Review: iiyama ProLite XB2779QS

Just how good is it?

Looking at it side-on, the bulbous design has the advantage of making the XB2779QS very slim at the top and bottom. Such thinness precludes extras such as USB 3.0 hubs but iiyama finds space to house a couple of speakers that vent through the top. Sound quality is perfunctory rather than good. mind, and we'd advise any gamer to invest in headphones or proper speakers.

Switching it on shows the monitor's image-quality is a definite departure from that presented by matte panels. A combination of an AH-IPS, LED-backlit panel and glass covering provides the iiyama with top-notch vibrancy, high contrast and excellent brightness; the image is unnervingly eye-popping at the shipping settings. An unwanted problem of using such an approach is that the screen is rather reflective, which can be a problem when viewing darker colours. Another issue we came across was small incidences of backlight bleeding, presumably more visible due to the high brightness and contrast ratio.

That said, manually configured for 25 per cent brightness and 60 per cent contrast, the screen's backlighting issues abate and clarity and uniformity is excellent. Colours are wonderfully punchy and accurate. Blacks are inky and deep and whites don't exhibit any of the greyness that can afflict cheaper panels. The sample model had no problems in accurately differentiating between each of the 64 steps in the taxing DisplayMate greyscale test. Viewing angles are also very good, which is a positive by-product of using an AH-IPS panel.

Compared to a same-resolution Philips Brilliance 272P monitor, presented with a matte screen, photos and videos displayed on the iiyama have more zip to them. Our high-contrast photos show that, at the extremes, the screen can overcompensate a touch by rendering darker colours with a little too much vigour, leading them to look darker than perhaps they should. In fact, we'd liken the overall viewing experience as a scaled-up version of most high-quality smartphones', so you'll instantly know whether the image reproduction is likely to be to your taste.

These kinds of monitors have 78 per cent more pixels than on full-HD screens equipped with a 1,920x1,080 resolution. The extra pixel density is immediately obvious and useful for 2D work, especially if you like having multiple pages open at once. Run under Windows 8.1, text is wonderfully sharp, clear and precise. Indeed, it's hard to go back to a regular panel after extended use of a 2,560x1,440-resolution screen.

Moving through the gears and on to gaming shows that it's a good fit for fast-paced action. There's no perceivable input lag, and while it's a 60Hz panel without the benefits of nascent technology such as Nvidia G-Sync, the experience is pleasant, helped in large part with the natural vibrancy of the panel.

Though it's very good in many areas, the same cannot be said for energy consumption. We routinely see large-screen monitors pull less than 50W, but iiyama's, at our chosen settings, uses 71W when displaying a mostly-white Windows Explorer screen, dropping down to an average of 65W when running through our GRID 2 gaming benchmark.

It's hard not to fall for the iiyama XB2779QS's charms. Good-looking design, very punchy, vibrant and consistent image reproduction allied a reasonable price tag of £430 makes it one of the best premium monitors on the market. If you like your screen to be big and jam-packed with pixels, we believe you really should consider this iiyama.

The Good

Lovely design
Eye-popping vibrancy
Super-high contrast and brightness

The Bad

Can exhibit backlight bleed at high brightness

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iiyama ProLite XB2779QS

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The reviewed monitor can be purchased from Scan Computers*

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