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Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
Out of the box, the 221V8LN doesn’t quite hit its 250-nit spec, but at just over 235, it’s close. For any indoor space, this is plenty of light. The magic happens when checking out its very low black levels. They are twice as dark as the next screen, Dell’s S2422HG. That results in a superb contrast ratio of 4277:1, higher than almost every non-OLED panel I’ve tested. This is achieved with no clipping of highlight or shadow detail. Every brightness step is discernable from bottom to top, which is superlative performance.
After Calibration to 200 nits
The 221V8LN’s contrast increased a bit with calibration. Visually, the difference is tiny, but any gain is worth the effort. Black levels are super low, which makes highlights pop and color look more saturated. Regarding LCD native contrast, it truly doesn’t get much better than this.
The 221V8LN maintains its high contrast in the ANSI test. It’s closer to its static number than almost every monitor I’ve ever tested of any type. This is simply astounding in a $70 monitor.
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Prev Page Response, Input Lag, Viewing Angles and Uniformity Next Page Grayscale, Gamma and ColorChristian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.
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citylion Personally I have to disagree.Reply
Nearly all content, movies, blurays, webpages, games, have been mastered to adhere to rec. 709 / srgb standards. I bought a LG ultrawide monitor for its DCIP3 color, and sure its good, but the sRGB mode is absolutely terribly inaccurate, visibly so, with a green tint.