BenQ PD2730S 27 5K 218 PPI Mac Monitor 90W Thunderbolt 4 98 P3 Uniformity 2000 1 Contrast Nano

TL/DR: Amazing monitor. Great picture, Great Features. HotKey Puck - the accessory I didn't know I needed, but can't live without! Wish it had 1 or 2 more USB ports & Ethernet port. I shopped for a monitor for months. I have used dual 27" monitors for at least a decade. I've recently started to have trouble with vision - more than just my eyes getting old, but they are too. I thought getting a slightly larger monitor would be nice. Then my docking station for 2 laptops (built-in KVM) started to fail - and it had been discontinued and there were no replacements available. I had 2 choices, buy 2 docks, plus a KVM and all of the extra cables, or reevaluate my entire setup and consider a monitor with a built-in KVM. Frankly, it was a really tough decision. Lots of monitors with built-in KVM - not many that also have daisy-chain capability. And without daisy-chain capability, I'm back to needing 2 laptop docks and all the cables that would require. This monitor from BenQ was the only one that also let me take advantage of the Thunderbolt connection on my laptop. Another key requirement was 4K resolution capability. The Good: The picture quality is really good and the features are fantastic. The display is plenty bright, without being too bright. It is flicker-free and has settings to minimize blue light. The color calibration is far more than I need. All the various color settings and features are interesting and cool. I don't really use them but did find them interesting enough to check out. There is also a boatload of software that you can download, including eye care software that reminds you periodically to look away from the monitor etc. All good things to help preserve eye health. The Freakin' AWESOME The most exciting feature of the monitor is the hot-key puck. With other monitors that have a built-in KVM switch, the switch to changing computers is usually on the monitor itself - not always convenient or easy to reach. The hot-key puck has a 3–4-foot cord and allows you to navigate the on-screen menu without needing to reach the monitor. You can even customize the buttons (hotkeys). This handy-dandy device allows me to change the computer with a click of a button on the hot-key puck. While the cord is plenty long to be within reach without stretching, I do wish it was a tad bit longer or could use an extension cable, so that I could run the cord under my desk to minimize cord clutter. But that's a really petty complaint for a spectacular feature. The monitor stand is an outstanding feature with a well-thought design. The stand has quite a bit of heft to it - it's downright heavy. It has a flat plate that sits on the desk. It's suitable to place any number of small items you want to place below your monitor. It's almost large enough for my 13" Ultrabook to set on top of, but not quite. The monitor connects to the stand with a quick-release type of connection giving the back of the monitor a very finished look. Putting it together is a one-person job. The meh There is a single headphone jack on the side of the monitor. I made sure to get a right-angle plug to minimize the impact on the monitor alignment on my dual-monitor setup. Most of the connections are on the back of the monitor but facing upward - meaning it's impossible to see the connections with the monitor standing upright. It is much easier to plug everything in, then attach the monitor to the stand. I keep my user guide handy so that I can find the connection diagram if I need to unplug or reconnect anything. The Could-Be-Betters There is no ethernet port. You can certainly use one of those ethernet-to-USB adapters and plug that into a USB port. I found that to be slower than when I plugged the ethernet adapter directly into my laptop. It also uses a USB port. Which leads to.... There are only 4 USB 3.1 ports (3 USB-A, 1 USB-C) for peripherals. 2 of these ports (1 USB-A & 1 USB-C) are on the side of the monitor. Those are easy to reach, but when in use, they prevent smooth alignment with another monitor for multi-monitor set-ups. 4 USB ports are typical of many, if not most, KVM switches, but fewer than I need. I have a USB hub connected to one of the ports on my monitor. I do wish that there were an option for a monitor arm that was compatible with the quick-release feature. It is so easy for one person to attach, and it looks very finished. (One of the new BenQ monitors has an arm like another brand's arm that does fit. I haven't tried the other brand's arm long-term because there isn't enough room for all the cables with the monitor's KVM switch). I do wish that the new BenQ monitor arm was compatible and available to purchase without the new monitor. I would buy it in a second. Prior to researching for a new monitor, I had never heard of BenQ. Given my experience with this product though, they have moved to the top of my list for future monitor purchases. Read more

