NEC MultiSync EA305WMi Professional Monitor With ControlSync Review

For some of our testing we used the Lagom LCD monitor test pages found at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/. The Lagom LCD monitor test pages provide tests for saturation, banding, sharpness, uniformity and more. We also used this online monitor testing page at FlatpanelsDK - http://tft.vanity.dk/monitorTest_scale.html which dives deeper into gradient response and even pixel alignment.

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As we mentioned earlier, the OSD menu is easy to use. The menu has individual sliders for brightness, contrast, and black level, and also has two eco modes: one at 15 percent power savings and another at 40 percent savings. As power-friendly as these settings are, they greatly dim the display and don’t strike us as tools that most users are likely to use often.

We noticed no backlight bleed and found the screen to be fairly bright. In our office setting, we found we could dial back the brightness quite a bit while still having a bright, clear picture. Colors were uniform, saturation was on point, and overall sharpness was very good. There were not issues to speak of when using the various test patters.

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Next, we connected NEC’s own MDSVSENSOR3 ($199), which plugs into your computer’s USB port. We also fired up the optional SpectraView II software. Between the device’s quick start guide and the software’s instructions, we quickly had the device properly attached to the panel and were able to start calibrating. The process was short (about 10 minutes) and painless and made a visible difference. If color accuracy is paramount to your workflow, a professional display like this one, calibrated with the proper tools makes a world of difference.

Joshua Gulick

Joshua Gulick

Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for Smart Computing Magazine.  A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family. 

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