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The H27E6 ships in its User picture mode with the color temp on Normal. The native gamut covers a bit more than 100% of DCI-P3, but the image looks a bit hazy. Let’s see what’s up.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
The default grayscale measurement shows why the H27E6’s picture is a little flat. Blue dominates the neutral tones, and gamma is quite light, well under the 2.2 reference. Highlights lack detail, and midtones don’t have the depth they should given the panel’s 1,500:1 contrast ratio.
To fix this, I made a one-click adjustment to the green slider in the user color temp. The controls are coarse in resolution, so a better result was not possible. But I got all the errors below 2dE except for 100%, which just cracked the line. It’s still good enough to eliminate any visible issues. Gamma tracking isn’t as flat as I’d like, but the picture is greatly improved by simply changing the preset from 2.2 to 2.4.
In the sRGB test, grayscale is green in tone and gamma is light with an average value of 2.05. It is possible to calibrate grayscale here, but the gamma presets are grayed out. If you use the sRGB gamut, it can have a neutral grayscale, but the image will be a little flat from the low gamma.
Comparisons
Of the six monitors, only the H27E6 and the Gigabyte need calibration. 5.02dE is below the class average for out-of-box grayscale tracking. After adjustment, it’s still behind the pack at 1.24dE, but in practice, it’s a wash because none of the monitors have visible errors.
In the gamma test, the range of values is 0.22, which is a bit below average for the category. Darker tones are a tad too dark, while highlights measure with the correct values. The average is 2.73% deviation, which equates to an actual value of 2.26.
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 H27E6’s gamut result shows its large coverage of DCI-P3. Only red is a tad short of 100% saturated. But all colors are a little under, which is due to the light gamma I talked about earlier. By fixing the grayscale tracking and upping the gamma preset to 2.4, the color test result is greatly improved. The difference is easy to see in a side-by-side comparison.
The sRGB test shows reasonably accurate hues, but some general undersaturation. Again, this is from the light gamma, which cannot be corrected here.
Comparisons
When you stick to the H27E6’s full native color gamut, it compares extremely well with a 1.52dE result that puts it above average. The sRGB result was 3.33dE, which is fair but not as good as many other screens in the category.
The star here is the color volume which is large. The H27E6 is rare among non-QD monitors in that it covers more than 100% of DCI-P3. It handily outperforms the others and is only eclipsed by the QD-equipped Q27G4ZMN. The sRGB volume comes up slightly short due to an undersaturated red primary.
Test Takeaway: The H27E6 isn’t as accurate as others out of the box, but it calibrates to a good standard. Light gamma is its main weakness, but that’s an easy fix. What stands out most is its prodigious color volume, which tops 101% of DCI-P3 without the expense of a Quantum Dot layer. That’s a significant point in its favor when compared to other budget screens.
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