Cooler Master Tempest GP2711 Gaming Monitor Review: High Brightness and High Performance

27-inch QHD VA Mini LED gaming monitor with 576 dimming zones, 165 Hz, Adaptive-Sync, HDR 1000 and wide gamut color.

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published
Cooler Master GP2711
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Tom's Hardware)

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The GP2711 includes a calibration data sheet and is reasonably close out of the box. But I found calibration improved it visibly. I also noted that I could adjust separately for multiple color gamuts, which is something very few monitors can do; it's pretty nice for $449!

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

Image 1 of 2
Cooler Master Tempest GP2711
(Image credit: Portrait Displays Calman)

Regardless of gamut mode, the GP2711’s grayscale tracking stays consistent. That’s why I’ve only included one before and one after chart. I saw a slight purple tint in steps above 50%. Gamma runs a tad dark but has a tight range of values, so it doesn’t reduce detail or overall quality.

Calibration tightens up both gamma and grayscale tracking to where there are no visible errors. The differences between gamut modes are so small that there’s no point in showing the other charts. This is excellent performance.

Comparisons

Image 1 of 4
Cooler Master Tempest GP2711
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Regardless of gamut mode, the GP2711 will run around 4.57dE grayscale error out of the box. This is a level where I would definitely calibrate, though consistent gamma mitigates the anomalies somewhat. After a few tweaks to the RGB gain sliders, there are no visible problems. I saw no need to touch the bias controls.

Gamma tracking is very tight, with a small 0.06 range of values and an average of 2.24, which is a 1.82% deviation. It’s a tad dark, which is fine in a high contrast monitor like the GP2711. I have no complaints here.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

Image 1 of 4
Cooler Master Tempest GP2711
(Image credit: Portrait Displays Calman)

For the gamut results, I’m showing before and after charts for DCI-P3 and sRGB. The GP2711 has easy switching of color spaces and each one can be adjusted independently, so I set up two modes for testing. DCI-P3 is the default and before calibration, it’s a little off the mark thanks to the grayscale errors. Red and cyan are off hue and there is a general look of over-saturation. For most users, this isn’t a bad thing. sRGB is a little closer by default but also has a little room for improvement.

Calibration fixes these issues neatly and still leaves color a bit more vivid; again, not a bad thing. Error levels are below the visible threshold for DCI-P3 and sRGB. And the green primary is almost fully covered, indicating a wider-than-average gamut. This is excellent performance.

Comparisons

Image 1 of 2
Cooler Master Tempest GP2711
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

With sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut errors under 2dE, the GP2711 delivers pro-level accuracy. Its wide coverage of DCI-P3 is a nice bonus. It’s a very colorful monitor that can easily serve as a reference display. There’s plenty of accurate color for gaming and entertainment, and photo or graphics work.

Test Takeaway: As one of the few monitors with selectable color gamuts, the GP2711 sets itself apart. Though I recommend calibration for best results, it delivers well for the price. Gamma is tight, which makes a positive impact. Coupled with high contrast, it has a premium quality image in its price class, and when compared to more expensive screens.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

MORE: How We Test PC Monitors

MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • cknobman
    Forgive my ignorance but if local dimming ruins the picture what is the point, or advantage, of having the mini led's and over 500 dimming zones? (besides a brighter picture)
    Reply
  • UnforcedERROR
    cknobman said:
    Forgive my ignorance but if local dimming ruins the picture what is the point, or advantage, of having the mini led's and over 500 dimming zones? (besides a brighter picture)
    Fascinating question, because otherwise you're dealing with a completely standard LCD experience. The entire point of dimming zones is to give better contrast, especially when it comes to black levels. I read another review contrary to this, which also noted the brightness being diminished, that claimed local dimming was helpful with image quality.

    I find it strange to say not to use local dimming in a mini-LED monitor, personally.
    Reply
  • crimsonfilms
    I have the
    cknobman said:
    Forgive my ignorance but if local dimming ruins the picture what is the point, or advantage, of having the mini led's and over 500 dimming zones? (besides a brighter picture)
    I have the GP27U, the 4K version of this monitor. I love it. The dimming on that is excellent. As good as you gonna get for zone dimming panels. Mini LEDs still generally provide better brightness and to some extent color control than classic edge lit LEDs.
    Reply
  • wingfinger
    I have sort of eliminated VA panels from my consideration. I have heard that there is a common issue with black smearing, caused by black parts of the image transitioning slower than the brighter parts.

    Most of the time I would value an artifact free image that is self-consistent. (I have heard that a few have ok-good transitions times, though)

    For that reason, I also consider HDR, a nice to have because unless you have the budget for an OLED, there are times when you will want to turn it off. Right?

    Games these days do seem to show no hesitation in having dark areas, though.

    A lot of monitors are starting to sport a wide gamut. I would like to, also, use the monitor for some image editing or maybe content creation, but that would be SRGB or maybe Adobe. Right?
    ...
    To be viable, the monitor has to support modes that correctly project the user input to the panels value set. Some don't have options, and some might not be accurate. Furthermore, the scaling would be crunching the numbers down -- more so the wider the native gamut. This for example, says a native 8 bit panel. A 10 bit panel could be better in this regard but might cost a bit more.
    Reply
  • UnforcedERROR
    wingfinger said:
    I have sort of eliminated VA panels from my consideration. I have heard that there is a common issue with black smearing, caused by black parts of the image transitioning slower than the brighter parts.

