Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
ViewSonic claims 450 nits peak for the XG272-2K but doesn’t specify SDR or HDR or what the value is when measuring window patterns. In SDR mode, there is a slight variation in brightness as the average picture level changes. A full field measurement was around 200 nits while a 25% window measured 297 nits. This is plenty of light for any indoor environment. While you can buy brighter screens, there is little advantage to them unless you set up outside. The XG272-2K shuts off its pixel matrix when a zero percent signal is displayed so black levels and contrast cannot be determined.
After Calibration to 200 nits
To calibrate, I set the XG272-2K to Full Color Control and adjusted the RGB sliders for more accurate grayscale tracking. There is no change in black levels or contrast; they are still unmeasurable, as is intra-image (ANSI) contrast.
Test Takeaway: A few years ago, infinite contrast and true black levels were a wonder behold, and they still are today even though all you need to achieve them is any OLED monitor. The XG272-2K delivers SDR contrast and brightness typical of any 27 or 32-inch OLED monitor.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
30-year-old Pentium FDIV bug tracked down in the silicon — Ken Shirriff takes the microscope to Intel's first-ever recall
Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.2 claims to improve Arrow Lake performance by up to 33%, theoretically matching the Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Empyrean Technology gives control to CEC after U.S. blacklisting — China’s top developer of chip design systems hands reins to state-owned firm
