PC games started out with humble graphics and simple mechanics. Even if you weren’t born in the era of games with as basic graphics as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, you’d still be aware of how graphics have evolved to the great heights we see today. It’s why most gamers are wowed when they see games like Forza Horizon 5. The fact that developers can make a game so life-like is quite extraordinary. Hyper realism, then, is a technical achievement that most gamers will deservedly salute. But by no means does it guarantee a game will be fun and engrossing to play. Hyper realism works for some games Don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of hyper-realistic games. There’s no denying that games like Crysis, Fallout 4, and Kingdom Come Deliverance have stunned and amazed me with their beautiful rendering and life-like mechanics. I can’t go back to the Wild West to live the life of a gunslinger, but through this game I can get darn well close to it… In these games the high level of graphical realism has worked to engross me a little more than some other titles. In Red Dead Redemption 2, looking down the main streets of towns with their old-world buildings is like starring into the past — it conjures the possibility of living out my own Wild West fantasies, of having my own virtual O.K. Corral showdown — a tantalizing prospect for this history buff. The mechanics of some hyper-realistic games like RDR2 align nicely to make the fantasy more tangible too. The fact that I can do things like stable my horse, just like I could in real life (had I actually a horse to stable) lends credence to my experience. Red Dead Redemption 2 combines both stunning hyper realistic graphics and very realistic gameplay mechanics. Dominic Bayley / IDG I can’t go back to the Wild West to live the life of a gunslinger, but through this game I can get darn well close to it. Kingdom Come Deliverance is the same kettle of fish. I can use melee weapons, faint, get dirty, and even visit geographically accurate locations and buildings, which makes the action, when it happens, even more believable. But that believability isn’t necessary in every game I play. Why all games don’t need to be hyper realistic Playing games like WoW, Fortnite, and Half Life has taught me that games don’t need to be realistic to be incredibly fun and engrossing. In these games realism isn’t even a goal of the developers — it’s purely about entertainment. Apart from the fact you don’t need super high specs to play them — there’s no need for a PC with a souped-up Core i9-14900K CPU and RTX 4090 GPU when Fortnite will run well on a modest Core i5-7300U and GeForce GTX 960 — these games can just be really fun and addictive. I think Half Life’s creator Gabe Newell said it best when he noted, “Many people don’t understand the difference between something that’s realistic versus something that’s engaging.” Thinking on that, you could just as easily swap out the word engaging for immersive. Immersion is being completely engrossed in what you’re playing. The state of feeling like you are part of the game, which these games can achieve just as well as any hyper-realistic game can. Blizzard The games I just mentioned have mostly cartoonish graphics and opt for “convenient mechanics.” Their character skins, silly dances and emotes, and their player abilities are far removed from reality but that makes them no less appealing. Rather than impress me with their believability, they tap into my desire to experience the surreal, something wacky and strange. These games take me out of my self and let me experience something that is so different from real life that I’m never going to be able to even get close to it in my waking day. Sure, I can dress up as a cowboy, visit an Old West theme park and pantomime a scene to approximate gameplay in RDR2 if I want to, but I can’t fly on the back of a griffin and conjure up an Arcane Blast spell a la WoW, can I now? Hurry up, already! There are other benefits to non-realistic games too. Speed of play is one biggy. Hyper-realistic games tend to have slower and more repetitive mechanics or cut scenes (like the skinning animation in RDR2) — who would have thought real life could be so monotonous at times? — whereas non hyper-realistic games omit the tedious, so they’re ideal for drop-in and drop-out play. While it might take me half an hour to loot a house in Fallout 4, having to painstakingly open cupboards and pick up each item, I really like how convenient it is to simply walk over items in Fortnite to pick them up, it keeps the game moving at a comfortable pace. Fast travelling in WoW and Skyrim is another great example — it saves me hours of tromping around large open maps. What makes a great game then? First and foremost, it needs to have excellent gameplay. An interesting storyline or some other X factor as its premise doesn’t hurt either. One term that’s used a lot in talking about game appeal is a game’s “stickiness” — aka its replayability. If I had to point to a game with overwhelming stickiness, Minecraft would have to be it. Pexels: Alexander Kovalev This game’s blocky, pixelated graphics are anything but hyper-realistic, yet the game still hits almost universal accord with players thanks to its fun and highly addictive sandbox (LEGO-like) game mechanics in which you can build and craft just about anything you can think of out of blocks. Hyper-realistic games, then, can be fun, but so can non hyper-realistic games too. Indeed, the old saying that goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” could just as easily be applied to PC games as to any book. Read...

Pursuant to NZX Listing Rule 3.20.1(a), SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited (SkyCity) advises that Jo Wong has resigned and will step down from the role of General Counsel and Company Secretary on 22 January 2025 Read...

The project, due to start next year, has been the subject of much debate given it involves major roadworks along key Wellington entertainment districts that are already struggling. Read...

