Earlier this year we started seeing the first wave of touch screen monitors designed to optimize the Windows 8 experience, including the Dell S2340T, which we reviewed back in April. Now Dell has upped the ante with the release of four new touch-screen models ranging in size from 20 inches to 27 inches. We got our hands on the big one, the Dell P2714T, and were impressed with its overall performance, port selection, and touch capabilities. Its reflective screen can be annoying however, but not nearly as annoying as its $700 price tag.

Design and Features
The P2714T's 27-inch PLS (Plane-to-Line Switching) panel has a maximum resolution of 1,920-by-1,080 and is housed in a sleek 1.7-inch black curved cabinet and covered in edge-to-edge glass. Like its smaller sibling, the Dell P2314T, it looks like an oversized tablet. The shiny glass coating looks slick but it is very reflective and can make you feel like you've got a large mirror on your desk.

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The silver stand is the same as the one used on the Dell P2314T, only larger. Like a picture frame, one side folds out to support the cabinet and provides up to 60-degrees of tilt. You can't adjust the height, however. There are two USB 3.0 ports mounted on the left side of the monitor that are easily accessible for plugging in thumb drives and other peripherals. Around back, facing downward, are two downstream USB ports, one upstream port, two HDMI ports, a DisplayPort jack, and a VGA port. There's also an audio output for use with external speakers (the P2714T does not have built-in speakers). The HDMI ports support MHL (Mobile High-definition Link) connectivity and can be used to connect the monitor to devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The right edge of the cabinet holds a power switch and four function buttons that are identified by on-screen labels. The Preset Mode button lets you choose one of seven picture presets including standard, multimedia, movie, game, text, warm, and cool. There's also a user mode that allows you to create your own preset with custom red, green, and blue levels. In addition to Brightness and Contrast controls you can choose one of two color formats (RGB, YPbPr), set the aspect ratio and sharpness, and select an input source. The usual analog settings (clock, phase, position) are also available.

Dell backs the P2714T with a three-year warranty and includes HDMI and USB cables in the box. You also get a resource CD, a cleaning cloth, a Velcro strap, and a quick start guide.

Performance
The P2714T's 10-point capacitive touch screen worked like a charm. There's plenty of room for swiping and performing gesture commands like zooming and pinching. The screen was very responsive and the on-screen keyboard worked flawlessly.

The PLS panel delivered generally accurate colors right out of the box. On the CIE color chart below the boxes represent the ideal color coordinates (as defined by the International Commission on Illuminace) for red, green, and blue. The colored dots represent our measurements, obtained using a colorimeter, DisplayMate Multimedia Edition diagnostics, and SpectraCal's CalMan5 software. As shown, reds and blues are very accurate while greens are a bit off the mark. Fortunately, the skewed greens are only slightly warm and not so skewed as to appear oversaturated.

Grayscale performance was also good but the panel was unable to produce really dark blacks, which is necessary for displaying intricate shadow detail. That said, the blu-ray movie 2012 looked just fine on the big screen and color quality was superb. As with IPS panel technology PLS panels offer wide viewing angles, and the P2714T is no different; there was no color shifting or loss of luminance from any angle. Small text from the Scaled Fonts test appeared crisp and well defined.

The panel's 8-millisecond (g-g) pixel response handled video and light gaming duties with aplomb but there was a trace of ghosting with more demanding games like Crysis and Aliens vs. Predators. You'd have to be actively looking for it to notice it though.

The P2714T used only 17 watts of power during testing while set to the Standard preset, which is quite efficient for a 27-inch panel. The BenQ XL2720T, which uses a TN (twisted nematic) panel, used 29 watts, and the HP Envy 27, an IPS-based monitor, used 30 watts.

At $700 the Dell P2714T is significantly more expensive than a standard 27-inch monitor but it's not the most expensive 27-inch touch screen model out there. Acer has recently introduced a $700 IPS model and a $1000 AHVA (advanced vertical alignment) model, and the ViewSonic TD2740 lists for $867.99. We wish the P2714T offered darker blacks and a less reflective screen, but we were impressed with its color and touch performance as well as its feature set, which is why it earns our Editors' Choice for big-screen touch-screen monitors.