Eve Spectrum 4K Monitor Review
Today nosotros're taking a look at a very heavily requested monitor, the Eve Spectrum 4K which is a 'crowd-designed' project but as they had washed before with the Eve V tablet we reviewed a few years back. Now, equally part of this review, we decided to buy a Spectrum 4K because Eve doesn't have a great track record every bit a company in delivering products on fourth dimension every bit promised. The Eve V tablet was a pretty good product, but it was plagued with product issues and delays, and the refund process was poor to say the least, judging past various user reports.
Eve did offer us a monitor review unit of measurement, but we wanted to assess whether they would actually evangelize a monitor to us after pre-ordering, and to come across what the whole process is similar. We were somewhat concerned that the product could be a scam – if they took pre-orders and never shipped units to customers beyond the first wave and to reviewers. So we secretly shopped this monitor to a unlike accost and details then Eve wouldn't know it was united states.
The practiced news is that the product arrived. We specifically ordered 1 after the start wave of reviews, to emulate the experience of a buyer who read 1 of those reviews and wanted to brand a purchase.
To proceed this unproblematic, then we can get into the bodily review, we bought the monitor at the finish of July and put downwards a $100 reservation with Eve claiming a shipping engagement of September 2022. They requested the remaining payment in the centre of August, claiming the product was "almost ready to ship."
That didn't really occur until Oct 4, a calendar month and a one-half later, and information technology ended upwards arriving at its destination on Oct 12. Now, that'southward probably not a huge issue. We bought it knowing total well it wouldn't transport until September, and it took a few extra weeks to arrive, so a short filibuster. For those of you lot ownership abroad nonetheless, on top of paying $800 for the monitor and stand, the only shipping option was $184 for supposedly "express" aircraft.
We wouldn't communication ownership it this way when basically every other monitor nosotros could only purchase from a local store for a fraction of the aircraft cost. That was less than ideal, but for now, let'southward shift into a wait at the actual hardware Eve are offering.
Design and Grade Factor
The Eve Spectrum 4K is a 27-inch 4K 144Hz gaming monitor with all the usual features. It supports adaptive sync variable refresh rates, it has 1ms rated response times through the use of an LG IPS console, and it has "HDR600" rating with upwards to 750 nits of effulgence.
The big selling point here used to exist HDMI 2.ane, although in 2022 that's non especially special as lots of 4K monitors include the characteristic. Eve as well claims the brandish was crowd developed by 4053 members of their community, so it'll be interesting to see whether that's made a departure in the final product.
Nosotros paid $800 for the Spectrum 4K but the cost has since increased to $900 for new orders shipping adjacent year. The $900 is divide into $800 for the monitor and $100 for the stand, so if you don't want a stand up (eg. for VESA mounting) you lot can relieve yourself that money.
The design of the Spectrum is pretty squeamish and while the stand is pricey, it'south quite an elegant product.
The base and colonnade are both made from metal with a pleasing grey terminate, and the range of meridian adjustment is excellent in addition to pivot and tilt support.
Even though the stand is thin and the base is non particularly large, information technology'south sturdy overall and feels well built. I like the design of the brandish itself, slim bezels, no unnecessary gamer style junk, no RGB LEDs. Overall this would be up there amid my favorite gaming monitor designs.
The slim section on the rear houses all of the ports, including ane DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC and ii HDMI ii.1 ports. The addition of HDMI 2.1 is critical on a 4K 144Hz monitor as y'all'd be limited to but 60Hz without it, and these are total 48Gbps ports.
And then there'due south also a USB-C input, which supports DP Alt way and 100W of ability delivery which is neat for single-cable utilize with laptops. Several USB outputs are besides included along with an audio jack. Pretty good range of ports all up.
As for the on-screen brandish, nosotros get an easy to operate directional toggle on the rear, although the interface itself is basic and surprisingly low resolution on a native 4K panel.
The range of included features is decent, it does accept crosshair support which nigh other monitors also have, plus the neat inclusion of integer scaling which tin ameliorate clarity when upscaling 1080p to 4K. I wouldn't say the feature set is astonishing, as competitors like Gigabyte offer KVM switches which you don't become hither.
Display Performance
Looking at response time performance, the Spectrum is interesting in that information technology provides a couple of overdrive settings in addition to user customizable overdrive through a slider. I similar this setup a lot as you can really fine tune the settings, then let's run across how it performs.
