NEC EA244UHD Review
by Chris Heinonen on August 7, 2014 2:30 PM ESTsRGB Test Bench
The NEC EA244UHD has a built-in sRGB mode that is used for all of these measurements. SpectraView II can only calibrate the NEC to native gamut and while CalMAN 5.3.5 can use ICC-aware patterns for doing measurements, we do not use that option. Most programs are not ICC-aware and we want to show the most real-world performance that we can.
| Pre-Calibration |
Post-Calibration, 200 cd/m2 |
Post-Calibration, 80 cd/m2 |
|
| White Level ( cd/m2) | 202.6 | 198.5 | 80.5 |
| Black Level ( cd/m2) | 0.2677 | 0.2783 | 0.1143 |
| Contrast Ratio | 756:01:00 | 713:01:00 | 705:01:00 |
| Gamma (Average) | 2.06 | 2.17 | 2.37 |
| Color Temperature | 6347K | 6734K | 6593K |
| Grayscale dE2000 | 2.48 | 0.46 | 1.3 |
| Color Checker dE2000 | 2.21 | 0.79 | 0.87 |
| Saturations dE2000 | 2.42 | 0.78 | 1.1 |
The sRGB mode has a slightly red tint to the grayscale that gets worse as you get closer to 100% white. The gamma has a larger issue with it falling below 2.0 past 70% and giving us an average gamma of 2.06. Even with this gamma issue the color checker has a very good average error of 2.21 and the saturations error is only 2.42. The largest issue we see is actually the 100% white error, and this is something that calibration can usually correct quite easily.
As expected, calibrating to 200 cd/m2 using CalMAN gives us an RGB balance that is almost perfectly flat. The gamma drops down a bit at the end, but I expect we will see this happen more as I move to 256-point readings instead of 21-point. If I drop the readings back down to 21 it looks virtually perfect, so I wouldn’t worry. The grayscale dE2000 has an average of 1.0, so it is very good.
Color saturations are not adjusted, but the luminance is adjusted because of the improved gamma after calibration. This lets the color checker error fall to 0.79 on average and the saturations error fall to 0.77. Both of these are incredibly good and it means you won’t see any flaws when using the NEC EA244UHD after calibration. The contrast ratio takes a small hit from correcting 100% white, but not a major one.
Calibrating for the sRGB gamma and 80 cd/m2 also produces results that are very good. They are not as good as at 200 cd/m2 but are still good. I included gamma using both 21-point and 256-point charts so you can see the difference it makes in reporting. I don’t see this gamma issue past 90% that the chart indicates, but I also don’t do much work with nearly-white images. Overall these results are great and only look not-great when compared to the 200 cd/m2 ones.
I wish that SpectraView II could calibrate the gamut of the EA244UHD for sRGB but it doesn’t need it. If you own the hardware that can calibrate it you can use software like CalMAN or DispCalGUI and get fantastic results.
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DanNeely - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
Does NEC still use much larger than normal boxes? My 3090's box was several inches larger in every dimension than the box that a friends 30" Dell monitor came in.cheinonen - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
Yes, because they ship them with the stand attached where the Dell ones need to be attached (a 10 second process). The Dell box is certainly smaller, and Dell also uses good packaging (all cardboard, easy to recycle but still sturdy). They are really the two best at packaging monitors by far.NECDisplaySolutions - Friday, August 8, 2014 - link
The NEC Display Solutions box size is 25.7in. (W) x 19.6 in. (H) x 10.5 in. (D).Death666Angel - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
The wrong monitors seems to be highlighted in the power draw chart. :)Good review otherwise, out of my price range though and I like 1440 with 110Hz IPS and near zero input lag just fine for my needs. :D
cheinonen - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
Thanks, fixed the graph!boblozano - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
Have the dell 24 driven from a mac pro, using "best for display" scaled resolution in 10.10. Did a quick calibration, and this just works. Best monitor I've ever used on a stationary computer, hard not to keep smiling. At this point I think (multiple) 4k 24s are the sweet spot, at least if the os and apps handle scaling well.nevertell - Friday, August 8, 2014 - link
But what could handle a set of three 4K monitors ?B3an - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
I'm so sick of these 4k monitors that are not even 30".A 30 - 36" 4k monitor would be perfect.
DanNeely - Thursday, August 7, 2014 - link
in the 30 inch class I'd really rather have a 5k monitor. As long as legacy apps are in frequent use 2:1 scaling options will have major advantages; and a 24" 2k monitor does 2:1 perfectly as an upgrade from 1080p.nevertell - Friday, August 8, 2014 - link
A 2k monitor as in 3820x2160 ? Or 2560x1440 ? Because the latter won't do 2:1 scaling. To scale something 2:1 on a monitor, you've got to have 4 times as many pixels.