Professional’s Ranking
Professionals
- Very massive display screen
- Colorfast and shiny
- Thunderbolt connection
Cons
- Solely 60Hz
- Somewhat meager audio system
- No webcam
Our Verdict
The BenQ PD3225U affords excessive show high quality and lots of sensible capabilities. It’s best for design, desktop publishing, and picture and video modifying–it’s all-around show. Because of the Thunderbolt connection, it’s best as a Mac docking station.
Worth When Reviewed
$1,099.99
Finest Costs At present: BenQ PD3225U
$1,099.99
$1099.99
If you happen to don’t know something about screens, you may suppose any monitor will do in your Mac. Whereas which may be true—some shows are made to particularly handle the wants of Mac customers. Take BenQ, for instance, with its DesignVue collection, which has a Thunderbolt 3 connection as customary, can synchronize its colours, and is subsequently “Mac-ready.” The most recent mannequin within the household is the PD3225U, a 31.5-inch big.
BenQ PD3225U: Specs
Dimension | 31.5 inch IPS |
Decision | 3840 by 2160 pixels |
Brightness/HDR | 400/400 nits |
Response time | 5 ms |
Refresh charge | 60Hz |
Color ranges | 99% Rec.709 99% sRGB 98% DCI-P3 |
Joinors | Thunderbolt 3 On Thunderbolt 3 Off 3 USB-A ports 1 USB-C port 1 USB-B port 2 HDMI 2.0 ports 1 DisplayPort 1.4 |
Audio | 2 2W audio system 3.5mm audio jack |
Webcam | No |
BenQ PD3225U: Connectivity-friendly docking station
Like Apple’s Studio Show, the PD3225U’s Thunderbolt help units it other than different screens. Thunderbolt is used to hook up with the Mac and it affords 85 watts of charging energy, so it may cost a MacBook. The Thunderbolt connection additionally transforms the show with its 4 USB ports and an extra Thunderbolt socket right into a sensible docking station for connecting peripherals akin to onerous drives or further hubs. The second Thunderbolt port additionally serves as a daisy-chain connection, which can be utilized to attach a second monitor or finish units with their very own energy provide–it gives solely 15 watts of charging energy.
BenQ gives a 3-foot (1-meter) Thunderbolt cable, however it might be good if it was slightly longer. It could be too quick if you wish to join the show to a Mac that’s positioned beneath a desk. The PD3225U has one USB-C port, positioned on the correct aspect, together with a USB-A port and a 3.5mm audio jack. These are the ports you utilize for gadgets you typically plug/unplug, akin to a thumb drive.
Foundry
The remainder of the ports are positioned on the rear of the show. For computer systems with out Thunderbolt, the PD3225U additionally affords two HDMI 2.0 ports and DisplayPort 1.4. Because of the built-in KVM change, two computer systems could be switched rapidly, though the mouse and keyboard have to be linked to the monitor by cable. The BenQ Hotkey Puck G2 equipped helps with this.
The BenQ PD3225U affords a pleasant array of ports.
Foundry
The PD3235U has a pair of 2-watt audio system. They don’t depart a lot of an impression, so if audio is vital, you’ll need to connect USB audio system. The show additionally doesn’t have a webcam, so that you’ll want so as to add one to your buying record if that’s a necessity.
BenQ PD3225U: Picture high quality
The 31.5-inch PD3225U makes an impression on the desk and affords an unlimited quantity of area to work in your Mac. Even with the show set to its native 4K decision (3,840 by 2,160 pixels), on-screen gadgets are nonetheless usable. If it’s too small for you, you may regulate the decision. I discovered the three,008 by 1,692-pixel setting to be optimum–the PD3225U shows content material as massive as on an iMac show.
I need to reiterate that the PD3225U is a 4K show. Shows that provide greater resolutions can be found, akin to Apple’s 5K Studio Show, which is dearer. You may even discover 8K shows, however once more, they’re dearer.
Content material on the PD3225U is all the time clearly recognizable because of a peak brightness of 400 nits and a distinction ratio of two,000:1. The PD3225Q can be an exceptionally evenly illuminated panel with no halos or comparable show issues. The matte display screen is coated with an anti-glare coating that largely prevents reflections from gentle sources.
The PD3225U covers an important shade areas virtually fully: 98 p.c DCI-P3, 99 p.c sRGB, and 99 p.c Rec.709.
The PD3225U’s M-Guide mode is exceptional: this shade mode optimized for the Mac minimizes the optical variations between the display screen and the shows utilized in MacBooks. This ensures color-fast dual-monitor operation with a Macbook and BenQ monitor. In observe, there are not any important shade show variations between the BenQ show and the MacBook, however the excessive brightness of recent MacBooks does make a sure distinction.
Nonetheless, there are additionally a number of different shade modes, akin to DCI-P3, and sRGB, or modes supposed for particular functions akin to “Darkroom” or “Office.” The display screen could be set utilizing the twin show perform in order that it makes use of the M-Guide mode on the left and the sRGB mode on the correct, for instance. This makes it behave like two in a different way set screens. On this approach, functions and media could be considered rapidly within the corresponding shade mode if required.
One downside to the PD3225U is that it doesn’t supply variable refresh charges. It’s set to 60Hz, which is ample for most individuals.
BenQ PD3225U: Show Pilot 2 for handy show management
The PD3225U additionally helps BenQ’s personal Show Pilot software program. This instrument lets you conveniently management the PD3225U from the Mac through the menu bar.
Because of the iKeyboard Management characteristic (which should first be activated in Show Pilot), the brightness of the exterior monitor could be simply managed utilizing the standard F1/F2 keys: All you need to do is place the mouse pointer on the PD3225U. Whether it is on the MacBook show, the keys dim the show. Show Pilot additionally permits entry to many vital display screen capabilities with out the consumer having to succeed in behind the monitor to fiddle with the display screen buttons.
The software program not solely affords the choice of rapidly switching between shade modes but additionally gives fast entry to desktop partitioning or the picture-in-picture perform. The choice of assigning particular shade profiles to sure functions is sensible: As quickly as the appliance is energetic (Photoshop or Pixelmator, for instance) the monitor switches to the required shade mode on request.
If you happen to don’t use the Show Pilot software program, the show controls could be accessed utilizing buttons and slightly joystick on the rear.
Foundry
BenQ PD3225U: Worth
The PD3235U has the next record costs:
- U.S.: $1,099.99
- U.Okay.: £1,099.99
- Canada: $1,499
- Australia: $1,799
Must you purchase the BenQ PD3225U?
The PD3225U affords every little thing that skilled Mac customers want: A lovely, shiny, well-lit panel, manufacturing facility calibration together with a excessive degree of shade high quality, varied shade modes, and exceptionally good connectivity. The Show Pilot 2 app rounds off the bundle, which makes working the display screen an actual pleasure. Regardless of the “only” 4K decision, BenQ delivers an actual productiveness monster with this monitor, which ought to discover many buddies amongst Mac customers and past, because of its massive work floor and intelligent options.
This text initially appeared on Macwelt and was translated by Roman Loyola.
This text initially appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and localized from German.