Philips 276E6 27-inch Quantum Dot Monitor Review

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published

We've been hearing about Quantum Dots for a while but Philips' 276E6 is the first computer monitor to use the technology. It's a 27-inch IPS-ADS screen with FHD resolution and an Adobe RGB color gamut. Today, we check it out in our labs.

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Viewing Angles, Uniformity, Response And Lag

To learn how we measure screen uniformity, please click here.

While IPS offers superior off-axis image quality to TN, there are several variations that up the ante even more. We've seen several AHVA screens that impressed us, but the ADS technology used in the 276E6 is the best yet. There is almost no light falloff to the sides and only a barely-visible color shift. The biggest improvement however, is the vertical plane where detail is preserved extremely well. There is a brightness reduction and a red tint, but overall, ADS represents real progress in this area.

Screen Uniformity: Luminance

The 276E6 appears to have a very tight gap to its anti-glare layer but that has not caused any light-bleed or hotspots. That it's able to beat out a group of very expensive monitors speaks to its build quality. New technologies often stumble out of the gate, but Quantum Dots are certainly impressing us in this first-generation product.

Here's the white field measurement.

The white field result doesn't stack up as well but at 10.68 percent, you won't see a problem. The screen's center zone is slightly brighter than the rest but only our meter could tell the difference. This is excellent performance.

Screen Uniformity: Color

The 276E6 lags a bit in the color uniformity test. We could just see a few areas that were tinted green in our 100 percent white field pattern. It's not visible in actual content but the other screens here are a little better.

Pixel Response And Input Lag

Please click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.

For gamers seeking vivid color and a bright image, your monitor has arrived. That's assuming you don't care about things like adaptive-sync or high refresh rates. 18ms is an excellent score for any 60Hz display. We saw a visible improvement when we turned the SmartResponse option to Fastest. It introduces a tiny bit of ghosting to moving objects but that is more than made up for by significant blur reduction and an increase in motion resolution.

Here are the lag results.

There aren't too many 60Hz IPS displays that can beat the 276E6 in the lag test. It's certainly the fastest wide-gamut monitor we've tested. It's not marketed as a gaming screen but will certainly work well as one.

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian 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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21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • xenol
    Finally! I've been really wanting to see this technology come through to more than two products (that I'm aware of)
    Reply
  • Dan414
    I'm not too concerned with power consumption at my desk. How about phones and laptops - will we see quantum dot screens there soon?
    Reply
  • 8 bit, 1080p, next!
    Reply
  • gunbust3r
    Takes some design ability to make a 27" look more like a 22", good job on those monster size white bezels. :p
    Reply
  • melgross_85
    $299 is pretty cheap. I'd like to see what they could do with a higher budget.
    Reply
  • sillynilly
    Love the tech, but the screen specs at that size will make it look like monster dot technology. 1920 x 1080 at 27" looks just horrendous after using a higher rez monitor. Some monitor OEMs are a bit behind the times it seems (although this tech is pretty cool).
    Reply
  • picture_perfect
    For gamers seeking vivid color and a bright image, your monitor has arrived. 18ms is an excellent score for any 60Hz display

    I can only LOL and I never LOL. 18ms response (57ms total lag) is just god awful terrible. These arbitrary endorsements are getting lame.
    Reply
  • Albert Rampo
    "18ms is an excellent score for any 60Hz display"
    is that a typo ?
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    Did I miss where it has a price? It can be the best consumer display in the world, but if it is $5,000 then that would not make it a recommended buy.
    Reply
  • Nintendork
    All this quantum bull* and still 1000:1? Meanwhile tablets and smartphones using IPS neo from jdi with near 2000:1.

    Or even better an RGB OLED display.
    Reply