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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
The Raptor 27 exceeds its 360-nit rating by 9 nits, making it plenty bright enough for any application. This is for SDR content; HDR brightness is higher as you’ll see in our tests on page five. Black levels are slightly above average, which makes static contrast a tad below average at 942.3:1. There is no dynamic contrast feature available in SDR mode. Note that if you use the blur reduction feature, light output is reduced by 60%.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Calibration improves contrast by a tiny amount, but it’s still a shade under 1,000:1, putting it in fifth place here. The MSI’s VA panel offers nearly 3,000:1 contrast, which is typical of the VA monitors we’ve tested. The Raptor 27 somewhat makes up for its average dynamic range with very saturated and accurate color.
In our intra-image contrast test, the Raptor 27 elevates its status a bit with a solid 1,017.7:1 score. This speaks to its quality control and component selection, with a precisely fitted grid polarizer. In practice, the image is very well saturated and colorful, with black levels near those of other premium IPS screens.