The project, due to start next year, has been the subject of much debate given it involves major roadworks along key Wellington entertainment districts that are already struggling. Read...

Alcon Entertainment says it specifically denied a request to use material from the film at the event. Read...

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, just released a new research report that examined whether the AI chatbot discriminates against users or stereotypes its responses based on users’ names. OpenAI OpenAI OpenAI The company used its own AI model GPT-4o to go through large amounts of ChatGPT conversations and analyze whether the chatbot’s responses contained “harmful stereotypes” based on who it was conversing with. The results were then double-checked by human reviewers. OpenAI OpenAI OpenAI The screenshots above are examples from legacy AI models to illustrate ChatGPT’s responses that were examined by the study. In both cases, the only variable that differs is the users’ names. In older versions of ChatGPT, it was clear that there could be differences depending on whether the user had a male or female name. Men got answers that talked about engineering projects and life hacks while women got answers about childcare and cooking. However, OpenAI says that its recent report shows that the AI chatbot now gives equally high-quality answers regardless of whether your name is usually associated with a particular gender or ethnicity. According to the company, “harmful stereotypes” now only appear in about 0.1 percent of GPT-4o responses, and that figure can vary slightly based on the theme of a given conversation. In particular, conversations about entertainment show more stereotyped responses (about 0.234 percent of responses appear to stereotype based on name). By comparison, back when the AI chatbot was running on older AI models, the stereotyped response rate was up to 1 percent. Further reading: Practical things you can do with ChatGPT Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Attractive, slim design  Excellent keyboard Good performance, especially from the IGP Fantastic speakers Long battery life Cons IPS display can’t match OLED competitors Touchpad is a bit small for the category Performance isn’t greatly improved over earlier Intel Core Ultra laptops Our Verdict The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura Edition is a solid do-it-all laptop. It offers well-rounded performance, long battery life, and attractive design. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Editionis among the first laptops to launch with Intel’s new Lunar Lake chip architecture, a significant revision that focuses less on raw core count and more on providing a well-rounded, efficient chip. Lunar Lake is able to deliver in that regard, especially in IGP performance and battery life. The Yoga Slim 7i, meanwhile, is a solid chassis for the new chip. Further reading: Best laptops 2024: Premium, budget, gaming, 2-in-1s, and more Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Specs and features The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura Edition’s most notable specification is the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V processor. This is a mid-range, mainstream chip in Intel’s line-up. It has eight cores (four performance, and four efficient) alongside Intel Arc integrated graphics and an NPU that quotes up to 47 TOPs. CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 256V Memory: 16GB LPDDR5x-8533 Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V integrated graphics NPU: Intel AI Boost (47 TOPs) Display: 2880 x 1800 IPS Multi-touch up to 120Hz, 16:10 aspect ratio Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 solid state storage Webcam: 1080p 30fps camera with IR 3D camera for Windows Hello, electronic privacy shutter Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (with USB-C 4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), 1x USB-A (5Gbps data), 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 70 watt-hours Dimensions: 13.54 x 9.27 x 0.55 inches Weight: 3.37 pounds MSRP: $1,379.99 MSRP  The Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition’s specifications otherwise have an eye on the future. Lenovo embraces Thunderbolt 4 and the latest wireless standards, yet only includes a single USB-A port. The laptop is remarkably thin, too, at barely more than half an inch thick. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Design and build quality IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition follows the design language of other recent Lenovo laptops, which works to its advantage. It’s extremely slim, measuring only 0.55 inches thick, and has a compact footprint of 13.5 x 9.25 inches. The laptop is made from aluminum and uses a matte finish that gives it a sleek and understated look. A design trait I particularly appreciate is the use of rounded edges along not over the corners of the chassis, but also across both the front and side edges, which makes the laptop comfortable to hold. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is another solid addition in Lenovo’s generally strong line-up of mid-range and premium Windows PCs. It suffers a few flaws, like a relatively small touchpad and a mediocre display, but makes up for its shortcomings with attractive design, a great keyboard, and class-leading speakers. Despite its thin profile, the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition feels rigid and sturdy. When picked up from one edge, the laptop’s chassis shows no noticeable flex, and the display lid hardly warps when opened. The hinge is well-tuned, as well, so I found it possible to open the lid with a single free hand. Lenovo’s build quality compares favorably with most super-thins Windows laptops, like Acer’s Swift series and LG’s Gram series, though Samsung’s Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is close. Strangely, despite the word “Yoga” in its name, the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is not a 2-in-1. The hinge only rotates back 180 degrees to lie flat on a surface. While that’s a good range for a standard laptop, the Yoga name has traditionally signaled a 2-in-1 design. I’m not a fan of this shift in direction for the Yoga series, as it makes Lenovo’s lineup more confusing. That oddity aside, though, the Yoga Slim 7i’s design is among the best in its class. