BenQ's New 28-Inch 4K 120Hz Monitor Takes Direct Aim At Programmers

Most of the monitor announcements we see these days are targeted towards gamers, and for good reason—gaming is an ideal outlet for innovations like ultra-fast refresh rates, adaptive sync, and so forth. At first glance, you might assume that BenQ's new RD280UG is another one of those displays, but in a surprise twist, it's built specifically for programmers.

It's not actually much of a surprise if you're already familiar with BenQ's RD series that was introduced in 2024, though for the most part, it's flown under the radar. The RD280UG is the newest iteration and now sits as the flagship model in the RD series "by enhancing programmers' most-requested features."

First and foremost, however, the RD280UG is a 28-inch display with a 4K resolution (3840x2560) and 120Hz refresh rate. Fairly standard, so what makes it geared towards programmers versus any of the litany of other 4K displays available? Part of the answer lies in the panel.

"Software development demands sustained concentration and clear visual structure, yet screen glare and poor contrast often reduce visibility and increase eye strain. The RD280UG addresses these challenges with a Nano Matte Panel that minimizes reflections and glare, paired with BenQ-exclusive Coding Modes tuned specifically for text clarity across different development environments and theme," BenQ explains.

BenQ also highlights to a handful of themes, including a dark theme for dark theme IDE programmers to enhance readability, a light theme for light theme IDE programmers to maintain clarity while reducing eye strain, and a paper color mode to recreate the sensation of reading on paper to help with fatigued eyes.

The company's pitch is that the RD280UG offers day-to-night comfort, aided by BenQ's MoonHalo bias backlighting .This is supposed to balance ambient illumination and Night Hours Protection, which is a feature that uses minimum brightness tech to reduce eye strain.

Other relevant amenities for programmers include a built-in KVM switch (also found on some gaming displays) to connect multiple devices and share peripherals, and support for daisy-chaining via USB-C. The I/O is fairly robust too, consisting of two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, three downstream USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports (one with 90W power delivery, data, and DisplayPort Alt Mode), a single DisplayPort 1.4 input, a single HDMI 2.1 input, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

It's a decent overall assortment of features, and while taking aim at programmers, BenQ says it's a good fit for casual gamers too. That is, if you're willing to pay a premium for a 28-inch panel.