On Monday, BenQ introduced the PD2500Q desktop monitor for professionals. It’s another Technicolor color-certified solution promising pure and accurate on-screen colors during the video post-production process. Technicolor first launched this certification program in June 2013, which pushes products through “a gauntlet of tests” to ensure that video editors see the actual colors they will get in the finished product.
“Certification testing includes measuring critical color parameters such as gamut, gamma, white point, and target color accuracy,” Technicolor states. “Once a device passes all of the test criteria, that model is awarded Technicolor Color Certification.”
BenQ’s latest certified monitor supports 100 percent of the sRGB and Rec. 709 color spaces. It also includes three specialized modes to meet the needs of architects (CAD/CAM), designers (Animation), and photo/video editors (Darkroom). For instance, the Darkroom Mode is optimized for image brightness and contrast while the CAD/CAM Mode sharpens lines and shapes.
Here are the hardware specs:
| Screen size: | 25 inches |
| Panel type: | IPS |
| Backlight type: | LED |
| Resolution: | 2,560 × 1,440 |
| Brightness (typical): | 350 nits |
| Contrast ratio (native): | 1,000:1 |
| Response time: | 14ms, 4ms GtG |
| Display color amount: | 16.7 million |
| Color depth: | 8-bit |
| Color spaces: | Rec. 709 100-percent sRGB 100-percent |
| Viewing angles: | 178 degrees |
| Audio: | 2x two-watt speakers |
| Ports: | 1 HDMI 1 DisplayPort 1 Mini DisplayPort 1 Headphone jack 1 Audio line in/out 1 USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A |
As the specs show, the monitor relies on a panel based on In-Plane Switching technology. This display tech is best known for its rich colors and wide viewing angles. Meanwhile, the older Twisted Nematic (TN) technology still used in many desktop monitors today provides faster response times and brighter screens. However, the specs of BenQ’s latest designer monitor shows that it has a very bright screen despite the color-focused technology.
What is surprising is that this panel is missing support for the Adobe RGB color space, indicating that users of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator might want to look elsewhere. As the Technicolor certification implies, BenQ’s new monitor seems more in tune with video production and animation for high-resolution color-accurate results.
Of course, what is a BenQ display without proprietary features? The new panel comes packed with Flicker-Free Technology to smooth out the panel’s refresh rate and reduce flicker, Melatonin-preserving Low Blue Light technology, and Brightness Intelligence Technology. This latter feature does not make the user smarter, but simply monitors the surrounding ambient light and adjusts the brightness and contrast accordingly.
“Ideal for dual-monitor usage in creative environments, PD2500Q’s edge-to-edge ultra slim bezels maximize workspaces with minimal footprint, and its 90-degree pivoting, height-adjustable stand enhances display productivity and versatility,” the company said.
That dual-monitor environment is backed by the panel’s support for Multi-Stream Transport (MST) for daisy-chaining multiple PD2500Q panels together. The monitor’s base provides several unique ways to customize a multi-monitor setup too including a height adjustment of up to 130mm, and a panel rotation of 90 degrees to provide a viewing space 25-inches tall.
The pricing and availability of BenQ’s PD2500Q panel are unknown for now, but a larger 27-inch version (PD2700Q) is already available now for $399.