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Keyboard, trackpad IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith I thoroughly enjoyed typing on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition’s keyboard. That would be notable for any laptop, but it’s especially impressive given this laptop’s thin profile. Despite its size, the Yoga Slim 7i provides a satisfying key travel with a crisp, tactile, and springy rebound. I found it instantly comfortable and was able to type quickly from the moment I opened the laptop. The spacious layout contributes to the ease of typing, as well. Although the laptop has a 15.3-inch screen, the Yoga Slim 7i doesn’t try to squeeze in a number pad, which allows for larger keys and ample space between each one. Even the function keys are slightly larger than typical for this class of laptop. While the keyboard is excellent, the touchpad is mediocre. It’s smooth and responsive in both simple tasks (like clicking an icon) and more complex multi-touch gestures (like Windows’ five-finger pinch to reduce or maximize all windows). Also, since it’s centered, it avoids accidental input while typing.  However, the touchpad is small for a laptop of this size, measuring roughly 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep. Because of that, it can feel a bit cramped, especially when scrolling vertically through web pages and documents. Competitors like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 15 and Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge offer a much larger touchpad surface. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Display, audio IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition’s display is good yet somewhat disappointing. Many recent Lenovo laptops use OLED touchscreens that offer excellent color performance and class-leading contrast. However, this laptop has an IPS display panel, which, though attractive, can’t match the quality of OLED. Starting with the positives, the display is extremely sharp, with a resolution of 2880 x 1800. With a 15.3-inch screen, this translates to approximately 221 pixels per inch (PPI). It also supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and includes variable refresh rate, which can reduce power consumption or provide smoother frame pacing in games. Finally, it’s a multi-touch display and provides smooth, responsive input. However, the screen has limitations typical of IPS-LCD panels. It can’t achieve deep, inky blacks in dark scenes, which results in “IPS glow,” a problem where dark areas of the screen appear gray and seem to shimmer or glow. This isn’t readily noticeable in a well-lit room, but if you watch a movie in a dimly lit room, it becomes apparent. Also, while the display’s color performance provides a vibrant and punchy image, it still falls short of OLED. It’s not an issue in most situations, but if you’re interested in photo editing or digital art, you might miss the wider color gamut an OLED panel can offer. The Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition’s speakers, on the other hand, are truly fantastic. They provide strong, crisp audio with excellent bass. Yet, despite that, they largely avoid the distorted, muddy sound most laptops speakers suffer at higher volumes. The bass is so strong, in fact, that it causes a noticeable vibrant across the touchpad and keyboard, which might be distracting if you’re typing while listening to tunes. As an added bonus, the speakers are upwards-firing, so the surface the laptop is placed on doesn’t drastically change the laptop’s audio presentation. The Yoga Slim 7i’s audio quality is top-notch for a Windows laptop and good enough that less critical listeners will hear no reason to use external speakers.  Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition comes with a 1080p webcam that provides crisp and colorful video for Zoom calls and other casual uses. As with most laptop webcams, the image can look a bit grainy, and it may struggle with exposure in rooms with mixed lighting.  Lenovo includes an electronic privacy shutter which is activated by a switch on the side of the laptop. The privacy shutter doesn’t disable the microphone, however. That’s also true for other privacy shutters (phyiscal or electronic), but something to keep in mind. The microphone is good, though not exceptional. It captured my voice clearly, even when I spoke softly, and did a decent job of filtering out low-volume background noise. However, it still had the slightly hollow, distant sound typical of laptop microphones. I’d recommend it for video calls, but not for podcasting. Biometric login is available through Windows Hello facial recognition, and as usual, it works well. Once set up, the laptop unlocks almost instantly when it detects your face after the lid is opened or when resumed from sleep. A fingerprint reader is not included. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Connectivity IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith Slim laptops are often limited in connectivity, and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is no exception, though it does provide a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports. Each Thunderbolt port also supports USB-C 4, DisplayPort, and Power Delivery, meaning you can use each to connect a monitor and/or charge the laptop. Connectivity options are otherwise limited, as the laptop has just one USB-A port. It’s joined by an HDMI port and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. To be fair, the inclusion of an HDMI port is not typical for a super-thin laptop, but having only one USB-A port could be inconvenient for those who still use multiple legacy USB devices. Ethernet is also absent, though this is essentially standard for a Windows laptop in 2024 (a few gaming and enterprise-focused laptops aside). Wireless connectivity is robust, as the laptop supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 (the latest version of each standard). That means the laptop is compatible with all of the newest wireless features and supports the fastest wireless speeds available. