Hands on: Eizo ColorEdge CG2700X review
This review first appeared in Issue 357 PC Professional Edition.
ColorEdge CG2700X stands out from the rest monitor There are many reasons for taking this group exam. First and foremost, this is definitely a monitor designed for creative professionals. Second, and on a related note, its massive top bezel contains a built-in calibrator (more on that later). Third, its price is six times that of BenQ PD2706U – This is also a 4K 27-inch monitor, focusing on the creative market.
The monitor has a 10-bit panel at its base. As we mentioned in our buyer’s guide (In PC Pro Edition)which means it can cover 1.07 billion colors without using FRC, which is one of the indicators of professional-grade quality here. A few years ago you needed a professional-quality graphics card to deliver a 10-bit signal, but quality continues to improve for consumers graphics card (and NVIDIAStudio driver) means this is no longer the case.
However, ColorEdge still needs to be part of a color management system if you want to maximize your investment. Eizo’s ColorNavigator 7 software can help, as not only does it help end users set up individual monitors, but it also means companies can ensure that all ColorEdge monitors in all their offices display the same colours.
It also allows them to control brightness, and Eizo is keen to promote sustainability across its range of products. A big part of that is power consumption, although this monitor can push it all the way up to 545cd/m22Still looks great at 200cd/m22(And, unusually, you can reduce it directly to 40cd/m2and the OSD will even tell you how bright it is). Use the included monitor hood to help control the appearance of colors.
Eizo promises that this monitor will be up and running, producing accurate color, in three minutes, rather than the 30 minutes creatives are used to waiting, which will help if you need to set it up while shooting.
And then there’s its most unique feature: built-in calibration tools.
You can set it to automatically go off after a set number of hours (50 to 500) or at regular intervals – this can be daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly. You can even continue working while it performs calibration. Another great feature is designer You can easily jump between pre-calibrated color spaces. These include expected sRGB, adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts are favored by video editors: BT.2020 and BT.709. If you’re using a BT.2020 clip, it can even warn you that it can’t be reproduced in BT.709 and show you what it will look like to viewers with more standard TVs.
Anyone who needs editing high dynamic range Materialists will also appreciate its support for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and Perceptual Quantization (PQ) curves, and you’ll even see warnings if certain areas of the image (such as extreme whites) don’t display accurately beyond the peaks of the monitor itself brightness.
Eizo is also known for its attention to detail, which extends to support for 100W of power when powering devices via a USB-C connection. Power equals heat and will affect color unless dissipated quickly. That’s why there are two metal grilles on the back of the monitor: not only for aesthetics, but also to remove excess heat without having to resort to noisy fans.
We also like the OSD. It’s the most informative of the tests so far, and includes a variety of options that let you switch to different color gamuts, gamma settings, ICC profiles and color temperatures in seconds. You can also prioritize contrast bias.
Alternatively, you can use ColorNavigator 7 as long as you have a USB connection. The back offers a USB-B port next to an RJ45 connector (crucial if you want to manage this monitor over a network), as well as DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0 inputs. On the left side, you’ll find four USB-A ports, with the two blue ports supporting the faster USB 3.2 Gen 1 standard, but note the lack of a second USB-C port. The only missing feature is a pair speaker.
We’ve covered a lot of technical details, but ultimately what Eizo delivers is trust. Believe in the colors you see and the quality this monitor will provide for many years to come. This is reflected in the monitor’s build quality and its five-year on-site warranty, which will see Eizo come to your home to replace faulty units.
Obviously, you’ll pay an upfront cost for this, but many creative companies will get more value from six BenQ PD2706U screens. But at the end of the day, the CG2700X is the pinnacle of quality, and as long as you back it up with the right hardware and color management system, it’s worth the investment.
