How We Test: Displays

Posted 08/26/2008 at 10:54am | by David Murphy

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Real-World

We run through a number of real-world test scenarios to discern just how the flaws (or successes) of a monitor's DisplayMate performance match up with typical use.  Our testing is split into three categories: photography, movies, and gaming.

In terms of photos, we run through a number of examples to evaluate a display's grayscale performance, coloration, and technical flaws.  We check to see if skintones look too red or washed out.  We check to see just how badly a display's banding or color-tracking will affect an image's gradients.  We check to make sure that pictures we've shot look true to form as a general mix of coloration and contrast.  We look to see what details get mashed together as a result of a display's poorer grayscale range.

We use these same questions on our movie and gaming tests.  We also use these different forms of media to test a display's preset options.  While we tweak our displays to perfection, we understand that not everyone is going to be as interested in fooling with a display's specific parameters.  This is an important part of our evaluation, as we've been known to discover presets that actually ruin a display's picture quality. Also, movies--specifically, V for Vendetta--allow us to test fancier elements like a display's dynamic contrast feature.  Likewise with our Bioshock gaming test, a scene of which is shown below.  In this case, a display's deficiencies in coloration and grayscale reproduction will become apparent in its inability to produce detailed smoke or vibrant flames.

And there you have it!  It sounds like a small list, but an average display review takes at least an hour or two to finish.  We carefully analyze all the subtleties of a display, as oftentimes, the smallest differences will separate different models.  Although it's not a benchmark per se, we also factor in a display's ergonomics and connection options into the final verdict mix.  While it's easy to tell a 9-Kick Ass monitor from a 4 verdict, it's not quite as easy to fill the gaps in between.  That's why we spend a great deal of benchmarking time across a variety of tasks--to ensure that the monitors we recommend will not fail you in any way you choose to use them.