Asus PA278CFRV review: Color accurate, fully-featured, and a tad over-ambitious

While everyday PC monitors are a dime a dozen, truly color-accurate displays are an altogether rarer and pricier breed. The Asus PA278CFRV sidles into the middle ground between four-figure professional displays and more affordable panels, offering an appealing combination of guaranteed color accuracy, a sensibly sized 27in IPS panel, and a range of useful features for around £400.

For most desks and disciplines, a 27in 2,560 x 1,440 monitor presents a very acceptable compromise between screen size and text clarity, but Asus has set its sights on the creative desks by adding Calman-verified sRGB and DCI-P3 modes. That means you can simply activate the preset, load up your preferred color-aware software, and be confident that what you're seeing on screen is accurate. You also get factory-calibrated display modes for Adobe RGB, Rec.2020, DICOM, and Rec.709 which isn't a given at this price.

The PA278CFRV throws a few more useful features into the mix, too. You get a fully adjustable stand, a 100Hz refresh rate with adaptive sync support, the single cable benefits of USB-C (including up to 96W of USB-C power delivery), and a handy USB hub that reaches USB 3.2 Gen 1 data speeds. Asus has stirred in VESA MediaSync and DisplayHDR 400 accreditation for added flavor, too.

If that all sounds immensely promising for a £400 monitor, then you're probably waiting for a but. And there is one: despite plenty of good points, the PA278CFRV has a number of issues that may be a deal breaker for some users.

Asus PA278CFRV monitor: Design & Features

The Asus' styling is a curious blend of the modern and the retro. The fake brushed metal slender tubular stand and base look great from most angles, and the bezel-less design around the top and sides of the display looks great, too. We're less keen on the chunky 19mm thick chin along the bottom, replete with faux brushed metal effect finish and a prominent Asus logo. It's a dated design, in our opinion, and cheapens an otherwise good-looking monitor. If Asus needs an example of how to do subtle, stylish branding and design that looks great from any angle, it'd do well to refer to Dell's UltraSharp U2723QE, or any of Dell's recent UltraSharp models for that matter.

The adjustable stand works well, moving in every possible direction you could ask for. It attaches to the panel using a standard 100mm x 100mm VESA mount and you get the tilt, swivel, pivot, and 130mm of height adjustment. Asus' marketing also boasts about the newly shrunken base. This frees up a few precious square centimeters of space on the desk, so just think of all the extra pens/paperclips/USB thumb drives (delete as applicable) you'll be able to fit on your desk. In any case, we were pleased to find it hasn't compromised stability: one-handed adjustment of the monitor doesn't cause any unwanted wobbling back and forth even when the monitor is at maximum height extension.

Asus hasn't attempted to scale the KVM-equipped heights of the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE, but it's added enough connectivity to prove almost as useful for most users. Video inputs extend to one DisplayPort 1.4, one HDMI 2.0 port, and a USB-C port which carries DisplayPort signals in one direction while ferrying 96W of power delivery in the other. There's also a DisplayPort output for daisy-chaining a second monitor, which is nice – doubly so if you have a modern laptop with equally modern connectivity (i.e. not much). You also get PiP and PbP functions, too, so that's another potential plus.

Plug a USB-C cable into the monitor, and you'll power up the trio of USB-A ports and single USB-C output at the rear. One USB-A port is positioned alongside the video inputs on the back panel, but two are nestled just underneath the monitor's bottom left lip for easier access. All of the ports reach USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds, but bear in mind that only the primary USB-C port at the rear delivers the full 96W of power.

You do also get a pair of speakers, each powered with 2 watts of amplification, but the following sentence is going to be typically curt and unenthused: they sound rough and unrefined and are only worth using in emergencies.

The on-screen display is an oddity. Once you're into the menus properly, it's fine, but the initial shortcut legend which pops up is a good example of bad UI. Whoever at Asus is responsible for such a bizarre design deserves a firm prod in the ribs – we have a sneaking suspicion that the hardware and software teams aren't on speaking terms. Thankfully, the four-way joystick and strip of 5 buttons work well enough once you get past the quirkiness.

In the event that you should find yourself overly irritated by the on-screen display, you can always install Asus' DisplayWidget Center software instead. This allows you to select and customize the various picture modes from within Windows, and more easily tweak the PiP and PbP settings, without setting foot in the OSD at all. Mac users aren't afforded such luxuries, however.

Asus PA278CFRV monitor: Display quality

From the moment we turned on the PA278CFRV, image quality looked promising – rather as you'd expect given the Calman certification. Colors look subjectively accurate and natural, viewing angles are nice and wide and there are no image nasties that instantly leap out on a cursory inspection. Testing with our standard X-Rite Display Pro colorimeter proved that it wasn't top of the heap, though, and despite a clean bill of health in some tests, it falls short in others.

Asus themselves claim that the panel achieves 95% DCI-P3 coverage with a certified color accuracy of under 2 dE, and you get a certificate in the box detailing the factory-calibrated sRGB and P3 Calman report for each specific monitor direct from the factory.

We tested the panel using DisplayCal software rather than the Calman suite, but the results were pretty similar. In the DCI-P3 color space, we recorded a gamut coverage of 94.5% and an average Delta E of 1.35 with a peak of 2.68 in the teal and turquoise blue regions. In the sRGB color space, the Asus achieved coverage of 99.5%, an average Delta E of 1.1, and a peak deviation of 3.47. These are inferior results to Asus's own figures – the supplied Calman test report quotes an average Delta E of 0.6 in sRGB and 0.9 in DCI-P3 – but it's not a million miles off. Given that Asus is using a £5,000 Konica Minolta CA-P427 spectrometer and we're using a humble £200 X-Rite colorimeter, it's reasonable to expect some discrepancy between the two.

