ASUS PB278Q 1440p IPS (PLS Panel)

http://www.amazon.com/Series-PB278Q...e=UTF8&qid=1351030612&sr=8-5&keywords=u2713hm

Item under review by amazon:

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

May be they will give a nice discount for keeping it :)

Hah! I wouldn't complain if they gave us an added discount. I got mine through Amazon as well. Shipping was peachy though, as I finally tried out the Amazon Prime trial to get it in 2 days.

I think they're just running into the issue of over-informed, highly picky customers. :p
 
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http://www.amazon.com/Series-PB278Q...e=UTF8&qid=1351030612&sr=8-5&keywords=u2713hm

Item under review by amazon:

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

May be they will give a nice discount for keeping it :)

So what does that mean in the end? I purchased from Amazon also.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
God knows, may be they are getting a batch with less issues? Atleast that's what I am hoping for, or if they had too many returns, they may stop selling it outright....which would be strange since Amazon currently sells all of the other Asus P series monitors, every single one of them, directly.
 
Asus P278Q has a cycling frequency of ~240Hz. Does anybody know what's S27A850D frequency?
 
Samsung 850D for PWM sensitive people...
Asus 278Q for those who aren't sensitive

Your reviews are great. It's only one thing missing. PWM frequency. It would great and helpfull for people who suffer from PWMm if you could make the PWM frequency test. TFT Central said that it was 240 for Asus. I would like to know to Samsung S27A850D and also for Asus VG23AH. You would be the king if you could test it. I guess that PWM is the only issue that keeps me buying a monitor right now. I am really sensible to monitor brightness and fluorescent flickering, so i am caution about PWM...
 
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Thanks...here is PRAD's PWM Info which is as good as it gets

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2012/review-samsung-s27a850d-led-part7.html#Backlight

I guess I can try the PWM test on my VG23AH...

Have to send my PB278Q back today, seems like a waste since it does not have any issues

thanks,

for what i see on Prad's samsung S27A850D has 180hz while Asus has 240hz. Is Samsung more continiuos then Asus? It has a 63hz duty cycle at about 40% brightness... I guess Asus should have that either.

What i dont understand is people are saying Asus is more eye-straining when it has a higher PWM frequency
 
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Its a question of amplitude. The flicker frequency in itself isnt as much problem as the energy differential of the pulse. Some people have less problem with CCFL PWM dimming for this reason.
 
Its a question of amplitude. The flicker frequency in itself isnt as much problem as the energy differential of the pulse. Some people have less problem with CCFL PWM dimming for this reason.

The amplitude is 30% on Samsung... From 0.6 to 0.4 What's about Asus? 100%, goes all the way down to 0?
 
Just got my monitor 30 minutes ago, and I am absolutely in love with it right now. The first thing I did was check for dead pixels, and I haven't been able to spot any yet. I am obsessive about pixels, and I could not live with a single dead/bright pixel even if it was hardly noticeable.

Monitors I've used extensively:
21.5" Late '09 iMac (S-IPS). I used this for a little over a year before building a hackintosh.
21.5" Samsung EX2220 (TN). A cheap monitor I've used for the last 2 years for my Windows PC.
Two 27" Catleaps. 1st monitor had a ton of dead pixels and the 2nd basically blew up on me. Luckily returned both for full refunds.
Dell U2410 at work.

I read a lot of science/research journals, and I hate what the AG coating on the U2410 and U2711 do to white/light documents and work spaces. I also used an iMac, so I've always preferred the pop and vibrancy of Apple screens, and I would take a glossy monitor with glare over an aggressive AG coating screen any day of the week. For this reason I decided to try my luck with the Catleap. My first Catleap had dead pixels but looked gorgeous aside from those flaws. The Catleap that I received as a replacement also looked great, but it definitely had a blue-ish tint, and after just a week of use, I saw sparks, small flames, and smoke come from the back of the screen. After that I decided that I would never try one of the Korean eBay monitors again.

I've been really worried on whether the AG coating was "light" enough. I always thought that I would always prefer a glossy screen just because all AG coating I've seen for the last few years was pretty bad and colors never matched the iMac or Catleap, but you can consider me converted to the kind of light coating that is being used on these new monitors (I'm guessing the U2713HM is really similar). It doesn't quite have the same "pop," but the lack of glare/reflection while coming reeeeeallly close to the color of a glossy screen is ideal. Now my attitude is that I can't use the extremes anymore (glossy and super-aggressive AG), and this is the perfect balance.

I just tried testing for BLB with the brightness at 100% and while blocking the light from my window, and the BLB is minimal. There's some at the bottom-left corner and about 20% from the right corner on top, but it's really nothing compared to the BLB on my former iMac and the Catleaps. At 55-70% brightness that I'm using now, I doubt it's ever going to affect me.