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Performance The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is powered by Intel’s Core Ultra 7 256V processor, and uses the company’s new “Lunar Lake” architecture. PC World’s Mark Hachman dove deep into the processor at launch, so I recommend his review of Lunar Lake if you want the details. In general, however, Lunar Lake is meant to deliver significant gains in power efficiency while retaining or improving CPU, GPU, and AI performance. When it comes to performance, though, the new Yoga Slim 7i isn’t much different from its predecessors.  IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith First up is PC Mark 10, a synthetic test that stands in for mixed productivity and day-to-day use. Here, the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V hit a score of 6,995 right on the nose, which is a solid result for a thin, light laptop. The Yoga Slim 7i is the second-quickest of the laptops used for comparison, all of which are models released in the last few months. Notably, the Core Ultra 7 256V scores win over AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 in the Asus Zenbook S 16, as well as AMD Ryzen 7 8840U in the Acer Swift Edge 16. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 in the HP OmniBook Ultra 14, however, rules the roost. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith PC World is amid a transition to the latest version of Cinebench R24, which means the number of results we have for comparison is more limited. What’s available, though, puts the Yoga Slim 7i in a less favorable light. Its multi-threaded score of 600 virtually tied to the Core Ultra 7 155H in the Yoga 9i 14 Gen 9, and way behind the HP and Samsung laptops with AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, respectively.  This isn’t necessarily a surprise, however. This is a multi-threaded test, and Intel is behind on thread count. The Intel Core Ultra 7 256V has eight cores, which is a modest count in 2024, and they’re split evenly between “performance” and “efficient” cores. AMD’s latest Ryzen AI processors take a similar approach, but tend to include more “efficient” cores. The AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 375 has four “Zen” cores and eight “ZenC” cores, for a total of 12. Qualcomm, meanwhile, does not use different types of cores and offers 12 cores in total.  IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The Yoga Slim 7i produced a better score in Handbrake 1.5.1, where it managed to beat all comers besides the HP Omnibook Ultra 14 with AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 which, as in other tests, displayed a significant lead. With the HP removed from consideration, though, the Yoga Slim 7 looks to edge out a wide range of comparable Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm hardware. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith Our review of Lunar Lake showed it can provide a significant leap in integrated graphics performance. The Yoga Slim 7i doesn’t deliver the full potential our Lunar Lake review found possible, but it’s still quite good.  The Yoga Slim 7i achieved a solid but not impressive 3DMark Time Spy score of 3677, as well as a strong score of 31,682 in the less demanding 3DMark Night Raid benchmark. Both scores are solid results for integrated graphics, falling behind only the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 with AMD Radeon 890M graphics. In general, the Yoga Slim 7i can deliver acceptable performance in less demanding 3D games, and can play most modern titles at sub-native resolutions and detail settings. It’s definitely not ideal for games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Space Marine 2, but it’s passable if you’re okay playing at a low resolution, low detail settings, and with drops below 30 FPS. On the whole, the Yoga Slim 7i’s performance results are good for this class of laptop. It’s bit quicker than competitive laptops in some benchmarks, such as PCMark 10 and Handbrake, but falls behind in others, like Cinebench. Intel’s Arc 140V also does well, providing competent IGP performance despite the laptop’s thin size. Finally, I noticed that the Yoga Slim 7i wasn’t unusually loud or warm in my testing. I had quite the opposite experience with Asus’ Zenbook S 16, a 16-inch laptop of comparable size and weight. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Battery life Battery life is always important for a slim, portable laptop, but it’s especially important for the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition. The new Intel processor promises better efficiency which, in theory, could close the gap between Intel’s Core Ultra line and Qualcomm’s new, power-sipping Snapdragon X chips. The Yoga Slim 7i is able to close the gap, though it doesn’t come out the victor. IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith IDG / Matthew Smith The Yoga Slim 7i endured our battery test, which loops a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel, for 16 hours and 45 minutes. That’s not a record-setting result, but it’s quite good, and indicates the laptop should have more than enough battery life for an eight-hour workday—provided your work doesn’t include especially demanding apps, of course.  Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition: Conclusion The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition is another solid addition in Lenovo’s generally strong line-up of mid-range and premium Windows PCs. It suffers a few flaws, like a relatively small touchpad and a mediocre display, but makes up for its shortcomings with attractive design, a great keyboard, and class-leading speakers. Intel’s new “Lunar Lake” Core Ultra 7 256V, meanwhile, delivers a respectable performance uplift over prior Intel laptops, packs a great IGP, and brings battery life into competition with Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptops. That makes the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition an excellent choice if you want a thin, portable Windows laptop that’s still versatile enough to handle productivity and entertainment with equal ease. Read...

