UITRA HD (4K) screens have continued to drop in price as 28in 3,840x2,160 TN panels become cheaper to produce. We’ve reviewed several of these screens in recent months, but we’ve yet to see one we think is better than a high-quality, 2,560x1,440 resolution screen.
Philips’s Brilliance 288P6 seems to use a similar TN panel to equivalent-priced Ultra HD monitors, displaying near-identical characteristics. At the default settings, our calibrator reported a sRGB gamut coverage of 92.9 per cent. Most colours were well served, with bright greens and yellows looking rich, although deeper reds, blues and purples lost some of their vibrancy; the sRGB coverage rose to 95.2 per cent after calibration.
The monitor’s contrast levels of 890:1 are acceptable and in line with other budget Ultra HD panels, but don’t expect astoundingly lush images. Subtle shading in darker areas of an image is nowhere to be found, not helped by fairly bright black backlight levels of 0.33cd/m2.
The main attraction of an Ultra HD screen is the amount of onscreen space; 3,840x2,160 pixels on a 28in screen gives a huge desktop area to work with, and you don’t have to zoom in far on images to see the finest details.
Although the 288P6’s on-paper response time is 5ms, there’s a slight input lag when using a mouse. This means the screen won’t be suitable for twitchy gamers. Philips claims its SmartResponse technology can tune the monitor for gaming, creating 1ms response times. In reality, all this option does is create a harsh and unpleasant image; it does nothing to fix the slight input lag.
The stand is fully height-adjustable, and it also has a built-in turntable for swivelling. There are DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA connectors, 3.5mm in and outputs, and a four-port USB hub including two USB3 ports. You’ll only be able to get Ultra HD resolution from the DisplayPort connector and DVI port.
While Philips’s Brilliance 288P6 is a good Ultra HD screen, we prefer Iiyama’s ProLite B2888UHSU (Reviews, Shopper 322), which can display up to four external sources at once, and has more inputs. Michael Passingham
VERDICT
Philips’s Brilliance 288P6 is a competent Ultra HD monitor, but it isn’t a huge improvement over its similarly priced rivals.
SPECIFICATIONS
SCREEN SIZE 28in
RESOLUTION 3,840x2,160
SCREEN TECHNOLOGY TN
VIDEO INPUTS DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, VGA
WARRANTY Three-year collect and return