Abstract

• The BenQ ScreenBar Professional Monitor Mild illuminates a 2.8 x 1.6 ft workspace.
• The sunshine options 18.5 inches of LED lights utilizing asymmetrical lighting, offering shiny, glare-free illumination.
• The ScreenBar Professional gives straightforward placement on most displays, has contact controls for brightness and shade, and good warmth administration.

From unhealthy ergonomics to poor lighting, a few of us put up with extra discomfort in our respective workspaces than we frequently notice. The BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light helps to repair the latter with a centered just-the-basics method to brighten your workspace.

Worth and Availability

The BenQ ScreenBar Professional Monitor Mild is on the market from Amazon or direct from BenQ for $140. Within the field is the sunshine bar, USB-C AC adapter, and paperwork. It illuminates as much as a 2.8 x 1.6 foot workspace space.

Design and {Hardware}: High quality Fundamentals

The ScreenBar Professional options roughly 18.5-inches of downward-facing LED lights utilizing what BenQ refers to as its third-generation asymmetrical lighting. Within the easiest phrases, which means regardless that it is meant to mount on high of your monitor, it gives shiny, flicker-free, and reflection-free lighting the place it is presupposed to, which is simply in your desktop workspace.

The USB-C cable is roughly 5.9 toes lengthy and hardwired to the ScreenBar Professional. You should utilize the included USB-C AC adapter to energy the monitor gentle, nevertheless it’s environment friendly sufficient that any minimal 5V 1.7A USB-C energy supply will work simply as properly. In my case, I simply used a free USB-C port on my laptop computer’s ThinkPad docking station.

The ScreenBar Professional’s adjustable clamp can match any flat or curved monitor with a thickness between 0.17 – 2.56 inches. This implies it could possibly match on high of all however the absolute thinnest or thickest outlier displays.

The one further match requirement to notice is that there is a clamp overhang of roughly 0.22 inches on the entrance of the monitor. As such, you may need to guarantee that your monitor’s show space has a ample high bezel so it would not encroach in your viewable area. Once more, most displays will simply meet this requirement.

For these involved about dropping a center-mounted exterior webcam on their monitor when utilizing the ScreenBar Professional, BenQ sells a Webcam Accessory for an extra $20. This adjustable accent matches various kinds of webcams and attaches with an included magnetic sticker.

The ScreenBar Professional, with its mixture of aluminum and zinc alloys, plastic, and polycarbonate, looks like a stable, premium product, which is nice contemplating its worth level. Eight touch-sensitive controls on the entrance of the monitor gentle are the only real option to management all capabilities.

Ranging from the left, the contact controls are presence detection, brightness, shade temperature, brightness or shade temperature depth down, brightness or shade temperature depth up, favourite, auto-dimming, and energy. A middle indicator between the 2 depth contact controls reveals both present brightness or shade temperature degree.

Performance: Consolation Lighting

I used to be in a position to make use of the ScreenBar Professional on three totally different monitor setups on two totally different desks with out concern. These displays embody the INNOCN Ultrawide 40-Inch 40C1R and INNOCN 49Q1R 49-Inch OLED Curved Gaming Monitor on a Vari L-Shape Electric Standing Desk, in addition to twin ThinkVision T24v-20 displays side-by-side on a small FlexiSpot desk.

Whether or not on the very massive curved gaming monitor or sitting in-between the 2 side-by-side ThinkVision shows, the ScreenBar Professional matches securely. Extra importantly, not one of the displays picked up any glare when in use, as a substitute offering shiny, even lighting on my respective desktop space.

On the FlexiSpot desk, I even have a laptop computer sitting beneath the 2 displays. Even with that configuration, the laptop computer show remained reflection-free.

Certainly one of my favourite options is ultrasonic presence detection. With this function on, any movement inside a number of toes will activate the sunshine. I actually prefer it once I go as much as my chair and the sunshine comes on precisely as I beforehand set it.

The auto-dimming choice works properly in darkish environments, however I did not actually look after it throughout the day. With this function on, the ScreenBar Professional detects ambient lighting and dietary supplements the illumination as much as 500lux, which is the beneficial degree by the American Nationwide Customary Apply for Workplace Lighting (ANSI/IES RP-1-22) to keep away from extreme display distinction.

Sadly for me, as an individual who likes plenty of gentle, I discovered the auto-dimming choice to be too conservative throughout the day, mixing in hotter, extra yellow gentle, with the cooler and brighter white gentle, making it barely noticeable at occasions. As an alternative, throughout the day, I flip off auto-dimming, and set the sunshine to its whitest and coolest brightness, which peaks within the heart at a formidable 1000lux, which is at the very least double that of many competing choices.

Whereas I usually go away the sunshine at its most brightness throughout the day, there are literally 16 ranges of brightness and eight shade temperature settings to select from. You possibly can set a single favourite brightness and shade temperature mixture utilizing the favourite contact management.

The ScreenBar Professional does an excellent job with warmth administration. Even after being on for greater than 10 hours, I solely detected some heat from the rear proper aspect. Each different half remained cool.

Despite the fact that I genuinely contemplate the ScreenBar Professional a valued gentle supply for my workspace, there isn’t any avoiding the inevitable comparability to different monitor-mounted lighting options just like the Razer Aether Monitor Light Bar. Though the Razer Aether requires a cellular app for setup and utilization, and a Home windows app for superior options, for $10 lower than the price of the ScreenBar Professional you get extra performance, together with rear-facing RGB lighting that is totally configurable and responsive to numerous actions and applications.

Whereas the Razer Aether is extra advanced, extra power-hungry, can typically have unreliable connectivity, and has two fewer inches of entrance gentle width with decrease peak brightness, it is arduous to not say it is the higher worth for a lot of use instances. And even in the event you do choose the just-the-basics method of the ScreenBar Professional, it is also inconceivable to disregard the relative worth of off-brand options, which, whereas not as well-designed or with the identical peak brightness, present comparable options for a fraction of the worth.

Ought to You Purchase the BenQ ScreenBar Professional Monitor Mild?

Despite the fact that there is a good case to be made that the BenQ ScreenBar Pro Monitor Light is overpriced compared to different choices, that does not make it a nasty product. In truth, fairly the alternative, because it’s excellent at its supposed goal. It is well-constructed, the lighting is shiny and centered, it has minimal energy calls for, and its self-contained performance is easy-to-use.

In case your desktop workspace is simply too darkish, then the ScreenBar Professional gives a viable, and easy, answer. Because of its glorious movement detection and auto-dimming, the latter of which works significantly properly for darkish environments, the ScreenBar Professional makes for a no-fuss workspace enhancer with a large protection space.