Planar Helium PCT2785 review

This left our solid colour image tests looking less vivid than normal but, on the whole, they were still reasonably bright and rich. Whites were a little murky, even at maximum brightness, but this was partly due to the monitor’s low white levels, which we measured at just 172.11cd/m². By comparison, many 27in monitors we’ve tested have a white level of at least 220cd/m². Blacks were also quite grey despite our low black level reading of 0.16cd/m², and we detected a very slight amount of backlight bleeding down either side of the monitor as well.

The Helium PCT2785’s contrast levels, on the other hand, were outstanding. We measured a contrast ratio of 1,098:1. This may have been a long way off Planar’s claimed figure of 5,000:1, but all of our high contrast test images showed a very high level of detail. Our night shots were full of shadow detail, and its wide viewing angles meant we could see the screen clearly from almost any angle.

The monitor has a good range of inputs, too. They’re a little fiddly to access, but you’ll find VGA, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs alongside a two-port USB2 hub and separate headphone and microphone jacks.

It’s a shame the Planar Helium PCT2785’s image quality doesn’t match its superb contrast levels, but our biggest concern is the price. The Helium PCT2785 is more expensive than the superior Iiyama Prolite T2735MSC, though, and we think the Iiyama Prolite T2735MSC is by far the better buy.