PRISM+ W280 Ultra 28” 4K monitor – great image and price (review)

The PRISM+ W280 Ultra is a 28”, 4K, 16:9, IPS monitor with a 120% sRGB colour gamut. It is on sale for CyberShack readers at $200 off the usual RRP of $599.

I first came across PRISM+ in 2021 when I reviewed its XQ340 Pro, 3440×1440 (UWQHD) Quantum Dot monitor, scoring 8.7/10. At that time, it was $1099, and the closest brand name with similar specs was over $1500. I was impressed and even more so now that this model is now on special for $599. All special prices are subject to change.

What is PRISM+?

It is a Singapore brand that now has an office/warehouse in Australia. PRISM+ is out to make a big splash in the monitor world. It is a 100% online company enabling it to offer 30-50% lower prices than if sold via a retailer.

All help enquiries go via a super-efficient, automated Zendesk system (good). The exchange warranty is three years and fully complies with Australian Consumer Law.

It started with a focus on gaming monitors and soon became the #1 in that segment in Singapore. It now covers flat, curved, ultra-wide, 144/200Hz gaming and 60/100Hz productivity monitors. A new category is portable USB-C/HDMI, IPS and OLED monitors and touchscreens, again at a lower cost with excellent local warranty and support.

Monitor sweet spot

27-32”, 4K, 16:9 250 nits, IPS monitors are the sweet spot for working from home or the office.

• Even better if they can display 100% of sRGB (95% of 16.7m colours is good multi-media content).
• 4K is excellent because you can sit closer (600mm) than 1920 x 1080p (900mm), and it won’t appear pixelated.
• Fits two+ full-sized A4 sheets across or a giant Excel spreadsheet – great for productivity
• Plays 16:9 movie content in full screen.
• Height and tilt adjustable and a range of desk mounts for single, dual or tri-monitors

The PRISM+ W280 Ultra 28” 4K monitor satisfies all those specs.

Further reading: Choosing the right monitor for your needs (guide 2023)

Australian Review: PRISM+ Ultra W280 28” 4K, 3840 x 2160, 16:9 IPS monitor

Website	Product Page
Price	RRP $599 inc GST but limited special at $399 to Cybershack readers using the link above (we do not earn commissions or click-throughs). Delivery is extra.
Warranty	3-year Exchange ACL compliant
Made in	China
More	CyberShack monitor news and reviews.

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Well-made, and 16:9 ratio is ideal – Exceed

It is well-made, has narrow top and side bezels (great for dual monitors), and I like the height/tilt adjustable rectangular plate stand – you can put things on it.

Aspect 16:9 – Pass+

Let’s talk about aspect ratio because it can be a deal breaker. Your smart TV has a 16:9 ratio, but we find monitors with 3:2, 16:10, 4:3, 21:9 or even 32:9.

You can be sure that any older mac or PC supports 16:9 (not necessarily so for other formats). That means plug and play on Windows, Mac, Android smartphones and tablets (if they support alt DP out), iPad and iPhones. Other formats may have ‘letterbox’ black segments on the top and bottom or each side when playing video or games.

Flat or curved? – Flat Pass+ for single monitor use

Curved is best for smaller desks and dual or even tri-monitor setups. They occupy less desk width and, with multi-monitors, give you a better sense of immersion. There is no image distortion at all.

Flat is wider and best for single monitor use.

Stand and Ergonomics – Pass+

I particularly like this monitor as it has an internal power supply (no external power brick), thin bezels, dual speakers and comes with VESA 75 x 75 mounting poles. The stand is solid, allowing for up to 105mm height adjustment and a +5 to -11.5° tilt. It can only be used in landscape mode with the stand.

This is a perfect monitor for dual monitor use, and PRISM+ has a desk-mounted Arc Stealth Dual monitor arm at $179 ($139 on special). It also should allow portrait mode (not tested).

Note: If VESA mounting, the power and cables protrude from the back.

Ports – Pass+

Remember that this is a lower-cost productivity monitor, so we don’t expect gaming specs and USB-C input. Instead, it has 1 x HDMI 2.0 (4K@50/60Hz), 1 HDMI 1.4 (4K at 25/30Hz) and one Display Port 1.2 (4K@60Hz) port. A 3.5mm, 3-pole stereo Audio-out port can take audio from HDMI/DP inputs. An HDMI High Speed (4K@60Hz) cable is included.

Build – Pass+

639.1 (W) x 371.5 mm (H) x 220mm (D with stand) x 7.73kg. It has a three-year ACL warranty.

Screen image – Crisp, clear, and colourful – Pass+

It is a flat, 28.6”, 3840 x 2160, 192ppi, 60Hz, 8-bit/16.7m colours, edge-lit (E-LED) IPS panel.

