BenQ 27" 1440p WQHD 60 Hz Photographer Monitor (SW270C)

I decided to buy the SW270C because on paper and in reviews it never failed to impress that it was a worthy competitor. In fact, on paper it seemed to be punching above it's price class. My principal criterion's were; panel uniformity, wide color gamut and hardware calibration capable. The panel's native color volume is slightly larger than the Adobe RGB, @D65 Gamma 2.2. The factory calibration report had an impressive average Delta E of 0.41, Max 1.31. For my needs I prefer Gamma 2.4 and my own calibration to Adobe RGB produced a delta E of 0.83 Max 1.49. My Srgb D65 Gamma 2.4 calibration resulted in a delta E of 0.64, Max 1.23, using I1 Display Pro and Palette Master Element (PME) the supplied software for BenQ SW monitors. Panel uniformity is equally impressive; measured 25 zones and the maximum variance from center @0.00 was 0.82, with the lowest being 0.15, the average is between 0.36/0.45. This is near identical to the factory calibration report. In other words perceptually negligible for an IPS panel, and to the eye a non factor. Additionally that degree of uniformity take's the drama and distraction out of the inescapable IPS glow. Didn't think I would care much for the Puck accessory. I was wrong it's brilliant and a great asset to my work flow and I would miss it if if I had to go back to a working without it. The build quality is very good, solid and weighty stand with a proper tension for both the height and rotation adjustments. Also impressive was the box it was came in, just another thing to add on a long list of things BenQ has done well. The monitors OS is complete and extensive to the point where one can dim the brightness of the power button, a nice professional touch. Negatives, yes two. First regards the finishing touches on the hood, and the second, the accompanying software PME. The hood is solidly built, assembles and installs in a breeze. It is lined with a light absorbing material that works very well, the problem is, that material hasn't been applied to 100% of the inside surface leaving highly reflective areas where the various panels join. This is distracting especially as content on the monitor changes, enough that in time I will try to find a solution. The software, Palette Master Element. It is a pared down version of Xrite's I1Profiler. Essentially it does the job, but like the Xrite's version it seriously lacks features and options that are desirable and useful. For those who need more both CalMan and Lightspace are compatible with this BenQ monitor, they are however pricey and it would be great to see future versions of PME add features and granularity to this software. Conclusion: I looked hard at what was available before choosing this monitor. On paper it checked the most boxes among it's rivals and now that I have had it to play and work with, I”ll say the SW270C does in fact solidly punch above it's price range. In my experience uniformity and Delta E's like that don't commonly come in this price range. It is both pleasant and reliable to work with, and to me, that, represents real value, it delivers what it claims to a greater degree than most other monitors I've owned and worked with.