NEC MultiSync PA272W review

The predecessor to the MultiSync PA272W, the PA271W, was no slouch when it came to image quality, yet NEC has rung the changes this time around. Centre stage, there’s a 27in, 2,560 x 1,440 AH-IPS panel, and NEC has swapped the CCFL technology of the previous model for the latest in GB-r LED backlighting. See also: The 9 best monitors from £200 to £2,000

NEC MultiSync PA272W review: features

The burly adjustable stand immediately looks like it means business, and it weighs almost twice as much as its budget counterparts. The stand provides 150mm of height adjustment, tilt and swivel and a portrait mode, and a pair of clips on the stand’s edges helps prevent cables from getting tangled or being yanked out by accident.

The most striking difference in the PA272W’s image quality over its predecessor is the new anti-glare coating. As with many high-end monitors we’ve reviewed, the previous model’s matte anti-glare exhibited a noticeably grainy finish. The MultiSync PA272W’s satin finish does nothing of the sort, delivering images that look crisp and clean from corner to corner.

NEC MultiSync PA272W review: image quality

We spent time using the PA272W in both its pre-calibrated sRGB and Adobe RGB modes, and we came away highly impressed. To the naked eye, the NEC delivers images that are as close to perfect as we could hope for, with finely judged skin tones, bold primaries and smooth transitions between shades.

Our X-Rite colorimeter was equally impressed. In sRGB mode, the NEC covered 99% of the colour space and turned in a superb performance, with an average Delta E of 0.6 and a maximum deviation of 2.05. Switching to the NEC’s Adobe RGB mode gave a similarly impressive set of numbers: the PA272W dredged up 98.9% of the colours in the Adobe RGB colour space, with an average Delta E of 0.72 and a maximum of 2.33.

The NEC’s GB-R LED backlighting is superb. It reaches almost TV levels of brightness, with a maximum luminance of 340cd/m[sup]2[/sup], and we measured no more than a 2.5% variance in brightness across the entire panel. If there’s a weakness in the PA272W’s performance, it’s that contrast drops off in some colour profiles. It hit an acceptable 865:1 in the NEC’s uncalibrated Native mode, but the calibrated sRGB and Adobe RGB profiles saw that ratio drop to 670:1 and 675:1 respectively.

Delve into the onscreen display and there’s a huge selection of features, as well as plenty of scope for tweaking the onscreen image quality. The PA272W’s picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture controls are flexible, too. You can view any two of the DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, DVI or HDMI inputs simultaneously, and you can also view the same input twice and toggle the sRGB and Adobe RGB emulation modes on the secondary image.

NEC MultiSync PA272W review: verdict

NEC’s MultiSync PA272W is by no means cheap, but it delivers professional-class image quality for less than £1,000. If you can forgive the lack of support for hardware calibration, the NEC is a monitor that’s worth every penny.

Related Posts

Samsung Galaxy S7 Review: A Great Phone in its Day, but Don’t Buy One “Your Payment Requires Additional Review” in Zelle – What Does it Mean? Private Internet Access Review Pluto TV Review—Is It Worth It? ExpressVPN Review – Unbiased and Tested In-House CyberGhost Review Best VPN Services 2023: What’s the Best VPN in the US? How To Fix Mac Preview Images Not Showing Here’s Why Everything is Green in Google Maps