Low contrast after calibration

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  • #10096

    Ori Sagiv
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    Hello,
    My monitor (Asus PG279Q) came with awful gamma and brightness, so I bought the spyder hoping to fix that, after the Asus technicians claimed “Everything’s great with the monitor and it’s not overly bright”.
    The uncalibrated state is as follow:
    brightness: 427.86cdm ! (in the specs it says: max – 350)
    gamma: 2.05 (with no gamma control through OSD)
    contrast: 934:1 (contrast control doesn’t seem to effect it)

    After calibrating to 120cdm2 (Reducing brightness to 15!), it is now with 850:1 contrast and it doesn’t look so great.
    Is it considered normal for a monitor to come with native settings like that or should I insist on a replacement?
    If  it’s tollerable, is there a way to increase the contrast?

    Thanks in advance..

    #10110

    Florian Höch
    Administrator
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    Hi,

    technically there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the monitor. It is quite normal for IPS-type panels to have a contrast ration of <= 1000:1.

    contrast: 934:1 (contrast control doesn’t seem to effect it)

    Note that the contrast control on most computer LCD monitors should be left alone (i.e. at default), as it’ll alter the signal which can lead to clipping or raised black/lowered white.

    Calibration normally doesn’t affect the contrast ratio, unless the display electronics reduce brightness by altering the internal lookup tables instead of solely by adjusting the backlight. This can happen if it wouldn’t be otherwise possible to decrease brightness further. If you feel that it looks too dim in your environment, you need to increase (backlight) brightness (also note that the often quoted 120cd/m2 target is for a generally rather dim indoor environment, and you should rather adjust brightness according to the ambient light levels of your actual viewing environment before calibration).

    #10111

    Ori Sagiv
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    Thanks for the reply.
    I actually didn’t touch the contrast from its default state when I calibrated. I just touched it afterwards and measured to see if it has any effect which it hasn’t.

    according to tftcentral’s review it shouldn’t change the contrast all the way to 0 brightness: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg279q.htm#contrast_stability
    That’s why I fear I got a lemon of a monitor.

    I will try calibrate again and this time I’ll just use “As measured” or 140cdm, I’ll see if it helps..

    #10113

    Florian Höch
    Administrator
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    Also note that if you calibrate whitepoint and/or brightness via the video card gamma tables instead of via monitor controls, this will reduce contrast.

    #10114

    Ori Sagiv
    Participant
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    The video card is at it’s default state as far as know. I used the monitor OSD controls in the measurement phase.
    I think it may be connected to the messed up default gamma the monitor came at (2.05) which the software need to compensate for. I’m not sure, I’m definitely not an expert..

    #10123

    Florian Höch
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    I think it may be connected to the messed up default gamma

    Gamma doesn’t influence contrast. Check that you didn’t set luminance targets and that you have met the calibration whitepoint target during interactive adjustment (recommended tolerance 1 delta E, lower is better). That way, the video card gamma tables don’t have to be adjusted (much). Also note that contrast around ~900 isn’t a bad result for an IPS panel, and you also shouldn’t take contrast measures quoted by anyone as gospel (tftcentral were using an i1 Display Pro, an instrument with better low light capability than a Spyder5).

    Calibrite Display Pro HL on Amazon  
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    #10132

    Ori Sagiv
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    I did manage to get the green message in both the temperature and luminance areas, I didn’t try anything higher than 120cdm yet, as I fear the whites will hurt my eyes. the best I got is this:

    861:1 contrast with a pricey monitor that supposed to be 1000:1.
    So you’re saying the low contrast ratio reported is connected to my spyder?

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    #10134

    Ori Sagiv
    Participant
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    This is the measurements for an uncalibrated SRGB preset, and the highest I get in terms of contrast – 945:1.
    So actually I can’t really claim the monitor can’t reach its specs of 1000:1, because it was measured with a spyder?
    Sorry for all these questions, I’m just having a hell of a time with this monitor since I bought it 2 months ago. I RMA’d it at first but they claimed it was “perfectly proper and not overly bright”.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Ori Sagiv.
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    #10126

    A.ces
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    Thanks for the reply.
    I actually didn’t touch the contrast from its default state when I calibrated. I just touched it afterwards and measured to see if it has any effect which it hasn’t.

    according to tftcentral’s review it shouldn’t change the contrast all the way to 0 brightness: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/asus_rog_swift_pg279q.htm#contrast_stability
    That’s why I fear I got a lemon of a monitor.

