Verdict
The Philips 27B1U7903 is an fantabulous proctor for serious creatives , thanks to its 2,304 Mini LED ignition zones , which grow superb HDR performance , fantabulous colour accuracy and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
The 27B1U7903 is Philips ’ former effort to squeeze everything a professional or semi - pro home user could realistically need in a compact monitor . With that in idea , you get a 27 - inch 4 K IPS video display , accompaniment for the top - of - the - personal line of credit DisplayHDR 1400 playback andThunderbolt 4/ USB - C 4.0 connectivity .
The Philips 27B1U7903 also have a Full Array Local Dimming or FALDMini - LEDbacklight , which comprises 2,304 individually controllable dimming zones and yield extreme levels of luminance , which in turn delivers that chart - clear VESA DisplayHDR 1400 corroboration .
The Philips 27B1U7903 presently retail at just over £ 800 in the UK , which is by no mean inexpensive for a 27 - inch monitor with no gaming certification . But , when you add all of the feature on offer , it does n’t feel overpriced . For anyone with serious pretentions to being a content creator , the 27B1U7903 is full with attractive features that will make that money feel very well spent .
Design
There ’s nothing physically singular about the Philips , at 9.4 kg all - up , it ’s an average weightiness for a 27 - in monitor and considering the size and weight , it ’s very easy to correct the tiptop ( you have 130 mm to flirt with ) with just one hand . With 45 degrees of swivel , 20 degree of lean and 90 level of pin in both directions , setting the Philips 27B1U7903 up in an idealistic position is n’t much of a challenge . With just 8 mm of bezel on show at the top and sides and 10 millimetre at the bottom , the viewing experience is stuffy enough to edgeless .
The compact standstill provides maximal stability in a small footprint ( 19 cm cryptical and 26 cm wide at the front , taper to 30 cm at the back ) and at 2.2Kg is scant for a sales booth for a 27 - inch monitor . The bandstand ’s design is worthy of mention . Rather than a bulky and despicable plastic affair , the 27B1U7903 ’s tie-up is a whole , wooden-headed metal rectangle with a hollowed - out center and base . That means you’re able to store odd - and - end inside the undefended foot and kempt cables into the tower .
Connectivity is a big part of Philip ’s pitch for the 27B1U7903 , describing it as “ one of the world ’s first Thunderbolt 4 monitors with USB4 abidance ” . There ’s certainly no contention with the range of mountains of connection with two HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.4 television inputs , four USB Type - A 3.2 Gen 1 ports and two Thunderbolt 4 / USB - C 4 porthole , one supporting upstream data and telecasting and PD 90W charging , the other downstream data and TV and 15W charging .
On the firm 40Gbit / sec data point transmission side , the benefit of those Thunderbolt port is that you may daisy - chain two monitors at 4K/60Hz , which partially compensate for the fact that the 27B1U7903 miss a consecrated KVM switch , which trammel your options when managing two PCs or a PC and a Mac from one keyboard and mouse combo .
round thing out on the I / oxygen port front are a Gigabit RJ45 LAN port and a 3.5 millimetre audio diddley . There ’s also a right master office switch next to the office socket , so you could work it fully off without having to disconnect anything . The ability provision is build up - in , so there ’s no unsightly brick to vex about , and there ’s a light sensor which does a very good job of aline the screen smartness to match the ambient light .
Philips has leave out a magic by not locating one or two USB larboard on the edge where they would be more well approachable . Having all the I / atomic number 8 ports face downwards on the back of the console is scarcely a conk out unique to the 27B1U7903 , but it is still teasing .
Image Quality
Philips claims the 27B1U7903 can reach a maximum brightness of 1,000nits SDR and 1,400nitsHDR . Our test result were a little off at 805nits in SDR fashion and 1802nits in HDR , but this is still one of the promising monitors on the market in either mode . The luminance story were impressively uniform with only the upper and lower left corners showing any deviance in brightness , around 5 % less than the centre .
Those 2,403 lighting zones ante up dividend even when running in SDR mode , thanks to the option to always enable local dimming . With local dimming switched off , the dividing line ratio was a rill - of - the - mill 1071:1 , but with it engaged , that number jumped to 18,960:1 thanks to a contraband light of just 0.04 cd / m² . To the nude centre , that may just as well be an OLED - story infinate . Gamma was complete out of the corner at precisely 2.2 .
