ASUS PB279Q 4K Monitor Review

The Asus PB279Q delivers a clean, crisp image and will certainly help the company cement their footing within the Ultra HD 4K market.

If you are thinking of ditching that old TN panel to move into the world of IPS screens, then the benefits are easy to quantify. IPS panels are able to deliver superior viewing angles, as well as more vibrant, richly saturated colours. The Asus PB279Q excels with colour reproduction and rates quite closely to some of their Pro Art screens that I have analysed.

The onboard speakers are rather feeble, as we would expect, but in an office environment they will be welcomed. General alerts and basic speech is acceptable, although external speakers will be a prerequisite for beefy, full rounded audio output.

As detailed in this review, we thoroughly enjoyed the gaming experience from the Asus PB279Q. It obviously isn't as fast as the Asus ROG Swift PG278Q 144hz G-Sync monitor that claimed our Monitor of the Year award for 2014, but we didn't notice any smearing or ghosting. Two out of three clan gamers agreed with me, but if you simply must have a 1ms gray-to-gray refresh rate then TN is probably your only option.

Gaming at 3,840 x 2,160 has to be seen to be thoroughly enjoyed, especially if you play a modern game designed with higher resolution textures in mind. The only downside, and sadly it is quite a major one, is the graphics horsepower needed to get smooth frame rates. We would recommend two GTX980's or a R9 295X2 to get the best gaming experience. Unless you are happy running at lower resolutions or image quality settings then this extra expense is a deal breaker for most.

Right now there are no 4K monitors with greater than 60hz refresh rate, so you will need to be patient if you want the option for 100hz+. We also know from our own testing that achieving solid, steady 100+ frame rates in most titles at this resolution is close to impossible – even with three GTX980's (at max IQ). Waiting for the next generation of graphics hardware may be the wisest option.

You can buy the Asus PB279Q 4K monitor direct from Overclockers UK for £679.99 inc vat.

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Pros:

• excellent overall image quality.
• decent onscreen menu system.
• good viewing angles.
• onboard speakers.
• plenty of connection options.

Cons:

• You need serious graphics horsepower to get a steady 60fps at 4K.
• out of the box brightness settings are too high.

Kitguru says: A well rounded, high performance monitor which will futureproof you for years.

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