Asus PB278Q

Plane to Line Switching (PLS) is a relatively new panel technology developed by Samsung as an alternative to LG's popular IPS panel technology. Both technologies claim to offer very good color quality and wide viewing angles, and both are more expensive to manufacture than the TN (Twisted Nematic) panels that are used on most low-end monitors. The Asus PB278Q ($699.99 list) is a 27-inch PLS monitor, and it does indeed deliver very good color quality and wide viewing angles. It also offers a plethora of features, including multiple video ports, a multi-adjustable stand, and WQHD (2,560-by-1,440) resolution. It doesn't include any USB ports, however, and at $700 it's a certainly more expensive than a similarly sized TN-based monitor.

Design and Features
Unlike the gorgeous Samsung Series 9 S27B970D, another 27-inch PLS monitor, the PB278Q is fairly plain looking. The 27-inch panel resides in a 2.8-inch thick matte black cabinet with relatively thin (0.75-inch) bezels and a thin, barely noticeable strip of glossy black trim around the edge. Tucked away beneath the lower bezel are six function buttons and a power switch, all of which are clearly marked with white labeling. The 3-watt speakers could be louder but they are clean sounding and don't distort when the volume is cranked all the way up.

The monitor is supported by a stand consisting of a square black base and a sliding hinge that provides 4.7 inches of height adjustability and 25-degrees of tilt. The hinge lets you rotate the panel 90-degrees for portrait mode viewing and a Lazy Susan assembly on the base gives you 120-degrees of swivel. You'll have to use your graphics control panel to change image orientation as the PB278Q does not support auto-rotation.

The PB278Q offers a nice selection of video connections, including VGA, DVI (dual link), HDMI, and DisplayPort inputs. There's also an audio input and an earphone jack. All ports are located at the rear of the cabinet, and a cable for each is included in the box (excluding the earphones). The monitor also ships with a support CD, a quick start guide, and a three year parts, labor, and backlight warranty.

The OSD menu system is straightforward and very easy to navigate once you get used to the Asus naming convention. For example, picture modes are called Splendid settings and include Standard, sRGB, Scenery, Theater, and User Mode. The Color menu offers Contrast, Brightness Saturation, Hue, Color Temperature, and Gamma settings. Advanced color settings are available in User Mode only and included RGB Gain and Offset adjustments. The Image settings menu provides Sharpness, Aspect Ratio, and ASCR (Asus Smart Contrast Ratio) controls, and the Sound menu offers volume, mute and audio source options.

Performance
The PB278Q's matte coated PLS panel does a fantastic job of displaying rich, vibrant colors without reflection or glare. Swatches from the DisplayMate Color Scales test were well saturated and bright, and the panel produced deep, dark blacks. Colors remained true from any angle with no loss of luminance.

Grayscale performance was quite good also; every shade of gray on the 64-Step Grayscale test was visible and distinct, although the lightest shade was slightly compressed. That said, highlight and shadow detail on my test photos was strong and well defined. Small text readability was superb as well; fonts set 5.3 points (the smallest on my test) were well formed and easy to read.

The PB278Q has a 5-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response which helps deliver smooth gaming action and blur-free fast motion video. I didn't notice any lag or ghosting while playing Split Second, a fast-paced PS3 racing game, and image quality on the BBC production of Planet Earth on Blu-ray disc was nothing short of spectacular.

The PB278Q averaged 40 watts of power while operating in Standard mode. That's 8 watts less than the Samsung Series 9 (48-watts) but 8 watts more than the IPS-based Dell U2713HM. The TN-based Acer S271HL has them all beat with an average of 24 watts.

Conclusion
While not as stylish as the Samsung Series 9, the Asus PB278Q offers the same strong color and viewing angle performance for around $500 less, and it has a highly adjustable stand and an audio input, both of which are missing from the Series 9. The Series 9 has a USB hub, however, while the PB278Q doesn't. The IPS-based Dell UltraSharp 2713HM offers similar performance and a more robust feature set at a competitive price, which is why it remains our Editors' Choice for big-screen monitors.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Asus PB278Q with several other monitors side by side.

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