OSD Tour
If you recall our review of the EA294WMi wide-screen monitor, than this menu tour will look familiar. The EA274WMi’s OSD is identical to it in every way. There is a myriad of features to not only calibrate the display, but also to control and track energy usage, manage multiple NEC monitors, and display multiple sources with PBP. Let’s take a look.
When you touch the menu control, the OSD appears along with little tags telling you what the other bezel keys do. This is super-handy in dark environments when you would not be able to read labels silk-screened onto plastic. In addition to traditional Brightness and Contrast sliders, the first sub-menu has controls for Eco Mode (limits brightness to a max of 30 or 60 percent), and the front-mounted sensors. They can detect when a user is present and modulate brightness accordingly, or even turn off the power when you leave your desk. Auto Brightness adjusts brightness along with changes in ambient room light. When we tried this feature, we found it dimmed the picture a little too aggressively for our taste.
You may have noticed a Black Level control. NEC is the only company we know of that includes this adjustment in its monitors, and it works like the brightness control on an HDTV. Rather than adjusting the backlight, it changes the black level threshold. The default setting is as low as you can go without clipping a PC signal, but if you use a video signal, such as one from a Blu-ray player, you can improve contrast by turning it down a few notches.
When you select an option, a little fly-out pops up.
All of the adjustments on the EA274WMi work this way. Once the fly-out appears, move the slider left or right to make your choice.
There are six picture modes.
We measured all of the modes and found Standard to offer the most accurate basis for calibration. The other modes make subtle changes to gamma and color that fall outside our accepted standards. Text for instance, adds a little edge enhancement to make fonts more crisp. And Movie bumps up only the lower brightness levels. In Dynamic mode, the contrast shifts depending on image content. Take care with this setting; it can sometimes crush highlight and shadow detail.
Since the EA274WMi includes a VGA input, the next menu can help you adjust the resolution, size, and position of analog signals.
Newer monitors are doing without old-school VGA inputs. But NEC still includes them. If the image needs to be centered or expanded to fill the screen, you can do that here.
Here are the color temp controls.
Presets 1, 2, 3, and 5 are adjustable, and they start at color temps of 9300, 8200, 7500, and 5000 Kelvins, respectively. Number 3 is closest to the preferred 6500 K setting. sRGB, N (Native), and D (DICOM) (used in medical imaging) cannot be changed. P is for Programmable and works with a PC app to control the EA274WMi, but it only addresses gamma, which is fine as-is.
The RGB sliders start at or near the top of their range, depending on which preset you choose. We prefer sliders that default to a center point so we can move them in both directions. With NEC’s system, you can only adjust downwards.
If you choose the Movie, Gaming, or Photo picture mode, the color temp is locked to Native and cannot be changed.
The next menu has more ergonomic features.
Volume controls both the internal speakers and the headphone output. Since audio signals can come in via a 3.5mm jack, HDMI, or DisplayPort, Sound Input lets you select the source.
The PBP feature will display two sources simultaneously side-by-side on the screen. You can adjust each image independently if you wish.
Response Improve can reduce image blur, though, depending on the content, you might see color fringing artifacts. We saw them in vertically scrolling text, but not in any fast-paced games or video.
Off Timer powers down the monitor after a user-specified period. LED Brightness controls the front-panel power indicator. DDC/CI should be left on to allow your computer to control the EA294WMi, and USB Power lets you leave the ports active even when the monitor is in power saver mode. Factory Preset returns all settings to their defaults.
This is the Menu Tools screen. Besides the nine available languages, you can lock out the OSD to prevent adjustment. To re-enable it, press Select and Left simultaneously. Hot Key turns on PBP, Brightness, and Volume hot keys on the front panel, saving you a trip into the OSD. Signal Information, Sensor Information, and Key Guide toggle various info pop-ups. Data Copy will copy settings to other monitors connected via the ControlSync feature. And Customize Settings stores all options so you can restore them after an accidental reset.
NEC takes energy usage very seriously. As an incentive to users, the EA274WMi can show the savings in financial and carbon usage terms. This is pretty cool, especially for large organizations running hundreds of displays at a time.
If you need to know the serial number of your particular monitor, it’s shown here. That saves you the challenge of peeking around back at the tiny info decal below the input panel.
NEC EA274WMi Calibration
We set up our press sample using the Standard picture mode, which provides the most accurate gamma and color, along with all possible color temp options. Since we do all our testing with full-range PC signals, we left the Black Level control at its default setting of 50. Contrast starts to clip information above 50, but we lowered it to 43 to improve the grayscale accuracy. The tradeoff is worth it if you're critical about color, even if it reduces image contrast somewhat.
The adjustable color temp presets all start at a different Kelvin value. Number 3 is labeled 7500 K, so we used that one. Only small adjustments are required to achieve excellent grayscale tracking and a high degree of gamut accuracy. Be sure to check out page seven where we show the effect of grayscale calibration on the gamut results.
| NEC EA274WMi Calibration Settings | |
|---|---|
| DV Mode | Standard |
| Brightness | 65 |
| Contrast | 43 |
| Black Level | 50 |
| Color Temp | 3 |
| RGB | Red 92.7, Green 90.6, Blue 100 |
- NEC EA274WMi: A High-Performance 27" Monitor
- Packaging, Physical Layout, And Accessories
- OSD Setup And Calibration Of The NEC EA274WMi
- Measurement And Calibration Methodology: How We Test
- Results: Brightness And Contrast
- Results: Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response
- Results: Color Gamut And Performance
- Results: Viewing Angles And Uniformity
- Results: Pixel Response And Input Lag
- NEC EA274WMi: Some Unique Features
I'm sure this monitor is slight better, but come on NEC, $800 is ridiculous.
Even more ridiculous is this quote from the review:
"At $800, this is the least-expensive high-res model in the line. "
haha!
