Hyundai Q90U's Pitfalls

We tested the Hyundai Q90U's 3-ms panel with the calibrator, and we weren't very impressed. The Q90U is aimed at gamers, but that shouldn't serve as an excuse for ignoring colour standards.

As a reminder, this graph shows the difference between the desired colour shade and the one actually displayed.

If you have a calibrator you'll be able to compensate, but if not, you'll have to settle for an sRGB standard at 7200K. That's extremely cold for a factory adjustment.

The black level was very good, and the brightness wasn't excessive. LCD monitor manufacturers usually choose a high brightness setting to catch potential buyers' eyes in the store. So score a point for Hyundai here. In addition, the contrast was quite respectable, though some competitors do better. But that's another chapter.

The contrast also showed very good stability on this model. This monitor got optimum results at low brightness.

This curve indicates the contrast value measured at a given brightness adjustment on the OSD. In theory, brightness and contrast are two independent parameters, and good contrast is a requirement regardless of the brightness adjustment. Unfortunately, such is not the case in practice. The brightness adjustment is shown on the X-axis, contrast on the Y-axis. Contrast is expressed here as a percentage of the maximum value measured using the ANSI test protocol.

Tested with the Gretag Eye-One Display 2, the Q90U revealed very good colour richness. But as you can see, it was a little short in the red area, which is the result of a colour adjustment that's a little too cold.

The colour gamut represents the richness of the colours displayed. The corners of the triangle are the primary colours (in additive synthesis, of course). The surface of the triangle represents all colours that are displayable by combining the three primary colours with more or less intensity for each. So the greater the area of the triangle, the richer the colours.