BenQ RD280UA 28.2” 4K 3840x2560 Programming Monitor Backlight, Ergo Flexible Arm, 90W USB-C, Fine-Coated Panel, Advanced Coding Modes, Night Hours Protection, Coding HotKey, Eye-Care Tech

Owning the monitor for 5 months I can definitively say the this is the best monitor in the market. The resolution is impeccable. The antiglare coating makes placement near windows possible. The contrast and brightness levels suite every environment condition. The 28" condenses all the resolution into one eye pleasing monitor. Coming from a 38" ultrawide and having tested OLEDs, Q-LEDs, Nano-IPS, this outperforms all of it in eye care settings and in clear text. Eye strain is no more. Well worth the price.

For nearly 2 decades I have struggled to find a monitor that optimizes productivity.I've only had my 28.2" -- 3840x2560 (RD280U) for one day but the 3:2 aspect ratio is fantastic.I would also accept 16:10, I have been long disappointed since 5:4 went away as a programmer.The additional +500 vertical pixels is a game changer on Arch Linux Tiling Window Managers as it allows the 3 column 2 row layout to not be vertically squished so badly as in 16:9.The Backlight Halo has a color temperature option, 360 degrees or 270, and a brightness toggle. What a wonderful feature so many others could learn from.I am not really crazy about the bottom module sticking out, but then the buttons feel really good -- much better than my 6 expensive ASUS gaming monitors. And the positioning of the buttons is critical -- ASUS has them on the right hand back side. What about left handed people and what if I am VESA mounting 3 to Ergotron arms? This monitor buttons and sane positioning are much appreciated.I am beyond excited about the internal power supply -- having a singular standard power cable is EXACTLY what I wanted and I can't seem to find that nowadays -- instead I have all these obnoxious power bricks all over the floor (In the case of the 6 ASUS) and it's terrible. Plus how am I supposed to know which brick goes to which model monitor -- what a MASSIVE improvement and relief.I like the stand's vertical artwork having some semblance to measuring things and putting it together was easy -- snap the stand into the monitor and screw a single screw under the base. The standard base has a neat little leather cable management button up on the back, it's nothing special -- doesn't seem to rotate unless I am mistaken -- it's average.I discovered that the monitor has speakers even over DisplayPort. They are average, more of a backup in quality. But again where it counts this bad boy shines.The mate screen is SOOO much easier to look at than my 50" 4k Samsung TV / Monitor with gloss -- I am excited to not have productivity and my ability to focus inhibited by lighting conditions most of the day.I was skeptical about the 28.2" size as I would have preferred larger, but it was acceptable. I think I will boost my font scale slightly as I don't like to use scaling of any kind -- it's okayish -- a little small, but after a day of use seems to be totally okay going from bigger to smaller.I love that the pictures show me the ports. I am so annoyed shopping for monitors and not being able to see all the plugs. It's nice to know what I am getting.I felt really annoyed with my ASUS monitor as the splash screen prominantly shows G-Sync and other obnoxious logos when I power it on like HDMI -- This monitor has the HDMI Logo, EyeCare, BenQ and maybe I am forgetting another but they are not as obnoxious and "In Your Face" like ASUS -- which was a pet peev as I strongly dislike Nvidia products as they are a PITA and I am glad to be free of their nonsense.There are 3 base buttons, Power, Menu (with 4 directional joystick) and Input to toggle between HDMI, DP. I really don't want to use HDMI any more, the sooner it goes away the better. It comes off as a "TV" thing which is contrary to serious computing.I am also strongly opposed to OLED, so besides the fantastic aspect ratio and increased resolution it is nice to see IPS -- friends who have purchased OLED have problems with image burn in and I see no reason to chase after the HDR fad, or have my retina's assaulted by a ridiculous amount of light at night.AFAIK to push the bandwidth of Pixels & Hz you may need DisplayPort 1.4.Also, the 60Hz did make me skeptical at first -- my ASUS are somewhere between 180Hz (1440p) - 280Hz (1080p) -- I am not planning on using these for gaming but even if I was 4k@60hz is already really had to push enough frames to keep up -- it would be nice to see this boosted on a Gen 2 of this aspect ratio, it's not a roadstopper considering there's not much on the market like this.IIRC too the box only included HDMI and I would have preferred to get DP instead or even both.The Power LED is clearly visible -- My 32" Wacom Cintiq screen and ASUS both have obnoxiously dim power lights -- it's hard to imagine how competitors could screw up such basic things.All in all I am very pleasantly surprised and decided to order 2 more for a ergotron setup.I haven't owned a BenQ monitor in a decade, but with this 3:2 and 2560 vertical resolution they are back on my map.

