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Brightness & Contrast
To read about our monitor tests in depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. Brightness and Contrast testing is covered on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
Today’s group consists solely of 24" gaming screens. They are all TN except for the MG24UQ, which is an Ultra HD IPS panel with Freesync. The closest match to our review subject is Dell’s S2417DG, which offers G-Sync and QHD resolution. Remaining screens sport FreeSync and FHD. They are ViewSonic’s XG2401, AOC’s G2460PF, and Nixeus’ NX-VUE24A.
Any monitor offering ULMB needs high output. The backlight strobe reduces light by quite a bit. In the PG248Q’s case it’s a 50% reduction at the maximum pulse width setting. Lowering the slider will make the picture even darker. If you decide to use this option, we recommend maxing the brightness slider.
Black level results fall in the middle of the pack, but because other screens have greater output, the resulting contrast ratio falls below 1000:1. The overall spread from bottom to top is relatively small, although the ViewSonic excels in this class at over 1200:1. A premium screen like the PG248Q should have just a little more punch.
Uncalibrated – Minimum Backlight Level
The PG248Q won’t quite dip down to 50cd/m2 but its minimum level of 76.3630cd/m2 is very usable in a dark room environment. The contrast ratio remains consistent at all backlight settings rendering an identical perception of depth regardless of output.
After Calibration to 200cd/m2
Since we had to lower the contrast control to solve clipping and gamma issues, overall dynamic range suffers slightly. We’re also showing you the effects of ULMB. In this case it’s set to the highest possible pulse width, which is as bright as it can be. Our result of 99.0736cd/m2 is relative to a 202.2137cd/m2 level and does not represent the full output available with ULMB. That will depend on the brightness setting. We recommend maxing it for best picture quality when using the blur reduction feature. Better yet, stick with G-Sync at 180Hz and you’ll get more light and more contrast with no motion blur or tearing.
ANSI Contrast Ratio
The ANSI contrast result is a good bit higher than the sequential one, which indicates a well-engineered panel that uses quality parts, especially the grid polarizer. Intra-image contrast is therefore strong and manages to compete favorably with the other monitors except the ViewSonic, which is in a class by itself when it comes to contrast. While our contrast results are not stellar, overall picture quality is decent, especially when you consider motion processing, which, as you’ll read about later, is without peer.
