Contribute
Register

Graphic Designer Review: ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
65
Motherboard
Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (WI-FI AC)
CPU
i7-8700
Graphics
RX 580
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
I recently upgraded from my older Dell 24-inch UltraSharp PremierColor Monitor U2413. The old Dell was a very color-accurate expensive workhorse monitor in WUXA resolution (1920 x 1200.) It was great for accurate color especially in photos, web design, etc. The Dell display looked very faithful to pre-Retina Apple displays.

But the Dell was not taking advantage of my newer-technology Sapphire Radeon RX 580 8192 MB graphics card.

On October 5, 2020 I upgraded to an Asus PA278QV 2K monitor, as Asus calls it:

“ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV Professional Monitor - 27-inch, IPS, WQHD (2560 x 1440), 100% sRGB, 100% Rec. 709, Color Accuracy ΔE < 2, Calman Verified, ProArt Preset, ProArt Palette.”


OK, some key points to my review:

1) Previously, I was connecting over a DVI connection from my Asus motherboard hackintosh to the Dell monitor. The Asus monitor does not seem to recognize the DVI cable connection at boot and I get stuck on a black screen. However, the PA278QV works 100% over the HDMI connection booting via Clover bootloader. This is a difference, but not necessarily a problem.

2) Build quality of the Asus PA278QV seems comparable to the Dell. This feels like a decent, solid monitor without paying a lot of cash.

3) Onscreen, the 2K resolution feels like a bigger screen with slightly (fractionally) smaller GUI elements in the interface. Like the GUI elements feel 2% smaller at 2560 x 1440 than at 1920 x 1200. I don’t know if that math is exact but subjectively that is the feeling of viewing the screen.

4) There is a difference in color and contrast in the basic OS GUI elements. The ASUS colors in the GUI are more vibrant, intense, and slightly more contrast. It is all very legible and easy to read but feels more colorful than the Dell GUI colorspace.

5) Both the old Dell and this Asus have menus that allow you to customize and adjust and control color, brightness, contrast & etc. to what suits your working space and type of projects. These calibration tools are a little clunky and have some limitations, and no matter what you try you won’t exactly match the look of an Apple Retina display, but that’s actually fine. You don’t need that anyway -- unless you are building Apple-branded GUI products.

6) This display feels like a good value. I like it. Works fine for 95% of graphic design and photographic jobs without the need for a 4K monitor. The only reason I might need a 4K monitor is if I was editing 4K video. (I’m not.) The only reason I might need a more expensive monitor is color-grading or print-proofing, but if you are printing a real physical object you'll need to see physical color proofs no matter what.

7) I bought my display on Amazon for under $300.


asus.jpg
 
I recently upgraded from my older Dell 24-inch UltraSharp PremierColor Monitor U2413. The old Dell was a very color-accurate expensive workhorse monitor in WUXA resolution (1920 x 1200.) It was great for accurate color especially in photos, web design, etc. The Dell display looked very faithful to pre-Retina Apple displays.

But the Dell was not taking advantage of my newer-technology Sapphire Radeon RX 580 8192 MB graphics card.

On October 5, 2020 I upgraded to an Asus PA278QV 2K monitor, as Asus calls it:

“ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV Professional Monitor - 27-inch, IPS, WQHD (2560 x 1440), 100% sRGB, 100% Rec. 709, Color Accuracy ΔE < 2, Calman Verified, ProArt Preset, ProArt Palette.”


OK, some key points to my review:

1) Previously, I was connecting over a DVI connection from my Asus motherboard hackintosh to the Dell monitor. The Asus monitor does not seem to recognize the DVI cable connection at boot and I get stuck on a black screen. However, the PA278QV works 100% over the HDMI connection booting via Clover bootloader. This is a difference, but not necessarily a problem.

2) Build quality of the Asus PA278QV seems comparable to the Dell. This feels like a decent, solid monitor without paying a lot of cash.

3) Onscreen, the 2K resolution feels like a bigger screen with slightly (fractionally) smaller GUI elements in the interface. Like the GUI elements feel 2% smaller at 2560 x 1440 than at 1920 x 1200. I don’t know if that math is exact but subjectively that is the feeling of viewing the screen.