There is also an Adobe RGB mode, but it's of relatively limited benefit given that the panel only manages to cover around 83% of the color gamut. The profile is reasonably color-accurate for that 83%, but the average Delta E of 2.1 and peak of 6.9 underline the fact that the panel simply can't reproduce certain shades. There are no two ways about it: 83% coverage simply isn't broad enough for color-critical use, so we wouldn't recommend it for soft-proofing purposes. The same goes for the Rec.2020 mode here, as that encompasses an even wider gamut of colors than Adobe RGB, which the monitor simply can't reproduce. These picture modes may be useful for a finger-in-the-air spot check on specific content types, but 100% accurate they are not.

If there's one other minor quibble, then it's that the sRGB mode isn't very useful in brighter rooms, even if it is accurate. The sRGB standard stipulates a display luminance of 80cd/m2, and Asus is to be credited for adhering to this (not all monitors with sRGB modes do), but the brightness control is greyed out, so there's no option to bump up the brightness for use in brighter environments. Again, granted, it's not strictly accurate to do so, but it'd be a useful option to have.

The brightness and contrast levels are one of Asus' weaker suits, even if they are adequate for working with standard dynamic range content. We measured a peak brightness of 395cd/m2 in SDR mode, which is more than bright enough – too bright, in fact – for any normally lit environment, but the DisplayHDR400 certification isn't really worth the paper (pixels) it's written (displayed) on – an HDR display really needs to be able to get much brighter than 400cd/m2. In reality, we measured a peak brightness of 367cd/m2 in HDR, which was actually slightly lower than the SDR measurements.

The measured 1,058:1 contrast ratio is bog-standard, old-school IPS territory, too. It's a far cry from top-end VA or OLED panels, or even the newer generation of IPS. We've seen monitors at half the price (the Philips 27E1N1600AE, for instance) with newer IPS panels that exceed 1,500:1, and similarly priced models with IPS Black panels now routinely crest the 2,000:1 mark. Look closely, and the Asus' limitations are obvious to the naked eye: shadow detail and black areas on the screen look decidedly grey, and especially so when viewed alongside a monitor with a higher contrast ratio. In concert with the relatively low peak brightness, this makes the Asus a poor choice for HDR use.

Motion clarity isn't good enough to trouble the best gaming monitors, but it's pretty good to be fair. We were disappointed by the similarly-priced Dell UltraSharp U2723QE in this regard, and the Asus looks much better side by side, with far less visible ghosting. The response time overdrive, dubbed Trace Free in the on-screen display, is enabled by default here and set to 60%, and there are no nasty overdrive-related artifacts.

It's worth knowing that the Asus' VESA MediaSync certification adds unofficial support for both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync, although its specifications aren't focused on optimizing gaming; instead, it's designed to dynamically adapt the monitor's refresh rate to allow smooth, stutter-free playback of video sources with sub-60fps frame rates. To be clear, this is a monitor designed for content creation rather than consumption.

Asus has sensibly opted for a matte anti-glare coating here, and its LuxPixel technology does a good job of combating reflections. Set next to a Dell UltraSharp U2723QE monitor with a semi-gloss coating, the Asus was vastly better at combating reflections from bright light sources, and shining my iPhone 15 Pro Max torch at full brightness directly onto the panel resulted in a soft, diffused orangey halo. Doing the same with the Dell's semi-gloss panel showed a clear reflection of the bright white LED. For working in rooms or offices with a lot of natural light, or very bright overhead lighting, the Asus is a good fit.

Sadly, backlighting is by far the Asus' weakest area. Subjectively, it's possible to see a slight glow around the panel's edges, and there's some color tinting visible on grey slides too. We measured brightness and contrast across 25 points on the panel, and only four points on the panel were within the recommended tolerance of brightness and contrast variation, with 20 of the others achieving only a nominal tolerance according to the ISO 14861 standard. The far bottom left corner failed the test, though, with brightness and contrast significantly lower than the rest of the panel. If this was a monitor we'd bought ourselves, we'd probably be tempted to return it and see if there's a panel lottery or QC issues at play.

Asus PA278CFRV monitor: Is it worth it?

At the time of writing, the Asus PA278CFRV was available on pre-order for £398. This pits it directly against popular 27in alternatives such as the Dell UltraSharp U2723QE (£450) or UltraSharp U2724D (£400). Neither have such a wide range of calibrated picture modes, but the U2723QE, in particular, trumps the Asus with a more balanced all round performance – it has a 4K resolution, offers comparable color accuracy, has very slightly better backlighting, and even includes basic KVM functions. For £50 more, that's hard to ignore.

What the Dell lacks, however, is the Asus' various factory-calibrated picture modes – few monitors at this price provide such a wide selection, nor do they provide as much adjustability. If you can take advantage of – or just downright need – these kinds of features, you may be able to live with the Asus' shortcomings. And doubly so when the alternative is spending twice as much again, if not much, much more, on a 'proper' professional display.

Make no mistake, there's still lots of room for improvement here, but it's hard not to appreciate the Asus PA278CFRV's sheer ambition. We'd counsel any prospective buyers to carefully consider whether it really fits their needs, but if it passes that acid test, there are precious few £400 monitors that cram in quite so much creative potential for the money.

Asus PA278CFRV monitor specifications