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Grayscale, Gamma & Color
Grayscale Tracking
Our grayscale and gamma tests are described in detail here.
The P2418HT comes set to its Standard picture preset, which runs a little blue in our grayscale test. The errors are visible starting at the 50% brightness level, which means most content will look slightly cool. A ComfortView mode is available and warms things up considerably, but don’t mistake it for a low blue light setting; it’s far too yellow. The best preset to use without calibration is Warm. It doesn’t offer adjustment, but it comes fairly close to D65.
If you have the gear, or want to use our recommended settings, reach for the Custom Color mode and tweak the RGB sliders as we did. That will net you pro level performance. Our initial calibration left the 100% point with a DeltaE over three, but lowering the contrast control fixed that.
Comparisons
3.24dE is a mid-pack result for the P2418HT. Among business monitors that’s a decent number, but as always, there’s room for improvement. Our calibration took the average error to a super low .52dE; better than many pro screens. This display isn’t necessarily intended for color-critical work, but since it’s likely to see use by artists, accurate color should be part of its feature set.
Gamma Response
We had to work a compromise with gamma tracking. The default chart is pretty good but runs slightly dark at the lower end. Shadow detail isn’t compromised, but it looks a tad murky in some content. There are no gamma presets in the OSD, but adjusting the contrast slider affected the trace. Now we have a dip at 90%, which indicates a high luminance value. You can fix this by leaving contrast at 75%, but then you’ll have a slight color error in the brightest whites. We’d call it a six-of-one, half-dozen-of-the-other proposition.
Comparisons
The P2418HT’s gamma tracking isn’t quite as ruler straight as the other monitors, hence its last place finish in the first test. That dip at 90% is the main culprit. If we’d left the contrast slider alone, the value spread would be .22, good enough for third place. The average value is 2.23, however, so it meets our spec reasonably well. That and its lack of impact on color saturation is why we opted to leave contrast set to 73%.
Color Gamut & Luminance
For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, please click here.
Based on the color saturation and luminance charts, we’d say that even in Standard mode, the P2418HT acquits itself well. We can see hue errors in green, cyan, and magenta, but saturation points track close to target and luminance levels are reasonably well balanced. Calibration fixes the cyan hue issue and brings magenta closer to target. The gamma shift at 90% doesn’t seem to affect the results in any significant way. Our adjustments have taken the monitor from average to very good. It’s certainly the equal of any business-class screen we’ve reviewed.
Comparisons
Adjustments in the Custom Color mode took our sample’s color error from 3.41 down to 2.19dE. While that’s only good enough for fifth place, the P2418HT isn’t far behind the rest. It’s not at the level of a professional monitor, but artists looking to create or present their work should be satisfied with the color accuracy here.
Gamut volume runs a little lighter than the other screens thanks to slight under-saturation on the blue/cyan/green side of the gamut triangle. Those last few hues are missing from the monitor’s colorspace. If you’re using this display for proofing, a custom color profile is strongly recommended.
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