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Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response
Our grayscale and gamma tests are described in detail here.
While we always have high expectations of factory-calibrated monitors, this result simply blew us away. This is the out-of-box measurement with not a single option changed in the OSD. You’re looking at perfection here. Despite that, we explored the Custom Color mode just to see what would happen.
Switching to Custom Color generates another near-perfect chart. The only flaw is in the 100 percent level where the white points goes a little blue, however, it’s an invisible error.
Tweaking the RGB sliders gives us a comparable chart to the Standard mode but with one important caveat — gamma tracking is not as good. You’ll see that result below. We were able to achieve precise white balance thanks to the presence of both gain and offset controls. That lets the user adjust both high and low brightness points independently.
We didn’t think the EA244UHD would be eclipsed any time soon in the out-of-box grayscale test. But the U3415W takes the lead with an incredible .51dE result. That is simply phenomenal performance.
We couldn’t improve the grayscale tracking in Standard mode, so we’re letting the result stand in the calibrated monitor comparison. This Dell offers the best factory setup we’ve seen to date.
Gamma Response
Gamma performance is the only flaw in an otherwise perfect world where the U3415W is concerned. The Standard mode is okay, but there are sharp dips at 10 and 90 percent brightness. The errors represent 1.67 and 7.98cd/m2, respectively. Visually, they are slight, and overall gamma tracking is just a hair below 2.2 throughout the rest of the range.
This is the principle reason to avoid the Custom Color mode. This light gamma tracking means that color will look a little less-saturated. You’ll see that result on the next page. Unfortunately, there are only two gamma presets available, PC (2.2) and Mac (2.0). If there were a multi-point editor included, this tracking could be fixed.
There aren’t any significant gamma issues with any of the screens in the group, but the Dell finishes mid-pack. It’s far from a deal-breaker, but it is a flaw in a monitor that offers nearly perfect color and grayscale accuracy.
We calculate gamma deviation by simply expressing the difference from 2.2 as a percentage.
The two aforementioned dips hurt the overall score here. The Dell’s average value is 2.09 which is a bit low compared to the other displays.
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