4) There is a difference in color and contrast in the basic OS GUI elements. The ASUS colors in the GUI are more vibrant, intense, and slightly more contrast. It is all very legible and easy to read but feels more colorful than the Dell GUI colorspace.

5) Both the old Dell and this Asus have menus that allow you to customize and adjust and control color, brightness, contrast & etc. to what suits your working space and type of projects. These calibration tools are a little clunky and have some limitations, and no matter what you try you won’t exactly match the look of an Apple Retina display, but that’s actually fine. You don’t need that anyway -- unless you are building Apple-branded GUI products.

6) This display feels like a good value. I like it. Works fine for 95% of graphic design and photographic jobs without the need for a 4K monitor. The only reason I might need a 4K monitor is if I was editing 4K video. (I’m not.) The only reason I might need a more expensive monitor is color-grading or print-proofing, but if you are printing a real physical object you'll need to see physical color proofs no matter what.

7) I bought my display on Amazon for under $300.


View attachment 491333
Seems like a good monitor with 4 display inputs.

The 2560x1440 resolution requires a dual-link DVI cable rather than the more common single-link DVI cable. I also recently got a new Eizo EV2760 (also 2560x1440 native) to replace an older EV2436 (which was moved to another system) and I had to buy a dual-link DVI cable to use the DVI port.

Also in my experience the Sapphire RX 580 Pulse has black screen problems running MacOS when attempting to connect via the DVI port. No problems using DisplayPort (or an adapter via DisplayPort). Never tried the HDMI ports so no idea if that will cause problems.

Under the enhanced resolution I have the same feeling that the icons and texts are slightly smaller than on my old screen with 1920x1200 resolution.
 
Last edited:
Seems like a good monitor with 4 display inputs.

The 2560x1440 resolution requires a dual-link DVI cable rather than the more common single-link DVI cable. I also recently got a new Eizo EV2760 (also 2560x1440 native) to replace an older EV2436 (which was moved to another system) and I had to buy a dual-link DVI cable to use the DVI port.

Also in my experience the Sapphire RX 580 Pulse has black screen problems running MacOS when attempting to connect via the DVI port. No problems using DisplayPort (or an adapter via DisplayPort). Never tried the HDMI ports so no idea if that will cause problems.

Under the enhanced resolution I have the same feeling that the icons and texts are slightly smaller than on my old screen with 1920x1200 resolution.
Thanks for the clarification and comments. Very good!
 
I was looking to get this display or the similar BenQ. I am hesitant only because I don't want smaller text in menus etc. Currently I am on an older 23" Samsung 2048x1152... how would that compare with GUI text size?

On another note, i have the Sapphire RX580 using DVI without issue (OpenCore/Big Sur).
 
When I first got the ASUS 2560 x 1440 monitor I noticed that text felt a tiny bit smaller than the text on my older Dell monitor. How much smaller? 2% 5%? Noticeable. My old Dell was a 1920 x 1200. This difference is minor and after using the ASUS monitor for a week, I did not even notice it anymore. I wear eyeglasses to work on a computer and am very satisfied with the ASUS. The only case I would say this could be a problem is if you had more extreme vision problems that were not correctable and needed larger GUI text. In most applications, it is irrelevant because you can set type size or zoom sizes as you wish.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JBX
I have had the ProArt monitor for 6 months and use out as my main monitor- very nice and appreciate it as I have been doing colour adjustments on scanned photos (slides and negatives) as a pandemic project.

I run multiple WQHD monitors as I think that is a sweet spot for Mac, since the older 27" iMacs had this resolution and newer 27-inch ones used 5K as simply 4x the pixel count scaling. It seems to work better than 28" 4K monitors as far as out-of-the-box text sizes etc.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JBX
Thanks for the feedback.
 
Last edited:
I love seeing your review because it could be useful for some users. I know people who complained about their displays which are not enough for their work. Some of my friends work as web developers and designers, and they must have computers that will show the colors the best. I am not the one who would need such a serious computer for work as https://prosvit.design/manufacturing-website-design/ does my site, but I have friends who would love to see your review as they are building some sites by themselves. I love it when people share their opinion online, and I respect everyone who spends at least a minute to let people know something new about some products.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top