Why you can trust 3DTested Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
The PG27AQWP-W ships in its Racing picture mode, which is close to the mark for grayscale, gamma, and color accuracy. Further adjustments are available in the Color menu, which has color temps, gamma presets, and a gamut selector.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
My PG27AQWP-W sample didn’t quite get under the invisible error threshold of 3dE. I could see a bit of red in the brighter steps of a grayscale pattern. Red is a forgivable error because it’s less visible in content than blue or green. Gamma tracks almost perfectly, which is a very good thing.
Calibration reduces all values to less than 2dE, which is professional grade. Gamma remains right on the reference line with just tiny variations. This is excellent performance.
The sRGB chart shows an uncalibrated screen. I only changed the color space option in Racing mode. I recommend this approach rather than the sRGB Cal mode, which is accurate but non-adjustable. Grayscale runs a tad warm, but similar RGB slider tweaks can remove that error. Gamma just shows a small dip (too bright) at the 90% brightness step.
Comparisons
Many OLEDs can be used straight out of the box without calibration, but some, like the PG27AQWP-,W need a little help to look their best. With the changes in place, the error drops to 0.97 dE, which is well below the visible threshold.
Gamma tracking is spot-on in any case, with a small 0.11 range of values and a 0.91% deviation from the standard. The actual value is 2.18.
Color Gamut Accuracy
Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.
The PG27AQWP-W’s DCI-P3 gamut tracking is nearly perfect out of the box, with just minor hue errors in magenta and blue. Saturation is a tad over the mark, which is appropriate for a Quantum Dot monitor like this one. Calibration barely changes the result but now, the hue errors are smaller. The sRGB result is also on the money and good enough to qualify for color-critical tasks. You can easily add the PG27AQWP-W to a video or photo editing suite.
Comparisons
It’s hard to imagine a 1.98dE color error only being good enough for last place, but on planet OLED, this is a typical result. OLEDs as a category are more consistently accurate than LCDs, based on my tests and observations. This is excellent performance.
In the volume test, the PG27AQWP-W ranks among the best at 108.58% DCI-P3 coverage. It is one of the most colorful screens I’ve reviewed. The sRGB gamut covers 95.19%, which is a little short of the mark. Though it isn’t a deal-breaker, my test showed just a slight undersaturation in blue and green.
Test Takeaway: The PG27AQWP-W has superb color with decent out-of-box accuracy and pro-level results after calibration. Gamma is almost perfect in any case, and color volume is among the highest I’ve recorded. It also has a completely qualified sRGB mode if you need to edit photos or SDR videos. The picture quality here is among the best OLED has to offer.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
