Sceptre X270W-1080P Review: A Value 27" That Delivers
by Brian Klug on May 17, 2010 10:22 PM ESTBrightness and Contrast
For brightness, black level, and contrast points, we use the same colorimeter setup described earlier. Specifically, an Xrite i1D2 with ColorEyes Display Pro, and take measurements. Dynamic contrast is always turned off, as this throws off our results. We also let the panels settle in for a half hour at the respective settings before taking any measurements. This is especially important for the X270W since it has a CCFL backlight, and as such there is a discernible warm up period.
Black level is an important metric, since it directly represents the extinction ratio of the crossed polarizers in the TN cells. Remember, when a pixel is desired to be black, the photoelectric crystal in the cell changes linearly polarized light 90 degrees out of phase, so it is blocked by the polarizer. Higher extinction ratios (and thus better crystals and materials) result in lower (better) black levels.
We recommend running monitors at around 200 nits of luminous intensity, just because this is often where some of the best color tracking sits, and it’s enough of a balance to not result in eye stress from looking around the room and having your pupil adjust. I personally am a bit of a light-crazy person and usually crank my displays brightness to the max (I consider 400 nits normal), but again, forget I ever said that. ;-)
The charts show the dynamic range in brightness, and the respective black levels at each brightness. Brightness isn’t quite up to the 400 nits spec, falling short at 293. This is still pretty bright, but not quite as bright as I’m used to. Again, CCFL isn’t the brightest, but it does give better color gamut than WLED.
What we’re really interested in, however, is the contrast ratio. At the extreme, we fall short of 1000:1 with 720 and 646 at both brightness ends. Respectable, but not stellar.
Update: We were able to get the X270W up past the 400 nit specification by changing contrast to 100% in addition to brightness. At those settings, the brightness for white is 411 nits, and blacks are 0.47 nits. We've updated the graphs above to reflect those changes. Contrast also improved slightly, up from 720 to 875.
Obviously, the X270W can go bright if you set the OSD settings appropriately. Things are more washed out than we'd like with contrast at 100%, but you do get all of those cd/m^2 you pay for, and 11 more.
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seamonkey79 - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
I am so very tired of 1920x1080 and the like resolutions... I'm using a computer, not watching TV. My spreadsheets fit very well on a 1920x1200 screen, two sheets next to each other, full height... 1080 doesn't give enough.Although a 27" does give the potential of being a bedroom TV... if I didn't already have a 32" in there, anyway.
juzz86 - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
Agreed. All these 1080p panels are great if you're just a gamer or watching movies, but stiff to those of us who need more space! Dell's U2711 is just about perfect I reckon, packing the majority of a 30-inch's res into a 27-inch space. Pity about the price, but then IPS have never been cheap (excluding H-IPS, AOC do a good-looking 23-inch H-IPS for AU$289).StevoLincolnite - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
I've been tempted to pick up an AOC in the past but generally always settled on a BenQ just because of the name.Article couldn't have come at a better time, been looking at a 26-27" LCD monitor. :)
juzz86 - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
My work BenQ was pretty good. AOC seem to get pretty good reviews, some of their 24-inch models are quite snazzy (2434PW) and they're well-priced. I'm thinking of giving the IPS model a go (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=prod... as that's a pretty good price for some excellent colour representation and viewing angles for the bedroom. Pity the stand sucks.Amoro - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
ASUS VW266H Black 25.5" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitorhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
This monitor is on sale right now for a reasonable price. It's probably TN though if you're against that. I've been looking for the past couple of months for a 24"+ monitor with 1920x1200 and this is the cheapest in a while. Haven't seen one this cheap since that Gateway FD2400/2401 was on sale.
The0ne - Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - link
Yea, sick of the TV size myself, but it's what the consumer wants I guess. Can't blame people for being sheeps.Basilisk - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
The Hanns-G 28" ('27.5" viewable') gives you those 1200 lines for $300, FS. I love it.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Mr Perfect - Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - link
Agreed, 16:9 monitors are automatically off of my list.Someone said the display companies are doing 16:9 because the panels are smaller, and so cheaper, then 16:10s of the same size.
numberoneoppa - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
This resolution is a crime for a monitor this size.Brian Klug - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
Hey readers - in the last display review I did (the G2410H) there was a lot of discussion about the CRT not being good enough or fast enough refresh rate to really show a comparison. I'd really like to try something with DVI inputs (but not DVI-A, as we're defeating the point at that rate). I've done some searching and found it considerably difficult to find any new CRTs out there (aka there basically aren't any).If any of you out there have ideas, I'm open to suggestions/sending us something/anything quite honestly. I know the 24" Sony GDM-FW900 is considered the most legendary CRT ever made, but availability is challenging. Just putting out feelers if any of you have some solution in mind or something better.
Thanks Again,
Brian