At a glance Pros USB-C port with 96 watts of Power Delivery Good color performance and wide color gamut Easy-to-use menus with many options Up to 100Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync Cons Mediocre contrast, brightness HDR is available but disappoints Color accuracy is good but doesn’t beat peers Our Verdict The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV offers the color performance and connectivity required for professional productivity, content creation, and other work. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ProArt PA278CFRV Retailer Price $379 View Deal Asus 379 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Asus ProArt line includes a wide range of professional content creation and productivity monitors, but its entry-level models often receive the most attention — and for good reason. Past Asus ProArt displays, like the PA278QV and PA279CRV, offered excellent color performance at a very low price. The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV continues this trend, meeting the expectations set by those prior offerings. Asus ProArt PA278CFRV specs and features The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is a 27-inch monitor with a resolution of 2560×1440 and an In-Plane Switching (IPS) display panel. This is typical for a productivity and content creation monitor. The refresh rate stands out, however, as the monitor can handle refresh rates up to 100Hz. That’s not uncommon among general-use and gaming monitors, but among productivity monitors, some competitors are still at 60Hz or 75Hz. Display size: 27-inch 16:9 widescreen Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: IPS Refresh rate: Up to 100Hz Adaptive sync: VESA MediaSync HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR 400 Certified Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x DisplayPort 1.4-out (for daisy-chain), 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 96 watts Power Delivery, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 downstream, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 downstream, 3.5mm audio-out VESA mount: 100x100mm Speakers: 2x 2-watt speakers Price: $379 MSRP Asus’ connectivity also stands out. The monitor has a USB-C port with DisplayPort and up to 96 watts of Power Delivery, which is perfect for powering and charging most laptops. It also has DisplayPort-out, which is handy if you plan to use multiple monitors but your PC only has one video-out port. The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is designed for professional use with a focus on productivity and content creation. It features a reserved and subtle design, with the panel clad in charcoal-colored plastics. The stand, meanwhile, has a sleek silver finish. Further reading: See our roundup of the best home office monitors to learn about competing products. While the monitor is reserved, Asus does offer a distinctive design language for its ProArt monitors, which includes a heatsink-like ribbing on the back of the panel. This new monitor will complement any recent ProArt gear already on your desk. Foundry Foundry Foundry Asus offers an ergonomic yet functional monitor stand that adjusts for height, tilt, and swivel, and can also rotate 90 degrees for portrait orientation. While these features are common in office and productivity monitors, it’s still a welcome inclusion, especially considering that this monitor is more affordable than similar models from Dell’s Ultrasharp and BenQ’s photography monitor lines. The stand is stable and has a small, flat base that doesn’t take up much desk space. Its flat design also allows you to place small items or notebooks on it without issue. If you prefer using a third-party monitor arm, though a 100x100mm VESA mount is available. Asus ProArt PA278CFRV connectivity and menus The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV offers a lot of connectivity, which is arguably one of the best reasons to buy the monitor. Its video inputs include one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode. All of these inputs can support the monitor’s maximum resolution of 1440p at its maximum refresh rate of 100Hz. While it would be nice to see a fourth video input, the monitor compensates with DisplayPort-out, which can be used for daisy-chaining to a second display. This is a useful feature if your computer has only one video output or if you want to reduce cable clutter on your desk. Asus doesn’t pull any punches with the USB-C port. In addition to supporting DisplayPort, it provides up to 96 watts of USB Power Delivery, so it can fully power most laptops that don’t have discrete mobile graphics. The USB-C port also connects to a built-in USB hub, which includes one downstream USB-C port and three downstream USB-A ports. This is a solid range of USB connectivity for a monitor priced under $400. A 3.5mm audio-out jack rounds out the connectivity options. Foundry Foundry Foundry The monitor has a long list of options that can be accessed through a joystick control on the front bezel of the display. They’re flanked by a series of buttons, which is odd for a modern monitor; most choose to tuck the joystick and buttons out of sight. However, this makes sense for a professional monitor, as I assume people who buy this display are more interested than the average user in changing the options to fit their particular needs. The monitor’s options can also be controlled through DisplayWidget, a software utility available on Windows and Mac. And there’s a lot of options. The monitor supports a broad range of image quality adjustments, including settings for gamma, color saturation, color temperature, and preset modes for sRGB, DCI-P3, and AdobeRGB, among others. The monitor also includes features specific to visual artists, like a built-in grid that can be used to verify the alignment of images on the screen. I’m not sure Asus has any advantage over BenQ in this area, and Asus notably lacks the helpful remote some BenQ monitors provide. However, the range of options is stronger than recent Dell Ultrasharp monitors we’ve reviewed. The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV offers a solid range of USB connectivity for a monitor priced under $400. As an added bonus, the monitor has a built-in ambient light sensor that will adjust the brightness of the display depending on your environment. I find this to be an extremely helpful feature, especially for home and remote workers who might experience a lot of variance in room lighting throughout the day. A light sensor can ensure that your