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The XB273K V5 ships with a calibration data sheet that my sample nearly matched. Out of the box, it comes close to standard, but I would recommend calibration for the best possible picture.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
In the Standard picture mode, the XB273K V5’s grayscale runs a little red. You can see the error starting at the 50% step and increasing as the image gets brighter. A red error is forgivable since it is less visible in content than a green one. That’s what you’ll see if you pick the user color temp without calibrating.
Luckily, the RGB sliders are very precise, and you get both gains and bias adjustments. I only had to tweak the gains to get all errors below 1dE. The 100% step just cracks the line and there, I had to lower contrast from 50 to 45 to eliminate highlight clipping. Gamma remains almost perfectly on the 2.2 reference line. This is excellent performance.
When you pick the sRGB gamut, the red tint returns, and you can’t adjust it away since the color temp options are grayed out. I noted that gamma conforms to the BT.1886 standard rather than 2.2 power. While this is correct, it would be nice to have a choice of different gamma presets and color temps.
Comparisons
Asus wins the out-of-box contest here with its XG27UCS at 0.58dE. The XB273K V5 is just over the visible threshold at 3.80dE. You can get away with not calibrating, but I recommend making the changes I outlined earlier. That takes it to the top with an excellent 0.47dE result.
Gamma tracking is visually perfect with a tiny 0.05 range of values and a 0.91% deviation from 2.2. The actual value is 2.22. It doesn’t get much better than that. This is excellent performance.
Color Gamut Accuracy
Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.
The XB273K V5 has superb color tracking in all its picture and gamut modes, starting with Standard, which nails the DCI-P3 standard with only the slightest green undersaturation. All other colors are right on target. Grayscale calibration tightens up the chart slightly, taking the error a bit lower. The default of 1.91dE is nothing to complain about.
sRGB also tracks perfectly with a 1.58dE average error. There is slight oversaturation, but nothing that would disqualify the XB273K V5 from color-critical use.
Comparisons
The XB273K V5 compares very favorably with a low 1.12dE color score. Visually, there is no difference in accuracy among this solid group of monitors. There is a wider gap in color volume, though, with the XB273K V5 showing a little less verve than the top two screens from Asus and BenQ. You won’t find Quantum Dot tech in this segment, but if you want full coverage of DCI-P3, the Acer has just a little less green. In practice, the difference is small but visible. However, it’s still accurate enough for critical work.
Test Takeaway: The XB273K V5 delivers solid accuracy out of the box and even better numbers with a few adjustments to color temp and contrast. It covers an average amount of the DCI-P3 gamut, with some competitors showing more color and some showing less. Gaming is always a bright and vivid experience. Accuracy is good enough for critical work in any standard thanks to a complete set of gamut modes, something most gaming monitors lack.
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