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Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
The CM3271K is a value-oriented display, so we’ve included similarly priced monitors in the comparison group. Note that all these monitors are geared for gaming, howeve. There's the ViewSonic Elite XG270QC, Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ, Viotek GFI27QXA and Gigabyte G27QC. Additionally, we've also added Acer’s flagship CP7271K, which is geared toward professionals.
The CM3271K is rated for 350 nits in SDR mode but manages to deliver its full output in our test. 457 nits is plenty bright for any indoor or outdoor environment. The only drawback to this approach is that minimum output is still quite high at 93 nits. This will make it a bit fatiguing to use in dark rooms such as video editing bays. A lower minimum of 50 nits would be more useful.
The black level is typical of an IPS panel running at over 450 nits peak so resulting contrast is a class-average 1,005.3:1. You can increase this to around 2,000:1 by turning on the ACM dynamic contrast option in the OSD.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration (see our recommended settings on page 1) in the User mode doesn’t affect contrast, thanks to very precise RGB sliders that start at center-range. The CM3271K is typical of most IPS panels in its black levels and overall image depth.
Our review sample showed some slight uniformity issues that lowered the intra-image contrast score. The bottom right zone is a little brighter than the rest. Had it been more uniform, the ANSI result would likely have been closer to 1,000:1.
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