display is never so bright that it causes unnecessary eye strain. The monitor also includes a pair of two-watt speakers. While it’s nice to have a source of audio if you don’t have external speakers or headphones available, the speakers are weak and only work for basic needs, like hearing Windows or Mac system sounds or listening to a podcast. With that said, the same is true for Asus’ direct competitors. Professional monitors tend to skimp on speaker quality. Asus ProArt PA278CFRV SDR image quality The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is all about its SDR image quality. While it’s true that there are various reasons why professional artists might work with HDR, SDR is still predominant outside of the most demanding use cases — in which case, a monitor under $400 is probably not the right choice. This monitor is aimed at mainstream general-purpose productivity and content creation, where SDR remains the go-to. So, how does the monitor perform? Foundry Foundry Foundry We start off with brightness, where the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV delivers an acceptable maximum brightness of 360 nits. That is likely good enough for how the monitor will be used in most environments, as this level of brightness is sufficient even for rooms with some uncontrolled lighting and, for reasons I won’t get into here, it’s best to edit SDR at lower levels of brightness that match the standards of the color gamut you choose. However, if your office has a lot of bright, sunlit windows or is located in an all-glass corporate tower, you might find the ProArt’s brightness pushed to its limits. Foundry Foundry Foundry Next up is contrast, where again the ProArt PA278CFRV finds itself in the middle of the pack. It performs better than the older ProArt PA278QV, Asus’ previous affordable 1440p monitor for creative professionals, and also outperforms the BenQ SW272Q. However, a contrast ratio of 1040:1 is not remarkable. By comparison, the Dell U2724DE, which features an IPS Black display panel, can achieve a naturally superior contrast ratio of 2190:1. The Dell is more expensive, though. Unfortunately, the ProArt PA278CFRV’s contrast ratio is limited by the monitor’s inability to reach appropriately low brightness levels in dark scenes. Because of this, dark scenes can suffer from an unattractive gray-silver cast that detracts from the experience. This issue is most noticeable in entertainment like games and movies, but if you frequently edit dark photos or videos, it could be a problem. On the other hand, most similar monitors face the same issue. So, while I would prefer a better contrast ratio, it doesn’t put the ProArt PA278CFRV behind its closest competitors. Shoppers looking for class-leading contrast need to consider a more expensive Mini-LED or OLED display, like the MSI MPG 341CQPX. Foundry Foundry Foundry Asus’ new ProArt PA278CFRV provides a good color gamut, reaching up to 97 percent of DCI-P3 and 87 percent of AdobeRGB. While this isn’t a standout color gamut for a monitor in 2024, it’s still quite good and should be up to the task for professional work within the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, at least. When compared to the competition, the Asus trades blows with the Dell U2724DE. It’s similar, with just a percentage difference in DCI-P3 or AdobeRGB. The BenQ SW272Q is superior in AdobeRGB, but slightly inferior in DCI-P3 (note that the results here are for the AdobeRGB mode on the SW272Q, however, in DCI-P3 mode the monitor still measured at 94 percent of that color gamut). Those who own older entry-level Asus ProArt monitors will find that the ProArt PA278CFRV offers a noticeable improvement over previous models. If you have an older ProArt monitor and are considering an upgrade, you will see a benefit in color performance with the new monitor. Foundry Foundry Foundry The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV’s color accuracy surprised me because it wasn’t as good as the competitors I used for comparison. It’s important to recognize that this slight color error is still fine for most professional use and is also lower than what Asus has promised (it advertises a color error below 2, which is achieved). However, it’s notable that some other monitors offered better out-of-the-box color accuracy. Thankfully, the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV performed very well in two other key areas important for accurate imaging: gamma and color temperature. It hit the preferred target gamma curve of 2.2 and offered the ideal color temperature of 6500K at the monitor’s default settings. As a result, the image doesn’t look too dark or too bright, and it avoids appearing too cool or too warm. And, as mentioned, the monitor has many settings to change the gamma and color temperature if you want or need to work with a different gamma or color temperature setting. Sharpness is adequate. The monitor’s resolution of 2560×1440, spread across the 27-inch panel, results in a pixel density of about 109 pixels per inch. This is sharp enough for most situations, but small fonts in documents and fine details in photographs can appear softer or more aliased compared to a 4K monitor. It’s worth knowing that, at the time of writing, the 4K Asus ProArt PA279CRV is only $30 more expensive than the new ProArt PA278CFRV. Shoppers should also know that while the ProArt PA278CFRV offers dynamic backlight dimming, it doesn’t have a Mini-LED backlight. Because of that, the dynamic backlight can cause huge, easily noticeable variances in display brightness across the screen. Strangely, the ProArt had this feature enabled by default. That’s odd because these variances in brightness are not good for image accuracy, which is what the ProArt is built to offer. All my testing was conducted with the dynamic backlight turned off, and I recommend that every owner turn it off when they receive the monitor. On the whole, the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV delivers good image quality comparable to its closest competition. It excels in color performance, offering a wide color gamut and decent, though not above-average, color accuracy. It also scores well in gamma and color temperature. It’s a solid choice for working with documents and editing photos or content in SDR. If you plan to play games or watch movies, though, the contrast ratio may give you pause. Asus ProArt PA278CFRV HDR image quality The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified, but like most mid-range monitors, it’s not great, or even passable, when it comes to