Overdrive off performance is fairly typical of LG's Nano IPS panels with a 9ms average response time and no overshoot. This style is actually decently usable but nosotros can meliorate functioning by using a higher mode.
Adjacent up the chain is the Normal way which appears to be the about counterbalanced between response times and overshoot. There is a small amount of overshoot detected, mostly in close together transitions, which in do isn't noticeable while gaming. The average response has improved to a very solid 5ms average, which is what Eve advertises as the panels "typical" response. Cumulative deviation is also better than in the prior mode.
The High manner is your typical too-fast mode that's designed to advertise a faster response time than the LCD console tin actually attain. While the response fourth dimension average is better than the Normal mode, overshoot is meaning and noticeable, leading to inverse ghosting trails. Cumulative deviation is worse than the Normal mode, so nosotros've gone backwards when weighing up the balance between speed and overshoot.
Across this you tin can command overdrive via the user customizable slider, which allows values between 0 and 63. Notwithstanding I plant that a significant portion of the range is useless with quite a high level of overshoot. And then I'll cut to the hunt. When optimizing for the lowest cumulative departure, I establish a value of approximately 15 to give the all-time experience at 144Hz.
This setting is slightly slower than the Normal mode, only to a negligible degree really, but has a lower amount of overshoot. This is what I'd use for high refresh rate gaming, although the Normal manner is likewise pretty solid if you don't want to mess around.
As for adaptive sync gaming beyond the refresh range, Eve claims the monitor has variable overdrive, although I don't see whatever evidence of this in practice. They might be incorrectly using the term to mean the user customizable overdrive setting, which is unlike to bodily variable overdrive, where the monitor automatically adjusts its overdrive settings depending on the refresh charge per unit for the best experience.
The nuts are that using a user setting of 15 for overdrive causes a bit too much inverse ghosting at 60Hz. After careful test of a range of overdrive options, I ended upward settling on a user setting of ten for the best feel across the refresh range. This mode is a footling slower at 144Hz at a 6.55ms response fourth dimension boilerplate, but still packs cracking functioning with a express corporeality of overshoot at 60Hz, and everything in between those refresh rates. Using this mode provides what I'd depict as a unmarried overdrive mode feel, even if it technically doesn't use variable overdrive.
Compared to other monitors, the Eve Spectrum is decent at its maximum 144Hz refresh rate. Response times are in the ballpark of other IPS monitors, while retaining a low level of inverse ghosting. I was able to tune the monitor using the user adjustable overdrive to be slightly better than LG'due south 27GN950 also, which uses a similar panel.
On average across the refresh range, the Spectrum and 27GN950 are virtually identical. While it's nice to become all that user customizable overdrive controls to get the best out of the display, it seems LG is already doing that for you lot with their offering, so this doesn't give Eve a large advantage on average. Performance again is solid and well balanced, though a monitor like the Gigabyte M28U isn't all that unlike if we're being honest, providing fast response times at the cost of overshoot.
And that'southward seen further when looking at cumulative deviation, which shows the balance between response times and overshoot. The Gigabyte M28U performs well, amidst the best for an IPS monitor. The 27GN950 and Eve Spectrum are slightly backside, although really all these monitors deliver a very similar experience on average. The performance is right where I'd want it to be for a modern IPS gaming monitor, which is a result between 500 and 600 in this metric.
At 120Hz the Spectrum is a mid-table performer, delivering decent results for panel gamers looking at that 4K 120Hz experience over HDMI 2.one. Then at 60Hz the Spectrum is in one case over again, pretty typical in terms of its performance with no notable problems. It'south slightly slower than the 27GN950 but not to the degree where yous should complain, every bit basically those 2 monitors deliver the aforementioned performance.
Input lag is a non-issue with the Spectrum, providing less than 1ms of processing delay and mid-tier results all up. The main limiting factor for input latency is the refresh rate, as 144Hz is noticeably slower than 240Hz or higher monitors in terms of lag and smoothness. At this sort of price betoken yous tin can toss upward between 4K 144Hz or 1440p 240Hz, then if yous play a lot of competitive titles the faster refresh rate may exist of involvement to you.
So we get to power consumption. Unsurprisingly the 27GN950 and ES07D03 are basically identical for power consumption when calibrated to the same effulgence output. Both employ the same panel, so I wouldn't expect anything unlike.
