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Asus is the first non-Samsung brand out of the blocks with a PLS screen. The PB278Q is a 27-inch, 2560x1440 screen that attempts to bring down the price by chopping off a few of the frills along the way.
Just like the PA246 , the screen can overlay a grid splitting the screen into nine parts, or show you an overlay of the exact 1:1 dimensions of A4, Letter, 4x6, 3x5, 2x2, 8x10 and 5x7. The usefulness of this is questionable, since in any design app you'll be dealing with different zoom levels, and the DPI and media quality of the print will be vastly different to the screen — but Asus maintains that it helps as a preview for image editing before something is printed to its final size.
One thing that might excite a few of you out there is that there's no trace of a Dell-like "sparkling" anti-glare coating. The image is smooth, looks great and yet is a matte screen.

(Credit: Craig Simms/CNET Australia)
Specs at a glance
| Size | 27 inches |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 2560x1440 |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Pixel pitch | 0.234 |
| Panel technology | PLS |
| Viewing angles (10:1 contrast) |
H: 178° V: 178° |
| Response time | 5ms G2G |
| Max vertical refresh | 60Hz |
| Connections | DVI, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, 3.5mm line out, 3.5mm line in |
| Accessories | DVI, VGA, power cables |
Stand and ergonomics
Asus has the user well covered, with tilt, pivot, rack and pinion height adjustment, and even a 90° vertical rotate on the panel. The pivot is just a disc built in to the bottom of the stand, something we're used to on cheaper solutions, but it works. A plastic brace at the rear serves for cable management, but the gap is too thin to thread a plug of any type but HDMI or DisplayPort through — you'll have to pull out the brace, then reconnect it once you've organised the cable.

Asus offers the full range of motions. Pull out a screwdriver and it's VESA mountable, too. The plastic loop down the bottom is the somewhat ineffectual cable management.
(Credit: Craig Simms/CNET Australia)
Connections

DisplayPort, VGA, DVI, HDMI, 3.5mm line in, 3.5mm line out.
(Credit: Craig Simms/CNET Australia)
Buttons and on-screen display (OSD)
Asus mounts its buttons under the monitor, labelling them on the front of the screen. You'll have to operate by muscle memory, especially in the dark — the layout of the buttons doesn't feel particularly natural.

Asus mounts the buttons under the monitor.
(Credit: Craig Simms/CNET Australia)
The OSD is a simple, menu-driven affair, with categories on the left and options on the right. There are a few more options than the usual pointless presets, and brightness/contrast. Saturation, Hue, Color Temp and Gamma are available for tweaking, and impressively there are Gain and Offset settings here, too. Since there are speakers built in, there's volume control as well. The sound isn't terrible at all, but the sound stage is rather flattened, and you miss a lot on the high end. Headphones or dedicated speakers would be a better solution.

Asus' OSD is straightforward, even if its buttons need work.
(Credit: Craig Simms/CNET Australia)
Performance
Lagom.nl LCD tests
After calibrating to a target brightness of 140cd/m² with an X-Rite i1Display 2, Eye-One Match 3 and tweaking with HCFR, the PB278Q was run through the Lagom.nl LCD tests.
| Image tests | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contrast | Sharpness | Gamma | Black level | White saturation | Gradient |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Uniform banding across the gradient. |
The PB278Q managed quite well until we reached the gradients, where a uniform banding was noticeable.
| Inversion pixel walk tests | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test 1 | Test 2a | Test 2b | Test 3 | Test 4a | Test 4b | Test 5 | Test 6a | Test 6b | Test 7a | Test 7b |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | Very slight motion | Flicker |
The PB278Q had an impressive showing in the pixel walk tests, only having difficulty with two.