I'll keep a lookout for flickering, but I honestly have no idea what to look for on that front. For right now, however, I don't think I could be any happier with the monitor. Amazing color, great contrast, crisp text, ideal coating, and the build is solid. I'll report back if my impressions change.
 
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Just got my monitor 30 minutes ago, and I am absolutely in love with it right now. The first thing I did was check for dead pixels, and I haven't been able to spot any yet. I am obsessive about pixels, and I could not live with a single dead/bright pixel even if it was hardly noticeable.

Monitors I've used extensively:
21.5" Late '09 iMac (S-IPS). I used this for a little over a year before building a hackintosh.
21.5" Samsung EX2220 (TN). A cheap monitor I've used for the last 2 years for my Windows PC.
Two 27" Catleaps. 1st monitor had a ton of dead pixels and the 2nd basically blew up on me. Luckily returned both for full refunds.
Dell U2410 at work.

I read a lot of science/research journals, and I hate what the AG coating on the U2410 and U2711 do to white/light documents and work spaces. I also used an iMac, so I've always preferred the pop and vibrancy of Apple screens, and I would take a glossy monitor with glare over an aggressive AG coating screen any day of the week. For this reason I decided to try my luck with the Catleap. My first Catleap had dead pixels but looked gorgeous aside from those flaws. The Catleap that I received as a replacement also looked great, but it definitely had a blue-ish tint, and after just a week of use, I saw sparks, small flames, and smoke come from the back of the screen. After that I decided that I would never try one of the Korean eBay monitors again.

I've been really worried on whether the AG coating was "light" enough. I always thought that I would always prefer a glossy screen just because all AG coating I've seen for the last few years was pretty bad and colors never matched the iMac or Catleap, but you can consider me converted to the kind of light coating that is being used on these new monitors (I'm guessing the U2713HM is really similar). It doesn't quite have the same "pop," but the lack of glare/reflection while coming reeeeeallly close to the color of a glossy screen is ideal. Now my attitude is that I can't use the extremes anymore (glossy and super-aggressive AG), and this is the perfect balance.

I just tried testing for BLB with the brightness at 100% and while blocking the light from my window, and the BLB is minimal. There's some at the bottom-left corner and about 20% from the right corner on top, but it's really nothing compared to the BLB on my former iMac and the Catleaps. At 55-70% brightness that I'm using now, I doubt it's ever going to affect me.

I'll keep a lookout for flickering, but I honestly have no idea what to look for on that front. For right now, however, I don't think I could be any happier with the monitor. Amazing color, great contrast, crisp text, ideal coating, and the build is solid. I'll report back if my impressions change.
Agree with everything you said. Loving my monitor right now!
 
Hi,

For those of you have experienced both S27A850D and Asus.

I am really undecided, of which monitor to buy between the S27A850D and PB27Q. I need a push to finally go to either one.

Money apart, do you think that any of those monitors nearly identical? I would tend to go to Asus but PWM is holding me back. I tend to be sensitive to eye strain due to brightness and use to notice flickers on lamps and old monitors.

Besides PWM and cost are those monitors almost similar?

Now i am more forward to Samsung, but people seem to prefer Asus over Samsung. At least people are more entusiastic on this forum then on Samsung.
 
Hi Guys,

Bit the bullet and brought one from Scan.co.uk. It came yesterday but it seems to have some dead pixels :mad: really disappointed.

Guess I'll return it, but not sure whether its worth trading for another?

http://i.imgur.com/55BeZ.jpg
 
looks more like a mark or something than dead pixels which would normally be coloured (red, blue or green) to signify a dead sub pixel, and would bw square

can you clean it, rub the mark off etc?
 
looks more like a mark or something than dead pixels which would normally be coloured (red, blue or green) to signify a dead sub pixel, and would bw square

can you clean it, rub the mark off etc?

I tried giving it a wipe, baring in mind this is a brand new monitor, shouldn't be any real dirt on the panel.

It also looks like as if something is trapped under the panel, not sure if its that? Will do some more testing tonight and this weekend. I really like the monitor, such a shame :(
 
I tried giving it a wipe, baring in mind this is a brand new monitor, shouldn't be any real dirt on the panel.

It also looks like as if something is trapped under the panel, not sure if its that? Will do some more testing tonight and this weekend. I really like the monitor, such a shame :(

I have the exact same thing in the top left corner of my Dell U2713hm. It's not a dead pixel; more like something stuck between the panel and the coating. It's pretty much not noticeable for me. You can only see it when the screen is white, or very light coloured.
 