HDR content. This limitation is partially due to the monitor’s contrast ratio. The lack of a Mini-LED backlight or an OLED display panel means that the monitor cannot increase the brightness of bright objects without also increasing the brightness of darker areas on the screen. This, in turn, causes a loss of detail in either the brighter objects or the darker areas when viewing HDR content. Brightness is low, too. I could only make it sustain a maximum HDR brightness of 329 nits, which is low for a monitor that carries VESA DisplayHDR certification. While I don’t doubt that the certification testing managed to produce the required 400 nits of brightness in certain scenarios, I couldn’t replicate it. The bottom line is this: Although the monitor can display HDR, it’s not useful as an HDR monitor. I would not recommend it for viewing or editing HDR content. To be fair, this is also true for other productivity and content-creation monitors in this price range. If you’re looking for excellent color gamut, high color accuracy, and good HDR performance, you’re going to need to spend more on a monitor with a Mini-LED or OLED display. Asus ProArt PA278CFRV motion performance I’m happy to see the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV offer a maximum refresh rate of 100Hz. While there are some monitors focused on creativity and content creation that offer a higher refresh rate, like the Dell U2724DE with its 120Hz refresh rate, most monitors in this category stick to 60Hz. That can be disappointing since it results in less fluid motion clarity if you want to play PC games. The Asus also offers something I haven’t seen on any monitor I’ve reviewed before: VESA MediaSync certification. This is a lower level of adaptive sync certification for monitors that can support a variable refresh rate but don’t reach the 120Hz threshold. Because of this, the monitor unofficially supports both AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync, and it worked seamlessly with my AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. While the monitor’s 100Hz refresh rate is a nice upgrade, gamers shouldn’t get too excited about its gaming performance. Motion fluidity and clarity are certainly improved over 60Hz, but they’re still on the lower end of what’s available in 2024. Fast-moving objects remain visible but can appear blurred, and it can be difficult to make out fine details, like text, on objects that are moving across the screen. So, while I applaud Asus for offering a higher refresh rate and adaptive sync support — features I believe all modern monitors should include — gamers looking for top-tier motion clarity may want to look elsewhere. Should you buy the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV? The Asus ProArt PA278CFRV is a good choice for anyone looking to buy a productivity or content creation monitor that offers solid color performance and extensive connectivity at its price point. While it has some drawbacks, particularly with contrast, it performs well in terms of color gamut and offers a wide range of image quality options. The USB-C port is another perk, as it supports up to 96W of power delivery and connects to multiple downstream USB-A ports. Asus also provides an enhanced refresh rate and adaptive sync support, making the monitor more versatile for users who want a productivity display that can also handle occasional gaming. Shoppers considering the Asus ProArt PA278CFRV might also look at the Dell U2724DE, which is an upgrade in most respects. It’s about $100 to $150 more expensive, though, so the Asus remains the budget-friendly choice. Read...

I joined Twitter in 2007, just a year after it was launched, and I’ve been using it almost daily since then. And while all social media platforms evolve over time, Twitter is something different altogether — it has grown so toxic that it has driven away many longtime users. Most of that has happened under the leadership of Elon Musk, who acquired the platform in 2022: Twitter is now called X, half of its workforce was let go, previously banned users were restored in the name of free speech, and being “verified” is now a subscription-based perk rather than anything based on fame or notoriety. Related: Twitter check mark colors, explained If you’re like me, the overall X experience might be worse than it’s ever been, but you can’t quit it cold turkey for one reason or another. If you find yourself in this position, here are some ways to make X more tolerable to use even in 2024. 1. Switch to the Following feed X offers two different feeds for users: the For You feed (which offers a mix of tweets from accounts you follow and accounts you don’t) and the Following feed (which only shows tweets from accounts you follow). Switching from the default For You feed to the Following feed can have a huge impact on your overall X experience. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG To switch from the For You feed to the Following feed, simply click Following at the top of your feed. From then on, you’ll only see tweets from accounts that you’re explicitly following and you’ll no longer see other tweets that X’s algorithm wants to push on you. If you get bored, you can switch back at any time by just clicking the For You feed again. Or, my preferred option is to start following more accounts to bolster your feed with tweets you want to see so you never have to use the algorithm-driven For You feed again. 2. Regularly audit who you’re following Even if you only ever scroll through the Following feed, you may still see uninteresting or disagreeable tweets from accounts that have grown in a direction you no longer care to go in — so it’s important to conduct regular audits of the X accounts you follow and make sure you unfollow any that are no longer posting content you want to see. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG To conduct an audit, click Profile in the left-hand sidebar, then click the Following link (with a number next to it). You can then scroll down the list of who you’re following and see if they’re following you back.  Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG If you’re unsure about an account, open the profile in a new tab to see what they’ve been posting of late. If you no longer want to follow them, hover over the Following button and it will change to Unfollow. Click that and you’ll no longer be following that account. 