Color Gamut, Color Accuracy, Monitor Rating, And Calibration
Color Gamut
The LCD panel in the Dragon nearly covers the standard sRGB color gamut. It has very good color response for blues and reds, though deep greens aren’t fully covered. The panel is not a wide-gamut model, so it only covers 76% of the larger AdobeRGB color gamut.
Color Accuracy
The accuracy of colors reproduced by the panel is very good. Remember, we really want to see a Delta-E of two or less. Greyscale images should look good on the GT70's screen, since all shades have a Delta-E of less than 2. This means that the MSI should do well in working with black and white photos, especially after calibration. The colors are also accurate except for the teal blue 1F color patch. The average Delta-E for all measurements is 1.05.
After calibration, the panel is excellent for an sRGB panel, with the only limiting factor being its inability to show the deepest shades of green.
Monitor Rating
The chart above shows Datacolor’s rating for the Chi Mei panel in MSI's GT70 Dragon Edition 2. While we basically agree with Datacolor’s evaluation, we'll add that the luminance uniformity in the system is not as bad, practically, as the chart suggests.
Xotic PC Calibration
The images above are photos of the Dragon’s screen before and after calibration with the Spyder4 Elite system. Depending on the monitor you're using to read this review, you should see significant differences between the top and bottom. Un-calibrated, the screen has a blue tint that is common in WLED panels. With the Spyder4 Elite or Xotic PC’s factory calibration, the screen is very neutral.
The chart above shows the corrections applied to the Chi Mei panel to correct the cooler-than-neutral color of the un-calibrated panel. The reds are boosted while the blues are pulled back.
After calibration, the screen curves are very close to the target. This shows excellent calibration results.
The only downside to calibration is that overall screen brightness is reduced by about 15%.
We’ve seen Chi Mei panels in the past that don’t perform as well as the one in the GT70 being reviewed. We’ve also seen Chi Mei panels with a rough anti-glare coating. This particular panel is better than any Chi Mei display we've used before, and while the backlighting uniformity isn’t great, the color uniformity is.
