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For the grayscale, gamma and color tests, I used the VX2738-2K’s Standard picture mode, which is the default. It offers color temp presets, RGB sliders and gamma presets.
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.
You can see in the first chart what I meant earlier by skewed gamma. Grayscale tracking isn’t too far off, with just a bit of purple tint seen in steps above 50% brightness. But gamma is dark enough to make the picture look flat and undefined. I normally leave variable brightness off for all tests and calibration, but in this case, its use is necessary.
Turning it on and tweaking the RGB sliders makes the VX2738-2K a whole lot better. All grayscale errors are below 1dE, and gamma is visibly and measurably perfect. This is an improvement that is easy to see in an A/B comparison. With the proper settings, the VX2738-2K is capable of reference-level performance.
Comparisons
With a starting value of 5.01dE, the VX2738-2K needs some attention to look its best. In this group, only the AOC and Asus displays can be enjoyed without calibration. Once adjusted, all screens have perfect grayscale tracking. There would be no visible difference between them. In the gamma test, the VX2738-2K excels with a tiny 0.08 range of values and a perfect average of 2.2, 0% deviation. This is 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.
You can see how the VX2738-2K’s inaccurate gamma affects color in the first gamut chart. Every color is almost 20% oversaturated, with red looking a bit pink and cyan being too blue in tone. These are clearly visible errors.
With OLED APL turned on and the grayscale calibration in place, color is far better than before, with just some slight oversaturation in red and magenta that is well within visually tolerable limits.
Comparisons
The VX2738-2K’s gamut result goes from 4.49dE to 1.44dE with calibration, which is an obvious improvement. You’ll need to turn OLED APL on and tweak the RGB sliders to achieve this. If you don’t have the means, put in my settings from page one and you’ll be very close to the above result.
With a gamut volume of 108.86% of DCI-P3, the VX2738-2K is average among Quantum Dot OLEDs. The extra three-ish percent shown by the Alienware displays would be hard to spot in a side-by-side comparison. But it’s easy to tell the ViewSonic from a monitor without a QD layer. The sRGB volume is huge at 161.41%. This is because the VX2738-2K has no sRGB mode. There is an sRGB option in the color temp menu, but it doesn’t change the gamut size, and there is no other color space selection in the OSD. You can use it for a DCI-P3 reference only.
Test Takeaway: The VX2738-2K is very color accurate once calibrated. Out of the box, it has a slight purple tint and dark gamma. You must turn on the OLED APL option to fix gamma and adjust the RGB sliders for neutral grayscale tracking. Color covers almost 109% of DCI-P3, which is about average for Quantum Dot displays. And users needing the smaller sRGB gamut for color-critical work won’t find it here.
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