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BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U monitor: a totally new workflow

27-03-2026/0 Comments/in blog, Reviews/by Frank Doorhof

BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U review by Frank Doorhof

Workflow has to be easy

When it comes to calibration and backups, we can always talk about backups, but for today, let’s talk about something that a lot of photographers forget or simply never do: calibration. This is the BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U review. It’s the first BenQ monitor with a built-in calibrator.

Let’s first talk a bit about what calibration is, and why it’s important for you and your clients.

But first:
Disclaimer
I’ve been a BenQ ambassador for many years.
I have chosen BenQ due to their dedication to calibration and color accuracy. They did not read the review beforehand and have no input on my opinions.
What I advise my readers is 100% my personal opinion, and I think it is the only way to deliver reliable reviews.

Color Evokes Emotion

When we watch movies or look at art, there is an almost 100% chance that the creator of that piece of art/movie has spent hours determining the exact color he/she uses for a particular scene or work.

Movies

Think about movies like The Matrix, where we see a slight green cast when we are inside the matrix and a slight blue tint in the real world.
Same thing with Terminator, the start-scene is incredibly blue while the rest of the movie has a more warmer tint.
This is not an accident; it’s done 100% intentional.

Photography

But also think about your own photography.
How many of you empty the card, look at the images, and go “done for today, it’s perfect”?
Most of the time, we will adjust the exposure, contrast, and maybe add some sharpness.
So I hear you think “this is my workflow, so I don’t need color calibration”.
Sorry to burst your bubble.

When we talk about the calibration of a device, we don’t just talk about color; we talk about much more.
Including the perfect black point, where we see all the shadow detail, and the perfect white point, where we don’t see any clipping in our images.
And of course, don’t forget about the so-called Gamma curve, which makes sure we see a nice smooth curve from black to white.

Let’s quickly dive further

When we look at colors in the digital domain, we first have to have a base to build on.
When we look at our TV sets, for example, we talk for example a bout REC709 and BT2020 in most cases.
Maybe you have already seen these 2 settings on your screen.
The REC709 colorspace is for standard movies, and the BT2020 colorspace is for HDR movies.
And some TV sets will have the label “Native”, which means literally the native colorspace of the screen itself.

When we talk about photography/design, we mostly use 3 colorspaces.
sRGB, AdobeRGB, and ProPhotoRGB.
The first 2 can be stored as JPGs, ProPhotoRGB must be stored as TIFF.
So why is that?

When we look at color spaces, we are, in essence, determining the maximum “performance” of the colors.
sRGB will show great colors, but it won’t give you the saturated colors of AdobeRGB, and ProPhotoRGB is even more saturated.
For now, let’s focus on sRGB and AdobeRGB.

A color space needs space

As we have seen, we can have several color spaces.
But how do we make sure we use the right one, and how do we make sure …….. loads of questions right?
Don’t worry, it’s actually not that hard.

A color space is nothing more than a table where you can find coordinates for the colors inside that space.
You probably already know the names from these coordinates, x,y,Y, or in other words, HSL.
Hue, Saturation, and Luminance.

Now that we know that each colorspace has a table with the coordinates of the colors, it’s important to know in which colorspace we have to work, and how we make sure that what we see on the screen is also what we see in real life.

Horses for courses

When we publish on the web, we use the sRGB color space.
It’s a smaller color space, and this means it’s highly compatible with smartphones of older generations, laptops, TV sets, etc.
In most cases, sRGB will look fine.
Also, when working with a non-colormanaged app or operating system, sRGB is often the only one colorspace that looks right.
So when you deliver to clients… It’s often best to choose sRGB.

Personally, I love to work and store my final results in AdobeRGB.
You can always do a near-perfect conversion in Photoshop from AdobeRGB to sRGB.
Do make sure you are also using a monitor that can display the colorspace as accurately as possible.
Over the years, monitors have gone from 95 to 99% Adobe RGB accuracy, so you can get a perfect result with the new generation screens.

Workflow kills

Now that we know how a colorspace works, we have to choose one to work in, and we need to know the monitor’s colorspace.
The question that remains open is….” how do we make sure this all fits together”.
In fact, that’s the easiest part, to be honest.

