"This machine isn't perfect, but it produces perfect images, especially
if you're nowhere near sunlight. Photographers, designers and
videographers will love this unit."
For
Stunning images
Price
Versatility
Against
Navigation
Blindspots
Boring design
Hands on Asus PB287Q
Overview and picture quality
Unless you’re a design professional, creative artist,
videographer or gaming fanatic, you probably don’t need a 4K computer
monitor. The same can be said for most luxury items: I’m not a
professional fisherman, but I’d love to own a boat. Unfortunately,
there isn’t much 4K content available for the average person to
consume, so even those of you with money to blow might find yourselves
wishing you’d held out a little longer for the 4K movement to
accelerate. For an excellent in-depth explanation of what 4K is and whether it’s worth exploring, check out this primer.
For those of you who are sure a 4K monitor is exactly what you need for
personal or professional tasks, the Asus PB287Q is a safe bet at a
reasonable price ($649, £599, AU$799).
Specs and picture quality
The
Asus PB287Q sports a 3840 x 2160 UHD resolution that packs 157 pixels
into every one of the monitor’s 28-inches. The 10-bit color screen
delivers crisp images that really bring out the depth in photos. With
standard 1080p monitors, colors fade toward the corners of your images,
specifically darker colors that aren’t directly in focus. When looking
at old wedding photos on the PB287Q, you’ll clearly be able to see
grandma dancing in the background.
Gamers
will love the monitor’s 1ms GTG response time and 60Hz refresh rate.
You’ll never have to worry about your FIFA 15 image sputtering as
Ronaldo leans into his hesitation during a penalty kick. For people like
my wife, who enjoy seeing Ronaldo as clearly as possible (as often as
possible), the monitor’s 16:9 aspect ratio delivers more than 8 million
pixels and more than one billion colors. Eight million pixels and one
billion colors is pretty standard for 4K, but double what you’ll get
with typical full HD displays.
Contrast ratio
Contrast
ratio is a huge plus for this unit. The higher the contrast ratio, the
more life-like your images will look. You’ll want to reach out and touch
the images on your Asus PB287Q.
It
features a 100,000,000:1 measurement, which is mind-bogglingly
fantastic when stacked up against even the most awesome standard 1920 X
1080 units like the BenQ XL2720Z. It won’t impress you in comparison to LG’s $10,000 Ultra HD 4K OLED TV model 65EC9700,
which has no backlighting and can provide infinite contrast. But you’re
not reading this because you’re interested in top-of-the-line
televisions. You’re interested in the best 4K monitors available. At
100,000,000:1, the Asus PB287Q is among the best monitors on the market
in terms of contrast ratio.
Features and cons
The unit provides you with one DisplayPort 1.2 input and two
HDMI inputs, one of which supports MHL. The unit’s Smart Cable
Management will keep your cords tidy and behind the monitor stand, but
it will be a useless feature if you enjoy rotating your screen to
90-degrees and back. I suggest you rotate this screen
often: it features easy to manipulate tilt, swivel, pivot, and height
adjustment so you can comfortably adjust the screen to suit your vantage
point (more on this later). Some units, like the gorgeous Samsung UD970
offer similar flexibility, but because their bases can be creaky you’ll
worry about damaging the unit with every adjustment. Not the Asus
PB287Q.
Display features
The
Asus PB287Q offers two picture-in-picture modes: one allows you to
place one picture in a corner of the display and the other allows you to
split the screen directly in half. This is a pretty neat feature.
Unfortunately, models like the aforementioned Samsung unit provide you
with viewing quadrants, rather than split modes, so you don’t have to
limit your display to two images. Photographers will
enjoy the unit’s ability to scale its display into multiple image
formats. You can adjust the screen to fit the following page sizes: B5,
A4, Letter, 8”x10”, 5”x7”, 4”x6”, 3”x5”, and 2”x2”. So you’ll be able to
see exactly what your image will look like in size and clarity prior to
pressing the print button.
Cons
The matted
bezel offers nothing you haven’t already seen. The monitor itself won’t
wow anyone who walks into your office or studio. But that’s not why
you’re buying it, right? The images on the screen will cause enough
wowing that no one will notice the boring exterior. You’ll
be horrified by how hard it is to insert cables. If you’re standing in
front of the unit you’ll have to reach underneath the bottom of the unit
and up toward the mid-rear, where you’ll find The Valley of the
Forgotten Inputs. Here, you’ll have to stick your fingers into a
one-inch-deep hole where you’ll hopefully be able to align your plug
with the socket. Godspeed. It’s a much easier process if you can get
behind the unit, but that can be a pain in cramped offices.
I’m
always shocked by how awful navigation on these monitors is. Even a
wonderfully crafted unit like the Asus PB287Q doesn’t make it easy for
me to switch between modes. This unit has your standard Menu button that
triggers six option buttons. These six buttons allow you to choose how
your screen will display. However, the buttons are
behind the screen and don’t correspond with the guides at the front of
the screen. So as I went to select the Menu button I hit the Power
button. When I went to hit the Increase button in order to brighten the
display, I wound up hitting the Decrease button and darkened the
display. Oy vey. Perhaps the biggest issue I had with
the unit was blind-spotting. If the sun is parallel to the unit and you
look at the display from a side angle, you will lose some of the image.
You’re typically used to losing image quality when the sun shines
directly onto an image. However, I’ve never experienced this particular
type of blind-spotting. Even my crappy Insignia TV from 2012 doesn’t
have this issue.
Final verdict
We liked
If you’re buying a 4K monitor for viewing
pleasure the Asus PB287Q stands toe-to-toe with any 4K monitor I’ve
tested. Because 4K hasn’t really taken off in terms of content, you
don’t want to spend a boatload of money to watch standard definition
content. This unit comes at a great value.
We disliked
It
isn’t the sexiest monitor in the world. It’s difficult to navigate and
inserting plugs is a headache. But worst of all: if the sun cascades
along the side of your monitor you might lose some of the image.
Verdict
The
Asus PB287Q is a high-quality machine that will change the way you view
photo and video. Your images will have more depth and realism than
you’ve ever seen them have. Details will stand out in your photos’
backgrounds that you’ve never seen before, and the splendid textures and
colors will make you want to run your fingers across the screen the way
you would a painting’s brushstrokes. There are some obvious design
flaws that will irk you, but image quality will definitely not be one of
them.
