Monopriceis among the more interesting companies you probably haven't heard of. Startedout of an apartment around a decade ago, the company initially sold everythingat a single price, hence the name. That business model may have worked when theproduct line was mostly cables and connectors, but the company now offers adiverse array that includes monitors (more in a moment), hometheatre screens, graphicstablets, headphones,a pocket-sizepico projector, an actioncam, even electric guitars - and, yes, cables, connectors and accessories aswell. It's a lineup with no seeming rhyme or reason, other than qualityproducts at bargain prices.
Andthat actually is the rhyme and reason behind Monoprice products. According to CEOAjay Kumar, the company looks for categories where vastly overpriced productspredominate. That gives Monoprice room to create and sell products atdramatically lower price points, while still maintaining strong profit margins.
"Weare in the right place at the right time with our business model," says Kumar,who joined the company in July 2011. "We offer the same cable or accessory asnational retail brands, but for much less cost. However, we are not cuttingcorners as we employ high-quality manufacturing partners who work with ourspecs. Our markup is much lower and we pass those savings to our customers.Monoprice brings them a value proposition they can't find anywhere else."
Andthat leads us to the Monoprice27" IPS-G Pro LED Monitor WQHD 2560x1440 Product ID 10489, which iswhat you came here for. I've been rocking this 16:9 (widescreen) monitor for overa month now and it's stunning. Let's take a look at the stats and find out why.
Startwith the size, 27". You don't have to join Grindrto know that size matters. A larger screen means that you can work easily withmore windows at once. It makes copying files and editing text and spreadsheets easierand obviously makes working with pictures and video more convenient, if that'syour thing. And if you're a gamer, a large screen is essential. Ditto if youare, for instance, a daytrader or a designer.
Handin glove with size is resolution. "WQHD" may sound like a Minneapolis TVstation, but it means 2560 x 1440 pixels. Some 27" screens max out at regularFull HD, which is 1920 x 1080. The higher resolution of the Monoprice unit meansthat more detail is visible, if your PC's graphics card supports it. If not,you'll be limited to 1920 x 1080 (or less, if your PC is really old). A largescreen with high resolution allows you to display more information. It makes iteasier to do more with your PC.
Sincewe're talking graphics cards, another nice feature of the Monoprice 10489 isthat it supports four different types of interface: HDMI 1.4, DVI, VGA andDisplayPort 1.2. That means that the monitor is bound to work with yourexisting graphics card. The package includes VGA and DVI-D cables, but theseare standard length (around 6'). Because of the size of the monitor, it's mucheasier to use longer cables - you can plug in the cable before maneuvering themonitor into place on your desk. Monoprice has you covered with available 15' HDMI,DVI-D,VGAand DisplayPort1.2 cables. Choose the one you need.
Themonitor uses LEDs for the backlighting, rather than cold cathode fluorescent tubes.The benefit: more even illumination. And it uses In Plane Switching (IPS)display technology, which means you get a wide viewing angle with no colorshift even when the screen is viewed at an extreme angle. Viewing angle isstated as 178 degree in both the horizontal and vertical planes.
Coveringthat screen is a glossy glass laminate with an antiglare coating. The antiglarecoating is not a matte finish; the screen is glossy, but the antiglare coatingreduces the intensity of any glare from reflected light. As with any monitor,you'll want to position it so that ambient light is not reflected directly backat you. I've found the screen easy to use.
Themonitor comes with a removable stand and has a 100x100 VESA mounting size foruse with desk or wall mounts. The stand (which is completely removable) hasrotate and tilt adjustments. It doesn't have height adjustment, a feature foundon a small number of other monitors.
Thebezel is black plastic and is relatively thick. The OSD controls (brightness,etc.) are easy to reach. The connectors are in the usual awkward place formonitors, along the bottom bezel.
Severalother stats are key. One is dead pixels. The monitor has over 10 million subpixels(2560 x 1440 pixels x 3 colors per pixel). If any one of those subpixels isstuck in the on or off position, you get a dead pixel - a spot that is alwaysdark, or always white, red, reddish, green, greenish, etc. Unfortunately, deadpixels are a potential fact of life on all monitors - but Monoprice tells methey offer a zero dead pixel guarantee for a year. It's an unusually strongguarantee, since other manufacturers often will only guarantee that the deadpixel count won't exceed 5 or 10. The unit I received had no dead pixels.
Alsoimportant are brightness and contrast. Monoprice advertises a brightness ratingof 440 cd/m², which it says is more than 15% brighter than most comparabledisplays, and a maximum dynamic contrast ratio of 80,000:1.
Thedisplay is indeed bright, but this is the one area where I noted a difficulty withthis product - the screen is a bit too bright, even with the brightnessadjustment turned down to the lowest setting. As a result, black areas onscreen are rendered slightly grayish. For most people and most applications,this won't be a problem - and it's a phenomenon that's scarcely unique to theMonoprice unit - but graphic designers will want to carefully compare thisscreen with others to see what meets their needs.
Thepanel features 109 pixels per inch, which translates to a 0.2331mm pixel size.The unit also includes builtin stereo speakers, which can be fed via a stereo audiocable, as well as audio from the HDMI connection. As with most builtin monitorspeakers, the sound was tinny and unimpressive, so I don't recommend using them.Buy a pair of standalonecomputer speakers instead.
Anotherstat is response time, which the company says is 6 milliseconds (gray-to-grayresponse time). That's a measurement of how long it takes the monitor to changethe image when the PC tells it to, and is an issue for almost no one exceptgamers.
Bottomline: if you're looking for a high-quality 27" WQHD IPS LED monitor at agreat price, pick up the Monoprice 10489.
Disclosure: Monoprice provided product forthis review.