BenQ has a lot of different monitors to choose from and this huge 32″ is one of their larger QHD models, designed for art and presentations.

Opening the box, you’re spoilt for choice in the available cables. An HDMI cable and a miniDP to DP cable are included as standard, alongside a USB cable to connect a PC or laptop to be built in USB hub on the back of the monitor. A plastic ‘puck’, about half the size of a mouse, is also included which sits below the monitor and provides quickly accessible hot keys to change modes and settings.

The large VA panel displays 2560×1440 pixels, also known as QHD, and is ideal for art and design (though video editors may consider 4K due to this now being the default video resolution). It’s housed in a functional and smartly designed frame that doesn’t detract from the screen and has minimal text and logos. The bezels are average 2cm size and matt black to avoid reflection.

Aside from the small logo, there are a set of touch sensitive buttons on the bottom right which bring up a context sensitive menu system. It’s easy to follow and quick to change settings, though a lack of tactile feedback on the flat buttons may worry some. The huge stand weighs a fair amount, as you’d expect from such a large monitor, but allows for plenty of horizontal and vertical movement, plus the usual 180 degree swivel found in many BenQ monitors to turn the screen on its side. There’s a space in the bottom of the stand for the puck to sit and a headphone/cable hook on the back to keep desks tidy.

Ports are well catered for with the aforementioned USB 3.0 hub making a welcome appearance here, allowing 1 USB from the computer to split into 4 outputs, alongside DVI-DLx1, HDMI v1.4, DisplayPort v1.2 and MiniDisplayPort ver1.2. I would have liked to see 2 full HDMI ports but with the Displayport and DVI also available, it would probably make this too crowded as it is. There’s also a micro USB which is used exclusively for the puck.

The screen itself is more impressive than the surround. Brightness is pretty standard at 300 cd/㎡ but it’s joined by some impressive tech and a good VA screen that gives you 100% sRGB coverage and even manages an above average result in Adobe RGB tests. Watching animation and videos on the screen with various modes, it’s clear that BenQ have set up modes well for specific tasks. Animation highlights bright colours while Darkroom gives impressive contrast ranges.

Although it’s not really designed for video, streaming 4K from Netflix or Youtube shows off the colours and contrast well and it would certainly do fine as an entertainment monitor as well as a good workhorse. That said, gaming isn’t recommended beyond the odd casual game as, although PC gaming (and even Xbox One X, now the patch is available for 2K output) looks great, the 4ms GTG isn’t ideal for fast paced games.

Those into art and design looking for a larger monitor can rest assured that the BenQ PD3200Q is a great choice and one of the more affordable monitors in this range.