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
To make a fair comparison to the other screens, I had to change a couple of the X32’s default settings, most importantly, the Max Brightness option. This is a power-saving measure that limits SDR brightness to about 120 nits, too low for my tests. The maximum output for SDR is actually a healthy 444 nits. The slider is very coarse in its operation and as you get lower, the gaps increase to as much as 7 nits. By the time it’s on zero, the screen measures only 3 nits. I prefer finer control to make it easier to dial in a specific value.
Black levels are on par with premium IPS panels with default contrast over 1,200:1, very good performance. This is with local dimming turned off. Turning it on ups the ratio to over 50,000:1.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration doesn’t affect contrast even though I lowered the contrast slider two clicks to solve a color clipping issue. This is as it should be. You can enjoy the X32 without its local dimming and still see a well saturated picture with plenty of depth and sharpness. It doesn’t get much better than this.
ANSI contrast is very consistent at nearly the same level as the static value. Quality control is superb here, with precisely fitted parts like the grid polarizer. If you engage local dimming, the ANSI value goes over 50,000:1 as well. The Asus OLED has infinite contrast here as its black level is unmeasurable in every test.
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