I have the exact same thing in the top left corner of my Dell U2713hm. It's not a dead pixel; more like something stuck between the panel and the coating. It's pretty much not noticeable for me. You can only see it when the screen is white, or very light coloured.

The more I look at this, the more I realise you might be right! I can still see the pixel colour under the grey \ dark mark, so it does look like its something trapped between the panel and the coating. Shall I still send it back? Is this covered under returns?

Also the back light bleed is attached, is this a good panel otherwise?

http://imgur.com/D4CSf

http://imgur.com/DknAL
 
The more I look at this, the more I realise you might be right! I can still see the pixel colour under the grey \ dark mark, so it does look like its something trapped between the panel and the coating. Shall I still send it back? Is this covered under returns?

Also the back light bleed is attached, is this a good panel otherwise?

http://imgur.com/D4CSf

http://imgur.com/DknAL

I would not return it if the dirt under the coating is not visible most of the times.

However, I find you may have a case for bad back light bleed.

I'm returning my Dell U2713hm due to image retention. I've previously owned the HP ZR24w and the Dell U2212HM, both of which use PWM, so I'm not concerned about PWN as I seem to be unaffected by it.
 
Some photo comparisons of the U2713HM and PB278Q side-by-side. The Asus is on the right.

http://imgur.com/a/ocXfh#0

The BLB in one of the pictures is nowhere as bad as it looks. The main think you'll notice is the difference in whites between the monitors.

I have to say, however, that sometimes the Asus' whites are really, really bright, and I end up having to turn down the contrast or brightness to reduce it. This sometimes makes it more gray/blue than I'd like, and I haven't quite found the perfect mix yet. I wish I wasn't so anal about these things.
 
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Some photo comparisons of the U2713HM and PB278Q side-by-side. The Asus is on the right.

http://imgur.com/a/ocXfh#0

The BLB in one of the pictures is nowhere as bad as it looks. The main think you'll notice is the difference in whites between the monitors.

I have to say, however, that sometimes the Asus' whites are really, really bright, and I end up having to turn down the contrast or brightness to reduce it. This sometimes makes it more gray/blue than I'd like, and I haven't quite found the perfect mix yet. I wish I wasn't so anal about these things.

Thanks for the comparison pictures. :)

The Dell appears to be sharper than the Asus? Would you agree?

The Asus appears to have less BLB.

I'm returning my Dell and getting the Asus too.
 
Thanks for the comparison pictures. :)

The Dell appears to be sharper than the Asus? Would you agree?

The Asus appears to have less BLB.

I'm returning my Dell and getting the Asus too.

I find that the PB278Q is actually sharper. My tiny taskbar icons are much more sharper and less blurry looking on the Asus than the Dell. Text and images on webpages are also a bit sharper. I think it has to do with the Dell's AG coating being a bit stronger/heavier than the Asus. It might have been just a little hard to tell since the camera I was using isn't that great.
 
Just got my monitor last night and hooked it up.
Although the colors and images look amazing, the text seems to be blurry.

I have tried several settings but nothing seems to help. I know that the text is much smaller but it is also blurry.

When I get home tonight I will try the ICC profile from TFTcentral and see if that helps.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm

Also, I have a spyder4 elite coming this afternoon and will try to do some calibration as well.
I also have not checked for dead/bright pixels and should have done that as soon as I turned it on but the text thing kind of stopped me.
Will do that tonight.

Does anyone else have any information on the blurry text?
I am definitely going to compare the Overlord to this one when it gets here. Of course by that time I won't be able to return the Asus and If I don't like it, will have to just sell it for a loss I assume.
 
definitely running at full native 2560 x 1440 resolution? What connection are you using? tried a different cable? check the sharpness setting in the OSD menu as well
 
Here's a couple more pictures (Dell still on the left). The first is with the U2713HM in standard mode, and the second is it in multimedia mode. Notice that the taskbar color looks more similar to the PB278Q in the second picture.

http://imgur.com/a/KcxEu
 
definitely running at full native 2560 x 1440 resolution? What connection are you using? tried a different cable? check the sharpness setting in the OSD menu as well

Yeah, I did try the sharpness setting but not much change. As I said, I will try more tonight and repost.
 
Well, I finally got my Spyder4 Elite tonight and did my own calibration.
What a difference.

I tried the two profiles from TFTCentral but they were washed out before the calibration and too bright after.

I already posted my profile on OCN at this page:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1311936/asus-pb278q-the-official-2560x1440-semi-glossy-pls-thread/200

Anyone is welcome to try my profile or one of the two from TFTcentral.
Be advised that I view my monitor in a room with only a single desk lamp off to one side so it may not be right for your conditions.

