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The S3225QC offers multiple picture modes that deliver accurate grayscale, gamma and color. You can use it out of the box without adjustment, or calibrate for reference level performance.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
The S3225QC’s Standard picture mode shows the tiniest red errors at 90 and 100% brightness, but you’ll have a hard time spotting these in content. The rest of the scale is under the visible threshold of 3dE. Gamma is textbook perfect with almost no deviation from the 2.2 reference.
If you calibrate the Custom Color mode, you can achieve a chart like the second one above. All grayscale errors are below 0.5dE and gamma remains perfect. It doesn’t get better than that.
Choosing sRGB from the gamut options in Creator mode yields a slightly warm grayscale and gamma that rides just above 2.2, though not enough to cause concern. This is an excellent showing from the monitor.
Comparisons
The S3225QC starts in last place in the grayscale comparison, then vaults to first after calibration. In practice, none of the monitors require adjustment. They are all excellent out of the box. But a 0.46dE average grayscale error is at least enough to earn bragging rights.
The S3225QC has some of the tightest and most accurate gamma I’ve seen in a while. A 0.05 range of values and perfect 2.2 tracking is about as good as it gets. This means sharp detail is rendered throughout the brightness range and color saturation is spot on.
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 S3225QC’s large color gamut is evident in the first two charts above, which show its full native capability. Initially, there is slight red oversaturation and magenta is off hue. But these errors are minor enough that the average is still an impressive 1.77dE. Grayscale calibration fixes those issues neatly and brings the error down to 1.21dE, an excellent result. Slight oversaturation remains, but since it tracks linearly, there’s no visible problem.
sRGB is also a tad oversaturated, but again, linear tracking keeps it from manifesting visually. The 1.63dE error means you can use the Creator mode for color-critical applications that require sRGB.
Comparisons
It is completely correct to say that premium OLED monitors all have accurate color. It doesn’t take much, if any, adjustment to get them to reference standard. The S3225QC is right in the mix with a 1.21dE score for the Custom Color mode after calibration. It doesn’t get much better.
In the volume test, the S3225QC is up there again with 105.59% coverage of DCI-P3. This is typical performance for Quantum Dot OLEDs, and you can see the screens that don’t have it from Acer and Dough. That extra bit does make a visible difference to image depth and saturation. The S3225QC overachieves slightly in the sRGB calculation, but it is qualified for grading work.
Test Takeaway: The S3225QC has exemplary color accuracy both by default and after calibration in the Custom Color mode. It also has accurate P3 and sRGB gamuts available in Creator mode. Gamma is ruler perfect, but there are no presets available for those who want to change to something other than 2.2.
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