Brightness And Contrast
To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. Brightness and Contrast testing is covered on page two.
The VP2780-4K is a pro screen in every way other than its lack of an Adobe RGB gamut option. Today we’re stacking it up against five other very accurate displays. From NEC we have the PA322UHD, PA272W and EA244UHD. Also in the group is BenQ’s BL3201PT and HP’s Z27x.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
ViewSonic rates the VP2780-4K at 350cd/m2 but our sample measured over 415. This is more than enough output for any task, including use outdoors. We appreciate bright monitors, but in this case the tradeoff is a high minimum backlight level — we’ll explain below.
Despite a super-bright backlight, the maximum black level is a respectable .3870cd/m2. That means this ViewSonic should post excellent contrast numbers…
… and it does. The top four screens are extremely close, but the ViewSonic squeaks out the victory. Any monitor that can boast over 1000:1 contrast is a winner in our opinion. Until VA panels are more common, IPS and IGZO are among the best.
Uncalibrated – Minimum Backlight Level
This is where some pro-users may have an issue. Many prefer a working output of 80cd/m2 and the VP2780-4K can’t quite get to that level. Granted 94.7860cd/m2 is pretty close to that. Of course our minimum benchmark is 50cd/m2, which is met by the BenQ and HP displays.
The ViewSonic finishes last in the minimum black level test thanks to its bright backlight. Luckily this doesn’t mean a drop in contrast.
As you can see, it maintains its dominance with an excellent 1065.1:1 result. The VP2780-4K’s backlight covers an extremely wide range and maintains consistent contrast throughout.
After Calibration To 200cd/m2
The calibrated numbers come with a caveat: they aren’t from the VP2780-4K’s most accurate picture mode, sRGB. We are showing you the numbers from the display’s User mode instead because it’s the only one that offers a white balance adjustment. We’ll explain more on the next page. That said, a third-place black level finish isn’t a bad thing considering how close it is to the top score.
Calibrating the RGB sliders results in a small six percent drop in contrast. This isn’t much at all, but as you’ll see later, the sRGB mode is where you’ll be using the monitor most often.
ANSI Contrast Ratio
We applaud any display that can exceed 1000:1 for ANSI contrast (our most difficult test). This indicates a very high quality panel with excellent uniformity and no light-bleed. It also means the grid-polarizer layer is top-notch, which helps with detail-rendering and intra-image contrast.