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Our main test involves using an X-Rite i1 Display Pro Plus colorimeter and utilising Portrait Displays’ Calman Ultimate software. The device sits on top of the screen while the software generates colour tones and patterns, which it compares against predetermined values to work out how accurate the screen is.
The results show:
- A monitor’s maximum brightness in candelas or cd/m2 at various levels set in the OSD.
- A monitor’s contrast ratio at various brightness levels in the OSD.
- Gamut coverage, primarily focusing on sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces.
- Greyscale accuracy, measured across 20 shades, with an average colour balance reported.
- The exact gamma levels, with a comparison against preset settings in the OSD.
- The colour accuracy, expressed as a Delta E ratio, with a result under 3 being fine for normal use, and under 2 being great for colour-accurate design work.
We first run these tests with the display in its out-of-the-box state, with all settings on default. If there is an sRGB emulation option or other useful mode then we may test that too. We then calibrate the screen using the Calman Ultimate software and run the tests again.
You can read more about our test methodology HERE.
Default settings
Brightness and Contrast (Full Screen)
| OSD Brightness | White Luminance (cd/m2) | Black Luminance (cd/m2) | Contrast Ratio |
| 0% | 17.2 | 0.00 | ~Infinite |
| 25% | 92 | 0.00 | ~Infinite |
| 50% | 170 | 0.00 | ~Infinite |
| 75% | 246.8 | 0.00 | ~Infinite |
| 100% | 295.7 | 0.00 | ~Infinite |
Kicking off testing with brightness, things are as expected from a 4th Gen Penta Tandem panel, given we find a full screen white peaks at just under 300 nits, while it gets pleasantly dim at just 17 nits minimum. Contrast is, of course, effectively infinite due to the per-pixel nature of OLED.
AOC also gives users the option to turn Uniform mode on or off. This is something we've seen before from other manufacturers, and it's essentially a choice between consistent but slightly lower brightness, or higher peaks but with noticeable dimming as the window size increases, due to ABL behaviour. Uniform is turned on by default but it's always good to have the choice.
Screen Uniformity
Screen uniformity is also good, with very little deviation across the panel – though as you can tell, white balance is a little warm, but more on that later!
Gamut (CIE 1976)
| Colour space | Coverage (%) |
| sRGB | 99.9 |
| DCI-P3 | 99.2 |
| Adobe RGB | 97.3 |
| Rec.2020 | 78.7 |
Gamut is just as wide as we'd expect from a QD-OLED, well exceeding the sRGB space and hitting 99.2% DCI-P3, 97.3% AdobeRGB, and then 78.7% Rec.2020.
Greyscale
And then we come to greyscale. By default, the AG326UZD2 uses a ‘Warm' colour balance mode, and it is indeed a little too warm – averaging 6093K, which is a 6% deviation from the 6500K target. That's by no means terrible, but matters aren't helped by the fact that gamma is also a touch high, particularly for darker shades, and it averages 2.276. Those things combined result in an average deltaE 2000 of 4.1, which is not the best we have ever seen.
I also tried the ‘Normal' colour balance mode, though this is now too cool and results in a worse overall greyscale average deltaE 2000, so you're better off sticking with the Warm mode.
However, AOC does thankfully include manual colour balance, and I found that by reducing both red and green channels to 47, and leaving blue at 50, we got a much better end-result. Here the average CCT hit 6482K – which is almost perfect – and while gamma behaviour is unchanged, the greyscale deltaE drops to just 1.23.
Overall, I think it's good there is a manual mode so users can fine tune, but really AOC should be doing better with the out of the box settings. The Warm mode is far from terrible, but compare the AOC's factory calibration to the MSI 322UR X24, and it is clearly a step down.
Saturation
As expected, both the lacklustre factory calibration and the super wide gamut do mean there's a good degree of inaccuracy when looking at our saturation sweeps relative to sRGB. Things do improve when looking at the DCI-P3 space, but the average error rate of 2.43 isn't the best we have ever seen.
Colour Accuracy
The same goes for colour accuracy – the oversaturation relative to sRGB results in a fairly high error rate, while the inaccurate colour balance doesn't help matters either. While things do improve when comparing against the DCI-P3 space, an average dE 2000 of 3.49 isn't great overall.
sRGB Emulation Mode
Now, AOC does include an sRGB mode which clamps the gamut to prevent oversaturation. Gamma tracking is better in this mode, and while it's still slightly too warm, colour balance is also improved, though the average greyscale dE 2000 of 3.28 still leaves room for improvement. Nonetheless, this mode does improve accuracy for both saturation and colour accuracy, so it is worth using if you are working in the sRGB space.
Calibrated Results
I did also try a full calibration using Calman Ultimate, but for some reason on my end, despite the greyscale results showing clear improvement (as you can see above), my other test results weren't behaving so I have left them out for now while I do some troubleshooting. Perhaps a fresh install of Windows is overdue…
