Why haven’t we seen a shiny gaming monitor but? It’s a good query provided that the most effective gaming displays are dominated by matte panels, particularly when you think about shiny creator shows like Apple’s ProDisplay XDR and LG UltraFine 5K. Matte could be the norm for gaming displays, however the brand new Dough Spectrum 4K Shiny proves it might be time for gaming displays to department out.
Earlier than stepping into it, I have to make clear the entire Dough/Eve state of affairs. The corporate Eve is now referred to as Dough, however the Spectrum 4K Shiny is identical monitor the corporate introduced earlier this 12 months. It’s a little bit of an odd rebrand provided that the corporate simply launched a brand new monitor, however right here we’re.
The obtrusive elephant within the room
Aside from the shiny display screen, this new monitor is sort of similar to the Eve Spectrum 4K we reviewed final 12 months, and all of my testing is almost similar to what we discovered round mid-2021. It packs in all of the options you’d count on out of a high-end gaming monitor — 4K at 144Hz, HDMI 2.1, and G-Sync/FreeSync assist — however now with a shiny display screen. It makes a world of distinction, a lot in order that I plan on utilizing the Spectrum 4K Shiny as my foremost gaming show transferring ahead.
Matte screens aren’t dangerous, and so they’re the norm for good motive. They scale back eyestrain, have far much less glare, and might resist issues like mud and fingerprints. If reflections drive you up the wall otherwise you’re sitting in a very brilliant room, you need a matte monitor. Gloss makes glare a problem.
The Spectrum 4K Shiny has extra noticeable glare than a conventional matte monitor, however it’s not almost as dangerous as I anticipated. It’s a lot much less noticeable than an OLED TV, and in some instances, the glare is much less vital than even a matte monitor.
Dough didn’t simply rip off the matte coating and name it a day. The truth is, the corporate needed to work straight with its panel provider (LG, in case you had been questioning) to recalibrate its meeting line to accommodate the manufacturing of the brand new show. That further R&D time additionally went into making a coating to deal with potential glare points. And it really works.
You don’t truly see extra glare. It’s simply extra direct and never as subtle as what you’d discover on a matte monitor. That finally ends up being a greater viewing expertise in darker rooms, as small mild sources solely trigger a small space of glare — not the stretched, subtle glare you’d discover on a matte monitor. That’s notably a plus in colour scenes.
Though you’ll discover glare rather more in darkish scenes on the Spectrum 4K Shiny, it disappears nearly solely when you will have a whole lot of colours happening. The monitor will get so brilliant (720 nits, primarily based on my testing) that it combats most points in darker rooms, too. You shouldn’t put the Spectrum 4K Shiny reverse a brilliant window, however most individuals received’t discover a lot glare in any respect — actually not sufficient for it to be a significant situation.
Unhealthy HDR on paper, lovely in apply
The Dough Spectrum 4K Shiny shouldn’t have nice HDR. It’s solely licensed for DisplayHDR 600, and it contains solely 16 vertical native dimming zones. That’s similar to the Corsair Xeneon 32 and nicely beneath the lately launched Sony InZone M9. On paper, the Spectrum 4K Shiny shouldn’t have pretty much as good of HDR because it does.
However from the second I booted up Future 2, it was clear: That is the most effective HDR image I’ve seen on a monitor. That ought to present simply how highly effective the monitor end is on the ultimate product. The distinction is deep and moody, the colours pop off the display screen in a approach I’ve by no means seen earlier than, and the brightness is simply rivaled by a show just like the Alienware 34 QD-OLED.
Though there are solely 16 native dimming zones, they make an enormous distinction on the Spectrum 4K Shiny. With no matte end, the zones which can be turned off give the impact of an OLED display screen the place pure blackness sits at one finish of the display screen.
I’ve been looking for a monitor that may supply an OLED expertise, however the Spectrum 4K Shiny is the primary one which’s gotten shut.
On the opposite finish, you possibly can see the dimming zones a lot clearer, not like the smaller zones obtainable on the Sony InZone M9. That’s a good trade-off for me. Outdoors of a devoted native dimming take a look at, I used to be by no means capable of spot one zone transitioning to a different when truly taking part in a recreation or watching a film.
I’ve been looking for a monitor that may present something close to the expertise of taking part in a recreation on a console with my LG C8 OLED (I do know I’m just a little behind the OLED curve) for almost 4 years. The Spectrum Shiny 4K doesn’t match the expertise, however it’s the primary monitor that’s gotten shut.
Greater than a end
It’s simple to put in writing off the Spectrum 4K Shiny as only a totally different monitor end, particularly contemplating the show alone clocks in at $1,100 ($1,200 if you need the stand). The end makes an enormous distinction in how mild and colour work together with the outer layers of the monitor, although, which brings collectively the factors about colour, distinction, and glare that I’ve talked about.
TftCentral had a have a look at the show in March, taking some microscopic images to see the variations between the finishes. The shiny model has higher textual content and picture readability and that’s as a result of the sub-pixels aren’t being filtered by a hazy matte end. As a substitute of every of the pink, inexperienced, and blue sub-pixels barely fringing on their neighbors, each colour is evenly separated.
That makes an enormous distinction in how vibrant colours look and the way clear photographs and textual content are, particularly on a 4K display screen. The Spectrum 4K Shiny could be the similar monitor because the matte model on a spec sheet, however make no mistake — it appears like a totally totally different beast with large advantages in picture high quality and HDR.
Shiny gaming displays aren’t the norm, however the Dough Spectrum 4K Shiny is an argument they need to be. Shiny screens shouldn’t change the various matte choices you should purchase now, however possibly Dough will kick off a development the place shiny panels are not less than an possibility.
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