3. Don’t hesitate to Block and Mute people X has two tools that are invaluable if you want to carry on with the platform but wait to escape all the nastiness, negativity, and divisiveness that seems so commonplace. You can Block accounts (to stop them from engaging with you) and Mute accounts (to stop seeing anything and everything they post). Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG To Block or Mute someone on X, click the three-dot menu either at the top of their profile or to the right of one of their tweets. Then, click either option to Mute @[username] or Block @[username]. Blocking someone is the better option if they’re tweeting at you or responding to your posts in an inappropriate manner. Muting someone is better if you just want to stop seeing their posts on X. 4. Populate Lists with good accounts Another invaluable tool you should be using on X is Lists, a feature that lets you create (or follow) curated collections of accounts that are usually (but don’t have to be) grouped according to theme or niche. For example, you might have Lists for technology journalists, for comedians, for entertainment news, for gaming companies, etc. Whether you create your own List or follow publicly available ones made by others, it’s a great way to narrow down your X feed experience. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG To create a List, first click the More option in the left-hand sidebar, then click on Lists. Once you create or follow Lists, you’ll see them on this page; otherwise, you can use this page to discover new Lists that X thinks will interest you, search for Lists based on your interests, or create a new List by tapping the New List icon to the right of the search field: Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Once you click New List, you just need to name it, add a description, then add accounts to it. You can also add a cover photo, make the List private or public, and share your List with other people. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Once you have followed or created Lists, they will then appear at the top of your X feed alongside the For You and Following feeds. It’s a quick way to jump into a List and narrow down the posts you’re exposed to. 5. Mute all your notifications Notifications can be extremely useful. I mean, you need to know when your boss messages you, right? Or when you have an appointment coming up that you absolutely don’t want to miss? But you never really need X notifications. The occasional one might be helpful, but they’re an overall negative influence with all of their disruptions and distractions. So, turn them off. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG To turn off notifications in X, click the Notifications option in the left-hand sidebar. Then, click the Settings cog in the top-right corner. From here, you can choose which notifications you want to see (or not), plus select preferences for each notification type. I have both push notifications and email notifications switched off, and I recommend you do the same if you want to retain your sanity. 6. Avoid doomscrolling and negativity Like many other social media platforms, X feels like it was almost made for doomscrolling. Doomscrolling is rotting our brains so, if you can, you should find better things to do with your time. Even when I occasionally venture onto the For You feed on X, I make sure not to endlessly scroll through negative post after negative post just to find those rare hidden gems. The trick is to open X, quickly see what’s going on, and then close the app right away. Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG Dave Parrack / IDG This can be tough to do at first since all social media platforms are designed to hook you in and keep you engaged for as long as possible. Unfortunately, there’s no magic trick to using X this way, but it gets easier the more you do it, and it’s also easier if you’re mindful and intentional about it. Set a timer if you absolutely can’t stop yourself. 7. Limit your time on X and take breaks And that brings us to the final way to make X more tolerable in 2024: stop using it so often, wean yourself off, and limit your engagement. You could waste hours on X, reading about all of the horrible things happening in the world, watching funny videos, getting into debates with people who argue in bad faith (or, more likely, are bots). But all of these things are ultimately rather pointless. While X can be a good source of both news and entertainment, it isn’t the be-all and end-all for either — and it’s getting worse on both fronts. So you’re really better off logging out and/or staying off, only using it when you absolutely need it, and only doing so intentionally. Ultimately, that’s the only way to make X an app you’ll enjoy using rather than an app you’re stuck using out of sheer habit or obligation. X (Twitter) will continue to (d)evolve under Musk’s leadership, and you may well reach the point where you decide that enough is enough. When that happens, there are plenty of alternatives that you’ll like better. Until then, use the above methods to keep X at least somewhat tolerable. Further reading: Practical reasons to keep using Twitter Read...

Wow, I feel like I’ve been seeing this monitor (or ones functionally identical to it, anyway) on sale a lot lately. But that doesn’t make it any less sweet. Today, Newegg is selling this Acer Nitro gaming monitor with a 27-inch IPS panel at a 1440p resolution and 180Hz refresh rate for just $160. That’s $110 off its regular price. I’ll stop banging this drum when it stops making noise: If at all possible, you should opt for an IPS panel over a VA panel. The better color accuracy means you can use it for Photoshop (like I did in this very article), then switch over to Fortnite for gaming (which I did not do for this article. I promise, boss!). Now that these monitors are coming with higher refresh rates, it’s the perfect one-two punch for a home machine that’s used for both work and entertainment. The Acer Nitro VG271U combines an upgraded panel with a boosted 2560×1440 resolution, giving you an impressive jump over standard 1080p gaming monitors. Plus, the 0.5ms response time means it’ll never lag behind your puny human eyeballs. It has DisplayPort and double HDMI inputs, and I dig the jaunty blue of the included stand. But if you have your own stand or monitor arms, then this monitor will still work with its standard VESA mount. Newegg deals tend to come and go on a whim, so get your order in quickly if you’re ready to buy. But if you can wait, you might be able to score an even better deal when Prime Day monitor deals hit next week. Get an Acer Nitro 27-inch IPS gaming monitor for $160Buy now on Newegg Read...