General usage and software
The depth and vibrancy of colour with the SW2700PT is where BenQ exploits its new panel advantage over existing professional-class displays on the market. The new AHVA panel is stunning to view, imbued with all the usual benefits of IPS technology, notably the ultra-wide viewing angles, and the QHD resolution provides an excellent balance between pixel density and scaling-less workspace.
The unique selling point of the BenQ SW2700PT is arguably the Palette Master Element software which can be used with a number of commercial calibration devices from X-Rite and Datacolor, including the Spyder4Elite which we use for our monitor testing. The software provides a step-by-step calibration process that lets users pick a preset or individually tweak luminance, gamma and black/white points. The software uses the hardware calibration device of choice to calibrate the display in line with bespoke ICC profiles for the display.
Our initial expectation was that with a factory Delta-E of 0.81 there wouldn't be much room to further improve colour accuracy, particularly as the Spyder4Elite, with its own companion software, actually degraded colour accuracy to a Delta-E of 1.13. Nonetheless, the Spyder4Elite in tandem with the X-Rite software was able to further improved the Delta-E down to an impressive 0.47, and it also corrected the native white point down to 6500K.
In short, the companion X-Rite software is very powerful but users will need a compatible calibration device to take advantage of it. For reference, the software lists the i1Display Pro, i1Display 2, i1Pro, i1Pro 2 and Spyder 4 as compatible.
