For 25 years I made my living as a graphic designer. A portion of that was old school using paste-up
and a drawing table. I transitioned to
digital, which I preferred.
For an additional 11 years I taught graphic design at a
local high school.
Computers and software come and go. They’re pretty much the same just more
complicated and sophisticated and with more bells and whistles as the years
pass.
To me the most important component of a computer set-up
is the monitor.
A monitor can make or break any design work. It is vitally important that color
saturation, proper contrast, lighting, detail in images and especially black intensity
are spot on.
BenQ’shttp://www.benq.us/ new ‘EW277HDR Monitor’ does it all. More on that later.
First things first.
The monitor comes expertly packaged in a large heavy cardboard box
inserted with two Styrofoam content cradles.
The screen and components come in two separate panels. Parts and screen are snuggly and securely fit
into the panels with additional foam sheathing protecting individual
parts. It’s one tough shipping unit.
Besides the screen the box contains a two-part power
cord, an HDMI cable and a fully adjustable two-part stand.
Set was snap using the illustrated instruction sheet. A driver and digital user’s manual disc is
also included.
Within a few minutes I had the monitor hooked up to my
Windows 7 computer. One push of the power button and I was in business.
Several ports are available on the monitor for VGA and
HDMI. Built-in, high intensity,
integrated 2WX2 speakers allow for crystal clear audio when watching videos,
online content and even when listening to online music.
On the majority of monitors color, contrast and lighting
controls are rudimentary at best. With
the EW277HDR Monitor each is taken to the highest level of control.
Picture modes include Standard, HDR, Low Blue Light,
Game, Photo, SRGB, Rec. 709, ECO, M-book and User. All are vitally important settings if you do design
work like myself, watch videos or game.
By having pre-set lighting conditions it makes it far
easier to adjust and compensate for natural light. I find this especially helpful when designing
artwork. Proper presentation and color sharpness
and intensity often determine if a project looks correct once printed or
displayed online and through social media channels.
The monitor’s large screen provides an ideal work area for design
projects, offers gamers a wide scenario for gaming environments and video or
movies or TV shows (both on DVD and streaming) virtually pop with color, white
and black intensity and clarity.
Luminance is bumped up an impressive 33% and the Brightness
Enhancement Mode simulates high resolution by boosting pixel intensity.
In layman’s terms it simply means the color, details and experience
overall is improved significantly.
Other monitor features include Low Blue Light selection
for Web, Office, etc, input selection, full picture manual lighting
adjustments, Picture Advance settings for maximum control, display capabilities
for screen adjustments, Audio controls and System controls for input keys,
screen settings and other adjustments.
The EW277HDR Monitor gives you complete control of every
aspect of viewing from lighting, to screen position, audio, contrast and
more. Each control allows designers, gamers,
DVD enthusiasts, online video audiences and anyone, regardless how they use their
computer, complete control of what they see.
BenQ’s Eye-Care and Brightness Intelligence Plus Technology
ensures hours spent in front of the 27-inch EW277HDR Monitor are healthy, easy on the
eyes and productive.
While I was designing and teaching I would have loved to
have had a EW277HDR Monitor. The ease of
use, easy to understand function menus, quick and accurate pre-set adjustments,
color and detail provided, height and angle adjustments and large screen make
for a very enjoyable experience.
I highly recommend the EW277HDR Monitor to anyone in the graphic
design profession, into gaming, video viewing and day-to-day office or home use
to purchase it.