Tests (default settings)

• Maximum brightness is 250 nits (tested 265) – well above standard dynamic range (SDR).
• Contrast is 1000:1 (tested 1010:1).
• Colour gamut is 120% sRGB (tested 113%).
• 95% DCI-P3 (tested 90%) of 16.7m colours.
• Delta E: Tested 3.8 (fine for a productivity monitor)
• Colour temperature: 6900° (can be made warmer)
• 8ms GTG response (Tested and claims Adaptive Sync capable).
• Low blue light (reduces blue light).
• Flicker Free (no PWM dimming).
• Viewing angle: Claimed 178/178° (more like 135/135° before colour washout starts).
• Sharpness: Excellent
• Screen coating: Antiglare coating is excellent at light rejection.
• Uniformity: E-LED is lit from the bottom (landscape) and uses fibre optics to take the light up to the top. It is relatively uniform (see screen grabs below).
• Light Bleed: The top and bottom have a slight light bleed characteristic of an E-LED.
• Local Dimming zones: Nil (but not expected as this is a productivity monitor).

It is fine for those who work in sRGB web colours (most of us), but professionals requiring 100% Adobe RGB and 10-bit, 1.07 billion colours will need to spend much more.

We have seen this panel before in entry-level 4K monitors from Dell, Gigabyte, BenQ and ASUS.

8-bit 16.7m colours or 10-bit/1.07 billion colours – Pass

Even though it is 8-bit/16.7M colours, the human eye can only see around 1 million colours and shades (tones).

Movie makers and designers use additional colours/tones (10-bit) to achieve a certain effect. That effect is immaterial on a productivity monitor. It helps make this more economical.

Colour Gamut HDR (High Dynamic Range) – Not required

HDR is a term widely used and abused. Productivity monitors are standard dynamic range (SDR), requiring a minimum of 100 nits (this supports 250) for a great image.

HDR technically means at least 400 nits, and it is barely distinguishable from SDR on a monitor as productivity content uses SDR anyway.

If you were playing lots of HDR/10/10+/Dolby Atmos movies or games, you would be looking at least HDR 1000 nits and dynamic metadata processing. Then you would be better investing in a 4K HDR10 or more TV or a far higher-cost monitor. Productivity monitors were not meant for entertainment as they lack upscale, AI image processing etc.

OSD Menu – Pass

There are many customisable settings. We will not go into all of these, and we cannot take screen grabs of menus.

• Professional allows changes to Gamma, colour temperature, sharpness, blue light, hue, saturation, dynamic brightness and more.
• Picture – brightness, contrast, Movie/Reading/Night/Eye Care.
• Game Settings: RTS/RPG/MOBA, response time, refresh, game crosshair.
• PIP/PBP
• Volume

Sound – Pass

It has stereo down-firing speakers (no wattage specs), and we estimate 2 watts each. It accepts 16 or 24-bit 32/44.1/48/96/176.4/192kHz (practically 16-bit/44.1kHz) HDMI input.

Maximum volume is 76dB (a little below what I expect) but fine for system sounds and teleconferences. The sound stage is compressed due to the down-firing speakers. It is as wide as the monitor but lacks any upwards 3D height sounds (not that it should being 2.0).

It has no low- or mid-bass, a little late high-bass (150-200Hz), and is still building to 1kHz where it is flat to about 6kHz and then declines slowly. Sound signature is Mid: (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) – for clear voice. Music sounds a little deflated.

Energy Use – Pass+

It has a 4-star rating. Maximum power use is 36W, but it tends to sit around 25-30W. In sleep mode, it is <1W. It will consume 30 cents of power in 33 hours of screen-on use.

CyberShack’s view – PRISM+ W280 Ultra 28” 4K monitor is the one – great features and even better value

Never heard of PRISM+ before? I would not have reviewed an unknown brand had I not reviewed a model in a previous life. Something about their professional approach and the fact that it is a Singapore company with local warehousing in Sydney swayed me.

I am pleasantly surprised – and that is hard! The gear is value-focused, not smick or packaged in glossy boxes. Its direct-to-consumer model means it lives or dies by its quality and after-sales service.

In reviewing this, I need to remember that I use dual 34” Samsung 10-bit/1.07B colour 4K monitors at nearly three times the price to get the levels of colour accuracy I need. Still, side by side, this does a terrific job for most of my work.

Add to that it is 16:9 and will work with every PC, macOS, Android and iOS device – and you cannot go wrong.

To bring a monitor in at $399, it is 8-bit/16.7m colour, 60Hz, E-LED (edge-lit) and has basic connectivity. It is well made with a great warranty and local support.

It gets our buy recommendation.

Rating Explanation – PRISM+ W280 Ultra

Ratings are based, for the most part, on performance and, in a small part, on price. It meets or exceeds all our test paradigms for a productivity monitor that gets it well past the 8/10 pass mark. Price, warranty, and after-sales support notch it up a few more points. I would be glad to have it on my desk.

It is rated as an entry-level 28” 4K monitor, where its nearest competitors are about $150 more.

• Features: 80 – it has all the necessary ports and a comprehensive OSD.
• Value: 90 – At $399, it is one of, if not the lowest-cost decent 4K monitors (for productivity)
• Performance: 85 – a good all-around performer for productivity.
• Ease of Use: 90 – 16:9 means it works with everything.
• Design: 80 – No frippery – just sensible design

PRISM+ W280 Ultra, PRISM+ W280 Ultra