Philips 276E6 27-inch Quantum Dot Monitor Review

Color Gamut And Performance

For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, please click here.

The 276E6 is billed as an Adobe RGB display but it's not marketed for professional use. The Quantum Dot technology in use allows for an enormous color gamut but Philips has chosen to go for saturation and vividness over accuracy. It's a matter of personal preference, whether you are shopping for strict adherence to standards or simply a monitor that presents a rich and detailed image.

Regardless of mode, the 276E6 displays its native color gamut. There is no sRGB option nor is there a color management system. We've taken our measurement runs as they relate to Adobe RGB, which adds a lot of green. That primary tracks the standard extremely well as do the cyan and yellow secondaries. Their luminance levels are spot-on as well.

Where things become interpretive is in blue, which is under-saturated; and red, which is significantly over. The magenta secondary stays pretty close to target. Luminance levels are adjusted to compensate so the resulting errors aren't too high. In practice, you'll see a lot more red and other warm tones than you may be accustomed to.

Switching to Adobe RGB mode changes the white point so cyan and yellow are pulled off-target. This results in an average error of 5.02 Delta E. Luckily, we can fix this with the RGB controls as seen on the final chart.

Calibration returns the gamut and luminance results to where they were in Color Temp mode. The difference is now we have control of Brightness. The conclusion from our gamut tests is that while the 276E6 qualifies as an Adobe RGB monitor, it takes license in certain areas to achieve a designed color presentation rather than a standard one.

Now we return to the comparison group.

Users engaged in color-critical work will be better-served by a factory-calibrated screen like one of the BenQ or NEC products. And the HP is much more accurate in its sRGB mode. The Philips is more for people that want to work with rich saturated tones that don't necessarily conform to established specs.

Gamut Volume: Adobe RGB 1998 And sRGB

Without the ability to switch between gamut standards, the 276E6 exceeds sRGB volume by over 43 percent. It does meet the Adobe RGB spec but with an under-saturated blue primary and an over-saturated red one, it'll require a software LUT calibration if it is to be used as a proofing monitor.