Monoprice IPS-Glass Panel Pro 27" LCD Monitor
by Chris Heinonen on October 22, 2013 2:40 AM ESTAll calibration measurements are done using SpectraCal’s CalMAN 5.1.2 software with a custom workflow. Measurements are done using a C6 colorimeter that is first profiled against an i1Pro spectrometer to ensure accurate results. There are two sets of targets we use. Pre-Calibration and our first calibration aim for 200 cd/m^2 with an sRGB gamut and a gamma of 2.2. This is a common real-world setting for a display. The final target changes the light level target to 80 cd/m^2 and the gamma curve to the tougher sRGB standard.
|
Pre-Calibration |
Post-Calibration, 200 cd/m^2 |
Post-Calibration, 80 cd/m^2 |
|
| White Level (cd/m^2) | 200.35 | 199.3 | 80.05 |
| Black Level (cd/m^2) | 0.2025 | 0.22 | 0.1669 |
| Contrast Ratio | 989:1 | 906:1 | 480:1 |
| Gamma (Average) | 2.1753 | 2.1818 | 2.41 |
| Color Temperature | 6401K | 6495K | 6551K |
| Grayscale dE2000 | 4.1762 | 0.5602 | 0.9245 |
| Color Checker dE2000 | 3.2142 | 0.99 | 0.9496 |
| Saturations dE2000 | 2.5515 | 0.8227 | 0.8172 |
There are a few preset modes in the Monoprice Glass-IPS Panel Pro display but the Standard mode is the most accurate one. Using Standard and the Normal color temperature setting produces the most accurate results. However the display still has a serious lack of blue in the grayscale and the gamma curve is well off the target. Colors also show large errors, especially in skin tones, and they are exacerbated at lower levels due to the poor gamma. The overall errors levels are OK but not wonderful.
With our 200 cd/m^2 calibration target the Monoprice improves immensely. The contrast ratio has a slight drop to 906:1 but the grayscale, RGB balance, and gamma are now virtually perfect. More impressive is the improvement in the color gamut, with an average dE2000 for the color checker chart of only 0.99. A few samples creep above dE2000 levels of 2.0 with a little over-saturation in the red gamut, but otherwise this performance is phenomenal.
The 80 cd/m^2 results are not quite as good. Due to the high minimum brightness setting the contrast has to drop all the way down to 480:1 to make our light output target. The grayscale and gamma are still virtually perfect, but you won’t have the same pop that you do with a target of 160 cd/m^2 or higher. What you will see are colors that are still as accurate as the prior calibration and virtually perfect.
Considering the color accuracy of this display after calibration, it seems like a cheap option for an image professional that wants color accuracy. Fortunately for them contrast ratio usually isn’t as important as overall accuracy so that lower contrast level may still work fine. That small change could produce a display with one of the overall best set of post-calibration benchmarks that I’ve yet to test if it were made.
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Infy102 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Would it not be neat if monitors had ambient light sensors that would automatically adjust the brightness? My Sony TV from 2006 already has such a feature!cjb110 - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
phones have this, yet there are tons of problems with the various implementations, how fast, how much, user limits etc So I can't see this coming to displays like this, esp as the environmental conditions are more static (and/or controllable) than TV/Phone usage.purerice - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - link
The fact that conditions are more static may make for a feature less-commonly used, but would also reduce inaccuracies due to constantly changing light conditions that you have when using a cell phone. Over the course of the average day the light in the room where I work gradually shifts from dark to bright and back to dark before the high-powered lights go on. If a screen like this would adjust with the slowly changing ambient light without me having to adjust any settings on my keyboard I would be thrilled.CaedenV - Thursday, October 24, 2013 - link
sure, if it is like a phone screen or TV then there could be issues, but if it was software controlled with preset user settings (like a good fan controller) then it would not be an issue.LordOfTheBoired - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
2006? That's nothing. We had two TVs with this feature when I was growing up in the dark ages of the 1980s. I used to play with them by putting my hand over the photosensor and watching the display go dim and bright again. :)It's somewhat absurd that three decades later, the feature is less common than ever. Especially with all the intelligence you could design it with using modern electronics. Put a few photosensors in at different locations to avoid a transient shadow, and let the microprocessor figure out WTF is going on when a shadow passes across the screen.
foxalopex - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
I have to agree it's kind of silly. My Sony VPC-Z11 series laptop from 2010 had autodimming and it worked pretty much perfectly. Fast forward to 2013 and my Asus Tablet sort of has this feature. It will brighten in response to too much light but it won't dimm without power it on and off. I setup an Asus Laptop and autodimming didn't work. My NEC PA242W has this feature as well (and it works) but it is turned off by default because it would likely mess with the calibration on a monitor this precise. So it seems oddly it's not an easily implementable feature.DanNeely - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
My 2008 NEC 3090 has an auto-dimming feature; but I was never happy with it. Part was that with light coming from 3-5 directions beside/behind me my shadows was complex enough that adjusting my position a few inches generally changed the number hitting it's sensor triggering an adjustment. The bigger problem was that it was one of 3 monitors on my desk; and even if all 3 had the option, unless they had a way to communicate with each other, there's zero chance of them all getting the same amount of light falling on them.Moricon - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
I have a xrite Colormunki attached to my PC which automatically adjusts my 3 x Dell U2412m. most of the time when i a, working its late at night with minimal lighting so the xrite automatically backs off the brightness for me whilst still keeping it calibrated. Its an eye saver for sure.BrightCandle - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
Its a problem with a lot of monitors, the minimum brightness is still too high for realistic usage. Once you get to having to turn down the contrast to reduce the brightness somewhat you are already in trouble and the quality of the image really suffers for it.Death666Angel - Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - link
My Samsung has an ambient light sensor. But I don't use it, on most phones it has been pretty annoying. On my Nexus 7 2013 it does not bother me. But environment light changes a lot more when I use my Nexus than in my room where the PC display is. Also, it doesn't save me any battery on my PC display. :P