Asus VE278Q 27-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor with Integrated Speakers..
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251 of 256 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing Visual Fidelity
By Tyler M. P.
I've been shopping around for a new monitor for quite some time. I always do my research before making a purchase, and it was no different with this monitor.
Having been a past ASUS component owner who is impressed with the quality and innovation in their products, I ended up searching around for quite a while only to come back to them.
I started out with quite a list of features I was looking for in a monitor, and I wasn't sure I could find any monitor that could satisfy the list of essential features. But then I found the VE278Q.
The monitor has everything I wanted in a top of the line monitor, and it delivers in every way exceptionally well. I'll do a pros and cons list first, then round this out with more info:
PROS:
+Excellent color quality - very rich and accurate color when calibrated.
+Super fast - no ghosting.
+Even lighting - no backlight bleeding.
+Wide range of input options, and audio options.
+Very bright, instant on with no warm up time, and outstanding contrast.
+Solid range of adjustments, video modes, and display capabilities.
+Anti-glare coating removes nearly all glare.
+Price is low for such quality monitor.
+No dead pixels.
+Very good max viewing angles with minimal color distortion
+Decent internal speakers that don't waste visible space if you don't need them.
CONS:
-I can't really think of any
RATING:
VALUE: 10
FEATURES: 10
SETTINGS: 9
QUALITY: 10
DESIGN: 10
OVERALL: 9.8
ADDITIONAL INFO:
**** Input options:
HDMI, Display Port, DVI, and RGB inputs - an outstanding range of input options. It also has a stereo audio input that will output sound from the internal speakers, which I might add aren't half bad for a display thats so thin. They don't have much distortion even at max volume (which is pleasingly loud), and thanks to internal Bass and Treble settings you can make them sound pretty good, though still not as good as a dedicated desktop system. I didn't expect much from them, but I was surprised. There is also a line out jack that works wonders for HDMI content. I currently have audio coming from my PS3 (along with 1080P video) in a different room through an HDMI splitter into this monitor, going out the line out on the monitor and into the line in on my PC, which then outputs the sound to my high quality desktop speakers that are connected to my PC (this lets me share audio between the two). The way it handles HDMI audio is a truly outstanding bonus, and it really made this monitor far more useful to me as a secondary display for my other HDMI entertainment devices.
**** Video options:
The display features customizable "Splendid" picture modes (5 total, with sRGB being raw, and non-configurable), sharpness adjustment, "Trace Free" which attempts to remove any additional ghosting as far as I can tell, and ASCR (ASUS Super Contrast Ratio) which is available as an option for all display modes except sRGB and "Standard", and AI Light which adjusts the back light to a balanced level with the room lighting.
Of those options I use the following settings. I set Sharpness down from 50 to 40 to give the display a nice smooth look for reading text, and it works very well, since the display is otherwise one of the sharpest I have seen. I set "Trace Free" to 0, since with a 2ms response time, ghosting is essentially nonexistent (this monitor is fast!). I leave ASCR on, since it really does do an amazing thing for gaming - the display can literally go pitch black when a dark scene is on the screen, and then within 1-2 seconds ramp up to eye burning max brightness when needed. AI Light works great, but it should be noted that it is only available when ASCR is disabled, since both cause adjustment of the LED lighting.
The monitor has no gamma adjustment, but it does feature custom color temperature settings with an R/G/B adjustment menu along with some presets (Cool/Normal/Warm). My current settings for R/G/B are R: 83, G: 76, B: 69 to make it match the calibrated output tone of my top of the line theater projector. I set color to 43 for all modes to prevent clipping, and contrast to 67 to keep color tone balance consistent across the entire grayscale, and again prevent clipping. It looks very, very nice with a bit of adjustment. Uncharacteristically warm for an LCD, in a good way. I've always been a fan of the warm, smooth, fast look of CRT's. This monitor is the first one I've seen that I could say matches and exceeds all of those characteristics.
**** More features:
Picture in picture works excellent, allowing you to move the smaller image window and change its size. You can have picture in picture from one of the other inputs that you aren't currently using as a primary for the entire screen. Audio tone adjustments allow you to make audio from the internal speakers sound pretty great for internal speakers in my opinion, and if nothing else they give you some freedom to tweak the sound coming from your HDMI line thats coming out to your speakers or headphones. The buttons on the bottom of the display are hidden well, which I like, and offer quick access to PIP, backlight brightness, speaker volume, input, and Splendid modes. Overall I love the ease of access and the audio/video features of this monitor. Its uncommon to find many of these features in a PC oriented display.
**** Design/quality:
The design of the monitor is very nice. I love that the screen is antiglare, and the entire monitor is glossy. It really makes the image look raw and undisturbed in contrast to the glossy exterior. Its great. The backlighting is extremely bright if you want it to be, instantly lit with no warm up, has a very neutral color tone (I expected the typical LED blue hue), and lights the screen very evenly without any bleeding at the edges. It also makes little to no heat, no hum, and shouldn't dim over time like traditional CCFL panels. The display controls are hidden pretty well, but are easy to access when needed. The speakers output audio from grills on the top of the monitor, and sound pretty decent. The AI Light sensor sits at the top of the monitor between the two speakers. The base is very sturdy and actually looks pretty nice. It has as much tilt range as I've found myself needing. The monitor has well placed 100mm x 100mm VESA mount holes as well, which I plan to utilize very soon.
OTHER NOTES:
+Gamma was hard to pin down to 2.2, since out of the box it sits at about 1.8 (This could be related to my default ICC profile, as there is no driver disk with the monitor).
