ViewSonic Elite XG321UG Review: Mini LED With Superior Contrast And Color

The XG321UG features accurate color out of the box in its Standard picture mode. You’ll see a neutral grayscale, precise gamma and color that’s spot-on whether you use the extended gamut or sRGB for SDR content.

Grayscale and Gamma Tracking

Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.

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By default, SDR Colors sRGB is turned on, so the smaller gamut is in play for the initial SDR tests. You can see a slight blue bias in the chart, but the errors are barely on the visible threshold. You won’t see any issues in actual content. Gamma tracks true with only a slight dip (too light) at 10%. This is with Variable Backlight turned off. You’ll see identical results if SDR Colors sRGB is turned off to unlock the full Rec.2020 gamut.

With a few changes to the RGB sliders, grayscale tracking becomes visually perfect with all but zero percent brightness under 1dE. It doesn’t get better than this. My RGB settings worked for both color gamuts and in HDR mode as well. Gamma stays the same whether you calibrate or not

Comparisons

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The XG321UG definitely has the edge in out-of-box grayscale accuracy over the Asus PG32UQX. At this price point, I’d expect perfection, so the Asus is a little short of the mark. But with calibration, it takes the contest by a nose. Of course, you won’t see a difference when viewing real-world content.

Gamma performance is also very close between the six screens. The XG321UG has tight tracking with a 1.82% variation from the 2.2 spec. That’s solely due to the dip at 10% I showed in the charts above. That error is invisible. If you’re comparing the two Mini LED screens, they are visually and measurably identical.

Color Gamut Accuracy

Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.

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The XG321UG comes close to filling the Rec.2020 gamut, but since it can’t get all the way there, it takes a balanced approach between DCI-P3 and 2020 by under-saturating all the color points. If I were to graph the targets with a DCI-P3 reference, they would be over-saturated. This way, color never looks too overblown, even if you use the wide gamut in SDR mode. That makes it a more versatile monitor since only HDR content is actually mastered to a larger gamut.

With SDR Color sRGB turned on, the XG321UG renders sRGB expertly. By default, red is slightly under-saturated and magenta is a bit off-hue.

After calibration, both gamuts are improved, especially sRGB, which drops to a very low error level. Hue errors are now erased, and saturation tracking is linear. This means detail is retained at every brightness level even when the larger gamut is used for SDR content.

Comparisons

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The XG321UG posts a respectable 2.05dE color error for its Rec.2020 gamut mode. The error for sRGB is just 0.47dE, one of the lowest results I’ve ever recorded. This is a very color-accurate screen whether you calibrate or not. And you can use the larger gamut in SDR mode with no real downside.

The XG321UG sets a new record for color gamut volume, 118.58%, just a tad larger than the PG32UQX. That translates to 84.28% of Rec.2020. The sRGB mode is spot-on at 100.28%. This means you can use the ViewSonic for color-critical work in sRGB mode without the need for a software profile. For DCI-P3 and Rec.2020, you’ll need a compensation table. This is excellent performance.