BTW, I am now starting to love this monitor. WooHoo!
 
Played around with the RGB settings in "User Mode" and got rid of my blue-ish tint. The Dell and Asus now have very similar colors. The only real difference between the two for me now is that the Asus has PWM, although I don't think it causes any strain on my eyes, and the Dell has that more BLB and that annoying cross-hatching that is prevalent on light windows.
 
Some photo comparisons of the U2713HM and PB278Q side-by-side. The Asus is on the right.

http://imgur.com/a/ocXfh#0

The BLB in one of the pictures is nowhere as bad as it looks. The main think you'll notice is the difference in whites between the monitors.

I have to say, however, that sometimes the Asus' whites are really, really bright, and I end up having to turn down the contrast or brightness to reduce it. This sometimes makes it more gray/blue than I'd like, and I haven't quite found the perfect mix yet. I wish I wasn't so anal about these things.


do you like Bakemonotgatari ? jeje :)

do you recommend the Dell or the Asus ? :)
 
do you like Bakemonotgatari ? jeje :)

do you recommend the Dell or the Asus ? :)

Bakemonogatari is one of my favorite shows ever. :)

As for the Dell vs. the Asus, I'm still not 100% sure. After a little tweaking, both monitors have pretty similar colors. Right now the main differences are:

Asus has PWM. This may or may not affect you.
The Asus has better AG coating, no question. You sometimes see a criss-cross pattern over bright windows on the Dell.
Dell seems to have worse BLB problems. I've used two U2713HMs now, and both monitors seem to have similar BLB issues.
 
I just got this monitor and love it..not really seeing any issues with color as mentioned..but I don't have an testing or calibration tools.. I just left the colors at default, set the contrast to 65 and brightness to 50..seems to be perfect. Set Trace to 20 (though no clue what it is TBH) and Sharp to 60.

Done..looks great.. I do agree with some other assessments that text in windows tends to be a bit fuzzy or something..seems more so than it was to the Auria 27" IPS panel I had (that I had to return)

But overall love it. Love the stand.
 
I'm going wait see if black friday or cyber monday have a sell on these if not i should have the full amount by the end of the month.
 
I just got this monitor and love it..not really seeing any issues with color as mentioned..but I don't have an testing or calibration tools.. I just left the colors at default, set the contrast to 65 and brightness to 50..seems to be perfect. Set Trace to 20 (though no clue what it is TBH) and Sharp to 60.

Done..looks great.. I do agree with some other assessments that text in windows tends to be a bit fuzzy or something..seems more so than it was to the Auria 27" IPS panel I had (that I had to return)

But overall love it. Love the stand.

My experience is that the text on the Asus is finer and therefore thinner. When I lower the sharpness setting to 30 or 40, it's closer to the Dell.
 
Evening all

Well, having sent back my Dell U2713HM today; I also received my new Asus PB278Q this morning!

I've spent all day testing it. In my opinion, I think its better than the Dell.

The Asus definitely looks more sharp to my eyes; the Dell looked blurry.
The Asus has a far nicer stand; it swivels effortlessly.
I had this weird problem on the Dell whereby I would open a window, then close it, but parts of the window would still remain. This does not happen on the Asus,
There is no image screen burn in on the Asus. I tested it for 75 mins, context menu on black background. Checked the screen after with a grey wallpaper (RGB = 47) and there was no burn in. The Dell, on the other hand, suffers burn in after 20 mins.
I have one stuck pixel on the Asus, same as the Dell. It's no problem for me.
The Dell I had, had a better control of the backlight, less bleed, but still the Asus is comparable and I am pleased with it.
The Asus has a slightly faster pixel response time, compared with Dell.
The Asus has less input lag, compared with Dell.
The Asus has integrated speakers and all the cables included in the box, such as HDMI and Display port.
And finally, the Asus is cheaper than the Dell.

Initially, I got a right fright when I switched on the Asus. There was significant backlight bleed and I was extremely worried. However, after a few hours, the backlight bleed reduced and now it's comparable to the Dell U2713HM I had, which is great.

I documented this over a period of 10 hours. Here are the pictures for comparison:

asuscomp1.jpg


asuscomp2.jpg


asuscomp3.jpg


And here is a comparison of the Asus PB278Q and the Dell U2713HM which I returned (due to screen burn in).

asusdellcomp.jpg


So, as these pictures show, backlight bleed can be reduced in time as the hours pass. You just need to give the screen some time to warm up.

I'm so pleased with my PB278Q and it's definitely a keeper for me. It's better than the Dell U2713HM in so many ways.
 
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