Testing methodology and Results I
A monitor review based on descriptive visual analysis will always have the underlying problem of subjectivity; assessments of panel quality will vary from user to user depending on their normative expectations. To get around this we’re deploying Datacolor’s Spyder 4 Elite professional monitor analyser to return a quantitative assessment of display quality. We also make use of the Leo Bodnar video signal input lag tester which allows us to test the combined input latency of a specific monitor at the 1080p resolution with 60Hz operation only (a limitation of the testing equipment).
These numerical results, we feel, add extra utility to our reviews allowing us to more accurately benchmark the following display characteristics:
- Colour gamut relative to sRGB and AdobeRGB industry-standards
- Brightness levels and contrast ratios
- Colour uniformity
- Brightness uniformity
- Colour accuracy
- Input latency
The tests are run under two different scenarios: uncalibrated and calibrated. Uncalibrated performance equates to the out-of-the-box settings a monitor ships with; this is the typical end-user experience as very few consumers engage in calibration of their displays before use. Calibrated performance is what results after the monitor has been put through the Spyder4Elite hardware-calibration process with the following parameters: 2.2 Gamma, 6500k colour temperature and 120 nits of brightness. These calibrated results demonstrate what the monitor is capable of when tuned correctly but the results have limited relevance to most consumers who will not calibrate their monitors.
Colour
Colour space and accuracy are two of the VP2780-4K's claims to fame. We're expecting high levels of coverage across various standards and, playing to its forte, a low Delta E, where a low(er) numerical number indicates little colour difference.
Calibrated performance, left, uncalibrated, right
ViewSonic says that the monitor is able to cover 100 per cent of sRGB an 80 per cent of the Adobe RGB space. The calibrated scores, on the left, show that our review panel falls very slightly short of what's expected. The uncalibrated coverage, on the right, is a touch lower.
[Update] ViewSonic has confirmed to HEXUS that 100 per cent sRGB and 80 per cent AdobeRGB are achievable when the monitor is set to “USER COLOR” in the colour adjustment OSD menu settings.
Calibrated performance, left, uncalibrated, right
Colour accuracy is an area in which the VP2780-4K excels. Out-of-the-box Delta E of just 1.81 is excellent, reinforcing the fact that each screen is calibrated before leaving the factory. Using the Spyder 4 Elite software enables us to drop the Delta E down further, to 1.42, intimating top-level accuracy performance.
Calibrated performance, left, uncalibrated, right
Colour uniformity, too, is a strong point of the screen; we're seeing less than three per cent deviation across the entire panel. Good job by ViewSonic.
