PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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GreatvalueifUSB-Cdockingis

a priority,butthe1080p

resolutioncountsagainstit

NoUSB-C,butthis4Kpanelisan

attractiveoptionforanyonewho

valuesdetailandbangperbuck

Asolid27inFullHDmonitorthat

getsallthebasicsright,and

includesUSB-Caswell

PRICE£208(£250incVAT)

fromcclcomputers.com

PRICE£267(£320incVAT)fromuk.insight.com PRICE£246(£295incVAT)fromdell.co.uk

O

neofthecuriositiesofthismonth’s

Labsisthat27inmonitorsareoften

cheaper thantheir24in

counterparts,andthis 1 ,920x 1,080screen

• completewith a USB-C connectionand
  fourUSB-Aports– is an excellentexample.
  Youlosepixeldensitycompared to 24in
  FullHDscreens,buttheswingtothat
  roundaboutisthatifyoureyesightisn’t
  20/20,youmayappreciatetheextrasize.
  It’sa lovelypaneltolookat,especiallyif
  youbravetheclunkyonscreendisplay and
  switchtothe sRGBpresethidinginthe
  ColorSetupsubmenu.Youcan’texpect
  widegamutsat thisprice, anditonly
  covers89%ofthesRGBspace,but
  werecommendthesRGBmodeasthis
  accuratelytargetsthe6500Kcolour
  temperature:wemeasured6477K,which
  isphenomenallyclose,andonereason
  whiteslookedsoverywhite.
  Colourpuristswon’tbesoimpressedby
  anaverageDeltaE of 1.39,witha maximum
  of7.07forblues,butoverallthisisa
  good-qualityIPSpanel.Weweremore
  pleasedbya 1,048:1contrastratioandthat
  itedgedoverAOC’s statedpeakbrightness,
  measuring274cd/m^2 to250cd/m^2.
  AOCthrowsa boneatgamerswith
  supportforAdaptiveSync,buta toprefresh
  rateof75Hzand4mswon’tgiveyoua
  competitiveedge.Still, headintotheOSD
  oncemoreandyoucanchoosebetweensix
  gamingmodes viathededicatedGame
  Settingsubmenu,withtheFPSsetting
  brighteningshadows,forinstance.
  TheAOC27P2Cfallsshortofa
  recommendation– despiteitsflexible
  stand,completewith360°swivel,pivot
  supportand150mmof heightadjustment


• owingtotheplethoraofsimilarly
  priced27inIiyamapanelswith 1 440p
  resolutions,but if USB-Cisa priority
  thenit’sa great alternative.

D

on’tneed USB-C butdowant4K?

ThenAOCjustmighthavethe

perfect choiceforyou,astheU27P2

isthemostaffordable4K27inscreen

we’vetested.Neitherdoesthismean

stripped-downspecs,withtwoHDMI2.0

inputsaccompanyingtheubiquitous

DisplayPortconnection.Activatethe

PBPorPIPoptionwithin theonscreen

displayandyoucanconnectandview

twosourcessimultaneously.

AOCalsopacksin a USBhub,withtwo

USB-A 3 .1portsmountedunderneathand

twoontheright-handside.Allvery

convenient.We’repleasedtoreportthe

speakersaremarginallybetterthanthoseof

theAOC27P2C,evenif – inquality terms–

they’remoreAM thanFM.Audiophiles

neednotapply.

Norshouldcolourphiles (not a real

word),because thisisn’ta panelbuiltfor

professionals.Itcoversa good range of

colours– up to 80%oftheDCI-P3spacein

itsdefaultmode– butwasamongthe

pooresthereforaccuracy, withanaverage

DeltaE of 2.57.Oddly,thatfigureworsened

whenweswitched to thesRGBpreset,

droppingto3.15 andreducing thesRGB

coveragefrom98%to85%.

Thescreen lockedbrightnessto 70 in

theOSDsettings,whichtranslatedto

279cd/m^2 inourtests;atitspeak,thispanel

hit 3 61cd/m^2. Oneoddityisthatwe

expectedsRGBtohita colourtemperature

closeto6500K,butinsteadit was6827K.

Still,it’seasyenoughtoadjustthecolour

temperatureviatheOSD.

Besides,weneedtokeepreminding

ourselves about thisscreen’sprice.AOC

doesn’tskimponthestand,whichoffers

150mmofheightadjustment,andit’sthe

cheapest4K 27 inscreenherebya good

margin.Ifyou canlivewithoutUSB-Cand

nailed-on colourperformance,the U 27 P2is

a finebudgetoption.

I

s it unfair to calltheP2722HEtheJohn

Majorof Dell’s27inmonitorselection?

There’scertainlynothingveryexciting

goingon here,but alsonothingtoannoy.

Ifitwastoldtoeatitspeas,itwould.

TaketheIPSpanel.In itsdefaultsetting,

ithita fine 3 15 cd/m^2 brightnessin ourtests,

covering 98%ofthesRGBgamut with an

averageDeltaE of 0.44. Notbadat all,

especiallywhenyouconsiderthatits

worst Delta E figurewas1.23.

There’sno wide-gamut excitement,

covering as it does78%oftheDCI-P3space,

anddespitethe1,122:1contrast,we

wouldn’tdescribeitaspunchy.Nordoesit

produce thewhitestofwhites.Viewing

anglesaregood,though,andeventhough

brightness dropsoffattheedges, this panel

isa solid,mid-rangeoffering.

Delldoesn’tgiveyoumuchinthewayof

OSDoptions,with onlya handfulofpreset

modes(suchas Movieand Game,neitherof

whichisworth gettingexcitedabout)and

theoption to chooseWarmorColdcolour

temperatures.Oryoucantweak this

yourselfusingtheRGB gaincontrols.

Thingsgeta littlemoreinterestingwhen

youexamine this screen’sports, with a

USB-Cconnector(capableof deliveringup

to65W) andanRJ-45port.WithtwoUSB-A

3.1portsalsoattherear,anda furthertwo

ontheunderside ofthepanel foreasier

access, youcaneasilycleardesktopclutter

usingtheP2722HE,routingpowerandUSB

cablesthroughthehollowstand to keep

thingstidy.Itonly lacksforspeakersandan

integratedwebcam.

Thestandisbasicbutfunctional,

supportingpivot andheightadjustmentup

to 150 mm,allofwhichmakesthe£295

pricestandoutassomethingofa bargain.

Yourbigquestion,then,iswhethera 27in

FullHD panelisrightforyourneeds,which

wediscussingreaterdepthin “ 10 key

questionstoask”onp76.

SCORE SCORE SCORE

1 , 920 x

1 , 080 27 in

89 %

sRGB

68 %

DCI-P 3

1 , 920 x

1 , 080 27 in

98 %

sRGB

78 %

DCI-P 3

3 , 840 x

2 , 160 27 in

98 %

sRGB

80 %

DCI-P 3