ASUS PA278QV Review: 1440p IPS Monitor For Photo Editing

The ASUS ProArt PA278QV is a 27″ 1440p IPS monitor with Delta E < 2 factory calibration with 100% sRGB/Rec.709 color gamut coverage and many more useful features for professional use as well as gaming!

Image Quality

To start with, you’re getting a Quad HD resolution of 2560×1440 pixels which on the 27″ sized screen of the ASUS PA278QV results in the ideal pixel density of roughly 108 PPI pixels per inch.

With such high pixel density, you get sharp details and text as well as plenty of screen real estate – without any scaling necessary!

The monitor uses an IPS panel in order to deliver such accurate and consistent colors with 178° wide viewing angles which ensure that the picture will remain perfect regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen.

It’s factory-calibrated at Delta E < 2 with the Calman Verified certification. So, if your work involves sRGB or Rec.709 color gamut, you can rest assured that you’ll get professional-grade accuracy straight out of the box!

Other panel-related specifications include a 350-nit peak brightness, a 1,000:1 static contrast ratio and 8-bit color depth support without dithering which is as good as you can expect from an IPS panel at this price range.

Keep in mind that all IPS monitors suffer from IPS glow. It’s an expected drawback of this technology characterized as visible glowing around the corners of the screen.

The amount of IPS glow varies across different units of the monitor, but in all but the most extreme cases, it’s completely manageable by lowering the monitor’s brightness or adding ambient lighting to your room.

There’s really no way around it. Other panel types (VA and TN) may not have IPS glow, but they still suffer from backlight bleeding as do all LED back-lit monitors, and they don’t have as accurate or consistent colors as IPS.

Performance

Even though the ASUS PA278QV monitor is intended for professional use, it offers a good gaming experience!

Of course, at this price range, you could get a better higher refresh rate gaming display, but it wouldn’t have nearly as good color accuracy.

Besides, if you mostly play graphically oriented games and your FPS (Frames Per Second) rarely exceeds 75FPS, the ASUS PA278QV will be just as good for gaming as any other similarly priced display.

First of all, you get a low input lag of ~10ms which makes for imperceptible delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

Secondly, the monitor has a fast 5ms GtG pixel response time speed, so there won’t be any visible trailing behind fast-moving objects.

Lastly, the ASUS PA278QV supports Adaptive-Sync which allows you to synchronize its refresh rate with your GPU’s framerate for tear-free gaming performance between the supported 48-75Hz/FPS variable refresh rate range.

For this technology, you’ll need a compatible graphics card by AMD (FreeSync) or NVIDIA (G-SYNC Compatible).

We wish that the VRR range was a bit wider (at least 40-75Hz), but considering that it’s not a gaming monitor, any range is welcome. You can try using CRU to extend the range yourself.

Moving on, the monitor has an integrated low-blue light filter, so you don’t have to worry about eye strain or headaches caused by prolonged use of the display – given that you take regular breaks.

It uses PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) to regulate brightness below 100%, but at a very high frequency (over 1000Hz), so it won’t bother even those very sensitive to flicker. 

You’ll also find the ‘Rapid Rendering’ feature which ASUS claims simulates a high refresh rate. In order to activate it, you’ll need to disable Adaptive-Sync and set the monitor to 75Hz.

This feature uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of picture brightness, but it’s not very effective due to the monitor’s low refresh rate. So, you’ll most likely prefer it disabled.

Features

There are five hotkeys and a power button at the bottom bezel of the monitor, at the right side.

The hotkeys are used to access and navigate the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu and as shortcuts to certain features that you can assign yourself.

In the OSD menu, you’ll find several pre-calibrated picture presets (sRGB, Rec.709, Reading, Darkroom, etc) and advanced picture adjustment tools such as 6-axis hue/saturation, sharpness and five gamma modes (from 1.8 to 2.6).

Another useful feature is ‘QuickFit’ which places a virtual grid on your screen with different dimensions available including A4 and B5 document/photo layouts, a ruler on top and left side, and an alignment grid.

Other features include TraceFree (response time overdrive, recommended options: ’60’ at 75Hz and ’40’ at 60Hz), ASCR (dynamic contrast ratio, recommended: off) and VividPixel (increases sharpness, recommended option: 0). 

Design & Connectivity

The design of the ASUS ProArt PA278QV monitor includes a sturdy and versatile stand with up to 150mm height adjustment, +/- 90° pivot, +/- 90° swivel, -5°/35° tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

It has an anti-glare matte coating which eliminates reflections, but it doesn’t make the picture appear too grainy. There’s also a centimeter ruler etched along the bottom bezel of the monitor.

Connectivity options are abundant and include DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, Dual-Link DVI-D, a headphone jack, a quad-USB 3.0 hub and dual 2W integrated speakers.

Adaptive-Sync is supported over DP, mDP and HDMI for AMD cards, and over DP and mDP for NVIDIA cards.

Price & Similar Monitors

At the time of this writing, the ASUS PA278QV goes for ~$300.

There’s also a version of this monitor with a USB-C port (DP 1.2 Alt Mode and 65W Power Deliver), the ASUS PA278CV.

Moreover, there’s a 24″ variant, the ASUS PA248QV, with a 1920×1200 16:10 screen resolution and the same features, including factory calibration and design for ~$200.

We recommend the ASUS CB272K instead. It also goes for ~$300 yet offers a higher 4K UHD resolution as well as excellent factory calibration.

Visit our dedicated buyer’s guide for more photo/video editing monitors and additional information.

Conclusion

The ASUS PA278QV is an excellent 1440p monitor for color-critical work, but you can also find 4K UHD models around this price range.

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	2560×1440 (WQHD)
Panel Type	IPS
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	75Hz
Response Time	5ms (GtG)
Adaptive Sync	FreeSync (48Hz-75Hz)
Speakers	2x2W
Ports	DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, Dual-Link DVI-D
Other Ports	4x USB 3.0, Headphone Jack
Brightness	350 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio	1000:1 (static)
Colors	16.7 million (true 8-bit)
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)