PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

2
7

• 2
  8
  IN

M
O
N
IT

O
R
S

XU 2792 QSU-B 1 XUB 2792 QSU-W 1 XUB 2796 QSU-B 1

Onabudget?This1440p27in

monitorisagreatchoice,evenif

itlacksfrillsortopimagequality

Yetanotherfine-valuemonitor

fromIiyama,butwe’dspendan

extra£40forUSB-Cdocking

FreeSyncanda1msresponse

timemightattractgamers,but

otherwiseit’sunexceptional

PRICE£169(£203incVAT)fromebuyer.com PRICE£217(£260incVAT)fromscan.co.uk PRICE£224(£269incVAT)fromuk.insight.com

F

orthiskind of money,youcan’texpect

theverybestpanel– butIiyamapicks

wiselywiththis2,560 x 1,440offering.

Testedinitsdefaultmode,itcovers97%of

thesRGBspaceoutofa 106%volume,andits

averageDeltaE of 0.57 is excellent.We also

pusheditrightup to 367cd/m^2 brightness,

17cd/m^2 beyonditsofficialrating.

Thisbringsustoa weakarea:uniformity.

Wetest thisat120cd/m^2 asa referencepoint,

andmeasureditatunder100cd/m^2 inplaces.

Norcanitrivalthebestmonitorsforthe

purityofitswhites,withawarmnative

temperatureof about6100K;youcanadjust

thisusingtheOSD,andchoosebetweenthe

variousi-Style presets(Standard,Game,

Cinema,SceneryandText),buttweaking

thegaintohita 6500Kcolourtemperature

reducedthecontrastfroman excellent

1,224:1toa lessconvivial806:1.

Thebasicstandoffers5°forwardtiltand

22°back,andthat’sit.Themonitorislight

at5kg,soit’seasytotwistround,butthe

lightness meansitwobbleson thebase

• pressonthefront buttonsthatcontrolthe
  OSD,forexample,andthescreenvibrates
  fromsidetosideforseveral seconds.
  Withthisemphasisoncost-cutting,it’s
  perhapssurprisingthatIiyamaincludesa
  pairofspeakers,evenifitsoundslikethe
  bandistrappedinanelevatorshaftwhen
  youplaymusic.There’salsoa USBhub,
  withtwoUSB-A 3 portsconveniently
  placedattheside,anda DVIinput to
  accompanytheDisplayPort andHDMI
  connectors. Thefinalsurpriseissupportfor
  AMDFreeSync,andifyou connectover
  DisplayPort therefreshrategoesupto
  70Hz.Calmyourbeatinghearts.
  WeliketheProLiteXU2792QSU-B1.It’s
  anhonest monitorandtheideaofputting
  twosidebysideonIiyama’sdualmonitor
  arm(seep 97 ) hasplentyof appeal.

I

t maybewhite andhavea fancier

stand,butthepanelinsidethe

XUB2792QSU-W1is identical to the

XU2792QSU-B1.TheW1attheend

denotesthefactthismonitoriswhite(a

blackB1versionisalsoavailable),sothe

keydifferentiator– theonethattells

youaboutthestand– is the“B”three

characters into itsname.

Welikethewhite finishasitdeflects

attention from thethickbezelatthe

bottomofthedisplayandaddscontrast

aroundtheframe, butthestandisthe

realpointofdifference:with 1 30mmof

heightadjustment,a smoothswivel

actionandeasypivoting,it’s a huge

upgradeon theflimsyunitsuppliedwith

itssibling.ItalsomakestheOSDeasier

touseasthescreendoesn’twobble

whenyoupressthebuttons.

Althoughbothscreenstechnicallyuse

thesame panel,wesubjected it to our

technicalteststoseeif there wasany

difference.Theanswerisyes.Itwas

around30cd/m^2 dimmer,337cd/m^2 atits

peak,butproved more accuratewith an

average Delta E of0.34andmaximum of

0.75(excellentresults).Itscolour

temperatureof 6343Kwasalsocloserto

the 6 500Ktarget,and it covered98%ofthe

sRGBgamuttoitssibling’s97%.

DoesIiyamaspend a littlemoretime

tuningthepanels in itsmoreexpensive

monitors?Wethinknot,andthat it’s

morelikelyduetotheroutinedifference

youseeinbatches, andunlessyouhave

supremelytunedeyeswedon’tthink

you’dtellthetwoapartanyway.

Thereal questioniswhetherthis

monitorisworthanother £ 60 comparedto

theXU2792QSU-B1,andwe’dbeinclined

tosayno.Especiallywhenyoucanbuythe

USB-CXUB2792QSN-B1for£300.

I

f there’s onethingthisLabsproves, it’s

thatIiyamaoffersa 27inmonitorfor

everybudget– assumingthat budget is

between £ 200 and£300.

TheProLiteXUB2796QSU-B1 fallsinto

themiddle-topof that range,withthree

strengths that will particularlyappealto

gamers:oneissupportforAMD FreeSync,

anotherits 1 msresponsetimes(greyto

grey),andthethirdis threeseparate

presets forgamers.

Thatsaid,we’renotentirelysurewhy

strategy,FPSandsportsgamesneed

specificsettings,otherthanbrightening

cornersandaccentuatingsomecolours.

Still,youcanexperiment andseewhich

worksbest in yourfavouritetitle.

Whennotgaming,we’dstickto

Standard, which– on ourtestsampleat

least– setthepanelata bright 273cd/m^2

with96%sRGBgamutcoverageanda

6628Kcolourtemperature.Allofwhich

wouldhavemadefora verypleasant

experiencebutforthispanel’spoor

viewingangles:there’sa notabledropoff

whenyoulooktowards theedges.

Thereareothersignsofthismonitor’s

morebudgetinclinations,includingthe

meretwoinputs(HDMIandDisplayPort),

thefacttheUSBportonlyhas twoUSB-A 2

portsandthey’redifficulttoreachat

theback,plusa relativelybasic stand.

There’snoswivelandits tilt is limitedto3°

inand18°back.Itdoesprovide 130 mmof

heightadjustmentanda pivotfunction,at

least,soit’s a bigstepupfromthe£203

XU2792QSU-B1.Itspairof2Wspeakers

arealsoeasierontheear.

Still,we would choosethecheaper

screenandinvestina separatestanddueto

itssuperiorpanel.Andifyournumberone

focusisgames,waittosee what next

month’sLabshastooffer.

SCORE SCORE SCORE

2 , 560 x

1 , 440 27 in

97 %

sRGB

74 %

DCI-P 3

2 , 560 x

1 , 440 27 in

98 %

sRGB

76 %

DCI-P 3

2 , 560 x

1 , 440 27 in

96 %

sRGB

77 %

DCI-P 3