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To test today, we are using a LaCie calibration gun along with specific software to measure the readings.
We measured the Gamut out of the box, and the VE278Q returned a reading of 2.15, a decent default setting. We changed the gamut to 1.8 and it returned a 1.83 result, which is very good. We measured panel variance and we recorded a 16% variance from the center rating of 140 nits.
Colour response was very good, although we noticed a slight pink cast around a high portion of the image area. We could remove this with some calibration, however the screen wasn't completely linear across the width.
Black Definition is above average, although the sample we received was rather inconsistent, with shift around 20% in the middle and just over 40% at the edges. This is noticeable to the naked eye, especially with well recorded high definition bluray on dark scenes. The PA238Q which we reviewed in September last year delivered much better results. This problem was less obvious when gaming, although the blacks never really looked as rich as we would have liked.
White purity is average, with a panel shift around 25% at the corners. We noticed two darker patches off set on the left and right of the screen which caused me a little concern during testing. In real world conditions this might not be that noticeable, but once I became aware of the problem my eyes would notice the dark ‘pooling' on brighter scenes. Uniformity of the screen seemed slightly problematic, with bleed visible on various sections of the panel. The VE278Q is not particularly good for viewing high definition media as we noticed some colour fluctuation, out around 1.8% on the R channel.
For gaming duties, the fast refresh helps to ensure that there is no lag or annoying abnormalities which can ruin the experience. We left the screen in the hands of some clan gamers for a day and they felt it was very well suited to gaming. This is more ‘real world' testing than just the technical data we tend to focus on in our labs, so their response was rather positive.
Text rendering is good, although some of the out of the box settings can make text look a little fuzzy. The large 27 inch physical size means that 1080p resolution and the display of fine text can be a little easier on the eyes than with a 24 inch screen.
We measured a contrast ratio of around 530:1 at maximum brightness. the Dynamic contrast ratio was measured at 1350:1. At minimum brightness we measured 92 cd/m2 which rose to 242 cd/m2 at maximum settings.
Out of the box, the screen took around 39 watts of power. When we calibrated it to our tastes, this dropped to 27 watts, which is very impressive. At idle, this drops to around 1 watts of power.
Only 1080p for this display? I found that disappointing. I like high resolutions, but don’t need the extra size. At 27″ I’d expect 2560×1440. Obviously that’d cost more, but if I went to 27″ I’d expect that. Let’s hope the trend of ultra high resolution panels coming soon to tablets will extend to desktops in the future. Otherwise it would look rather silly to have 2048×1536 or whatever at 10″ and 1920×1080 at 27″.
The Sony Z series has a 1920×1080 option on the 13 inch screen, thats pretty impressive, although it actually might to ‘too high’ for ease of reading unless you have eagle eye vision.
Looks ok, I prefer a 23-24 inch at this resolution as I think the screen is too big for the resolution and you can actually see the scanlines sometimes.