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To read about our monitor tests in-depth, check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test Monitors and TVs. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
To see how the Raptor 27 stacks up against the competition, we’ve brought in four DisplayHDR 400-certified monitors: the Aorus CV27F, Aorus CV27Q, Acer Nitro XV273K and Acer Predator XB273K. We’ve also included the ViewSonic Elite XG350R-C ultra-wide with HDR10.
According to our testing, the Raptor 27 won’t quite hit 400 nits in SDR mode. But that’s not a problem unless you plan to use it outdoors or in an extremely sunlit room; 371.9 nits is plenty of output. The monitor gives you a narrow range of control over the backlight, however. With brightness set to 0, it still put out 100 nits. In a totally dark room, that’s fatiguing. We’d prefer a minimum brightness closer to 50 nits.
The Raptor 27 has the best black level among the other IPS panels here, and it manages just nearly 1,042:1 contrast, which is respectable. As usual, the contrast awards go the monitors with VA panels, which typically have much deeper blacks.
After Calibration to 200 nits
After calibration (see our recommended settings), the IPS screens are visually indistinguishable. While the image still paled in comparison to VA monitors, the Raptor achieved a contrast ratio of 1,027.5:1, and anything over 1,000:1 is a good result. Remember, this is strictly an SDR test (HDR results are on page 4).
The Razer’s ANSI result is about average when compared to other IPS monitors. Our sample showed slight hotspots in the upper-left and lower-right corners, which lowered the score a little. Overall, though, the image was solid with good depth and dimension. Color was vibrant too, thanks to that huge color gamut.
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