The AOC U2868PQU ($599.99) joins the growing list of reasonably priced 28-inch Ultra High Definition monitors being pumped out by manufacturers such as Lenovo, Acer, Philips, Samsung, and Dell. Based on Twisted Nematic (TN) technology, this panel delivers a highly detailed 4K image and solid gray-scale performance, and it's equipped with a multitude of video inputs. It also features a fully adjustable stand and a four-port USB hub. Only its lack of advanced color settings prevents it from edging out our Editors' Choice midrange UHD monitor, the Acer B286HK($199.99 at Amazon).
Design and Features
The U2868PQU's( at Amazon) 3,840-by-2,160-resolution panel sits inside a matte-black cabinet that weighs 17 pounds and is 2 inches thick. The top and side bezels are 0.75 inch thick, while the bottom bezel is 1.25 inches thick. The bottom bezel holds a Power switch and four clearly labeled, touch-sensitive buttons that are used to navigate the on-screen menus and adjust settings.
The stand consists of a round base and a sliding hinge that gives you 5 inches of height and 26 degrees of tilt adjustability. It also allows you to pivot the cabinet 90 degrees for Portrait-mode viewing. At the bottom of the base is a Lazy-Susan-style mechanism that gives you around 300 degrees of swivel. There are four VESA mounting holes on the cabinet should you decide to hang the monitor on a wall using an optional VESA mounting kit.
At the rear of the cabinet is a generous array of video connections, including a VGA port, a DVI port, an HDMI port, and a DisplayPort. The HDMI port doubles as a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) connector that allows you to connect and charge your compatible smartphone or tablet. There's also a headphone jack and an audio input back there. The right side of the cabinet is home to the USB hub, which contains an upstream USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports.
Similar Products
Acer B286HK
AOC G2460PQU
Philips Brilliance 4K Ultra HD Display (288P6LJEB)
The U2868PQU offers all the basic picture settings, including Brightness, Contrast, Gamma, and Dynamic Contrast. There are five color temperature settings (Warm, Cool, sRGB, and Normal, User), six picture presets (Standard, Game, Text, Internet, Movie, and Sports), and individual Red, Green, and Blue saturation settings. But this monitor doesn't offer advanced color settings, such as the 6-Axis Saturation and 6-Axis Hue adjustments that you get with the Acer B286HK. As with other AOC models, including the AOC G2460PQU( at Amazon), the U2868PQU has a Dynamic Color Boost (DCB) setting that enhances skin tones and blue and green colors, but you should leave this setting disabled unless you want oversaturated colors.
The U2868PQU comes with a 3-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. Inside the box are DVI, VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB cables and a resource CD containing drivers and a user manual.
Performance
The U2868PQU was able to display every shade of dark and light gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test, which is rare for a TN-based monitor. Granted, its gray-scale performance isn't on par with what you'll get from a high-end In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel like the one used on the NEC PA322UHD( at Amazon), but it still provides good shadow and highlight detail.
Color accuracy is nearly identical to the Lenovo ThinkVision Pro2840m( at Amazon) and the Philips Brilliance 4K Ultra HD Display 288P6LJEB($399.00 at Amazon). As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red and blue (represented by the dots) are relatively close to their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes) but green is outside of the box. As with the above-mentioned monitors, the U2868PQU's skewed greens don't result in oversaturated colors or tinting.
My 4K test images looked great on the U2868PQU. Image detail is sharp, and colors appear rich and well-balanced. Viewing-angle performance is another story; there's noticeable color shifting at around 55 degrees from the center when viewed from the side and a considerable loss of luminance when viewed at a 50 degree angle from the bottom. To be fair, this is the case with every other TN-based, UHD monitor we have tested.
The panel's 1-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response provided ghost-free action while playing Crysis 3 and Aliens vs. Predator on the PC. You'll need a fairly powerful graphics card to play the latest games at 3,840 by 2,160, and you'll want to use the DisplayPort input to run at a 60Hz refresh rate; otherwise, you're in for some choppy gameplay because HDMI is limited to 30Hz in UHD mode.
The U2868PQU consumed 57 watts of power while operating in Standard mode (it doesn't offer any power-saving modes). That's higher than the Acer B286HK (43 watts) and the Asus PB287Q($613.99 at Staples) (40 watts) and identical to the Philips 288P6LJEB (57 watts).
Conclusion
If you're in the market for a reasonably priced 28-inch UHD monitor, put the AOC U2868PQU on your short list. It's packed with a variety of video and USB ports and has a fully adjustable ergonomic stand that lets you position the screen for maximum comfort and optimal viewing. More importantly, its 4K image quality is outstanding, and it delivers rich, bold colors and solid gray-scale performance. Granted, it suffers from slightly skewed greens and narrow viewing angles, but these flaws are present in every TN-based UHD monitor we've tested, including the Acer B286HK, which remains our top pick, thanks to its advanced color settings at the same list price.
The AOC U2868PQU is a full-featured, 28-inch Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) monitor that delivers solid performance at a reasonable price.
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