The Eve Spectrum supports backlight strobing, and information technology's a really dandy implementation, especially for this sort of panel. The built in presets have minimal strobe crosstalk or double images, leading to noticeably improved clarity compared to running without strobing, and not that many artefacts aside from a slight trail. You get the best prototype quality with the "short" pulse width, but the everyman effulgence, although even the "long" pulse width with a loftier level of brightness is nonetheless decent. This can exist farther tweaked using either the built in user controls in the OSD, or the BlurBusters Strobe Utility, for the optimal results.
This level of flexibility and control over the strobing mode is what other companies should be aiming for with their modes, because it ever delivers the all-time results. The Eve Spectrum ends upward with corking strobing, and a large degree of flexibility, including the ability to apply strobing with any refresh rate, such as 60Hz which is not possible with many other monitors.
However there are some drawbacks. Overall strobe quality isn't perfect due to the persistent result with KSF backlight LCDs, which is the slow red phosphor. This causes red trails when using backlight strobing, and this tin can be quite noticeable even when the level of strobe crosstalk is low. For that reason you may not want to use it. Eve also doesn't support using backlight strobing and adaptive sync simultaneously, which is increasing in popularity with other brands.
Color Performance
Color Space: Eve Spectrum 4K - D65-P3
Moving now into color performance and the Eve Spectrum is a typical broad gamut monitor using an LG panel. It has 97% DCI-P3 coverage, which is very wide and well suited to work in that color infinite. Beyond that, back up for Adobe RGB is more limited and overall Rec. 2022 coverage is 71%, which is an boilerplate issue by modern monitor standards.
Default Color Performance
Default manufactory scale was pretty proficient with my unit of measurement, at least for greyscale performance. The CCT bend is impressively flat and balanced, leading to perfect tone out of the box. The gamma functioning isn't perfect, only decent enough and that leads to adept deltaE results. However the default experience using the Spectrum is its wide gamut style, despite the majority of SDR content only using or requiring sRGB/Rec. 709. What this means is by default, the panel is oversaturated.
And so what we see when compared to other monitors is that the Eve is quite boilerplate in ColorChecker performance, but pretty decent for grayscale performance, at least in its default state.
Even so performance tin be improved notably by switching the monitor over to its sRGB manner. Greyscale deltaEs drop in this configuration to below 1.0 in deltaE 2000, and merely 3.0 in dEITP, which is very stiff, despite some inconsistencies with the gamma curve. Color functioning is as well very strong, as the colour gamut is existence managed perfectly and this leads to no oversaturation. All up this sRGB mode is a lot improve than average and very usable without any farther calibration.
Calibrated Color Operation
You'll also go keen results for P3 when the monitor is set to its P3 style, with deltaE performance that's very similar to the sRGB fashion. This means at that place's a strong level of hardware calibration for both of the colour spaces the display supports, and calibration can only improve things slightly. I would like to run across the sRGB fashion unlock white balance controls, they are locked which isn't a huge deal but still unnecessary, but exterior of that I'm very happy with the calibration being provided here – so long as yous switch information technology into the sRGB way for everyday utilise.
Brightness is decent, offering 450 nits in its SDR mode, which is just browbeaten by truthful HDR panels similar the PG32UQX. This level of effulgence is similar to the LG 27GN950, but a lot improve than the Gigabyte M28U. Minimum effulgence isn't amazing though, at 76 nits, which should be fine for most users simply isn't equally depression as other monitors can go.
Native contrast ratio is solid, at 1160:one with my unit. The 4K version of LG'south Nano IPS console doesn't suffer from the same contrast issues equally with the 1440p versions, and the Eve Spectrum was fifty-fifty a footling better than my 27GN950 sample from LG. Unfortunately though, contrast is poor in full general, due to existence an IPS panel. VA displays have more than twice the level of contrast, which makes them more suited to night content or playing games in the dark.
Viewing angles and uniformity were both expert, and LG panels tend to accept above average uniformity which is great for content creation. The primary office of the screen was very uniform with my unit of measurement, and in that location was only a small corporeality of falloff in the upper correct corner. I should notation that uniformity is unit dependent, and what you receive may be different.
HDR Functioning
As for HDR performance, the Eve Spectrum is a semi-HDR monitor. While it does pack respectable brightness capabilities, a wide color gamut and some form of local dimming to improve the contrast ratio, it fundamentally lacks the hardware for true HDR visuals. The monitor only has 16 border lit dimming zones, which leads to a lot of blooming and haloing when viewing HDR content. In a lot of cases, all dimming zones are illuminated, which prevents the display from really showing bright and dark areas close together.
