The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K offers brilliant features that suit professionals who need absolute color quality. It’s the 4K step up to the impressive VP2776, which offered excellent accuracy and the ability to refine it further to suit your needs. Let’s take a deeper look to know if this 4K variant is equally impressive or not.
ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K Specifications
- Screen Size: 27 Inches
- Resolution: 3840 x 2160 UHD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- Response Time: 5ms
- Contrast Ratio: 1300:1
- Brightness: 350 cd/m2
- Built-in Speakers: Yes (2 x 3 Watts)
- Stand: Height – Yes
- Stand: Tilt – Yes
- Stand: Swivel – Yes
- Stand: Pivot– Yes
- VESA Compatibility: Yes (100 x 100)
- Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.4 x 1, Micro DP 1.4 x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 2, USB-C PD90W x 1, USB 3.2 x 5, Micro USB x 1, 3.5mm Jack x 1
- Dimensions With Stand (WxHxD): 24.1″ x 22.41″ x 9.1″
- Weight: 18.4 lbs
Design and Features
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K has a new and sleeker design than the older VP2786-4K, just like the VP2776. It still has an all-black finish, so it won’t look conspicuous no matter which environment you put it in. The display has skinny bezels, so the screen looks like it goes from edge to edge.
It’s not gigantic by today’s standards, so that most users won’t have trouble with a unit or two. It only needs 9 inches of depth and 2 feet of width, so smaller desks with other peripherals like speakers can still accommodate it. It weighs a little over 18 pounds, so it should be easy to move around as needed.
Its build quality is amazing, even if it looks fragile compared to its predecessor, with a thicker arm and base. The plastics and metals used have excellent rigidity so that nothing will flex or crack with everyday use. The included stand is firm and stable, so you don’t have to worry about sagging and wobbling.
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K has a dedicated joystick, but we think you’ll like its ColorPro Wheel better. It can access the monitor’s settings and navigate through the Adobe Creative Suite, but what makes it extra unique is its also a built-in colorimeter. You can use it to calibrate the monitor via ViewSonic’s Colorbration+ software, so purchasing aftermarket implementations is unnecessary.
The included stand offers tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustments for comfort and convenience. This is necessary for professional monitors since they will get hours and hours of use, which can lead to neck and eye strain. You can use VESA mounts, which only become necessary in select instances.
It’s also heavily equipped in the connectivity department, starting with the usual DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 slots. It also has a micro DP port, a 90-watt USB-C slot, and five USB 3.2 ports with a 3.5mm jack for accessories and peripherals. The micro USB slot, on the other hand, is meant for the ColorPro wheel.
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K has 3-watt speakers to round up its rich feature set. They cannot get loud or provide an entertainment-grade range, but at least you have something to use for essential purposes. Considering the price for this model, we wish ViewSonic upgraded them, but we know most of those go to the other specs and their listed capabilities.
Display and Performance
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K sports a 27-inch IPS panel with a 3840 x 2160 resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a 5ms response time. The backlight has a 350 cd/m2 output while the contrast is listed at 1300:1. This model doesn’t advertise HDR certification, but it Is HDR10 compatible like most modern monitors.
4K looks sharper and more detailed on a 27-inch screen, but some users with less than 20/20 vision disagree. Legibility for small objects like letters sometimes suffers, but you can always solve that with scaling. It’s a joy to use for gaming and entertainment since images are always crisp and clean.
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K covers 100% sRGB, 98% DCI-P3, and 97.5% Adobe RGB. Its default accuracy had a dE average of 2.12, but that improves to 1.31 and 1.44 if you measure it against DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB using their respective filters. It’s a fantastic monitor out of the box, so some users can get away without tweaking it.
Calibrating the monitor with its ColorPro wheel reduced the dE averages to 0.51, 0.66, and 0.78 for each respective gamut. These are excellent scores for a prosumer monitor, so this product is highly suitable for those who want brilliant editing performance. It’s also great that you don’t have to buy the gadget separately since it’s already designed into the product.
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K’s backlight reached 361 cd/m2 at 100% so it can fight off a decent amount of glare. Its contrast ratio peaked at 1076:1 at 70% brightness, so it cannot produce deep blacks like OLED or VA panels. The latter is a known weakness of the panel type, so it’s not a deal breaker if you want the color consistency and viewing angles associated with it.
Panel uniformity for the test sample did not have any significant issues like backlight bleeding. However, there were minor deviations in the backlight’s spread from its hotspot. It’s not noticeable most of the time, but you can see them if you look closely while it’s showing dark scenes or an all-black background. Note that this can vary between every monitor made due to manufacturing tolerances.
It is not the best when it comes to pixel response time, but that’s understandable since it was not made for gaming or entertainment. You need to max out its overdrive to reduce the persistence and ghosting at the cost of some very minor overshoot. It’s not great for competitive gaming, but again, that’s understandable.
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K doesn’t have FreeSync or G-Sync compatibility, but that’s understandable. VRR is essential for 4K gaming, but we know prospective owners will not use this monitor for that. Input lag sits at 9ms at 60Hz, so it’s still snappy and as fast as all the new 60Hz monitors we’ve seen.
Thoughts on the ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K
The ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K is a fantastic prosumer monitor which sets a new standard for manufacturers. It has a superb IPS panel with comprehensive gamut coverage and great accuracy, plus it comes with several features like its ColorPro wheel and expansive connectivity. You usually can’t get that much for the same price, so we think ViewSonic produced a clear winner this time around.
There aren’t many negative things about this monitor except its low contrast, which is natural for IPS models. It’s great for the money but isn’t cheap or affordable enough for the masses. But despite that, it’s a must-have for all levels of editors and creators simply because it is well-rounded out of the box, and capable of excellent performance.
Pros:
- Fantastic Colors
- Built-in Colorimeter
- Excellent Build Quality and Design
- USB-C PD90W Included
Cons:
- Limited Contrast
- Expensive
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