When I look at the work I do for the ISF (Imaging Science Foundation), this often means using external software with a high-end calibration tool and making all the adjustments by hand. In fact, in the old times we had to lift the hood of a TV/Projector and use a screwdriver to adjust the drive and bias, which was not safe or fun.

For screens like the BenQ, I’m taking a look at in a moment, it’s literally all automated (if you want).

So why do so many people “forget” to calibrate, or simply don’t see the need?

To get a proper calibration, it’s always necessary to warm up the screen for 15-30 minutes. I guess that we are then already fully at work and forget.
Or the reason is “the client doesn’t calibrate, so why would I?”
That one is easy to explain; the client is used to his/her screen, and doesn’t need to deliver color accuracy in their work.
Simple example.
How often did you order a scarf and a sweater that looked great in the catalogue, but when they arrived, they looked totally different?
Well, that’s why WE as photographers/designers need to make sure our screens are as accurate as possible.

Enter the new BenQ Creative Pro monitors

I’ve been a BenQ ambassador for a long time, and you probably already guessed why. Color accuracy and understanding color are not only my profession but also my passion.
So finding a company that lives and breathes color was feeling at home from the first moment.
And I think BenQ did something incredibly smart. Listen to the market, and do exactly what we want, but even better.

The BenQ Creative Pro PD277oU

It took me a while, but here we are. First off, I love the fact that BenQ recognizes that the market is not Photographers vs Designers vs Videomakers vs Musicians.
When I started teaching workshops many moons ago, one of the things I told attendees the moment video arrived in cameras was that they would better learn how to create short videos because before you know it, clients will choose all-around content-creators instead of sending two employees to an assignment. And nothing has changed.
As many of you know, I love creating music, but this also means taking the photos for the band, creating the artwork, and of course, filming and editing the music video.
As a professional photographer, I have to edit my images, create artwork for workshops, and create videos showcasing my work or tutorials.
We are all-round creative pro’s, and it’s awesome that BenQ now labels us as the multifaceted creators we are.
We need it all.
And boy does the Creative Pro PD2770U deliver!

The looks

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I have to be honest.
I really like the design of the BenQ monitors; they are a nice centerpiece on many desks.

As you can see in the image, the new Creative Pro PD2770U is using the same remote control “puck” as the previous generation.
It’s a very nice addition that can take over the control of the menus, but also is able to switch between color spaces and some more cool tricks.
It’s one of those accessories where at first you think you don’t need it and after a few weeks find out you love it, that’s it’s wireless because you start using it more and more.

Not every desk and position is the same, so of course, you can adjust the monitor to fit your position.

But there is one more design change that will make a lot of people really happy.
When I ask people, “What is the biggest frustration when getting a new monitor?”, in a lot of cases, you will get the same answer.
“That blxxdy hood”, and I totally agree, it feels sometimes like a puzzle.
And with the new Creative Pro PD2770U, I can honestly say, they solved it.
This is a totally newly designed hood that literally just snaps on via magnets. Love it.

Specifications of the Creative Pro BenQ PD2770U

The BenQ PD2770U is a 4K 27″ monitor with a 99% AdobeRGB colorspace accuracy.
But there is one thing that you have not yet seen on another BenQ monitor. Or did you already wonder what that bump in the middle was?
That’s the brand new color analyzer.

Indeed, the BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U has the color analyzer built in.
Now, many things can go wrong when a monitor has a built-in calibrator.
The first one is, of course, the position where it measures.
This is why, as you can see in the image, BenQ uses a slightly longer arm, combined with their great uniformity across the screen; this is a perfect way to overcome the biggest issue with built-in calibrators.

But how about deteriorating over time?

This is where you can see BenQ not only understands color, but also the whole workflow.

As you can see in the image, you can still use an external calibrator and use it to “train” the internal calibrator, if needed.
I cannot express how important this is. When you buy a screen like this, you expect years of perfect performance, and the monitor can deliver this without a problem, but the reality is that both screens and calibrators drift. Never in the same direction for all devices, especially when taking into account the level of detail the meter has to measure. So having a way to keep it all running as accurately as new is a protection of your investment and something other manufacturers would have to take note (or not, of course :D)

Time, and always too late

I know, life runs super fast nowadays. So calibrating your screen is not something you are looking forward to doing, I totally understand.
So what if I tell you, you don’t have to… never again.