To quickly run through HDR functioning, the maximum brightness the panel can achieve is solid, at around the 700 nit mark whether sustained…. as a flash… or at pocket-size window sizes. In fact across various window sizes the brightness never dips below 600 nits, whether sustained or peak, which leads to solid brightness, especially at normal monitor viewing distances.
Where the Spectrum suffers is in contrast. The absolute best contrast ratio I could achieve was 20,000:1, which was between a total black window and a full white window, hardly realistic. Inside a single frame, the all-time I could achieved dropped to but eleven,600:ane, which is well short of the sorts of contrast ratios HDR is recommended for.
And then in the worst cases, when dark and bright objects are on screen side by side, the Spectrum reverts to its native dissimilarity ratio, so in those situations it's not capable of HDR-level performance at all. You tin can become a better-than-SDR feel some of the time, but about of the time the experience is quite poor, so I wouldn't buy this for its HDR specs or capabilities.
What Nosotros Learned
There's a lot to like from the Eve Spectrum 4K from a performance perspective, while it's less stellar on the availability and pricing front. Outside of HDR, where the Spectrum is not very good, this monitor performs very well. Response times are decent, and right where you lot'd want them to be for a modern IPS gaming monitor, plus we get very adept backlight strobing and an important characteristic in HDMI 2.1.
This isn't as revolutionary as it one time was now that we have more competition in the 4K 144Hz monitor space, but the Spectrum ticks all the boxes for motion performance and it'south bully to game on.
Colour functioning is what I liked the most. Factory scale in the sRGB manner is very good, and it'southward clear Eve spent time ensuring each unit passes some sort of factory calibration process. It's too well suited to content cosmos in the P3 style, which has decent hardware scale also. Throw in good uniformity and dissimilarity, and at that place'south a great amount of versatility to use the monitor for gaming and productivity work, which yous'd want out of a 4K monitor.
While performance is strong and the Spectrum packs a modern feature set, I don't call back the whole "oversupply adult" matter has added much to the display. At that place'south a few things they might non have included otherwise – like integer scaling back up – merely it shouldn't have an online forum for a monitor maker to realize they should factory calibrate their high-end display, or to optimize the backlight strobing. That aspect is a scrap gimmicky considering several other monitors practise just too here.
As for its direct competitors, with Eve charging $900 for this display including the stand, it competes at the loftier-end of the 4K 144Hz market with products like LG's 27GP950, the newer version of the 27GN950. The Spectrum 4K is a better version of the 27GN950 with meliorate performance.
Withal I wouldn't automatically recommend the Spectrum when products similar Gigabyte'southward M28U exist. For $650, the Gigabyte comes pretty close to the Spectrum'south performance – including strong response times, HDMI ii.1 and great factory scale, merely it's a lot cheaper. The Spectrum, like the 27GP950, is not a neat value selection and you're ending upward paying a big premium for a few extras. This brandish might be the way to go if you demand the backlight strobing, or integer scaling, but for everyone else, the latest generation of 28-inch 4K monitors offers better blindside for buck.
Every bit for the release strategy, Eve was taking pre-orders for this display in mid-2020 with an expected release date for the end of that yr. Dorsum and then the monitor was supposed to be $700 with the stand included, and the company heavily touted offer the first 4K gaming monitor with HDMI 2.1. Only that was then, and surely information technology'd have been an excellent product in that market and timing, which would explicate why so many people jumped on board to pre-order.
But delaying the product well into 2022 saw Eve lose its competitive reward. New 4K monitors striking the market before this year delivering nigh of what Eve promised, at similar or better toll points.
Nosotros ever recommend against pre-ordering and here'due south ane prime example of why you shouldn't and why a company's entire launch strategy shouldn't be based around it. The Spectrum 4K is a practiced monitor, but it'southward null overly special in today'south market place.
Shopping Shortcuts:
- Eve Spectrum 4K on Eve
- Asus ROG Swift PG32UQ on Amazon
- LG C1 48" OLED TV on Amazon
- Asus ROG Swift PG32UQX on Amazon
- Gigabyte Aorus FI32U on Amazon
- LG 27GN950 on Amazon
- Samsung Odyssey G7 32" on Amazon
- HP Omen X 27 on HP Shop
Source: https://www.techspot.com/review/2359-eve-spectrum-4k/
Posted by: gordilloaralle.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Eve Spectrum 4K Monitor Review"
Post a Comment