[vegetaleb]

Hello
As we don’t have a great selection of 4k monitors in my country, here are the ones I have found:
–HP U32
-MSI Modern MD271UL
-MSI MAG281URF

The HP looks like the best with 31.5” 4k IPS and many USB outputs at the price of the MAG281 28”!!
But 31.5 is slightly bigger than I would like for my workspace and more importantly there are no info about its Adobe RGB coverage
The Modern is 27” IPS 4k with a great Adobe RGB coverage of 90% given actual tests with a low deltaE but I think it needs a calibration tool and it lacks any USB (data) port so not very versatile.
The MAG281URF is a gaming monitor but it has a good Adobe RGB coverage of 85% given a German website, though no idea if it was reached also with a calibration tool and how much was the deltaE, though it has 2 USB outputs and is versatile with higher Hz and funky RGB lights

What do you think? I don’t game on my monitor, it’s for photography editing and web surfing.
Can someone share the U32 Adobe RGB coverage? Would it be the best of the 3 listed?

[PCM2]

Hi vegetaleb,

I assume the MSI MPG 274URF QD (which we recommend for photo editing) isn’t an option for you? That’s one I can truly attest offers a strong colour performance, including excellent Adobe RGB coverage (and beyond, if you need it) due to its QD-LED backlight. The MSI MAG281URF uses the same Innolux panel (including KSF phosphor backlight, which dictates gamut) as various other models we’ve looked at, so it’s not a true wide gamut panel. You can expect ~90% DCI-P3 and ~85% Adobe RGB maximum when accurately measured from that one. The HP U32 also uses a WLED backlight with KSF phosphors but it’s one of the ‘Nano IPS’ offerings with greater red energy. This allows it ~98% DCI-P3 coverage, but doesn’t help for the green to blue edge required for strong Adobe RGB coverage. And when accurately measured Adobe RGB coverage is going to be similar to the MAG281URF or slightly beyond – easily <90%.

Regardless of the model you go for, a colorimeter or similar device will help tighten up the calibration and assist you with natural drifts over time - regardless of how well the monitor may be calibrated from the factory. And it will allow you to profile the monitor using its full gamut capabilities and all OSD controls unlocked, rather than relying on a more restrictive emulation mode. It won’t provide any additional gamut coverage beyond what the monitor is capable of in its uncalibrated state, of course. So from the models you’re looking at the MSI Modern MD271UL should provide the best Adobe RGB coverage, but at 90% at a push it’s not exactly fantastic in that regard either. It really depends what level of accuracy you’re trying to achieve within the Adobe RGB colour space or how much you’ll be using strongly saturated shades near the edge of that gamut.

[vegetaleb]

Thank you for the info
The MPG 274URF is out of budget for me, in my country it’s +150$ more than the HP U32 and the MAG281, add to that I would like to experience 4k this time, I have the Aorus AD27QD 1440p for some years now and will move it to my summer house.
So I won’t see a difference between 86ich % and 90% Adobe RGB?
I don’t print photos so I don’t need the most accurate Adobe RGB, just good enough to enjoy my photos as wallpapers for Windows and my smartphone, as well as on a photography hobbyist forum.
What about the Odyssey G7 28” G70B? I couldn’t find any Adobe RGB info for the 28” variant that is different from the 32”

[PCM2]

The MPG 274URF QD is a ‘4K’ UHD monitor. If you want ‘true’ Adobe RGB support, it may be worth the premium. If you just want as much of the gamut as you can get for your budget, so to speak, then yes I would say that still gives an edge to a model with 90% Adobe RGB rather than 86% Adobe RGB coverage. It will give you a bit more extension for green and cyan shades which could be useful for more accurate capture or representation of natural photography, for example.

The 28″ Odyssey (G70B) uses the same panel as those other 28″ Innolux models, such as the MSI and the others covered in that link my previous post.

[vegetaleb]

Well you convinced me 🙂
One last question: using blue light filter has a significant impact on Adobe RGB on the MPG274urf?

[PCM2]

It shouldn’t significantly impact the colour gamut, just the colour channel balance (and especially colour temperature).

[vegetaleb]

I got the MPG 274URF QD yesterday, still fiddling with the options
I have found that to match Capture 1 colors with Windows 11 wallpapers, I had to enable HDR, and indeed the colors of the whole Windows UI look better, though everything is locked in terms of image settings, I can’t even change the brightness and changing any ”Professional” mode has 0 impact.
Is that normal?

[PCM2]

Enabling HDR for an SDR environment like that is not recommended. Actual measured colour accuracy and gamma tracking is all over the place and OSD controls are greatly restricted. As covered in the review (or accompanying “best settings” video) the colour space emulation settings are purely for SDR usage. The gamut used by the monitor when displaying SDR content under HDR extends a bit beyond sRGB but nowhere near as far as the native gamut – I recorded 96% sRGB and 81% DCI-P3.

[vegetaleb]

Thanks
Indeed I really love this monitor, a bit expensive and a bit restrictive like we can’t activate blue light reducer when using the Adobe RGB mode but I have found to get similar colors with the User profile + low blue light + reducing a tad the red and more green.
I think it’s time for me to get a calibration tool, do you recommend Datacolor SpyderX Pro? I hope they will sweeten the price during the upcoming Amazon Prime days

[PCM2]

Yes, the SpyderX Pro will give you good results and is a very simple device to use with the included software. You could also target a warm whitepoint such as 4000K during calibration if you want to create a profile that will have built-in Low Blue Light (LBL) characteristics.

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