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Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.
The PA32QCV supports HDR10 signals by switching automatically. There are three PQ options available, each with a slightly different luminance curve.
HDR Brightness and Contrast
- HDR White Luminance – 644.9141 nits
- HDR Black Level – 0.0660 nit
- HDR Sequential Contrast – 9,771.3:1
To find the highest possible contrast ratio, I turned on the dynamic dimming option with its default parameters. At nearly 10,000:1, the PA32QCV delivers superb HDR image quality. Black levels are deep with clear detail, which highlights pop with texture. The best option is PQ Optimized, which, as you’ll see below, delivers the correct luminance tracking.
Grayscale, EOTF and Color
The grayscale result has no issues to report aside from a touch too much blue around 60 and 65% brightness. The luminance curve starts a tad light but meets the reference line by 10% and correctly transitions to tone-mapping at the 70% step.
The DCI-P3 color result shows some undersaturation, which is also likely to be a sample-specific issue. The PA32QCV is fully capable of rendering all of this gamut as the SDR tests showed. In practice, HDR color looks a bit muted though there is no shortage of brightness. The BT.2020 test shows the same behavior with general undersaturation until color runs out at 82% red, 65% green and 95% blue.
Test Takeaway: The PA32QCV has more HDR brightness and contrast than typical IPS monitors with edge backlighting. Dynamic dimming is very effective and takes the ratio up to nearly 10,000:1 without penalty. HDR grayscale and EOTF tracking is on point but color in my sample was slightly muted.
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