Displays review
ASUS ProArt PA278QV Review: Calibrated Colour, Ordinary Contrast
Factory calibrated below Delta E 2 and verified by Calman. One lab measured its contrast at 866:1, which is below the ordinary IPS figure it is supposed to hit.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
ASUS
ASUS ProArt PA278QV
Good · researched from 4 sources
The right monitor if your work lives in sRGB and you want it accurate without buying a calibrator. Look elsewhere if you grade wide-gamut footage or want one cable to your laptop, because it does neither.
- Buy if
- Web and print work inside sRGB, where accuracy is the job · Anyone who needs a monitor to rotate into portrait · Desks that already have a dock
- Skip if
- Wide-gamut work in DCI-P3 or Adobe RGB · Laptop users wanting USB-C docking · Dark-room content, given the measured contrast
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
What the certification actually buys
Most monitors arrive with colour that is roughly right and a menu full of presets that make it worse. Getting to genuinely accurate means buying a colorimeter, running software, and doing it again every few months.
This one arrives calibrated to Delta E under 2 with a Calman verification report, and Expert Reviews notes Pantone certification alongside it. Under 2 is the threshold below which errors stop being visible to most people.
That is the product. Everything else about this monitor is ordinary, and the accuracy is not.
The contrast is the catch
Expert Reviews measured 866:1 against a claimed 1,000:1 and called the base contrast mediocre.
That figure deserves context. Ordinary IPS sits around 1,000:1, so 866 is below average for the panel type rather than merely unexciting. The IPS Black panels in the two Dell monitors we have covered measure roughly twice as much.
In a lit room editing photographs against a white interface, you will not notice. Watching something dark, or grading footage with shadow detail, you will, and no amount of colour accuracy compensates.
The brightness surprise goes the other way
Expert Reviews measured 462 cd/m2 peak against a claimed 350.
That is unusual. Monitors normally undershoot their brightness claim, and this one exceeded it by a third. Useful in a bright room, though the practical benefit for colour work is limited since you calibrate to a fixed target anyway, typically 120 cd/m2.
Read the gamut numbers before buying
100 percent sRGB and Rec.709. Approximately 70 percent Adobe RGB and DCI-P3, per Expert Reviews.
The ProArt name and the calibration certificate suggest a professional display, and it is one, for a specific definition of professional. Web work, most print work and anything delivered in sRGB is exactly its territory. Video grading in DCI-P3 or photography in Adobe RGB is not, and the panel cannot show you colours it cannot reproduce.
The stand is genuinely excellent
Ninety degrees of swivel in either direction, full portrait rotation, 35 degrees of tilt and about 150 mm of height travel, with a 100x100 VESA mount.
Expert Reviews calls it an incredibly flexible stand and it is the part of the monitor with no compromise attached. For anyone laying out pages or reading long documents, portrait rotation on a 1440p panel is a real working advantage.
The dated part
No USB-C. There is a four-port USB 3.0 hub, but it is fed by a USB-B cable, which means the modern one-cable laptop setup is not available at all.
Expert Reviews lists it as a criticism and it is the clearest sign of the monitor's age. Everything else here has held up; that has not.
How it scored
The overall 7.8 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Panel performance
Display Ninja reports 100 percent sRGB and Rec.709 with Calman-verified Delta E under 2. Expert Reviews measured 94.9 percent sRGB coverage and 462 cd/m2 peak brightness.
Value
Expert Reviews awarded it Recommended and called it a terrific panel in an incredibly flexible stand at competitive pricing.
Build quality
150 mm of height adjustment per Display Ninja, 140 mm per Expert Reviews, with 90 degree pivot and swivel and 35 degrees of tilt.
Ease of use
No USB-C at all, which Expert Reviews lists as a criticism, and 2 W speakers they call unimpressive. There is a four-port USB 3.0 hub.
Contrast
Expert Reviews measured 866:1 against a claimed 1,000:1, calling the base contrast mediocre. Display Ninja and Mini PC Reviewer both quote the 1,000:1 specification.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- Factory calibrated to Delta E under 2 and verified by Calman
- 100 percent sRGB and Rec.709 coverage per Display Ninja and Mini PC Reviewer
- Expert Reviews measured 462 cd/m2, well above the 350 claimed
- A stand with 90 degree pivot and swivel, full portrait mode and 35 degrees of tilt
- A four-port USB 3.0 hub and DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI
What we didn’t
- Expert Reviews measured contrast at 866:1, below the claimed 1,000:1
- No USB-C, so no single-cable laptop docking and no power delivery
- Only about 70 percent Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 per Expert Reviews, so this is an sRGB monitor
- 75Hz with a narrow 48 to 75Hz adaptive sync window
- 2 W speakers that Expert Reviews calls unimpressive
Specifications
| Panel | 27in IPS, 2560 x 1440 |
|---|---|
| Refresh rate | 75Hz, adaptive sync 48 to 75Hz |
| Contrast | 1,000:1 claimed; 866:1 measured by Expert Reviews |
| Brightness | 350 cd/m2 claimed; 462 cd/m2 measured by Expert Reviews |
| Colour gamut | 100 percent sRGB and Rec.709 claimed; 94.9 percent sRGB coverage measured by Expert Reviews; about 70 percent Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 |
| Colour accuracy | Delta E under 2, Calman verified |
| Response time | 5 ms GtG per Display Ninja |
| Input lag | About 10 ms per Display Ninja |
| Ports | DisplayPort 1.2, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, DVI-D, 4x USB 3.0, headphone jack; no USB-C |
| Stand | 150 mm height per Display Ninja, 140 mm per Expert Reviews; 90 degree pivot and swivel, minus 5 to 35 degrees tilt |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
4
sources reviewed
Expert Reviews is the only source that published its own measurements, which is why their contrast, brightness and gamut figures are the ones that disagree with the specification everyone else repeats. Display Ninja supplies the response time, input lag, adaptive sync range and full port list. Mini PC Reviewer corroborates the gamut and accuracy claims and the refresh rate limitation. Two further reviews returned errors before they could be read. Where measured figures differ from claimed ones, the specification table carries both and says which is which.
What we read
Common questions
Is the ASUS ProArt PA278QV accurate out of the box?
How is the contrast?
Can I use it for wide-gamut work?
Does it have USB-C?
Is 75Hz enough?
The bottom line on the ASUS ProArt PA278QV
The right monitor if your work lives in sRGB and you want it accurate without buying a calibrator. Look elsewhere if you grade wide-gamut footage or want one cable to your laptop, because it does neither.
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