Results: Stock Brightness And Contrast
Maximum Stock Settings
Below are the peak light output measurements with brightness turned up all the way. The contrast must be left at its default setting or below, as upping it even one click kills detail in the brightest parts of the image.
Both AH-IPS-based products come up short in maximum white luminance versus more expensive models using older IPS technology.
While the maximum brightness of these monitors is a bit below that of pricier IPS panels, these extremely low black levels more than make up the difference.
ViewSonic comes out on top with a default on/off contrast ratio of 1031.8:1. You’ll notice that we’re now measuring luminance to four decimal places, which makes contrast ratio calculations far more precise.
Both monitors perform very well using stock settings, coming close to their claimed brightness of 250 nits while displaying excellent grayscale and gamma accuracy.
Minimum Stock Setting
Here's what you can expect at the minimum brightness setting. If you work in a dark environment, you can lower the brightness all the way and still have a decent image that's easy on the eyes over long viewing periods.
While these numbers may seem extremely low, they're still well above SMPTE standards for images shown in a completely darkened room. That might seem a little too dim for gaming or productivity, but it'd be pretty typical for watching a movie.
Turning down the brightness control takes the ViewSonic to a supremely low black level of .0633 cd/m2, which is excellent performance for an IPS display.
Of course, contrast ratio suffers at these low brightness settings because the peak output is much lower than 200 nits. Still, all video levels from 0 to 255 are visible at this setting.
Believe it or not, this is still respectable performance. While we don't recommend dropping the brightness all the way, those of you with sensitive eyes certainly could and still see a pretty good image. ViewSonic maintains a decent contrast ratio thanks to the VX2770Smh's low black level.