+Yellow push was visible in skin tones out of the box, though there is a skin tone setting to adjust around this a bit (This could also be related to my monitor ICC profile).
+I loved this monitor so much that as soon as I used it for a week, I purchased a second one. If there are noticeable differences between both monitors I will make note of it here.
UPDATE - December 9th, 2010:
As noted above, I have returned to report if there were any differences between the first VE278Q and the second one that just arrived today. I'm very pleased to say that they are visibly identical in all but completely black scenes (there is a slightly different spread on the back lighting between them). The color tone is within 100K of the original at the same settings. There are again, no dead/stuck pixels or sub pixels. Call me impressed. With extended desktop between these two identical monitors, I now have an outstanding work station. Hope this review helps others! If Amazon gets some more of these in, I may get one more for my other desktop - these are too good to pass up.
77 of 78 people found the following review helpful.
Best Choice For Me
By Phil Rosenbach
This is the third monitor I have used with my new computer, which was purchased in late November, 2012. I confess, that at best, I'm a simple man and not a techie, so I wanted a good monitor for my simple means. I use Photoshop, read and create a lot of documents, play some games, and watch YouTube, as well as the occasional DVD on this computer. For these uses, this monitor ranks far above what I really need, but at least by having this now, I have some room to grow with as my needs change. Granted, I don't know enough to be as nit picky as some people are, but I can attest to this, based on the other two monitors I tested, this has so far proved to be a solid, superior monitor.
PROS:
It has a 2ms response time. This pretty much eliminates blur on fast action videos and games. BUT, you need to have a fast graphics card as well for fast response time.
The screen is matte / non-glare. This was crucial for my needs.
My eyesight isn't all that great even with my glasses, but I can say that this monitor is very crisp and clear. I no longer have to hunch forward to read fuzzy lettering.
It has various inputs, VGA, DVI, HDMI, so this will work with older computers, as well as the newest ones.
There is an option for the monitor's photo sensor to recognize the light of the room, and adjust itself accordingly. Note: This option has to be selected in the menu.
This monitor allows for Picture In Picture. I don't have a use for it, but some of you may desire this feature.
The cords can be routed through the arm of the base which will make everything look more tidy.
It has a VESA mount, so if you want to attach an upgraded monitor stand or wall mount, you can.
It arrived in perfect condition. No dead pixels, no scratches, no worries.
IT HAS A 3 YEAR WARRANTY! This was a high sell point for me.
CONS:
The menu for adjusting the screen is less than helpful, but some trial and error will eventually get you to change the settings if you need to. Personally, I just had to turn down the brightness, and that was good enough for me.
It does NOT come with a manual or an installation CD. Sometimes the CD will include the manual, but again, you don't even get the disc. However, you can download the manual from their website. After doing so, the only useful thing I got out of that was learning how to navigate through the menu buttons.
MY BOTTOM LINE: In my humble opinion, I have to say that this monitor is of superb quality to the average / above average consumer. As I said before, this was the third monitor for my computer, and it would seem that 3rd time was the charm.
Thank you for reading this review, and I hope it was of help to you. If so, please click the "YES" tab so that Amazon and I will know that at least I did something which was of use to someone else. And if you have any additional questions, feel free to ask me. I don't know much, but what I do know I'll be happy to share with others.
110 of 118 people found the following review helpful.
Great except for DisplayPort
By djdanlib
PROS:
* Looks fantastic on my desk. Big black glossy frame with a tame ASUS logo, and the lighted power button is stashed away where it's not obnoxious.
* Very crisp and bright.
* Very low power use due to LED backlight.
* The refresh time is excellent - no ghosting.
* sRGB mode looks great.
* PIP is excellent. PIP is essential for a system builder / troubleshooter - put your BIOS on the one PC in the PIP display, and research your settings on the other PC. You just can't understand how useful that is until you've tried it.
* Matte finish on the display panel is excellent, and you can use it in the daytime if you have a window next to your desk.
* Many connections! It has HDMI, DVI and VGA ports that work great, and a headphone jack.
* Actual buttons protrude from the bottom lined up with tiny white icons on the front make the UI easy to use.
CONS:
* This is the big one but if you're not using DisplayPort, ignore it and consider this monitor at least a 4/5. When you use the DisplayPort connection, which you will probably use if you have an ATI Radeon 6xxx series card, you have to cut the signal first before powering off. That means you need to wait for your PC to power off before you power off the monitor. If you don't do this, the power button LED will turn violet / purple (which is not acknowledged as a state that it can enter in the manual) and you will no longer be able to turn the display back on. To resolve the problem, you have to disconnect the DisplayPort cable and the power cable, wait a few seconds, reconnect the power cable, turn the monitor on, and then reconnect the DisplayPort cable. This is a major hassle.
* The stand it comes with is a little weedy. Specifically, it doesn't hold up well to the trains that rumble by my apartment complex. It wobbles side-to-side pretty fiercely. Granted, a large CRT monitor wobbles a little bit, but not nearly this much. It takes a second to stop moving if you adjust it. You can use a VESA mount, though.
* Does not come with a DisplayPort cable. Cheap ones are what, $10? They could have thrown one in there if they were going to advertise the DisplayPort connectivity in the top 5 bullet points.
* PIP has an odd restriction on which ports you can use simultaneously.
* This is a TN panel, not IPS. This becomes a problem at large sizes because when you sit centered at arms' length in front of it, you can sort of see "negative black" towards the sides. Any other large TN panel would have this problem too, so it's not counting against the score. If you're used to a laptop you probably won't care about this because you're used to it by now.
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