This monitor is sort of a one trick pony made for programming and reading lines of code. If you want a well rounded multipurpose monitor, I'd look elsewhere, something like a Dell or LG. I connect my monitors to my MacBook Pro 16" using two USB-C to DisplayPort cables. You must make sure to get good cables in order to get the max refresh rate. The "uni 8K USB C to DisplayPort Cable 6FT" worked well for me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HKL7M2NPros:• Aspect ratio and resolution: the added vertical resolution lets me see more code and tools at once.• MoonHalo (Coding Booster) adds a nice ambiance when coding late into the night.• Night Hours Protection and Low Blue Light Plus reduce eye fatigue, especially during late-night work.Cons:• Much heavier than my Dell 4K monitors.• Default color profile is overly contrasted; I calibrated the monitors using a Datacolor SpyderPro calibration tool since the onboard adjustments fall short.• Off-axis viewing is poor—brightness and contrast fade unless viewed at a 90-degree angle.• The built-in speakers are unnecessary for my needs, haven't tried them out.

Everything works. No errors. No dead pixels.The RD280U/RD280UA 28.2" is the only high resolution monitor that has a 3:2 aspect ratio, aside from the (discontinued) Huawei MateView that had the same specs. It's becoming a winner for serious work, programming, media, multitrack production. It took a day or so to visually adapt. I'm using it as a middle monitor in a three monitor setup.FYI:1. You should have enough depth on your desk to place it further back for a comfortable field of focus.2. You need a DisplayPort cable if you're not using USB-C for display. It's an odd oversight by BenQ. To use the monitor in full native 3840x2560 resolution 60 Hz, you have to use the DisplayPort or USB-C connection. You can't use the HDMI port because it's HDMI 2.0 which lacks the bandwidth for full resolution at 60Hz. The odd part is that BenQ provides cables for all of these USB connections and HDMI, but not the DisplayPort cable. No problem. Get a DisplayPort 1.4 cable.The cable I got from UGREEN is perfect, 6.6 ft, braided, on sale for $7: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088GQM9CV --- OR --- Alternatively, if you don't have a DisplayPort on your GPU, but your GPU has an HDMI 2.1 port, get a "DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.1" cable.3. LED lights under it, in front, and in back can all be turned off, as you'd expect. Turn them off by hitting the toggle button (the middle button underneath) > Coding Booster > Function Bar > Power Key LED and the LED Indicator. MoonHalo settings are nearby.4. Yes, the speaker sound is expectedly bad. That's fine. No one buys monitors for the speakers. If it meant making the monitor rim smaller, I'd assume they not include it. On the other hand, it's a nice rudimentary backup selling point for sound, alerts, talk radio streaming.5. The adjustable MoonHalo is a genius add. Very handy to help eyes when you're in a darker area. I keep mine on all the time now with the 270 option. Nice adjustable glow as the sun sets.6. I was hesitant, thinking the extra grey bulk and notch at the bottom of the monitor would be distracting. I prefer pure black and uniformity, no weird notches, no flashy branding. Luckily, when you start using it, it mostly fades out of sight in contrast to the illuminated screen, both in daylight and night.7. To do firmware upgrades using the Display Quickit software, make sure your USB upstream cable (included) is plugged in and into the computer, with no other USB cables in the monitor, along with your DisplayPort cable, as the software will tell you: it only tells you all that just before an OK click initiates the attempt. The firmware upgrade takes a few minutes. Or, if you're using USB-C, I think that's all you need as the connection.8. 60 Hz isn't a problem whatsoever. Games will be fine for most casual folks. Video is good. Negativity surrounding 60Hz could be justified if your life is more focused on gaming, but then you're probably reducing your resolution anyway to achieve more frames and choosing a smaller monitor. If or when monitors in 3:2 go to 120Hz+, yes, that'll be great too, and I'm sure it will boost sales. That's probably no time soon. Even so, serious productivity, dragging windows, scrolling browser pages, reading, writing, production, and the like doesn't require higher refresh rates. The vast portion of your time spent interacting and reading is in the continual pauses between dragging and scrolling. You won't notice a deficit. It's good.9. BenQ, if you're reading this:- Keep making 3:2 monitors.- Also make 16:10 monitors with the same or better DPI at the 27/28" range. There are no serious 16:10 monitors on the market larger than the 24-inchers. I think most people would find 16:10 to be the sweet spot for general computing for work and entertainment. BenQ appears to have the only 24" 16:10 monitor with a higher resolution, also part of this "programming" product line: RD240Q. Great. Yet I've been using 24-inch 16:10 monitors for 17+ years. There's a crazy huge gap in the market that would buy every larger high resolution 16:10 monitor in sight. I'm not alone.- Remove extra stuff at the bottom of the monitor, the notch. Make rims uniform and black, not grey. I took a chance and found it's not a serious problem in practical use, but I prefer the cleanest look. If it means removing speakers, do so. Or do both. People are capable of choosing their own speakers or soundbars.- Linux. Hire Linux developers. Make all Linux software you produce open source. Take a serious presence in the Linux game. Calling yourself a "programming monitor" and not supporting Linux in your added software is a miss. You can run the monitor normally in Linux. It's just that the optional BenQ software (Display Pilot 2 and Display Quickit) that provides a GUI to tweak settings and firmware upgrades (settings you can still access through physical controls) doesn't run on Linux. Not a deal breaker.I hope to see more 3:2 monitors and larger 16:10 monitors in even higher resolution. Meanwhile, RD280U is a winner.