The Eizo CG248 is a UHD 4k self calibrating monitor. Its robustly built and offers a superb picture quality. A great solution for a user looking for a color critical monitor. Because of its professional quality, its price is not for the faint of heart.
View the Transcript
Every year, new monitors are released with new functions, higher resolutions and new build materials. Sometimes these releases are made because there has been a breakthrough in technology, but most of the time it’s because there is a yearly expectation for a new products. Luckily for Eizo the CG248 fits a need for a color critical monitor to many professional videographers and filmmakers; but it’s not for everyone. Because of its hefty price tag, It could be a non starter for many. That’s not to say it’s not worth it, but rather, if you produce video as a hobby or for a non primary source of income, you won't benefit from the high end options that the CG248 offers.
Its safe to say 4k is here to stay. From the GoPro HERO4 Black to the Panasonic GH4 and the Sony A7s II, UHD is the standard in 4k, with DCI 4k being the outlier in consumer electronics. It’s a good thing too since the CG248 offers 4k but only in the UHD flavor. This could be a negative if you need DCI, but for most, it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Look, Touch, Feel...
When we first got the Eizo in, we noticed its weight, it’s a heavy one. Compared to the Dell UP2414q we used for comparison, the CG248 came in almost twice as heavy. The Dell came in at 10.58 lbs and CG248 at 20.3 lbs. However if you don't include the hood, the Ezio only weighs 12.6 lbs. We like the hood and It’s cool that it’s included, however we would have liked to see a no hood version for less money, as not everyone will need it. As expected it came with both a power cable and computer connecting cable. We used the displayport connection for both the Ezio and Dell to our Mac Pro with an AMD FirePro D700 GPU.
The overall build quality of the monitor is very nice. Its stout, and is professional grade. The hood goes on easy and secures with the help of a few magnets. The stand out feature is the built-in Calibration sensor. It hides behind the bezel and can even be scheduled to self calibrate. This is a stellar option for those needing a monitor that is always calibrated to be color critical. No need to calibrate manually or even own a external calibration device.
Performance
When comparing it to the Dell UP2414Q, the two monitors are quite similar. UHD resolution, a pixel density of 185 ppi, both have a IPS display, 1000:1 contrast ratio and a viewing angle of 178 degrees. The Dell had only one spec that was better than the Ezio with a response rate of 8ms vs the Ezios response rate of 14ms. However that’s not to say they both perform the same. At first glance, they seem the same and over the many different test images the difference was little to none. The conclusion we came to during the evaluation of the CG248 was that it’s a professional grade monitor whereas the Dell is not, its a consumer monitor. The main differences between it and the dell all came down to the high end options that Ezio offered. From self calibration, hood, Output options including broadcast and cinema presets like Rec709 and SMPTE-C, as well as 10-Bit Simultaneous Display from a 16-bit look-up table.
When testing a monitor, it’s not just how one part of the monitor did, but how uniform it performed over the whole screen. Ezio boasts a Delta-E difference of 3 or less across the screen, and that’s impressive. It also offers a zoom-in function to be able to check a section of the screen for a close up look at the color or any other thing you would like to look at closely and give a critical eye to.
We’d be missing a big part of this review if we didn’t include a bit about the self calibration process. When the monitor is first plugged in, the calibration sensor comes down and hides again. This isn't the calibration process, just the way it turns on. However when gone into the menu, and choose calibration, it takes about 3 minutes to go through the calibration process. The sensor comes down and the monitor cycles through colors for the monitor to analyze and then when it’s done, the screen goes black, the sensor hides away and the computer signal turns on. Ezio says that it reproduces 99% of Adobe RGB, and compared to the Dell, the colors are the same. Pulling up test images, the Ezio passes each test with flying colors, not one shortcoming when it comes to picture and color reproduction.
Final Thoughts
The CG248 by Ezio is a great monitor, it looks fantastic, calibrates itself, and has a constant performance across the whole screen. Any Studio, Broadcast station or production house would benefit from this strong performer. Our biggest hangup is its cost. Is it worth the $2750 pricetag? Yes, but to justify it, it would need to be a tool to make money, if the work you do doesn’t require the color to be perfect, or better yet, you’re creating because you love making video and don’t make big or small bucks in the productions you create… then it’s not for you. You’d be better off with a consumer monitor that isn’t as precise, offer as long of a life or give you all the deep professional options.
