PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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IiyamaProLite

XUB2792QSN-B1

PhilipsModa 27 (4K)

Ifyourbudgetislockedat

£300,youwon’tfinda

better27inscreenthanthis

Youdon’thavetopaynearly

£500for4K,buttheModa 27

mightjusttemptyou

PRICE£250(£300incVAT)

frombox.co.uk

PRICE£385(£463incVAT)

fromuk.insight.com

elegant,withahard-wearingblack

plasticfinish.Youcankeepthings

tidybyroutingthecablesthrougha

holeintherearofthestand,butit’s

noHPZ27u.Othersoffermoreheight

adjustmentandslimmerbezels,but

there’s 9 0°swivelandyoucanpivot

thescreenineitherdirection.Think

ofitasfunctionalBerghausrather

thanfashionableSuperdry.

OneareawhereIiyamafalls

behindisthequalityofitsOSD,which

feelsold-fashionedduetoitsreliance

AnintuitiveOSD,controlledviaa

joystick,allowsyoutoquicklyswitch

intooneofPhilips’multitudeof

“smart”presets,andtheseareworth

experimentingwith.Forinstance,

Officeforgeneralwork.Another

benefitofthesemodesisthatyoucan

pushthescreenuptoitsfull

brightness,reaching382cd/m^2 in

Photomode,forexample.

Theotherkeyadvantageofthe

ModaovertheAOCisthatitincludes

aUSB-Cinput,delivering65Wof

power.Bearinginmindthere’san

externalpowersupply,wehopedfor

onbuttons.It’squicktorespond,but

theleft/rightbuttonsdon’tmake

sensewhenyou’renavigatingupand

downmenus.Norareyouswamped

withoptions.Forinstance,colour

temperaturecomprisesachoiceof

threepresets(6500K,7500Kand

9300K)orauserpreset,andtheonly

othercoloursettingsinvolveIiyama’s

prescriptivei-Stylechoices.

Thatsaid,theStandardpresetwith

itsblazingwhiteswillsatisfythe

needsofmostpeople.Youcan’tadjust

thebrightness,butifyougettiredof

341cd/m^2 blastingintoyoureyesthen

youcanalwaysswitchtothemore

subduedTextmode.

Whicheverpresetyouchoose,

colourcoverageisroughlythesame:

97%to98%ofthesRGBgamut,

around76%ofDCI-P3andjustover

70%ofAdobeRGB.Colouraccuracyis

strong,withanaverageDeltaEof

0.46andmaximumof1.32whenwe

switchedtothe6500Kpreset.The

onlynegativeconcernsuniformity,

withasignificantdrop-off(upto16%)

attheedges.Still,thisisdifficultto

spotwiththenakedeye.

Youcan’targuewiththevalueon

offer.There’sevenapairofhalf-

respectableiftreble-heavyspeakers.

It’sasuperbmonitorforthemoney.

greateroutputsothatMacBookPros,

forexample,couldbecharged,but

65Wisenoughformostlaptops.It’s

goodtoseefourUSB-A3.2portshere

too,evenifthey’realltuckedawayat

therear.Finally,notethethreeother

videoinputs:twoHDMI2.0andone

DisplayPort1.4.That’sasolid

selectionofconnectors.

Philipsplaysthestylecardwith

theModa27,withanartdecofeelto

thesquarebaseanditscut-outcircle.

Themetalpoleisfinishedinatasteful

mattegrey,butdon’tthinkthisstand

lacksforfeatures:youcanadjustthe

heightbyupto130mm,pivotthe

screen 90 °androtateitthrough350°.

Sometopengineeringworkhasgone

onhere.Theonlypotentialhiccupis

cablemanagement:there’satidyat

therearofthepole,butifyouwantto

avoidtrailingwiresyou’llneedtoget

creativewithcableties.

Bearinginmindallthequalityon

show,thepricefeelseminently

reasonable(ifyouseeaPhilipsModa

27 foraround£300,notethat’sfor

anoldermodelthatincludesa1440p

panel).LikeaNetflixspace

documentaryplayedoverHDMIto

takeadvantageoftheModa’s

DisplayHDR 400 certification,thisis

amonitorthatshinesbright.

I

nlastyear’sLabs,wecommented

onthefactthatnoneoftheIiyama

screensincludedUSB-Cportsfor

easydocking.Vivelachange,forthis

isatruedockingmonitor,andoneso

cheapitbegsthequestionofwhy

you’dspendmoreona27inmonitor.

Therearenoobviousomissions.

OtherUSB-Cconnectionsgohigher

thanthe65Wofferedhere,butthat’s

enoughformostlaptops,andonce

connectedyouhaveaccesstoRJ-45

wiredEthernetandtwoUSB-Aports.

Youcandaisychainasecondmonitor

viatheDisplayPortoutput,withone

HDMIandoneDisplayPortinput

availableaswell,butnoUSB-Binput.

A

syou’llseefromtheAOC

U27P2onthefollowingpage,

there’snoneedtospend

almost£500tobuya4K27inmonitor,

sothequestionthelatestModa27asks

issimple:whychoosemeinstead?

Theprimaryreasonisthequality

ofthepanel,whichsailedthroughour

technicaltests.PutintosRGBmode,

whereoursamplelockedto279cd/m^2 ,

itcovered93.6%ofthegamutoutof

93.9%volume(sonooverspill)with

anaverageDeltaEof0.54anda

maximumof1.03.Stellarresults.

Combinethatwitha1,304:1contrast

ratioandspot-on 6 522Kcolour

temperatureandyouhaveascreen

that’sexceptionallyeasyontheeye.

ABOVE

functional,butthis

monitorisgreatvalue

ABOVETheModa 27

hasanalmostartdeco

feeltoit

SCORE

SCORE

Colourtemperatureindicateshow“cold”or“warm”a panelappears.It’seasiesttounderstandviahowwhiteslook:6500Kwillprovidea near-perfectwhite

tothehumaneye,8000Kwilllookhavea cool,bluetinge.DeltaEisa measureofa monitor’scolouraccuracy.Anythingunder1 is imperceptibletotheeye.

2 , 560 x

1 , 440 27 in

97 %

sRGB

76 %

DCI-P 3

3 , 840 x

2 , 160 27 in

99 %

sRGB

80 %

DCI-P 3

JARGONBUSTER

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