Yes, you absolutely see it correctly.
The BenQ PD27770U is part of a new series of monitors that take calibration as seriously as I do.
And that means you can automate the whole process. No more waiting when you don’t want to, no more excuses about forgetting the calibration.
Set the software and forget about it.

But that’s not all, we can make it even crazier.

What do you think about running a whole office building with dozens of screens?
Do you want the design department to be calibrated to setting 1, the photography department to setting 2, etc., etc.?
Just program it in the software, and it will all be done behind the scenes, and nobody will have to think about it.
Never worry about the color accuracy of your intern anymore, or that one photographer who is sloppy with calibrations; it’s now all centrally done.
This is HUGE.

Although I’m a big fan of a “shadowbox” setup, this is not always possible.
And also there, the BenQ Creative Pro PD27770U has you covered with an available light meter that will adjust the calibration to your surroundings.

And I’m not done yet

The BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U is full of tricks, as you can see.
And I did not even talk about the connections.
In the past, I used a desktop and a laptop. But with today’s performance of the MacBook Pro, I don’t see any need for a desktop anymore. So that means I want to connect my MacBook with as few cables as possible, but still use everything I need.

The PD2770U supports the one-cable connect method. (Have to be honest, I thought that up, it’s not an official feature, I think)
Meaning when I’m at my desk, I just plug in the cable from the monitor, and I’m done.
I can scan my images, access my hard drives, and of course use an external keyboard and mouse.

Talking about the mouse and keyboard.
The PD2770U has a built-in KVM switch, which means you can seamlessly switch between machines and use the same keyboard and mouse, very smart and super handy.

Conclusion: Do I like the new BenQ Creative Pro PD2770U?

Normally, I always wonder what to write about a new monitor.
But with the rebranding into Creative Pro, BenQ really raised the bar.
This is an insanely complete monitor with finally a hood that is super easy to put on, a built-in calibrator that can be “trained” as protection of your investment. And I did not even talk about the screen surface that is not only tested and designed for the best possible corner-to-corner uniformity, but also has a beautiful coating for much better blacks and reflection rejection.

It’s a whole list, but I think I covered most.
Of course, you still get a 1-year free Pantone subscription with the Creative Pro monitors.
And of course, the BenQ PD2770U is compatible with the Display Pilot 2 software from BenQ.
Read more here .

I think that when you are like us, doing a lot of different things ranging from photography to video editing, the Creative Pro series hits the nail on the head, and I can highly recommend them.

Also want a new monitor and decided on BenQ?

If you live in the EU, drop me an email for a 10% discount code, not only on the BenQ PD277U but on a lot of BenQ Creative Pro monitors.

The BenQ has another monitor specially for MacBooks, with a one-cable connection: the Creative Pro BenQ272U

We are proud that BenQ is a sponsor of our Digital Classroom: a free live shoot from our studio, often with a model shoot. BenQ also supports our explainer videos in the Digital Classroom Playlist

Besides monitors, BenQ also released a tiny monitor to put directly on your camera for viewing your pictures more easily. Check the review of the PVS7 on-camera monitor

Solve the biggest problem in Photography

18-03-2026/in blog, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

One of the biggest problems in photography is probably reflections

We all know this nasty reflections in backgrounds, glasses, cars etc.
Always in locations where you don’t want them.
But in essence they are pretty easy to solve, so we thought it would be a great idea to dedicate a full digital classroom episode to the topic reflections.

A few weeks ago we installed a new reflective wall in our studio, and that’s of course the perfect wall to demonstrate the lighting setups.
In this 2 hour episode of digital classroom I show you how things can go wrong, how to see the reflections and how to prevent them, but also how to become very creative with reflections.

I hope you enjoy this episode.
We really appreciate a like, subscribe but most of all share our channel to your friends and fellow photographers so we can record more content.

