Dough Spectrum Black 27-inch OLED gaming monitor review: Pro-level accuracy and premium performance

The Dough Spectrum 27 is a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor with QHD resolution, HDR400, 240 Hz, Adaptive-Sync and wide gamut color.

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Dough Spectrum Black 27
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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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 Spectrum Black 27 accepts HDR10 signals and switches modes automatically. Image controls are retained so you can adjust brightness and color if you wish. Very few monitors have this capability. Most lock out any adjustments for HDR content.

HDR Brightness and Contrast

Image 1 of 3
Dough Spectrum Black
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Dough claims 1,000 nits for a 3% window pattern so my result of 783 for a 25% window tracks with that. The Spectrum Black 27 is very bright and vivid in HDR mode with sparkling highlights and deep blacks filled with precisely rendered shadow detail. If you find the presentation too bright, the brightness slider is available as are the brightness modes. I used Maximum for testing, but the image looks great in Tempered and Uniform too.

Grayscale, EOTF and Color

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Dough Spectrum Black
(Image credit: Portrait Displays Calman)

The Spectrum Black 27’s HDR grayscale tracking is without visible flaws. In fact, it generated one of the best charts I’ve seen to date. The EOTF is a bit dark, up to 50% where it meets the reference. The tone-map transition is at 65%. If you find parts of your game screen too dark, the Black Stabilizer is available, as are in-game controls that can fine-tune the HDR image to your liking.

In the gamut tests, the Spectrum Black 27 hits all the marks with slight over-saturation and solid hue tracking. HDR color is vivid and bright with all the detail included in the original content. HDR color accuracy is as precise as SDR. In the Rec.2020 chart, saturation and hue targets are met until color runs out just past 80% for red and 75% for green.

Test Takeaway: The Spectrum Black 27 has superior peak HDR brightness to some other OLEDs, giving it a little more punch. It also has best-in-class HDR color accuracy. My only wish here is for more gamut volume. I’m picking nits of course but it is possible to buy a 27-inch QHD OLED that is more colorful. This won’t make a difference when showing content mastered to DCI-P3, the under-saturation there is almost nothing. But Rec.2020 content will look better on a monitor with more gamut volume, i.e., a Quantum Dot screen.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test PC Monitors

MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor

MORE: How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • azcn2503
    This review mentions nothing about actually trying to obtain one of these things. Customers that placed orders literally years ago have not received their product yet, and the company have gone dark with their communications. There is some very shady activity happening with the company filing for various types of insolvency, changing their name, etc. to exploit loopholes that aid protecting them from engaging with and reimbursing very rightfully enraged customers.

    Dough were previously known as Eve. A quick google search for simply "dough eve" will tell you everything you need to know about this network of companies.
    Reply
  • cknobman
    $1100 for a 27 inch OLED!?

    There is a sucker born every second these days.
    Reply
  • Albert.Thomas
    DOUGH is a ponzi scheme scam, DO NOT BUY.
    Reply
  • j99992
    azcn2503 said:
    Dough were previously known as Eve. A quick google search for simply "dough eve" will tell you everything you need to know about this network of companies.
    Even better, consider using DuckDuckGo or Brave Search. Remember, there are multiple search engines available worldwide.
    What baffles me is that OLED is still discussed and priced as if it's a brand-new, cutting-edge technology, despite being around for about 20 years. I was anticipating OLED back in 2003.
    Reply
  • helper800
    j99992 said:
    Even better, consider using DuckDuckGo or Brave Search. Remember, there are multiple search engines available worldwide.
    What baffles me is that OLED is still discussed and priced as if it's a brand-new, cutting-edge technology, despite being around for about 20 years. I was anticipating OLED back in 2003.
    The problem that still exists with OLED is the manufacturing cost. It is a very expensive BOM technology, just because its 20 years old does not automagically make manufacturing it any cheaper, especially at these small screen sizes.
    Reply
  • parkerthon
    If you don’t understand why this monitor is so expensive, you don’t understand why people buy premium monitors.

    I find it humorous when people build a $2000 gaming pc only to spend $200 on a va panel that looks like washed out dog crap or a laggy ips that looks like a blurry slide show when gaming. But then again I notice this stuff because I have always felt the monitor is key to the whole pc gaming experience. I know others could care less. Just understand, this price is justified.
    Reply