    I will try calibrate again and this time I’ll just use “As measured” or 140cdm, I’ll see if it helps..

    Did you remember to download a spectral correction or set it White LED if possible?

    My xb271hu that has exactly the same panel has a contrast ratio of 1200 measured with a colormunki display.

    #10144

    Florian Höch
    Administrator
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    I RMA’d it at first but they claimed it was “perfectly proper and not overly bright”.

    Well, brightness is not an unchangeable property of the monitor, it is a user setting. You’re supposed to set a brightness using the monitor controls that you find pleasing and easy on the eyes (not too dim nor too bright for the viewing environment).

    #10146

    Ori Sagiv
    Participant
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    Yes, but I think you know that with a low gamma like that by default, all colors look brighter than they should be whatever brightness you set it on.
    The brightness control effects the backlight, but the monitor’s internal brightness remains too bright.
    I think you can tell that something is defective when your monitor outputs 427cdm2 brightness, when it advertises max 350, the gamma is mainly 2.05 when the standard should be 2.2, and you get a calibrated contrast ratio of 860:1 when they advertise 1000:1.
    The lowest I’ve seen in reviews is at tom’s hardware – 927:1 and that’s after they lowered the contrast slider from 50 to 43. At all other reviews it is close to 1000 calibrated and sometimes even beyond.

    #10176

    Florian Höch
    Administrator
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    the gamma is mainly 2.05 when the standard should be 2.2

    Manufacturers are free to choose whatever native tone response they see fit for their displays in the assumed conditions. The tendency for displays to have a lower than (roughly) 2.2 gamma native response is usually that manufacturers have recognized that displays get used in brighter conditions more often than was the case for the old CRTs (where the limited max light output would prevent using them effectively in bright environments).

    I think you can tell that something is defective when your monitor outputs 427cdm2 brightness, when it advertises max 350

    I wouldn’t see this as a defect. Manufacturers usually use a range of panels and different backlights even with same model monitors (so they can choose the most cost effective component supplier at any given point in time), and this may well explain any advertised vs measured max brightness differences (higher than advertised max brightness is usually actually a good thing, as it means the backlight will last longer at typical brightness).

    The lowest I’ve seen in reviews is at tom’s hardware – 927:1 and that’s after they lowered the contrast slider from 50 to 43. At all other reviews it is close to 1000 calibrated and sometimes even beyond.

    You’re focusing too much on measured vs advertised contrast. To have a very reliable contrast measurement, you need high end gear. A typical consumer colorimeter only needs to have a luminance measurement error of +0.025 cd/m2 (at black) for the measured contrast to drop from 1000 to 800 on a display with 1000:1 contrast ratio.

    • This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Florian Höch. Reason: Corrected black level error
    #10199

    Ori Sagiv
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    Thank you for the detailed information, you made me wiser. I wish Asus would explain it to me like that, instead of just giving me an “everything’s great” unsatisfying generic reply without actually responding to my concerns.
    Actually after fixing that chrome bug  everything’s looking really nice. Thanks again 🙂

    #10202

    Florian Höch
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    I wish Asus would explain it to me like that, instead of just giving me an “everything’s great” unsatisfying generic reply without actually responding to my concerns.

    True, but their customer support is probably not directly connected with the engineers that designed the display (which might even be outside contractors), so it’s understandable to some extent.

    #10260

    Ori Sagiv
    Participant
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    On the subject – I’m actually wondering now  – what’s the point of monitor reviews if they can deviate that much in the same model?
    The monitor I received with that 2.05 native gamma, 430 max brightness and probably 950:1 contrast ratio (If it’s not a misreading of the spyder5), definitely looks totally different than a 2.3/2.4/2.2 gamma, 330-390 brightness and 1100+:1 contrast monitors the reviews are testing.
    So what’s the point really?

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