Sceptre X270W-1080P Review: A Value 27" That Delivers
by Brian Klug on May 17, 2010 10:22 PM ESTOSD, Speakers, Scaling
The X270W’s OSD is relatively utilitarian. I feel like I’ve seen this OSD style on other monitors as well - there isn’t anything wrong with it, it’s just a bit basic and sometimes cumbersome to get used to [1] being exit and [2] being select, with up and down in-between.
There are settings like you’d expect for contrast, brightness, color temperature, dynamic contrast ratio (DCR), an “Eco mode” that boosts contrast way up and brightness way down, and “opticolor” settings for some presets if you so choose. The full walkthrough is in the gallery below if you’re so inclined.
My only main gripe is that it takes 6-7 button presses to change the volume level on the X270W if you’re using the internal speakers. This is just way too many steps to do something simple, and it’s frustrating. I guess that segues me into the next section.
Speakers
Which is, the speakers. There are two speakers at the top, hidden discretely under the vented slots on the top of the bezel. I’m torn about the inclusion of speakers inside monitors. On one hand, if you’re just using the computer for productivity, it’s nice to have the speakers taken care of, since all you need them for are audio prompts and alerts from the OS. On the other hand, if you’re serious about hearing your game (those ever-telling footsteps) or your music, in-monitor speakers are never ever going to suffice.
The speakers are right there under the grille - you can see a sliver of one under the left grille.
I measured the X270W’s speakers using an Extech 407760 USB datalogger in a room with ambient relative noise level of 51 dBA. At 6 inches away, the sound level was 83.5 dBA listening to music at maximum volume on the PC and the monitor. So they go reasonably loud, but the quality leaves much to be desired. It’s a very tinny lifeless sound lacking most of the mid and low frequencies - passable for those OS alerts, but not much more.
The speakers also are default on when using an HDMI connection, albeit even quieter because the HDMI audio is ostensibly normalized. You can watch a movie on them, but hearing quieter dialogue and enjoying the full dynamic range of the audio is obviously far out of the question, and since there aren’t any audio out options, using the monitor with some stereo headsets is also out of the question unless you bring your own HDMI audio splitter.
Avatar Blu-Ray over HDMI: Flawless as expected
While we’re on the HDMI port, everything here worked flawelessly. The display works fine with the HDCP chain tested on the desktop and a Samsung Blu-Ray player.
Scaling
Thankfully, the X207W includes options for aspect ratio aware stretching, overscanning, and full screen stretching. We tested a number of different resolutions and were pleased with the output of the aspect-aware stretching as well as full screen stretching. Overscanning could be useful for HDMI input, but in practice just use 1080P and avoid any issues.
Trying 1280x720 did result in black squares along the edges despite aspect aware stretching being selected. It’d be nice to see a 1:1 option, as that currently only truly exists for 1080P inputs at native panel resolution.
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HollyDOL - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
I really wonder whether this screen contains true 8bit per channel mask or whether it uses dithering to fake it...Usualy, TN panels are just 6bit per channel and remaining colours are faked using dithering or frame rate control.
Brian Klug - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
I wonder that too, and in all honesty it's likely 6-bit and dithered like you said.I'm still trying to figure out a good way to test - displaying the color pattern works, but there's still some dithering on even the highest end stuff I can find. Still trying to get to the bottom of it.
I'm open to any ideas though! ;)
-Brian
Luke212 - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
the Sony G520 does 1024x768x120Hz. I recently bought one for $20 so i'm sure you can find one to testLuke212 - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
sorry, btw the g520 is VGA not DVI. i also had no luck finding a dvi crt.RavnosCC - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
I needs me some high hrz gaming!Brian Klug - Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - link
They're definitely coming ;) I'm working hard on getting a number of 120Hz panels in for reviewing pleasure ;)Stay tuned!
-Brian
jaydee - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
Count me among those dissapointed in the resolution. That big has got to be at least 1920x1200. I know it's cheap, but would it really add that much cost?I bought a 20.1" Sceptre LCD above 4 years ago (for around $350, ughh...), which I'm overall pleased with. The only thing that bothered me, was really dark scenes, there was a fairly noticable criss-cross of light coming from the corners. I've heard the only way to truly avoid this was to get a LED-backlit LCD. How bad was this on the review unit? I didn't see mention of, but maybe you covered it and I'm just not familar enough with the terminology.
Also, I'd like to see review(s) of some of the ASUS units, namely the VW266h (25.5" 1920x1200 for $250 AR right now) and the above mentioned ASUS MT276HE (27" 1920x1080 for $320 AR).
theoflow - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
Hey Anand and crew,Really digging all the reviews in the past couple of months and it is definitely helping me steer myself in the right direction for product purchases.
Although this might delve into a realm that isn't your speciality, I would be very interested in inexpensive 32" LCD review for HTPC usage. I think this is a sweet spot that is neglected quite a bit, with reviews and suggestions jumping to 42" displays way too quickly.
Keep up the good work and looking forward to whatever is in the review pipeline.
Brian Klug - Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - link
Hmmz, there have been more than a few requests for us to take a look at some smaller (well, is 32" small? Small for a TV, large for a monitor, hehe) TVs and profile them against monitors. I've seen an increasing number of friends dropping their computer-LCDs in favor of LCD-TVs, so I think it'd be an interesting thing to take a look at.It's definitely something we haven't tackled yet. I've got a 32" Vizio of my own (oh boy, the irony of having such nice LCD displays and then two Vizio TVs - though they've improved significantly as of late) that I could try, hmmz. I'll see what I can fit in! Thanks for the idea/feedback!
-Brian
Corporate Thug - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - link
Anandtech/Brian, can you please please please review the DoubleSight DS-2700DW...I know a lot of people who are interested in seeing ONE review of this thing. I think at $399, it would be a nice comparison.