I don’t usually publish posts that don’t refer to my experience with lighting in photography, but I’ve been a BenQ monitor ambassador for a few years now and the truth is that I never cease to be amazed by the excellent quality of these products. So today I will give you my opinion of the latest monitor I am using. BenQ SW321C Monitor
I often make reproductions of works of art for museums and art galleries. In this professional area, color reproduction is a highly complex subject. A perfect photo is not made in a single step, but takes a long process from shooting to printing the image. BenQ has developed specialized features to facilitate a smooth workflow from shooting to printing. This streamlined workflow optimizes the retouching process and simplifies the printing process with a simulated preview before printing. Thus, it makes the artwork reproduce with great fidelity to the original.
I am fortunate to have the BenQ 321 C Monitor for photo editing. It is a 32-inch 4K UHD display with Paper Color Sync technology developed to coordinate the color of the screen and photos. This monitor provides the ultimate platform for accurate photo editing and reliable reproduction of printed photo output.
Paper color synchronization is BenQ’s patented technology for simulating print results. I can edit photos efficiently and confidently in this screen printing process by simply selecting the color gamut, printer model and paper type to preview, thus saving time. The SW321C monitor employs special techniques on the panels to further reduce reflection and glare, resulting in a paper-like display effect that works in conjunction with Paper Color Sync to ensure that photos look almost the same on the screen as they do on paper. When printing art exhibition catalogs that include works such as those of the prestigious painter Joan Miró, it is essential to have a screen that is reliable, since some of the tones of his works are often out of range. In a recent order I made it is amazing to see the similarity between the catalog and the screen as you can see in the following image.
Thanks to the AQCOLOR technology developed by BenQ, we can talk about the concept of “accurate reproduction”. The monitor reached the industry standard with 99% coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. It is also 100% sRGB/Rec.709 compliant and 95% DCI-P3/Display P3 compliant, resulting in a more realistic color representation. Ultra HD 4K resolution provides very high sharpness and clarity of detail in both details and textures. In gastronomy orders, such as the following image, it is essential that the food has the same color as the original.
The color depth is 10-bit which allows for high fidelity and smooth color gradations, but we can also enjoy great HDR if we use the HDMI port. In grayscale the range is very wide and therefore the blacks are very pure. This feature is accentuated if we work in black and white mode; one more of the features oriented to improve the sharpness and precision of this monitor. Being able to easily activate this advanced mode makes it much easier to achieve optimal results more quickly, as it allows us to preview the results with up to three monochrome presets. The GamutDuo function also allows simultaneous adjacent display of the same image in two different color spaces, such as Adobe RGB and sRGB.
The SW321C’s 16-bit 3D lookup table produces flawless colors with Delta E ≤ 2 accuracy, in both Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces , which combines with BenQ’s uniformity compensation technology to deliver accuracy across the entire display. With permanent color consistency thanks to built-in color calibration hardware, all SW321Cs are accompanied by an individualized factory color calibration report and CalMAN and Pantone certifications.
It also incorporates the Uniformity and Brightness Technology. This technology delivers accurate color across the entire monitor for authentic and consistent viewing experiences. Achieved through delicate processes that use high-precision devices to meticulously adjust color and brightness in hundreds of sub-regions across the entire screen, BenQ Uniformity Technology delivers precise color across the entire screen from corner to corner. The color fidelity is very high and even without a specific profile the result is very satisfactory, although it requires a subsequent creation of the color profile to be able to perform a much more detailed work. Factory calibrated, the BenQ SW321C monitor delivers out-of-the-box color accuracy that ensures users can enjoy great color performance. Skin tones, color of clothing in fashion sessions, colors of jewelry and accessories, will be reliably seen.
Calibration is done by hardware with the Palette Master Elements software. This calibration helps to adjust the monitor’s internal image processing chip, which keeps the displayed images consistent with the original content without being affected by the graphics card settings. With Palette Master Element and a calibrator, I can customize color settings or keep the monitor’s color performance at its most optimal state.
This monitor also features the brand’s traditional option wheel, the ‘Hotkey Puck’, from which you can quickly control the monitor’s color and display options. It is really practical and original and can be placed in the base, where it has a cavity for it that is very comfortable. We can quickly change the color space or adjust the most frequently used values without having to navigate through the menus with the five buttons at the bottom of the frame.
A big new feature is that it has a new USB-C port. This port offers high-speed video, audio and data transmission, as well as power, over a single cable, providing quick and easy workflow setup. It also has two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort input and an integrated SD/MMC card reader.
Finally, a specially designed detachable shading hood can effectively reduce the brightness of the monitor screen produced by ambient lighting to ensure exceptional viewing.
