% (commonly referred to as "standard gamut" / sRGB) and 102% of the NTSC reference colour space. The CCFL backlighting above 72% are commonly referred to as wide gamut, or W-CCFL / WCG-CCFL. In LED backlighting, the RGB LED format can offer really large colour gamuts with pure and saturated colours. These can cover typically >114% of the NTSC colour space, and is one of the reasons they are often employed in high end professional screens. W-LED backlighting cannot offer these extended gamuts, and on paper actually cover slightly less of the NTSC colour space than standard gamut CCFL (typically 68%). The difference is hardly detectable by the naked eye however.

As said in the link, the difference isnt detectable with the naked eye, 4% dif in the smallest case.
With rgbled it should be more in favor of leds?

 

[n-ster]

RGB LED are for 2800$ monitors...

At this price range there are monitors like : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...71W_BK_MultiSync_PA271W_BK_27_Widescreen.html

with:

Adobe RGB: 97.1 (Coverage), 107.2% (Size)
NTSC: 92.6% (Coverage), 102.5% (Size)
sRGB: 100% (Coverage), 144.7% (Size)

Simple sRGB is only 72% NTSC. That is over a 20% difference and is night and day for people who actually need this type of monitor. Likely the difference is slightly less but if you look at the Dell U2711 @ 110% NTSC Typical (don't ask me if that's an inflated # or not) it seems that there is a significant difference...

Even the Dell U2711, which can be found on special in the 6XX $ sometimes, has:

110% NTSC typical , 100% sRGB, 96% Adobe RGB


This makes a world of difference

The only time you will see a 4% difference is with standard TN monitors, hence why LED is starting to become the main backlight in the lower end market