Choosing the right monitor for your specific needs can be difficult. Manufacturers have churned out countless models, and every second promises excellent color reproduction, responsiveness, versatility and so on. Do you have to believe the big claims? Not always. For designers, photographers and video editors there are extremely expensive professional devices on the market, but they also have their drawbacks – such monitors are great for their main function, but due to their narrow focus are not very suitable for regular home use, watching movies and playing games.
Today we are testing something in between, the golden mean between the giant pro-displays and high-quality home panels: 27-inch monitor iiyama ProLite XB2776QS, which copes well with the transfer of accurate color, while not striving to occupy the entire desktop and allows you to do anything, not just work matters. All this is due to the AH-IPS matrix with higher resolution and numerous advanced technologies typical for Japanese manufacturers’ products. But first things first.
Shipping package, design
The monitor is sold in a massive cardboard box weighing about ten kilos. Let’s say at once that it’s better to move from the store by cab – you can’t take the device in public transport without a nervous breakdown. Inside the box is the monitor itself, securely wrapped in foam and polyurethane cloths, a user manual, a separate sheet of paper with safety guidelines, as well as D-Sub, audio, DVI-D, network cables, a detached stand and a couple of screws. Everything is quite standard, the only thing missing is an HDMI cable – for some reason manufacturers can’t learn how to attach it by default.
We get the device and on the way we notice how heavy it is the technical specifications say its 8,8 kg, not amateurish at all , put it on the stand and connect power cable.
We found out straight away that the ProLite XB2776QS can hardly be called stylish. Again, in terms of aesthetics, it’s somewhere in the middle between NEC’s cube-like professional panels and inexpensive but beautiful home devices. We are looking at a quite austere monitor with slightly rounded corners and matte black paint. No fingerprints are left on the cabinet, but dust accumulates. However, we don’t know if this is a revelation – all hardware collects dust without exception.
The monitor is much more compact compared to the professional models. Of course it takes much more space than simple home monitors – the display unit is only 5.5 cm thick and it’s because of more complex, power-consuming matrix. Altogether together with the stand the panel will occupy 25 cm in depth and 64.4 cm in length.
Speaking of the stand. The ProLite XB2776QS uses a universal stand that allows you to change the height, tilt angle and rotation of the panel. If you want the monitor may be set in vertical position – so it is much more convenient to edit long Excel-tables and large text documents. Besides, this mode is useful for those who have to make magazine pages for work. The stand is easy to detach, without it the panel can be hung directly on the wall using VESA-compliant mounts.
All ProLite XB2776QS functions are controlled via the buttons located on the bottom right corner of the housing. A button for automatic adjustment the monitor searches for the signal source and sets the necessary parameters , a button to enter the menu, buttons to navigate through menu items, as well as the power button. All of them press with a certain, but quite comfortable force and allow you to quickly find and adjust the desired parameter. Ready for operation or going to sleep mode is indicated by an indicator on the right side of the control unit – it can glow in different colors without distracting at all.
A set of four ports are available for connection to computers and notebooks: HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI-D and the classic D-Sub. In addition, the case has a headphone jack, as well as a port for the audio input to the built-in 1.5 watt stereo speakers.
Display, in operation
Now we get to the heart of the matter – the ProLite XB2776QS Performance. The monitor uses a 27-inch matrix based on AH-IPS technology. The prefix “AH” means Advanced High Performance, it is a logical continuation and development of the classic IPS technologies, which have always been famous for the most honest color reproduction and the correct contrast. New technologies allow to substantially reduce the monitor’s price while maintaining the necessary quality.
The panel works in QHD resolution 2560×1440 pixels – 50% higher than the known Full HD. Accordingly, the display holds much more information. Here you can comfortably place the panel Adobe Photoshop, open a browser with the necessary bookmarks, instant messengers to your liking, and even so there will be a little space for a minimized music player. The resolution looks very good with the chosen diagonal – the elements are still readable, the text does not have to be scaled additionally, while individual dots are not visible at all if you sit at least 45 centimeters away from the display.
AH-IPS type matrix knows the deal – the picture remains readable at any viewing angle true 178/178 degrees horizontally and vertically . Colors do not change in any way, contrast does not decrease. An honest response time of 5 ms is enough even for the fastest video, be it games or Hollywood action movies – the picture doesn’t blur, it remains sharp and pleasing to the eye. To some extent the Overdrive technology improves dynamic pictures. But even when you turn it off, the joy does not disappear.
Contrastrastrast reserves are sufficient for all lighting conditions.
The initial value of 1000 : 1 is successfully “accelerated” by the dynamic contrast ratio ACR up to 5 000 000 : 1. Adjust the LED backlight depending on the picture you want to see. The function works perfectly with photos, games and movies.
The monitor is suitable for working with color right out of the box. The most professional users, of course, still can not do without their color calibrators, but for ordinary people the original ProLite XB2776QS will be above their heads.
Ah yes, the built-in speakers. Recall that there are 1.5 watt stereo speakers. Expect from them to detail the lower and upper frequencies would be stupid – first of all they are designed for the sounds of the operating system, Internet radio, conversations on Skype and other not too demanding tasks. They do what they do best, and that’s all we ask of them.
Conclusions
The ProLite XB2776QS LCD monitor can be recommended to those beginners and actively practicing designers, photographers, video editors, who do not yet need the features of expensive professional models, but the capabilities of typical models are not enough. The novelty copes very well with color display, does not take too much space, not too warm on hot summer days. And the price remains in an affordable range.
Can someone provide insights on the specific features and performance of the iiyama ProLite XB2776QS monitor that make it suitable for novice and practicing designers, photographers, and video editors?