27-Inch IPS-Glass WQHD 60Hz OEM Monitor Review
John Williamson / 9 years ago
End User Testing
1440P Video
Viewing any high-definition content is a blissful experience due to the exceptionally vivid colours and 2560×1440 resolution. I was astounded by the picture quality which really benefits from the protective glass cover and glossy build. While watching some nature footage, it becomes clear how rich the contrast ratio is and there’s an impressive range of hues to observe.
Uncalibrated
By default, the display is capable of 100% sRGB and 77% AdobeRGB coverage which in itself deserves recognition. Furthermore, the unit’s colour accuracy reached an average of 2.29 and didn’t stray too much from the patch lab. In terms of colour uniformity, the panel fared pretty well across numerous quadrants although it’s far from being perfect. When it comes to contrast performance, the monitor managed a range between 340:1 to 380:1 from 0%-100%. Sadly, the white point was fairly weak with a figure of 4800 at each brightness setting. On a more positive note, the panel’s luminance uniformity is superb and consistently achieved results within a low percentile of the maximum reading.
Calibrated
Once calibrated, the sRGB rating remains at 100% and the AdobeRGB coverage improves by 1% to 78%. This is another fantastic showing and demonstrates the display’s superb picture prior to professional calibration. The panel’s colour accuracy improved from an average of 2.29 to 1.46 after calibration and records one of the best results we’ve encountered. Saying that, the maximum figure also increased from 3.28 to 4.74 which stems from the patch ID 6E. When it comes to colour uniformity, the panel achieved excellent figures and benefited from manual calibration. The contrast levels fared better at 25% brightness and upheld the good numbers from the stock configuration. Once again, the white point wasn’t great but the rating at 100% brightness went from 4800 to 4900. The luminance uniformity remained within a small differential and there were small enhancements in the top quadrants. In contrast to this, the lower quadrants consisted of a larger percentage difference but it’s still very minor.
Sound
Monitor speakers tend to be fairly low quality in comparison to an affordable pair of headphones or speaker setup. As a result, it’s always recommended to make room for dedicated audio hardware because it’s frightfully difficult to embed speakers with a good tonal range in a slim monitor. Nevertheless, the monitor’s dual 2W speakers are surprisingly good with a rich response and ability to output good volumes without distortion. On the other hand, the speakers didn’t cope very well with the human voice and sounded fairly flat. Other audio sources were great though and exceeded my expectations.
Game Testing
To test the visual quality and response time in games, I decided to try Ashes of the Singularity on the maximum preset. The monitor’s exceptional colours accentuated the game’s palette and looked extraordinary. The startling crisp image really creates such a wonderful user-experience which is difficult to describe. Unfortunately, the incredible colours come at the expense of some ghosting. It’s not overly noticeable unless you’re into competitive play but some users might find it unbearable. As always with displays, the reaction is down to subjective preferences.