What a reflector does and our new Geekoto Y-Wing

7-01-2026/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

The Geekoto Y-Wing Reflector

This blog is about reflectors, and especially about positioning them. The Geekoto Y-Wing Reflector gives you great wraparound light control.

A reflector can be a vital tool for portraits

When we look at portraits, there are many different ways to shoot them.
You can opt for a high-contrast setup with deep shadows, or perhaps you prefer a ring flash that eliminates shadows altogether.
The funny thing is that they are all perfectly acceptable.

There is, however, always one problem.
The shadow under the chin.
When photographing someone with glasses, it’s important to remember the “angle of incidence is the angle of reflection” rule. Which means you will often place your light slightly higher and angled down. And that means that reflections in the glasses are gone. But there is a large chance of deep shadows under the chin. Some people really like this dynamic (I’m one of them), but not everyone wants this. And most commercial clients actually want perhaps a very slight shadow, but preferably nothing. By the way, never take out all shadows; this will look very unnatural.

The problem with a lot of reflectors

Most 5:1 reflectors are great for outside work if you work with the sun, but in the studio, they are often not perfect.
Rogue has a great rectangular reflector, which I love to use with portraits, but it needs to be pretty close to the subject. For a portrait, that is not a problem, but if you want to shoot 3/4, it can be a bit limiting.
So we need something that doesn’t just reflect light, but also focuses the light.
Now, of course, I’m not going to tell you that Geekoto invented something brand new, but it’s a proven solution that works great. So why not build from there?

The Geekoto Y-Wing

With a softbox named the “Quicky,” it’s no surprise that one of the main benefits of the Geekoto system is “speed”.
The Geekoto soft boxes are insanely easy and fast to set up, and you can transport them with the grid and diffusers in place.
I’ve been working with Geekoto for a few years now and really love the fact that it doesn’t matter which softbox I grab for location work, I never have to think about the speed of setup. It’s all fast.

The Y-wing reflector is also very quick to set up. And of course, you can place it on your favorite light stand, and the reflector can be adjusted in almost any position you need. Including next to your model (who said you need it below the model).
But how does it look?

The 3 looks from the Geekoto Y-Wing Reflector

One of the more difficult things when using reflectors is shooting 3/4 shots. So we made a setup where I’m using the Y-wing from a pretty low position. Because we are pretty much snowed in, we decided to let Annewiek be our model for this demo.

Let’s start with the silver side.

This side gives you the most power back on your subject.
Shadows can be a bit harsh if placed too close, but overall this is a great material for high-contrast images with nice shadow fill when you place the reflector, for example, further away.
The Y shape and size make it a very powerful reflector.

I’m using a Geekoto GT400 with the S26 softbox for these images. Distance to the reflector, etc., all the same.
Do remember that if you place the reflector closer to the face, the output will be a LOT more.
My test was to see how well it would perform when we place it a lot lower than I would normally use a standard reflector.

As you can see, there is hardly any shadow left.

So, let’s change the material to white.

It’s super easy to do, as you can see in the picture below.
By the way, the Geekoto Y-Wing Reflector is delivered with Silver, White, and Gold surfaces. It is delivered in a nice bag and includes the stand holder. It’s extremely portable and doesn’t take up much space.
The Gold is mostly used to raise the color temperature when shooting in the shade, where the color temperature is much lower than in the sunlight. This gives a weird color effect and can be solved by bouncing with a gold surface on your subject in the shade.

So, for the studio shots, I tested the white and silver.

And here we have the effects with white.

And of course, you also want to see how it looks without the Y-wing reflector.
As you can see, Annewiek doesn’t like it 😀

Let’s compare

None, white, silver

Should you buy the Geekoto Y-Wing Reflector?

The Geekoto Y-wing is a very affordable but powerful reflector.
If you are shooting portraits in the studio or on location and want something super fast to set up, fits your stands, can be adjusted in loads of angles, collapses into a small package, and has 3 surfaces to choose from. The Geekoto Y-wing Reflector is the perfect fit.

I have kept one for myself and will be using it in the coming workshops.

Shop the Geekoto Y-Wing reflector in our webshop

Read this blog about a different softbox of Geekoto: the Lantern

Living in the US? Buy through our link, and support our work.

