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Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
The AW2725QF is an extremely bright monitor, nearly matching some Mini LED displays. In SDR mode, I recorded almost 500 nits peak which is a lot of headroom for indoor use. The brightness slider is non-linear in operation which means each click changes the light level by a different amount. From 75% and up, the screen gets significantly brighter.
Of the IPS screens, the AW2725QF has the lowest black level and the best contrast by a hair. 1,176.2:1 is better than the IPS average of 1,000:1. Coupled with excellent color saturation, the picture is quite vivid.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration required me to lower the contrast slider a few clicks to solve a clipping issue, so the resulting dynamic range is lower than before. 944.3:1 is OK but not quite at the level of most of today’s IPS monitors. It’s mitigated somewhat by the wide color gamut, so I recommend sticking with Custom Color mode rather than Creator for the most vibrant image.
ANSI contrast falls a bit to 839.8:1. Intra-image contrast suffers a bit because you can’t use the zone dimming for SDR content. It only works in HDR mode. The AW2725QF’s performance in contrast tests is good but with some room for improvement.
Test Takeaway: The AW2725QF has vibrant color but slightly less SDR contrast than the competition. It’s unfortunate that the zone dimming can only be used for HDR. The picture is satisfying though, and I suspect that most buyers will be focused (and properly so) on its substantial gaming prowess.
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