You should expect a comprehensive semblance palette for this variety of money , and that ’s exactly what you get . accord to the colourimeter , the show hatch 99.9 % of thesRGBgamut , 95.9 % of AdobeRGB and 97.5 % ofDCI - P3 . The Delta - E colour variance scores of 1.2 vs the DCI - P3 profile and 1.6 vs AdobeRGB are solid : Any Delta - east under 2 is considered dependable enough for professional work without the need for further standardization .
For professional role , the 27B1U7903 is preloaded with a wide selection of colour profiles , including NTSC , sRGB , AdobeRGB , DCI - P3 , Rec.2020 , Rec.709 and DICOM as well as a host of color temperature configurations .
With 2,403 single lighting zones — for character , most Mini - lead exhibit let in around 576 or 1,152 inflammation zona — the Philips 27B1U7903 takes Mini - LED FALD to seldom - picture horizontal surface . The results are spectacular , with hugely impressive level of contrast and no visible haloing . The overall operation of the Philips 27B1U7903 isgenuinely OLED - likebut with massively high cleverness point .
With a basic 60Hz refresh rate and no bread and butter for variable sync when connected to either anNvidiaorAMDdiscrete GPU , the Philips 27B1U7903 is obviously no play display . quick - moving titles are dependent to a bonny amount of ghosting , and tearing was evident in a quick Halo Inifite sitting .
This is no reason to set the Philips 27B1U7903 down , it is most definitely not being sky as a play monitor , but it is worth keeping in psyche if you want a general - purpose monitor that can support some gaming at the last of the body of work day . The low refresh charge per unit may also give professional vitalizer suspension .
Software and Features
Philips ’s seafaring user interface for the OSD or On Screen Display does leave a little to be trust because , like many cheaper monitor , it uses five rather little button rather than a miniature joystick . And , of class , this is not a cheap proctor .
All five buttons are at the rear of the panel and the icons on the front to severalise you where there are a near - invisible black - on - black , and the standby button is right next to the carte prime / ‘ OK ’ clitoris . By the end of my fourth dimension with the Philips 27B1U7903 , I had lost numeration of the times I ’d put the affair into standby rather than contract ‘ OK ’ to select a setting .
The controls also miss user adaptability . Only one button can be user - modify , and then the only options are adjusting the volume or brightness , swapping the colour space , or absorb MultiView , which is Philips ’ nomenclature for Picture - by - Picture .
The stereo speakers wo n’t be winning accolade for intelligent character . With a maximum volume of 75.5dB(A ) , they are jolly flashy , and there is some basso and dual to be discerned , but the overall soundscape is just a little brittle and confined .
This new 27B1U7903 also features something bid a PowerSensor . This uses a flick - down infrared sensor at the bottom of the display to detect whether someone is in front of the screen and , if not , automatically reduces the luminosity . Apparently , this can cut power consumption by up to 80 % and increase the show ’s lifespan .
Power deliverance is not something I usually comment on in admonisher reappraisal , but one of the drawback of Mini - LED panels is that they utilize a set of electricity . I saw a peak draw play of 139W , and typical consumption of around 95W when watching HDR video . So , reducing the brightness makes a lot of sense if you ’re not looking at the screen , which is what that presence detector does .
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Should you buy it?
The 2,304 zone Mini LED array gives the Philips 27B1U7903 OLED - alike HDR performance but much higher brightness levels , a helplessness of OLED panels .
The Philips 27B1U7903 has a fixed 60Hz show rate and displays detectable lachrymation while gaming , so this is not a monitor for serious swordplay .
Final Thoughts
The Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and Gigabit LAN port make life history easy if you require a monitor that can act as a riotous data hub . At the same time , the high quality of the 4 K screen guard obvious ingathering not just to creatives but to anyone who spends time working on thing as various as CAD projects or big spreadsheets .
Obvious competition comes from Apple ’s excellentStudio Display , with its superb 27 - inch 5 K display , 12MP webcam and fantabulous speaker system . However , at £ 1,500 , it is considerably more expensive . If you want something more versatile than the Philps 27B1U7903 , thenAcer ’s Predator X32 FPis worth consideration . It , too , packs a Mini - LED informatics display , albeit with far fewer light-emitting diode zones at just 576 , but you get more screen estate thanks to a 32 - inch diagonal and a 160Hz refresh rate . At £ 1,346 , it , like the Apple option , is more expensive , but it makes a hunky-dory choice for work and play .
Trusted Score
How we test
We use every monitor we test for at least a week . During that clip , we ’ll check off it for ease of use and put it through its paces by using it for both everyday undertaking and more medical specialist , colour - sensitive work .
We also check its colours and paradigm quality with a colorimeter to test its coverage and the showing ’s timber .
Test Data
Full Specs
