HP Z27q is an iMac-rivalling 5K monitor
Apple was first with a 5K screen, but HP has announced a 5K PC monitor
HP has released a video wall’s worth of new monitors at CES 2015; although the most interesting is undoubtedly the company’s first 5K monitor. Apple launches its 5K Retina iMac a few months back now, and Dell followed that with the first standalone 5K screen. The HP Z27q still stands out though thanks to a far lower price of just $1,299, which works out to around £850.
As with the other displays in this class, the HP Z27q has a jaw-dropping 5,120×2,880 resolution. If it’s anything like the iMac it will provide incredible levels of detail, and pack enough onto one screen to satisfy even the most hardcore of video or image editors. The monitor has good image quality credentials too, with a 10-bit panel covering a claimed 99% of the RGB gamut, plus colour calibration to sRGB and Adobe RGB.
The stand moves in every way you’d imagine, with tilt, swivel and pivot – swinging it around gives you a vertical resolution of 5,120 pixels, brilliant for scouring endless webpages, proofing documents, or poring over the longest spreadsheets.
The only inputs are two DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, as other common connectors can’t support the full resolution, although we’d still have liked to have seen an upscaled HDMI input for connecting devices such as a games console. You’ll need a graphics card (or laptop) with a DisplayPort output, though it’s fully compatible with Thunderbolt ports on Macs as well.
We can’t wait to get our hands on this beauty to test; big, high-resolution monitors are looking to be a really exciting area for PC upgrades this year and we hope to see even more affordable 5K monitors (from the usual suspects) soon.
