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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
Brightness is not an issue for the 43305, or any other monitor in the group. Only the Viotek failed to top 400 nits, but its 360-nit score is plenty bright enough for such a large panel. The Monoprice can light up a room easily and puts out enough light to hurt your eyes. Dialing it down to 200 nits or less is preferable, but it’s good to know that the extra headroom is there for HDR content.
The 43305’s black levels are second-best in the group, pipped only by the Viotek. You can see VA’s advantage clearly in this test. The resulting contrast is a decent 2,551.1:1, which is firmly in the hunt for this class. If you want more contrast than this, you’ll either need an OLED or a jumbo VA display like Philips’ 558M1RY.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration doesn’t affect contrast, which is a good thing; it’s still over 2,500:1 with a very low black level. My adjustments included a lower gamma setting which lightens up the picture in a good way. You’ll see the effect of that later in the color tests. Again, it doesn’t get much better than this. Only a few monitors have greater contrast.
The 43305 over-achieves in the ANSI test, which represents a more real-world image. The score has risen to 2,900.5:1, which is enough for first place. When you add in the huge color gamut, the resulting picture is very saturated, detailed and lifelike. Shadow and highlight details are clear, and there is no need for the dynamic contrast feature.
