BenQ Unveils PD3220U Professional Monitor with AQColor, TB3, HDR10, & KVM

BenQ has introduced a new professional-grade display aimed at designers. The BenQ DesignVue PD3220U monitor supports virtually all color gamuts currently used by professionals, and can even display images in two different color spaces at the same time in BenQ’s DualView mode. Meanwhile, like many advanced LCDs, the PD3220U features Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, a built-in KVM switch, and a hardware hotkey puck.

The general specifications of BenQ’s DesignVue PD3220U monitor are pretty typical by today’s standards. The display is based on a 31.5-inch 10-bit IPS panel featuring a 3840×2160 resolution, 300 nits typical brightness, 1000:1 static contrast, 5 ms response time, a 60 Hz refresh rate, 178° viewing angles, and an anti-glare coating. BenQ does not disclose the type of backlighting it uses, but it must be professional-grade given positioning of the device.

Like virtually all professional LCD panels, the one used by the PD3220U can reproduce 1.07 billion colors, but unlike many competing offerings this monitor can cover the sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, and the Display P3 color spaces, hitting 95% on the latter two. Furthermore, the monitor supports HDR10 transport, as well as a specially-tuned Animation Mode (enhances dark areas without overexposing bright areas), Darkroom Mode (for darkened post-processing environments), and CAD/CAM Mode (enhances contrast). One interesting feature the monitor has is ability to display images in two color spaces side by side in DualView mode to speed up productivity. Furthermore, it also has a built-in KVM switch that enables to seamlessly use more than one computer with one or two displays.

To ensure maximum accuracy of color reproduction, the display supports BenQ’s proprietary AQColor technology, which BenQ yet has to detail. The DesignVue PD3220U comes factory calibrated, but BenQ does not mention DeltaE accuracy as well as color spaces used for calibration. The company also says nothing about 3D look-up tables (LUTs) for HDR10 as well as blending accuracy, but it is possible that this is because the monitor is yet to be made available and not all details have been finalized. Furthermore, with peak brightness at 300 nits it is unlikely that the monitor will ever be used for post-production of HDR-intensive content.

When it comes to connectivity, the DesignVue PD3220U has two Thunderbolt 3 connectors for daisy chaining (one of the ports supports 85 W power delivery and thus can feed most 15.6-inch class laptops), a DisplayPort 1.4 connector, and two HDMI 2.0 ports. The monitor also has a triple-port USB 3.1 hub (there is a Type-C port too). As an added bonus, the display features two 2W built-in speakers, and a headphone jack.

BenQ announced its DesignVue PD3220U fairly recently and it is expected that the product will hit the market in April. In the U.S., the display will cost $1,199.99, which is a pretty much expected price point for a professional-grade monitor.

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Source: BenQ (via Hermitage Akihabara)

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