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Brightness and Contrast
To read about our monitor tests in-depth, check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. We cover Brightness and Contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
Inexpensive IPS monitors are a somewhat small category, so we rounded up a selection of VA and TN screens from our database. All are value choices; although, most cost a bit more than the RG270. Today, we’re comparing the RG270 to Asus’ ROG Swift PG27V, MSI’s Optix MPG27CQ and Optix MAG24C, Acer’s XF251Q and AOC’s AG322QCX.
Acer specs the RG270 at 250 nits brightness, but our sample only hit 212.5 nits when measured in its out-of-box Standard mode. That’s just enough light for any indoor space, but we’d like to see a bit more output. Turning VRB on reduced that number to around 150 nits, which is bright enough for most environments; however, we saw some flicker.
The RG270’s black levels were higher than any VA panel we’ve seen but better than the TN panels in the group. That is due to those two TN screens’ higher output capability. There are premium IPS displays that deliver a little more dynamic range, but you’ll pay for that small improvement. The RG270 delivers a good value/performance ratio.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration cost us a tiny bit of contrast, but there wasn’t a visible difference when viewing real-world content. A few IPS displays would do slightly better, but the differences are much smaller than the higher prices would suggest. For just $250, the RG270 showed decent performance in our contrast tests.
The intra-image contrast value fell only slightly to 810.4:1. While the RG270 won’t be mistaken for a VA panel, the results indicate a well-built panel with good quality control. Our sample performed well in the tests, showing good alignment of the grid polarizer and very little light bleed. But note that slim monitors like this often have sample-to-sample issues with screen uniformity and ANSI contrast.
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