A videoclip with the DJI Osmo pockets

2-01-2026/in blog, Reviews, Visions and technique, Webinars and instructional videos/by Frank Doorhof

Making a video clip with the DJI Osmo Pocket

When testing cameras, what’s the most fun to do?

Of course, do something creative with it.
This is not a genuine review, but rather a comparison of the usage of the DJI Osmo Pocket, the first and last edition.

For the livestreams and tutorials, we have been using an Osmo Pocket 1 for a few years. A great camera, and in essence, everyone can take great footage.
But, to get great behind-the-scenes footage, the Osmo Pocket 1 was not as good as we wanted in low light.
Thanks to the quick delivery from Kamera Express, we were able to test the Osmo Pocket 3 just before Christmas.

What’s the difference between the DJI Osmo Pocket 1 and 3?

It’s huge!.
The first thing that is a huge upgrade is the display; for me, this was the biggest problem with the Osmo Pocket.
The Osmo Pocket 3 has a great bright display, you can switch between landscape and portrait mode, awesome!

Of course, I could test the camera quickly in a dimly lit room. But between Christmas and the New Year, we had a bit more time. So I decided to do something a bit different.
Record a song and create a “simple” videoclip with both cameras. And also test how well the Platypod system works in this kind of setting.

The DJI Osmo Pocket

I think we can keep it short in this department.
Both cameras perform well enough in dimly lit situations to get some very usable material.
However, the colors, detail, and movement are a lot better with the Osmo Pocket 3.
Also, when adding special effects (switch into overdrive mode in the clip :)), the Osmo Pocket 3 material stayed much better and showed more detail.

Remote control with both cameras is possible. But the Osmo 3 is a lot easier and is out of the box usable as a webcam. It can be controlled with an app on your phone.
For the Osmo Pocket 1, you need a separate wifi module for remote control; the Osmo 3 wins here hands down.
Also, when using the camera without a remote, the Osmo 3 wins on all fronts.
And let’s be honest, with one whole generation between them, this is not really a surprise.
But I still wanted to test both cameras in the same setup.
Conclusion for the Osmo Pocket is that we will be using the 3 as one of the main cameras during live streams and tutorials. And when there is proper lighting, the Osmo Pocket 1 is a great B-roll camera.
It’s insane to see how well these small cameras have become.
The quality of the Osmo Pocket 3 is actually better than one of our older 4K “semi pro” cameras 😀

Platypod

If you can’t use a tripod, use the Platypod!
And in this situation, a tripod was out of the question.
I decided to film myself playing guitar from different angles. Which meant placing the cameras pretty close, and there is not a lot of room.
By using the smallest platypod foot (which works fine for the Osmo Pocket), I could raise the Osmo Pocket to the level I wanted, and even bent the gooseneck if necessary

In this photo, you can see a similar setup with an iPhone.
Quick tip: Don’t film a multicam clip with your iPhone if you want to sync on the audio. The iPhone films in a variable frame rate. And this means syncing on audio becomes impossible.
You can use separate camera apps, but the built-in app I could not get to sync properly.

You can get the Platypod products in our webshop at frankdoorhof.com/shop

The final result and conclusion: DJI Osmo Pocket

The Osmo pocket 3 material was great to edit with, even with the heavier effects, the material from the Osmo 3 held detail more easily.
If you want something better than an iPhone for video? Make sure to check out the Osmo Pocket series. The built-in gimbal, webcam function, wireless remote and of course great subject tracking make it a great camera to walk around with. When it powers down, it turns the camera into a protective position. (Something I missed in the 1 and never felt comfortable putting it in my pocket)

The app has some great features that will give you more than enough options for super creative videos. From hyper lapse to slow panning, and you can even zoom from 1 to 2x.
But for me, it’s the size and the fact that, in combination with the Platypod, we have a super portable video system I can bring with me wherever we go to create videos, and if needed, go live with the webcam function.
Use software like OBS, and you can use the Osmo Pocket 3 in combination with your built-in webcam and screensharing for a 3-camera live stream setup, all in your backpack next to your camera gear.

But for now, let’s take a look at the video.
I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did creating it.