Brightness, Contrast, Uniformity, And Gamma
Display testing and calibration is carried out using Datacolor’s Spyder4Elite calibration system. The system consists of a full-spectrum, seven-color sensor that plugs into the system’s USB port, and Spyder4Elite software to control it. All of the measurements and charts below are generated by the Spyder4Elite software. The only changes are a quick crop to make the images easier to read.
The LG Philips LP156WF1-TLF3 15.6" FHD panel in MSI's GX60 is spec’d for 300 nits of brightness. Looking at the measurements for brightness above, it comes very close to meeting that spec. The contrast ratio of 450:1 is also very good.
A white point of 6500 K is considered neutral and close to the color of midday sun. If a screen measures below 6500 K, it takes on a warmer appearance that leans towards reds and oranges. If a screen measures above 6500 K, it’s said to have a cooler appearance favoring the color blue. Boosting the color blue is common when displaying television screens in a retail environment because it makes those screens stand out next to others.
The LG panel in the GX60 is very neutral right out of the box, with a native white point of 6400 K. The color temperature and contrast ratio of the GX60 also remains consistent across most brightness levels.
Overall, the LG panel has good viewing angles. Although there is some shifting when tilting the screen forward or back, it’s pretty consistent when you look at it from either side.
Looking at brightness uniformity, the GX60’s panel varies up to 26% in the bottom corners. The brightest section provides 288 nits, which is close to the panel’s 300-nit spec. Overall, these are fair results. We have seen this same panel perform better in other machines.
Color uniformity on the GX60 is fair. In simple terms, a Delta-E of one is often touted as the threshold where you can perceive a difference between reference and sample colors. That's a bit of a generalization though, since the human eye is more sensitive to certain colors. Typically, a Delta-E value below two is pretty good. Most of the GX60’s screen is within a Delta-E of three, with only the middle and bottom-right sections testing over.
Taking the screen brightness down to 75% improves color uniformity significantly. The screen uniformity is very good overall, and it continues at 67% and 50% brightness levels.
The measured gamma response of the GX60 is close to the standard 2.2 curve used in most Windows systems. A gamma response curve corrects for how the human eye is able to see light and dark colors. Large gamma errors may cause issues with editing or viewing photos.
