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.
Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.
The CQ27G3S fully supports HDR10 signals with an automatic switchover. There are four HDR modes, of which two, Display and Game, are very accurate.
HDR Brightness and Contrast
The CQ27G3S doesn’t come with any sort of VESA HDR certification but at over 369 nits peak, it’s a worthy HDR display. Dynamic range is more important than sheer output and there is plenty of that here. If you want 1,200 nits like the GP27Q has, you’ll spend more than double the money.
The AOC and the NZXT both make do without any sort of dynamic contrast feature, so their contrast ratios are about the same for SDR and HDR. This does not mean that SDR and HDR look the same. Since they properly follow the HDR luminance curve, AKA the EOTF, their high native contrast results in an impactful HDR effect.
The only way to see a better HDR image is with a Mini LED like the GP27Q which has an unmeasurable black level. Or an OLED, of course. For $250 though, the CQ27G3S absolutely rocks in HDR mode.
Grayscale, EOTF and Color
With most monitors, any mode called Display HDR will be the most accurate. But in the CQ27G3S’s case, I found a few anomalies that led me to test HDR Game as well. In the grayscale test, the results are similar between the two modes. The main difference is that in HDR Game mode, shadows and midtones are a bit lighter than in Display HDR.
The big one for me is in the color test where HDR Game is significantly more saturated. It’s hard to choose Display HDR once you’ve done an A/B comparison. The CQ27G3S exhibits the same behavior for both DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 references. The only drawback to HDR Game is some added edge enhancement which cannot be removed. This lowers perceived resolution a little but for me, it was an acceptable compromise.
Test Takeaway: The CQ27G3S delivers some of the best HDR image quality I’ve seen from a budget monitor. Its high native contrast means deep blacks and highlights that pop. Though the HDR Game mode has some edge enhancement that reduces perceived resolution, its superior color makes it the better choice.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
