A professional monitor for the CAD/CAM user and digital artist
We’ve had a number of BenQ gaming-specific monitors through our doors recently, so it makes a nice change to get hold of one of the company’s higher-end professional models for testing. The BenQ BL2711U is a professional CAD-oriented, 27" UHD IPS LED panel with an abundance of features for those who demand the highest possible quality when working. As UHD (ultra high definition) signifies, this is a monitor that can happily handle resolutions up to 3840 x 2160 and, thanks to the AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle) panel, you’ll get excellent 178° viewing angles and extraordinary colour and clarity through the use of 100% sRGB and Ultra-Vivid technologies.
Native contrast is 1000:1, with a dynamic contract of 20,000,000:1; and you get the same BenQ Flicker-Free Technology and Low Blue Light modes as from the gaming range of monitors. There’s also the 10-level brightness adjustment, again from the gaming world, which can reveal a lot more detail in darker areas.
The list of features goes on though, with an ambient light sensor located under the panel in the centre of the bottom bezel to auto-adjust the brightness of the backlight, and an Eco-Sensor that will auto-reduce the brightness if it senses that there’s user in front of the screen. Furthermore there’s PiP (picture-in-picture) and PbP (picture-by-picture) modes, as well as a range of presets that offer the best possible displays for CAD/CAM, Animation, Photo and Video Editing and the aforementioned Low Blue Light mode.
Connectivity is good too, with a pair of HDMI ports (1.4 and 2.0 ports), DVI-D and DisplayPort. There’s also a USB 3.0 hub with two ports on the underside of the screen around the back, and a further two USB 3.0 ports located on the side of the screen. There’s a good sized cable tidy hole on the stand, and a headphone stand that pokes out of the back.
With this being a pitched-at-pros monitor, the ergonomics are generally far better than the average desktop or gaming equivalent (although the ergonomics on the BenQ XL range are quite impressive). To this end, the BL2711U has a 90° pivot, -5° to +20° tilt, 45° swivel and is height adjustable to 140mm, with a maximum distance of 150mm from the bottom of the screen to the base. Interestingly, with the Display Pilot Software installed, the display will auto-pivot when the physical screen is moved for the best view when either landscape or portrait.
The quality of the display is magnificent. The range of colours, clarity, and sharpness of the screen is by far one of the best we’ve ever seen. Naturally the 2K4K resolutions help with the quality of the display, but there’s a deeper colour range here than we’ve experienced on other UHD monitors before.
This is an exceptionally capable and impressive monitor. It’s ideal for CAD work, video editing or any form of digital art, and (if you want) it’s also pretty impressive when playing games at the maximum resolution. First and foremost though it’s a professional model, so it’s fairly natural that the pricing structure is slightly different. As it stands the BenQ BL2711U costs in the region of £500, but what you get is a fantastic monitor. David Hayward
An excellent UHD monitor of choice for the professional user.