HP z27x Review
by Chris Heinonen on December 2, 2014 4:00 PM ESTThe z27x offers the ability to select from multiple preset gamut choices. It is the first display I have seen that offers the Rec. 2020 gamut as an option. If you do not know, Rec. 2020 is the gamut that is officially defined in the UltraHD picture specifications. It has a color gamut that is much larger than anything else on the market today. Importantly, it is a gamut that you cannot even produce today as we don’t have phosphors or other technologies to create it. It really is a target, and not one that can currently be achieved.
The HP z27x offers a large selection of different color gamuts in the preset modes. Beyond the standard sRGB/Rec.709 and AdobeRGB, there is DCI/P3 and Rec.2020. There is also a preset for D50 which is very similar to sRGB/D65 but has a shifted white point as D65 is based on sunlight and noon while D50 is later in the day.
Below you can see a comparison of the preset choices in the HP z27x compared to those targets inside of CalMAN 5.3.6. The only issue is that CalMAN has no D50 preset, only D55, so I used that instead. The fact that the color points are not aligned here is likely due to that issue.
What stands out is that the HP z27x has no issues with sRGB, AdobeRGB, or ever the DCI color space. Once you get to Rec.2020 it is beyond what the HP can do, but it comes closer than any other display I have used to date. Many companies could produce a display with a massive gamut like this, but the problem is you get blown-out, over-saturated colors. Most programs don’t utilize ICC profiles so the monitor has to have a mode for the color gamut you want. The HP can easily move between the color gamut of your choice, making it easy to work in multiple color spaces accurately.
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SanX - Sunday, December 7, 2014 - link
The author has done absolutely right things. HP indeed does not care even to cherrypick. HPs and Dells became more and more a rebranders of Chinese goods. And actually it is not the China the final reason in bad quality control of everything but WE THE BRAINDEAD PEOPLE and of course our croocky american sales/middlemen who exploit this vulnerability of average technically illiterate Joe and are just interested to drop more larger margin shiny crap on the heads of dumb public, on our heads.DanNeely - Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - link
It might've been the 1st time it crossed your desk; but NEC's offered in monitor calibration since (at least) the the Multysync 3090 (released around 2008). I'm not sure how it compares with HP's offering; but they've got something called NaViSet to allow centralized admin of display settings. Lastly, IIRC their internal calibration does have some ability to adjust for uneven backlighting (presumably at the cost of some overall contrast).http://www.necdisplay.com/support-and-services/nav...
cheinonen - Wednesday, December 3, 2014 - link
I've used and reviewed the NEC PA series, and while they offer an internal LUT with calibration options, it has to be done through the SpectraView II software. The HP allows you to do it entirely inside the display without a PC at all, making it easier to do a large number of them. The NEC PA series also lacks the Ethernet control. The uniformity on the NECs is top notch.baii9 - Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - link
Wide gamut -> GB-r LED -> uniformity issue, why am I not surprised.Here is when good warranty kick in, panel lottery.
Doomtomb - Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - link
This monitor came out in 2014? This looks like something that would've come out in 2009. The bezel is huge. The body is thick. The resolution is nothing special. I don't care if it has features, and the color gamut. Seriously, this is the mind of the average consumer.D. Lister - Tuesday, December 2, 2014 - link
This product isn't targeted at the average consumer.DanNeely - Wednesday, December 3, 2014 - link
Although one of the reasons why pro-grade monitors tend to be significantly thicker than consumer ones is to put an array of evenly spaced backlights behind the panel instead of just a few on one or more edges using mirrors to bounce it around; because the former results in more even illumination.Something that clearly didn't happen with this monitor; and since AT has proven willing to hold reviews if they see unexpectedly bad results and the vendor says "looks like something broke, let us send you a replacement to test" or "we didn't test that case and need to write a new firmware to fix the problem" I can only assume that HP considers the level of backlight variation Chris saw in this model acceptable.
kyuu - Thursday, December 4, 2014 - link
Based on Chris's own statement in these comments, your assumption would be wrong. It seems that Chris didn't inform HP or offer them the chance to send a replacement in order to avoid the appearance of receiving a "cherry picked" sample.... Seems kinda silly to me. Unless Chris purchased the review unit himself, HP already had the chance to submit a cherry picked sample. Giving them the chance to fix what may very well be damage incurred during shipping does not somehow break reviewer ethics.
baii9 - Wednesday, December 3, 2014 - link
average consumer don't drop 1.4k on a 27" monitor.jann5s - Wednesday, December 3, 2014 - link
The ASUS MX229Q is using more power at minimum then at maximum, I guess there is a booboo in the database (LCD Power Draw figure)