    Most of the time I would value an artifact free image that is self-consistent. (I have heard that a few have ok-good transitions times, though)

    For that reason, I also consider HDR, a nice to have because unless you have the budget for an OLED, there are times when you will want to turn it off. Right?

    Games these days do seem to show no hesitation in having dark areas, though.

    A lot of monitors are starting to sport a wide gamut. I would like to, also, use the monitor for some image editing or maybe content creation, but that would be SRGB or maybe Adobe. Right?
    ...
    To be viable, the monitor has to support modes that correctly project the user input to the panels value set. Some don't have options, and some might not be accurate. Furthermore, the scaling would be crunching the numbers down -- more so the wider the native gamut. This for example, says a native 8 bit panel. A 10 bit panel could be better in this regard but might cost a bit more.
    The other version of this monitor is an IPS, and probably tracks closer to your expectation.

    That said, it's rare to find a true 10-bit panel in this price range. Most things listed as 10-bit are really 8-bit + FRC. The difference is negligible, but some people are picky about that.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    The CM miniLEDs are like the dark horse of the race. They are super good.

    I got one of them last Xmas because they were super cheap and the specs were super good. After receiving the first one, I bought 3 more, but unfortunately they only had 2 left, so I was only able to get 3 in total.

    In any case, it's a really good monitor for the price. More so if you can find it with a nice discount.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • wingfinger
    When I was looking at rtings a while back, I saw AOC Q27G3XMN had some similar qualities.

    But I felt it was a risk. It shows up as a notable mention for best gaming monitors list despite overall good scores.
    Reply
  • 35below0
    "The GP2711’s VA panel already provides a lot of dynamic range. It doesn’t need much help to be excellent."

    I guess the dimming doesn't add so much to this monitor, but that is hardly dissapointing.
    Might be a useful setting to tweak. For someone.
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    There's a lack of understanding here by many.

    FIrst off, cooler master doesn't make their own panels. They pick one from a few mfgs like AU Optronix, Samsung, or LG. There's a few other players but they are the big ones.

    Local dimming zones not only increase contrast but can also help with color accuracy. Let me explain.

    Every LCD panel has back light bleed. That's the small percentage of light that shoots through even when the LCD cell is full closed. So let's take some really exaggerated numbers. For example let's say we have a 10% leak through. Let's say you wanted 50% red. Are you looking at 54% red, 10% Blue 10% green. That's because of wash through and black level minimums and calibration. You aren't looking at a true red but a semi washed out version.

    To understand this look at the stars from a city. Most are washed out against a backlit sky from city lights. Now go to the country and look. Way different view..

    So let's say we want to improve this. We turn down the backlight by half. You open red fully at 100% instead of 50% because we have 1/2 light. But the back light bleed through is half. This is where the improvement comes from.

    The other issue is led light purity. Ideally to get a full color gamut you not only require low black levels, but also pure light colors. Red, Green, and Blue LEDs aren't truly mono chromatic like a laser. They give off a color distribution around their pure color. But again this creates color impurities. The only way to fix this is color filters. This is where tech like quantum dots come in. They really narrow the spectrum of light output. But quantum dots (QD) have longevity issues as they are typically organic, suffer burn in, and lamination issues. The failure rate of early QDs is huge.

    Those 10 bit panels are a bit misleading also. There very few fast high quality true 10 bit panels and they cost a fortune. What most cheap 10 bit panels take an 8 bit panels and then alternate how often the panel blips open. I'm going to simplify some math here and say our panel is only capable of 200 distinct levels (8 bit is 256 but...math is complicated) Let's say you want 25.1% red. What you would get is a 50 one frame, 50 another frame, 50 a third frame, and then 51 the fourth. What's 201/(200 * 4 frames). ? That's right 25,1. However you werent looking at 25.1% every frame. Your eyes averaged it out. It's a cheap trick that has limitations. And this is a very common trick for really fast cheap TN panels, which use even worse 6 bit panels!

    Finally the last issue is your environment. Unless you play in a dark dark room you won't benefit from most of this tech because your own screen reflects light impurities back into your eye. You ever look through a car window and see your own face reflected back? Your room is full of light polluting sources reflected by that screen.

    And ignore that article about ratings.com about oleds being superior. Burn in on regular LED LCD is near impossible and easily reversible. What you do get is burn in of QD elements. Or you get liquid crystal memory. The later is fixable by quickly switching from closed to open for an hour or so.

    For content masters you need to look at your target output. If it's film/TV, rec 2020. For all other consider DCI P3 or at the very least 100% sRGB coverage.
    Reply
  • razor512
    cknobman said:
    Forgive my ignorance but if local dimming ruins the picture what is the point, or advantage, of having the mini led's and over 500 dimming zones? (besides a brighter picture)
    There is one benefit to having a display like that and just setting it to a single static uniform backlight, while the luminance range gets decreased for HDR content (would effectively become HDR600 ), if the wider color gamut is maintained, then with good calibration, HDR gaming displays can work decently for video and photo work.
    Reply