To further understand what the 272URX is capable of, we put it through a series of benchmark tests using Calman monitor calibration software, a Murideo Six-G signal generator, and a Klein K-10A colorimeter. We also ran the monitor through a gauntlet of games to measure input lag and judge its real-world performance.
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In our first test, we benchmarked the brightness with the monitor’s default gaming profile over an SDR signal. Under these conditions, we saw an average brightness of 234 nits. That’s just under the 250-nit ceiling listed on the monitor’s spec page. Recently reviewed OLED monitors like the HP Omen Transcend 32 OLED (264 nits) and Alienware AW2725Q (275 nits) did glow slightly brighter, but they’re in the same ballpark.
OLED monitors don’t have to get very bright because they can maintain contrast at lower brightness levels, so the picture will always look vibrant in low-light settings, even if the measured brightness seems low. In comparison, IPS panels can often reach 500 nits or more, but the lower contrast ratios of IPS panels can lead to blacks appearing washed out, affecting the perceived brightness.
Moving to HDR, we measured 371 nits of sustained brightness, slightly under the monitor’s VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification. Switching to peak HDR brightness, we measured 1,056 nits at a 2% sample size, slightly exceeding the monitor’s 1,000-nit rating. (We measure sustained HDR brightness at a 10% window size, but to measure peak brightness, we drop the test size down to 2%. OLED displays become brighter as the test patch size gets smaller.)
(Credit: Portrait Displays)
Color gamut performance is up next. In our tests, the 272URX spanned 93.7% of Adobe RGB color gamut (see the chart above), 151.9% of the sRGB gamut (see the chart below), and 98.5% of DCI-P3. These numbers are nearly identical to what we saw from the Alienware AW2725Q, probably thanks to their similar panel technologies.
(Credit: Portrait Displays)
The display is rated for a peak contrast ratio of 1,500,000:1. (Contrast ratio indicates the difference in luminance between the brightest white and the darkest black that a monitor can produce.) A ratio this high is expected for OLED panels, but it’s not all that meaningful when compared with the far lower contrast ratios you get with other panel technologies. What’s important to note about sky-high OLED contrast ratios is that they signify an OLED display’s ability to produce perfectly deep blacks alongside bright whites, resulting in improved image quality in both light and dark scenes. In contrast, IPS panels typically feature contrast ratios of 1,000:1 to 3,000:1, so as you can imagine, they don’t really offer the same amount of range. (That said, you shouldn’t expect from OLED the 500x-to-1,500x apparent improvement in visual contrast that the numbers would suggest.)
