ASUS U2E: Form vs. Function

LCD Quality – Color Accuracy

Besides contrast ratio, brightness levels, and color gamuts, the other metric we like to compare on displays is color accuracy. As always, we use a DTP-94/Monaco Optix XR colorimeter with Monaco Optix XR Pro and ColorEyes Display Pro software. ColorEyes Display Pro almost always generates a better score on laptop LCDs than Monaco Optix XR Pro. Worth noting however is that the color gamut generated by Monaco Optix is usually larger. It seems that Monaco Optix requires a certain color gamut level before it functions optimally, which may be why the ASUS G2P is the only laptop we've tested so far that scores better under Monaco Optix.

The performance generated by the ASUS U2E LCD panel is decent, placing near the top of the charts for laptop LCD color accuracy. The only other ultraportable laptop we've reviewed recently is the Gateway E-155-C, which does achieve better color accuracy. However, we would take the higher luminance levels of the ASUS U2E over the slightly better color accuracy without hesitation.

While the first results compare color accuracy after calibration, it's important to remember that scores are much lower across the board prior to calibration. Here are the pre-and post-calibration detailed results for the ASUS U2E. Again, pretty much all of these results are surpassed by even the worst of the desktop LCDs we have tested. The ASUS U2E score slightly better than many other laptops prior to calibration, but with Delta E scores of 6.7 or higher that's something of a hollow victory.