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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, please check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
I measure monitors in their out-of-box state in the default picture mode with the brightness maxed. The PD2706UA comes with uniformity compensation engaged which reduces contrast by half so I turned that off. I also found more light output in the User Define mode, a maximum value of 380 nits. Black levels are respectable among IPS panels so I measured a native contrast ratio of 1,107.4:1. You can’t use the backlight dimming in SDR to increase contrast which is a bummer. It works fine for HDR, though, which is very good performance.
After Calibration to 200 nits
After calibration of the color temp and setting the peak white level to 200 nits, contrast is unchanged. In the IPS category, it doesn’t get much better.
The PD2706UA’s high ANSI score shows excellent quality control and component selection, particularly the screen’s grid polarizer. Intra-image contrast is deep and well delineated, especially in brighter material where extra color saturation enhances the picture.
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