Monitor for Programming / Reading / Office stuff, very seldomly Gaming

[davebc112]

So I'm in the market for a new monitor, as the title suggests.

I'm a Computer Science student so naturally I spend quite a bit of time in front of my screen, especially due to the current quarantine. 

I currently have a Samsung SyncMaster SA450 1920x1200 and some random AOC 1920x1080 as a second screen.
Recently I've been noticing some eye strain and since I have a little money saved up and have been thinking about getting a new monitor that has a higher resolution for a while, I thought it might be a good time.

 

I mostly program, read PDFs for uni, browse the web or watch sandal-wearing tech YouTubers. I play two hours of BF4 like once a month, so gaming performance isn't really a dealbreaker at all.

I'm looking to spend 400€ or less (I live in NL, but prices here seem to be for the most part comparable to the US). Since I don't wanna do any scaling I think a 27" 1440p would be preferable to a 4k monitor. I have thought about an ultra-wide, but I think in my price range it seeems a normal 2560 x 1440 is better, especially considering I own a second monitor. I sit at a distance of 75 - 85 cm (29.5 - 33.5 in) from my screen. Ergonomics are important to me, I want height and tilt adjustment. In-built speakers are a nice-to-have, same goes for USB-hub functionality.

I've done some research, looking at some rtings lists and reading reviews, and rtings recommended the ASUS ProArt PA278QV as a budget office / programming monitor. Apparently it also has some flicker-reduction and blue light filtering, so hopefully that should reduce eye-strain?! The PA278QV is available for around 350€ on amazon.nl, which seems like a good deal and the reviews (on rtings etc.) are pretty positive. The ergonomics seem good, it has speakers and a USB-hub, so it seems like it ticks all my boxes. And the 75Hz are nice too I guess. 
I've never owned an IPS-panel, so I'm a bit worried about glow / backlight bleeding, but I might just be overthinking it. My room is neither especially dark, nor especially light and I usually keep the light on. 
 

Right now I'm really leaning towards buying the PA278QV, but I don't know much about screens. Do you think it will suit my needs well? I appreciate any suggestions.

 

TL;DR: I want a 27" 1440p monitor for productivity under 400€. Is the ASUS ProArt PA278QV a good choice for me?

[igormp]

As a Comp Eng student, I went with a 43" 4k TV. Cheap, gives me the same space as 4x 21.5" fHD displays without the bezels and can be used as a regular tv to watch netflix. I sit 50~60cm away from it, fwiw.

[davebc112]

That's certainly a possibility - but I think I'm pretty set on a "normal" size display, considering I already have a screen I want to use as a second monitor.

[davebc112]

I saw that on my local Amazon, there's a sale on the ViewSonic VP2768 for 288€, which seems like a pretty sweet deal. 

The cheapest I found the PA278QV for is 336€.

I'm not sure which one I should get. The ViewSonic is cheaper, which is nice, but I'm planning on keeping my new display for a while, so I wouldn't wanna base my decision off of saving 50€.

Does anyone have any advice? 

[Gaires]

These articles may help you.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/by-usage/programming-and-coding

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/by-usage/business-office

[davebc112]

23 minutes ago, Gaires said:

These articles may help you.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/by-usage/programming-and-coding

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/by-usage/business-office

Thanks a lot, great articles, that's where I initially found the PA278QV. 

So I thought I might just buy that one, but then I saw the ViewSonic VP2768 which also looked very good, but rtings hasn't reviewed it

I just honestly don't know that much about what makes a good monitor, which makes it difficult to decide. I do think I should buy one of those two though, either the PA278QV or the VP2768. 

Thanks for the help. 

[Gaires]

18 minutes ago, davebc112 said:

Thanks a lot, great articles, that's where I initially found the PA278QV. 

So I thought I might just buy that one, but then I saw the ViewSonic VP2768 which also looked very good, but rtings hasn't reviewed it

I just honestly don't know that much about what makes a good monitor, which makes it difficult to decide. I do think I should buy one of those two though, either the PA278QV or the VP2768. 

Thanks for the help. 

Sorry, didn't read your original post well enough. TFT Central has reviewed the Viewsonic you're thinking about, so make sure to read their article.

But what about this Dell? It is pricier at 399€, but you would get 4k resolution making the text look really nice.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/s2721qs

[davebc112]

43 minutes ago, Gaires said:

Sorry, didn't read your original post well enough. TFT Central has reviewed the Viewsonic you're thinking about, so make sure to read their article.

But what about this Dell? It is pricier at 399€, but you would get 4k resolution making the text look really nice.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/s2721qs

Thanks for the recommendation and the link to the article!

I don't really want to go 4k, I just find that text is too small for me when looking at 4k native resolution. And I don't really wanna do any OS-level scaling, since some apps don't seem to handle it well and I don't really see the point in scaling. If I do the math, 4k@125% scaling would mean an effective resolution of 3072x1728, giving me a bit more screen real estate than 2560x1440. At 27 inches that is roughly 131 PPI. From experience I know that I find anything above 125 PPI to be too small to comfortably work with, since my 14" 1920x1080 laptop is scaled at 125%, giving me an effective 126 PPI. However, I sit closer to my laptop than to the screen on my desk. I estimate that anything above ~115 PPI will be to small for me to comfortably work with on my desk. 2560x1440 comes in at a comfortable ~109 PPI. Long story short, if I bought a 4k monitor, I'd probably end up having to scale it at roughly 150% (results in 1440p), at which point I might as well buy a 1440p monitor that (I would assume) has better specs for the same price.

That's why I am pretty set on getting a 2560x1440 screen at 27".

In the review you linked (thx) one of the big things seems to be that the uniformity correction works well but "crushes the contrast ratio when enabled". I don't really know what to make of that. Do I need this feature? Is contrast more important?

So basically for me it really is between the ViewSonic VP2768 and the ASUS ProArt PA278QV. But man is it difficult to decide what to stare at for 8 hours a day for the next 5+ years. After reading the TFTcentral review, I might just be more undecided than before. They both seem to be really good. How can I tell? Unfortunately, there is no store in my area where I could look at either one of them in reality. Which one would you choose? ^^ 

Thanks a lot for the help, much appreciated.

[Gaires]

9 hours ago, davebc112 said:

In the review you linked (thx) one of the big things seems to be that the uniformity correction works well but "crushes the contrast ratio when enabled". I don't really know what to make of that. Do I need this feature? Is contrast more important?

Contrast isn't as important, but this might be. "and we found that by setting the brightness to 78% first, this turned out as ~120 cd/m² once uniformity correction was back on."

My LG is set to roughly 170 cd/m2 and during some sunny days I just have to increase the brightness level if the game has dark scene.

 

In other words, if you work with programs that have really dark background the brightness can be a problem.

[davebc112]

5 hours ago, Gaires said:

Contrast isn't as important, but this might be. "and we found that by setting the brightness to 78% first, this turned out as ~120 cd/m² once uniformity correction was back on."

My LG is set to roughly 170 cd/m2 and during some sunny days I just have to increase the brightness level if the game has dark scene.

 

In other words, if you work with programs that have really dark background the brightness can be a problem.

Thanks, this is very helpful. 

I am a dark mode user (it's just easier on my eyes) and since my window faces west / south-west there is a significant amount of sunlight - and thus glare - in the early to late afternoon, which is when I commonly do a lot of my work. 

About the Asus PA278QV, rtings says "The ASUS ProArt PA278QV's SDR peak brightness is great. It's bright enough to overcome glare in any lighting conditions and is extremely consistent across different content."

So I think I'll go with that one over the ViewSonic. 

Thanks again for your help. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by davebc112