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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 Y25-30 seamlessly switches to HDR mode when an HDR10 signal is input. There are no picture controls, but you do get higher brightness and more saturated color.
HDR Brightness and Contrast
Though the Y25-30 has no problem exceeding its DisplayHDR 400 certification with 480 nits peak, it offers no additional contrast. There’s a dynamic option for SDR that takes the ratio up to 2,100:1. Why not have this available for HDR? Thanks to a high black level, there is no more contrast. The picture has more luminance and color saturation, but without deep blacks, it’s not as impactful as it could be.
Grayscale, EOTF and Color
The Y25-30 does a decent job with HDR color accuracy. Grayscale tracking is slightly cool in brightness steps above 60% but not to the point where image quality is reduced. Luminance tracking almost hits all the marks but for a too-bright reading at the 0 and 5% steps. This renders shadow areas a little gray and reduces overall contrast. There is more brightness, for sure, but blacks could be better.
HDR color tracking shows the same general over-saturation common to wide gamut monitors. This is a good thing because it makes the picture more colorful. And since the tracking is linear, all detail present in the original content is rendered by the Y25-30. Red, green and cyan fall a little short of full saturation, but the other colors hit the triangle perimeter. In the Rec.2020 chart, inner targets are met or exceeded until color runs out.
Test Takeaway: The Y25-30 delivers plenty of saturated color for HDR content with accuracy on par with other budget and mid-priced monitors. Among 240 Hz and faster screens, it has good color volume so that’s a plus. It only lacks HDR contrast because there is no dynamic option. Black levels are more a dark gray, so the impact of shadow areas is reduced. But it offers the highest brightness of the bunch, which will give a bit more visual appeal.
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