BenQ is expanding its ScreenBar lighting range in Australia with two rather different takes on illuminating the modern desk: the ScreenBar Max, built specifically for dual-monitor setups, and the iScreenBar, designed to sit rather more elegantly atop an iMac.
Both are due to arrive locally on 22 September 2026, with BenQ clearly targeting workspaces where the monitor — or monitors — have become the centre of almost everything we do.
The basic ScreenBar idea is already a familiar one. Rather than giving up desk space to a conventional lamp, the light sits above the display and directs illumination down onto the working area without throwing glare back onto the screen.
It’s also familiar territory for DRN. We’ve reviewed previous generations of BenQ’s ScreenBar lighting and found the concept particularly useful for keeping a desk properly illuminated without adding another lamp — or its accompanying footprint — to an already busy workspace.
What changes here is who BenQ is designing for.
ScreenBar Max goes wide
The ScreenBar Max is aimed squarely at people running two displays, including horizontal, vertical and curved arrangements.
BenQ says its ASYM-TriZone Light optical system delivers more than 1,400 lux of targeted desktop illumination, using a triangular light distribution pattern designed to cover wider multi-monitor workspaces. A 36-degree shielding angle is intended to keep that light away from the user’s eyes and minimise glare during long sessions.
There is also an integrated rear ambient light, which helps reduce the contrast between a bright monitor and a darker room.
Automatic adjustment can provide up to 700 lux based on surrounding light conditions, with the ScreenBar Max controlling both brightness and colour temperature in real time.
That makes the Max potentially interesting for exactly the kind of desks that have traditionally been awkward for monitor lamps. Once you move beyond a single centrally positioned screen, illuminating the keyboard and working area evenly without either sacrificing desk space or creating reflections becomes considerably harder.
BenQ has also picked up a 2026 Red Dot Design Award for the ScreenBar Max.
And then there’s one made specifically for the iMac
The iScreenBar takes a very different approach.
This one has been designed specifically around Apple’s iMac, right down to its CNC-machined aluminium construction and choice of finishes. BenQ describes it as an extension of the iMac’s minimalist design rather than simply a light attached to the top of a monitor.
It uses BenQ’s ASYM-Light anti-glare optical system to illuminate the desk without reflecting onto the display, while automatic dimming adjusts its output as ambient conditions change.
A magnetic mounting system handles attachment and repositioning, and BenQ has also built in a dedicated Video Call Mode intended to improve facial illumination during meetings.
Perhaps more interesting is the software side.
A dedicated macOS application allows brightness and colour temperature settings to be associated with individual applications. That means the iScreenBar can automatically change its lighting depending on what you’re doing — potentially using one setup while working, another for creative applications and something different again when jumping into a video call.
It is a small detail, but also the feature that makes the iScreenBar feel less like BenQ has simply painted an existing light silver and called it an iMac accessory.
The iScreenBar has received both 2026 iF Design and Red Dot Design Awards.
Australian pricing and availability
The BenQ ScreenBar Max and silver iScreenBar will be available in Australia from 22 September 2026 through BenQ and Amazon.
The ScreenBar Max will retail for A$489, while the iScreenBar will cost A$229.
Green and blue versions of the iScreenBar are expected to follow in early 2027.
At $489, the ScreenBar Max certainly isn’t an impulse purchase for somebody who simply wants a bit more light on their keyboard. But dual-monitor users are also the people most likely to discover the limitations of conventional monitor lamps, so the wider illumination system makes considerably more sense than simply stretching an existing ScreenBar.
The iScreenBar is arguably the more curious of the pair. At $229 it is considerably easier to justify, and the combination of application-aware lighting, video-call illumination and an industrial design intended to actually match the iMac gives it a little more personality than the average monitor light.
We’ll be interested to see how both perform once they’re sitting on a real desk rather than a perfectly organised product shot.