The Korean 2560x1440's are in the $300 - $400 price range.
Who the hell is pricing these things?
Untrue Overlord warranties their OC model and is the only OEM making IPS panels specifically for gamers. Why Tom's doesn't have one of the Tempests to review I still don't understand. Oh wait - that's right - it's pay to review on this site! DOH!
I got my 30" 16:10 2560x1600 LCDs like three years ago for $980-ish.
Let me know when 1440p hits 25% share of the market. At that point MAYBE you can claim it's the standard. I expect an email in 3-4yrs...ROFL.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/
scroll down to primary monitor resolution. .93%...
Note 1080p=32.91%
Ideally for it to be standard it has to be the highest percent right? 1080p. GET IT?
Yes I want us to get to higher res monitors being standard ASAP (with GPU's that can actually push this res without the need for 2+ cards), but reality is that day hasn't arrived so quit saying this BS.
Also understand that .93% is the penetration of gamers. I'm guessing it is far less if you include the non-gamers who mostly have no need to splurge on an $400-800 monitor to view the web or email and anything under $490 or so I wouldn't touch at 27in/1440p, and not at all without Gsync. I wouldn't buy a monitor without that (put the purchase off) unless mine DIED today forcing me to upgrade. The cheapest NAME you'd recognize on newegg is asus at $490.
Untrue Overlord warranties their OC model and is the only OEM making IPS panels specifically for gamers. Why Tom's doesn't have one of the Tempests to review I still don't understand. Oh wait - that's right - it's pay to review on this site! DOH!
This is absolutely not true. Our editorial and advertising departments are purposely kept very separate. In fact, I couldn't even tell you if there are display vendors advertising on the site. We review monitors because they're an important part of the computing experience.
If you or another representative of Tempest would like to submit a display for review, please contact us! Alternatively, we can reach out to you, also
That said, I am considering sticking with 60HZ and moving to a Korean 30" 2560x1600 panel. I've gamed at 60HZ for a long time and am used to it, but I'd really like to have more screen real estate. If someone comes out with a 30" panel that supports 120HZ for something REASONABLE then I'd be interested, but I'm not dropping as much as an entire computer on a display.
Get what you pay for, all these noobs with their 1080p displays are so limiting themselves.Ive been gaming on 30 inches for over 3 years now that I paid $1200 for. Been worth every cent to have much more real estate over the 120hz option. 4K is my next purchase when they come down to $1500 or less.
I will email Overlord to tell them so since I have been supporting them since they started! Fan boy? You betcha!
That said, I am considering sticking with 60HZ and moving to a Korean 30" 2560x1600 panel. I've gamed at 60HZ for a long time and am used to it, but I'd really like to have more screen real estate. If someone comes out with a 30" panel that supports 120HZ for something REASONABLE then I'd be interested, but I'm not dropping as much as an entire computer on a display.
I will email Overlord to tell them so since I have been supporting them since they started! Fan boy? You betcha!
You voted my post down for stating the obvious truth and proving it? What for? I'm already above 1080p, but as stated it's the most common used res NOT 1440p. So what is your problem with the post? Same question for the other two that voted down the truth. Some people. I even stated I want us to move on...LOL. You don't like steam surveys or something? Hate for me?...Whatever...
I will email Overlord to tell them so since I have been supporting them since they started! Fan boy? You betcha!
You voted my post down for stating the obvious truth and proving it? What for? I'm already above 1080p, but as stated it's the most common used res NOT 1440p. So what is your problem with the post? Same question for the other two that voted down the truth. Some people. I even stated I want us to move on...LOL. You don't like steam surveys or something? Hate for me?...Whatever...
I'll answer your question with a question - why in the hell do you care that your post got voted down by me and 2 others? Do you need confirmation on all your posts of your ability to pull some stats and say something on a forum?
Ok then - great job! Atta Boy!
I didn't like the tone of your post it came off arrogant and at the same time needy to show how "in the know" you think you are.
Funny, I didn't know I was supposed to provide a justification for not liking someone's post, but there you go.
I will email Overlord to tell them so since I have been supporting them since they started! Fan boy? You betcha!
You voted my post down for stating the obvious truth and proving it? What for? I'm already above 1080p, but as stated it's the most common used res NOT 1440p. So what is your problem with the post? Same question for the other two that voted down the truth. Some people. I even stated I want us to move on...LOL. You don't like steam surveys or something? Hate for me?...Whatever...
I'll answer your question with a question - why in the hell do you care that your post got voted down by me and 2 others? Do you need confirmation on all your posts of your ability to pull some stats and say something on a forum?
Ok then - great job! Atta Boy!
I didn't like the tone of your post it came off arrogant and at the same time needy to show how "in the know" you think you are.
Funny, I didn't know I was supposed to provide a justification for not liking someone's post, but there you go.
OH, you're the PC police. We have enough of that junk already. Judge the data, not the person. So the priorities for you when judging a post isn't about the post at all...ROFL. I'm arrogant, needy and my TONE sucks...As long as the data is good who cares...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graham%27s_Hierarchy_of_Disagreement.svg
Congratulations. You made it to the 3rd level. Responding to the tone of my post...LOL. But that is still completely failing with your "vote". That's OK...I only care about the data anyway, which isn't changing. Come back when you've got something to say about the data instead of me
"criticizes the tone of the writing without addressing the substance of the argument." ....Yep. Actually I think you may have done the bottom 3.
Why do you care how I sound? Ah...Not here for the data? Just here to judge people's tone, attack their character etc.
The answer to your ?: I comment to find out if someone can argue with the data (for stock purposes mostly, I want MORE data if I can get it, no matter how their TONE is - they might save me money etc). If nobody can tear it down or show better data points, I'm probably on the right track