NEC PA271W - When Accuracy and Consistency Matter
by Chris Heinonen on May 1, 2012 1:55 PM ESTNEC PA271W - Brightness and Contrast
The NEC is rated fairly conservatively at only 300 nits of light output at maximum, though for a professional work environment that is likely more than anyone would need. The OSD for the NEC lets you know the light output in cd/m^2 (which is equivalent to nits) as you raise and lower the value, and once you move past 250, the color changes to let you know you’re going beyond where the screen uniformity measurements can help you. Driven to the maximum output, the screen might read 400 cd/m^2 but the actual value was far less than that.
As we can see, we managed right around the maximum value of 300 nits, so that conservative estimate is right on in this case. The OSD might not indicate the correct value once you move past the recommended 250 cd/m^2 level, but below that it seemed to be within 3-4% of the listed value which was pretty good. You can see the lowest light output level was down to 57 nits, which means you can adjust the display to be dim enough for any work environment you might have.
Of course, with our accurate white levels we have to hope that we get good black levels as well, which has not been the high point for IPS screens with CCFL backlights, as opposed to LED dimming setups, in the past.
Unfortunately our black levels do leave a bit to be desired. The level at the minimum is 0.119, and I’d hope for something closer to 0.050 or less, and the maximum level was 0.429, which looks closer to a dark gray than black at that level. These indicate that our contrast ratio probably is going to leave a bit to be desired with the NEC.
As we could guess, the contrast ratio with the minimum backlight is only 480:1, and it rises up to 762:1 with the monitor at maximum output. With the wide swing between these two values I went ahead and measured the contrast ratio at our calibrated 200 nits setting and found it was 561:1, so the ratio improves as the light output level increases. It seems there is a minimum amount of light that the IPS panel is going to let through, which could be related to the screen uniformity technology used by NEC on the display, but you should be aware that if you want deep, dark blacks you’ll need to look for a different display using either a different panel technology, a different backlighting technology, or both.
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doubledeej - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
I'm still not able to figure out why people buy the Apple LCDs... displays from other manufacturers in the same price range have far better specs. If you compare performance to price, the Apple options are at the bottom of the list. They really aren't that good. Sure, they're great compared to a $150 Dell, but next to other options in the 27" size they don't hold up very well.ectoplasmosis - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
They use the same panel as all the other 27" 2560x1440 screens (as far as I'm aware, LG is the only manufacturer making such panels).Apart from backlighting and features, the rest of the differentiation is in the panel manufacturing variance.
I bought mine because it's glossy (huge bonus for me), it looks fantastic and comes with serviceable speakers and a webcam built-in. And the after-sales service means if it goes tits up I can drive 5 minutes down the road and get an instant exchange.
All those things are worth the premium in my eyes.
André - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
It works fine with Mini-DisplayPort to adapters.Not sure where you got the "only works with Thunderbolt" from though.
tzhu07 - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - link
I've owned the PA271W for over a year now and it's been very great to me. I work as a web developer/designer and everything looks sharp and accurate. Surprised Anandtech just got around to showcasing the monitor.bishop2020 - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - link
You guys have reviewed the Dell U2711 in the past and it strikes me as the most comparable monitor to the NEC, curious why it would be omitted from the comparison tables while a bunch of smaller panels were included.InterClaw - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
That, and the Dell U3011 as well is strangely missing now.cheinonen - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
Once I get past 15 results in the data, it becomes too hard to read the results. I've been favoring the more recent results since they are done using the i1Pro and not the i1Display2, and so the results are more accurate and more directly comparable. I will see if I can pull in the 27" and 30" numbers for the past displays to replace those that are in there this week.bishop2020 - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link
Thanks, looking forward to seeing the numbers side-by-side. In my opinion anytime I see reviews for 2560 res monitors I see them as an entirely different class of monitor and the price especially seems to segregate it from everything else as well. I could see throwing in 1 or 2 of the higher-rated 1920 screens for reference but anyone whose even considering spending $700-$1200 for a monitor probably knows they want a 2560 res monitor for a reason and isn't considering a 1920 at all so the other numbers just add noise to the data they're really looking for. Thanks again :)Veni - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - link
The NEC's built in KVM/USB switch functionality is very intriguing to me. Does anyone know of any cheaper monitors which have the ability to switch the USB uplink based on the display input?tygrus - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - link
".. for my use .."Reviews like this should have multiple headings with sections targeted at a different audience. It's OK to include your 'general home use' self but don't forget that there may be others who do graphical/multimedia work or hobby that appreciate some of the more advanced features. Let the reader choose which target audience they are and focus on a different conclusion. Don't discount just because it's not recommended for gamers.