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Brightness & Contrast
To read about our monitor tests in depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. Brightness and Contrast testing is covered on page two.
Most 27” gaming monitors with QHD resolution employ IPS panels, so finding price-competitive monitors is a little difficult. The MP27 is one of the least expensive QHD adaptive-sync monitors out there. The closest one here is AOC’s AG271QX. We'll also compare the AG271QG, Asus PG279Q, Acer BE270U, and ViewSonic XG2703-GS.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
The MP27 doesn’t have a backlight strobe, but its high brightness leaves enough headroom for one should Monoprice decide to include the feature at a later date. There’s more than enough output for any potential environment. That results in a black level which is noticeably higher than the rest. And contrast is lower too at only 768.5:1. That is probably the most significant thing you give up when choosing an inexpensive gaming monitor.
Uncalibrated – Minimum Backlight Level
The backlight range is quite wide with output down to 32.0673cd/m2. We’d prefer to see a higher minimum number to enable smaller brightness steps. Each click is around 3cd/m2. That makes precise level-matching more difficult. Contrast stays consistent throughout the luminance range.
After Calibration to 200cd/m2
We were pleasantly surprised to see a higher contrast measurement after calibration. This is extremely rare. Usually it’s a bit lower or, at best, the same. Image depth is significantly better after adjustment mainly because gamma tracking has been improved. See page four for our detailed measurements. This is decent performance and for its cost savings. The MP27 doesn’t give up too much to the other screens here.
ANSI Contrast Ratio
Our instruments indicated a hotspot in the upper-right zones of the screen resulting in a lowered ANSI measurement. Luckily, it’s not visible, and it didn’t affect our uniformity tests. The MP27 has a good quality panel with no visible backlight bleed and reasonable contrast for the price.
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