Unpacking and Set-Up
This all-professional 27” monitor from ASUS ProArt line comes in a relatively small and very light box. A reminder that gone are the days of pro screens that used to need two people to manage the installation. This unit comes in three parts that are very easy to put together. The square baseplate, the vertical upright tube (with that contemporary cable management hole that looks great, until you actually use it for cable management!), and the VESA-attached screen. It includes the power cord, and USB-C cable.
Care needs to be taken when hand-screwing the post to the base. And better instructions would have helped me when attaching the VESA screen to the post. But regardless, it went from box to desktop in under ten minutes. The VESA connection will also allow the screen to connect with other stands, arms or wall units.
Looking at the Hardware
Though nicely designed, the monitor itself is made from mostly basic plastic construction.
The stand is also nice, with a contemporary look, but not without a few issues. One being that it is a bit more wobbly when touched than I’d prefer, mostly due to its lack of heft.
The second issue is that while the unit allows a decent level of customizing, it’s perhaps a bit shorter in height than it should be, ranging from just 16” in total height, up to a hair over 21”. The problem here seems to be that it was designed to be used at a desk where the keyboard/mouse resides on a lower level, like an under-desk drawer. If my desk had that, I would need to lower my chair by 2-3 inches, and my head would be more aligned with the central area of the screen. Rather than the upper edges it does now. And I am not tall, so this might be an issue for those over 6 foot.
Color Accuracy and Gamut
As ASUS states, the monitor indeed covers 100% of the sRGB colour gamut. Though the Spyder found it covers only 91% of the AdobeRGB gamut. We left the gamma set to its default at 2.2, and the Spyder says it’s 2.1, which is close enough for us.
We shot the full 48-colour stress test at the screen, looking to see how close it can reproduce everything from vibrant colours to subtle pastels. And while the resulting raw data shows delta shifts as high as 2, this is actually very accurate. Most of the colours were much better (zero would be perfect).
Luminance Uniformity
The only place where this screen fell short was in its “Luminance Uniformity”, which showed a larger variation in brightness across the screen than we would like to see. We re-ran this test two more times, all with the same results. While this is not evident when looking at the screen, we feel it should have tighter tolerances.
Bottom Line
While it may fall somewhat short of perfection, we are dealing in the rarefied world of very high-quality monitors. And it is probably important to remind everyone that this particular monitor is selling for as little as half that of its intended competitors.
The only other small complaint, which is no fault of the monitor, is that 27” screens are starting to feel a bit small today. If you feel the same way, then remember you are trading a bit of size for quality. And we can easily remedy this by adding a cheap second screen to put application pallets and tools on.
FAQs
Q: Is this monitor suitable for graphic artists?
A: Yes, this monitor is designed for graphic artists and content creators who require high-quality color accuracy and a wide color gamut.
Q: Does it support HDR?
A: Yes, the monitor supports HDR10 and VESA DisplayHDR 500.
Q: Is the monitor easy to set up?
A: Yes, the monitor is easy to set up and comes with a simple and intuitive design.
Q: Is the monitor suitable for gaming?
A: No, this monitor is not designed for gaming and has a lower refresh rate compared to gaming monitors.
Q: Is the monitor compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux?
A: Yes, the monitor is fully compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems.
