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The VX2730D-4K comes set to its Standard picture mode, which is accurate enough to be enjoyed without calibration. It’s close enough to spec that there are no visible errors for color, grayscale, or gamma.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.
If you look very closely at a grayscale step pattern, you might see a hint of red tint at the 90% brightness step. But more than likely, you won’t see anything wrong. And you certainly won’t see any problems in actual content. Gamma is also nearly perfect with close tracking to the 2.2 spec over the entire luminance range.
By calibrating the RGB sliders, which only required one click changes to red and green, I got all grayscale errors below 1dE. That’s pro-level accuracy. Gamma was mostly unchanged but the 70-90% region got a tad darker. This was not a factor in actual content. I noted a slight increase in overall contrast, too so it’s worth making the adjustments.
Though the VX2730D-4K includes an sRGB option in the color temp menu, it does not change the gamut volume, so there is no actual sRGB mode.
Comparisons
The VX2730D-4K’s out-of-box grayscale error of 2.14dE is impressive but not unprecedented. The Asus and Titan Army screens measure a bit better. But the top three monitors are without visible errors, so it’s a wash. After calibration, all the screens look the same, with no visible grayscale issues.
In the gamma test, the VX2730D-4K’s slight rise at 70-90% makes its value range a tad less tight than the rest. The 1.82% deviation represents an actual value of 2.24. There are no visible gamma issues with any of the monitors. They all exhibit excellent performance.
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.
Though you won’t see any color errors in content, the VX2730D-4K has slight hue anomalies in the secondary colors, magenta, cyan, and yellow when put under the colorimeter. Red is also a tad oversaturated throughout. Calibration fixes those bits neatly and takes the average error to an impressive 0.99dE. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Comparisons
All the monitors have impressively accurate color gamuts, but the VX2730D-4K is the best at 0.99dE. It’s rare for any monitor, even a professional screen, to get under 1dE for a 31-point average test. This is exceptional performance. In the volume test, the ViewSonic nearly covers the full DCI-P3 gamut, coming up a tad short only in the green primary. My only complaint is that there is no sRGB mode. You’ll have to perform color-critical tasks in P3, which is more than accurate enough. sRGB is useful for photography and web graphics so it would make a good addition for a future firmware update.
Test Takeaway: The VX2730D-4K has better than average out-of-box color with no need for calibration in its Standard picture mode. It covers almost 100% of DCI-P3, 98.38%, coming up a tad short in the green primary. It calibrates to a very high standard that only some pro monitors can match. The only thing missing is an sRGB mode. There is no provision for gamut selection here.
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