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Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response
Our grayscale and gamma tests are described in detail here.
You can calibrate the factory-default Standard mode or one of the User presets. Both start in the same place with good out-of-box grayscale tracking, accurate color and correct gamma. In our test, we could see a faint green tint at the brightest levels but only barely. Below 70 percent the errors are not visible. It's not quite in the league of a factory-certified screen but it only costs half as much.
sRGB shows a bit more green and blue from 70 percent on up. There isn't much use for this preset since it locks out all adjustments including brightness. We recommend sticking with Standard or User.
We performed a quick grayscale calibration in the User mode and generated the above result. This is excellent performance that easily equals any pro-monitor we've reviewed. Considering the price, we're really impressed.
Here is our comparison group.
2.44dE is a perfectly acceptable average error level for nearly any monitor; and even more so for one costing less than $600 in the 32-inch size. Notice that in this test the BL3200PT matches the PB328Q's result almost exactly.
The PB328Q comes in second to a very expensive professional NEC monitor, which is fairly amazing considering the PA322UHD costs over $2,000. This budget screen just looks better and better as we move through our benchmark suite.
Gamma Response
Gamma tracking is very even but rides just above the 2.2 mark. While not at the ideal level of accuracy, this slightly darker result adds a bit of depth and punch to an already contrasty image. Since there is plenty of brightness available, the image actually looks a little more three-dimensional.
Here is our comparison group again.
All of the displays have very tight tracking so there are no standouts on the negative end. But the PB328Q manages to chalk up another awesome result in this test.
We calculate gamma deviation by simply expressing the difference from 2.2 as a percentage.
The slightly dark gamma value of 2.27 drops the Asus to fifth-place. It does manage to out-perform its sibling BL3200PT though. Like the gamma range test, none of the displays are very far off the mark. All of them offer excellent image quality and accuracy.