The PD3220U is ideal for digital work, as BenQ is notably silent on its Adobe RGB performance but boasts its P3 performance. It's also an improved monitor over the PD3200U. It may lack variable refresh rates making it not gaming-focused. Outside that particular omission, it has just about everything else you'd want: puck adjuster for controls, USB3.1c, KVM switch, multiple inputs, ability to hot-swap color profiles, and even display profiles two at once. It's relatively performant, besting the other displays at this size. The best comparison of the displays I tried was a Dell U3219Q when I purchased it was $850, but now it is roughly half the price. In pretty much every measurable way, the BenQ is a better display (sans perhaps cost-to-performance). It works great my MacBook Pro and Mac Pro (although under 10.13.6 with an NVidia GPU, it was registering as a 6k display, whereas my AMD Vega 56 reported it correctly). The only real complaints are the viewing angle could be a hair wider, but at the size, this is always going to be the cause. Color shift is pretty minimal. The finish can be mildly glare reflective in direct sunlight as its not a full matte. There's the smallest of edge shadow due to the ultra-thin bezel at the bottom edge, least pronounced of the four 32 inch 4k displays I've tried. The black uniformity is the best I've ever seen in a 32-inch display, which is just flatly ok. When the monitor is totally dark, you can see a bit of unevenness. Also, there are no backlighting zones. It gets dark; it's not like my aging plasma screen's ability to produce deep blacks. As a daily driver, though, this is an excellent display and better than most. The wide gamut is especially felt when working with Adobe RGB profiled images and RAW photos. The P3 covers Rec BT 709 (very similar to sRGB) but lacks in the greens compared to Rec BT2020, which is well beyond any current displays sans very expensive high-end color grading displays. Embracing P3 as the wide gamut standard, which covers roughly 45% of the colors the human eye can see (it's nowhere near Rec BT2020 covers 75%), is a good move as it is similar to Adobe RGB in colors covered. Basically, downloading test 10bit vs. 8bit footage is notable as gradient banding pretty much nonexistent whereas 8 bit footage you can see the banding. I don't live or die by color accuracy, but it is nice when doing UI work. There's also a few eye-strain technologies tossed in, do they work? Unsure doesn't seem to affect my eyes. Also, the charging isn't quite enough for the 15 inch MacBook. Lastly, the UI for a display is well above average. There are two quick profile color swaps, and brightness is super easy to adjust. Pros: True 10 bit, not FRC. Wide color gamut and covers 96% of P3 Easy to use UI and fast Multicolor profiles come included Didn't need to set up any color adjustments Despite the wide amount of features, sanely implemented Very low color shift. Fantastic pre-calibration. USB 3.1c More inputs than I'll ever need. Colorwise matches my MacBook 2017 The so-so: Matte isn't totally light sheeting. Viewing angles are pretty good but shy of smaller displays. Wattage is a bit low for 15 inch MacBooks running CPU intensive tasks, meaning still probably gotta use a power cable. GeForce 1060 thought the display was 6k under MacOS 10.13.6. No FRC, but MacOS doesn't support it. Slim bevels. Stand works nicely, no buttons or levels. Bad: Backlighting could be more uniform Blacks look really good but still not as dark as my old plasma TV Somewhat pricey Internal speakers aren't any better than a Macbook's. Why bother? Wishlist: I wish this was 5k or 6k; the size is fantastic. 60+ Hz would be nice. Zoned backlighting for larger light/dark /edit update: Well covid hit and now this my main work display, and because of its input switching and ability to charge my laptop, has become even more valuable. I have a Thunderbolt 3 dock but this effectively eliminates the need. One cable connects me to my speakers, two displays and speakers, which are shared with my 2010 Mac Pro. Read more