Looks like Eve has actually done it. The crowd-created Eve Spectrum gaming monitor is an outstanding 4K, high refresh rate display that finally brings HDMI 2.1 connectivity to the desktop. Who would have guessed? Who the heck is Eve? [It was a 2-in-1 tablet that was supposed to shatter Microsoft's Surface, but suffered production delays and eventually ran into problems with its distribution partners, resulting in some people never receiving the device they actually paid for. And in some cases, they even had trouble getting their money back. Not a good impression for anyone.

So there is a certain bad feeling towards the company, but that doesn't stop the company from doing everything in its power to develop what it hopes will be the best gaming monitor available. In addition to being based on its own theory, the Eve Spectrum is designed by committee, and the company seeks feedback on feature requests and potential prototype designs throughout the entire process. [The result is a $898 4K gaming monitor; the LG nano-IPS Oxide display is the heart of the Spectrum and key to the amazing visual experience the monitor itself provides. There are only a few panel manufacturers on the planet, but LG is definitely one of the best. This latest Nano IPS display is an 8-bit + A-FRC screen, capable of delivering 4K resolution at 144Hz. For professionals, it is recognized for its color gamut that covers 98% of DCI-P3 and 100% of the sRGB color space.

As an IPS panel, a response time of 5 ms is obtained, but can be pushed down to 1 ms if a stronger overdrive setting is desired. No visible ghosting or reverse ghosting is seen at the "normal" overdrive setting.

Another symptom of using an IPS panel rather than a VA panel or similar is that the black levels are not notably poor. They are probably the highest I have seen on an IPS display without specific tuning effects enabled, but they are not as good as OLEDs.

However, contrast is excellent, providing clear boundaries between different tones throughout the color gamut, and the panel's white saturation is excellent. Of course, much of this is due to the panel itself, but I must say that the factory calibration that Eve has done for this screen certainly looks good to me.

And then there's the viewing angle. This means that I spend most of my time looking directly at the face of the screen, and I must say that the Eve Spectrum looks perfect from all angles. Colors are consistent across the panel, and the vibrancy is consistent as well. [The 144Hz refresh rate is also great at 4K, and while this is not the first screen to offer a high refresh rate at Ultra HD resolutions, it is one of the first to offer this refresh rate with two HDMI 2.1 ports on the back and a single HDMI cable. It also features adaptive sync to maintain a smooth, fluid image for gaming.

Curiously, however, the Nvidia G-Sync certification did not seem to be recognized on the GeForce RTX 3080 I connected. We have been informed that it will show up in the next driver update at the end of the month, and it is already listed on Nvidia's own G-Sync compatibility screen. However, it is still fully functional in terms of the basic concept of G-Sync, so it is not necessarily an imminent issue.

Where the panel is absolutely at a disadvantage is HDR; the Eve Spectrum has been given a DisplayHDR 600 rating and can achieve peak brightness levels of 750 cd/m2, but it is not a monitor you want to use for HDR gaming. In SDR mode, the panel uses a standard global backlight system, illuminating the screen from the bottom. This is great and produces excellent images.

However, when the monitor is set to HDR mode, it switches to a 16-zone local dimming backlight. Unfortunately, this backlight is still a bottom edge-lit system, which causes strange row blurring in high-contrast images. This is ugly and obscures detail in dark scenes.

Running around camp in Assassin's Creed: In Valhalla, it was almost impossible to see what the hell was going on as you ran around the dimly lit camp with flickering torches and campfires. even in Valhalla, the saving logo animations were on a black screen The looping of the saving logo animation over the black screen again highlighted this problem, making the effects of the blurring even more noticeable.

Frankly, the absence of local dimming is far preferable to a handful of zones. If it is not in the hundreds, it is not granular enough to make local dimming worthwhile.

And unfortunately, there is currently no way to disable this when HDR is enabled.

I say "right now" because since I got this monitor, EvE has already started a firmware update to improve compatibility with the Xbox Series X. So if the community wants it and there is a way, there is a good chance that EvE will update the OSD to provide an option to disable local dimming.

In standard SDR mode, however, the Eve Spectrum is a great monitor. It is already brighter than other monitors and handles contrast impressively, so games really come alive. The pin-sharp 27-inch 4K resolution, in particular, reproduces every detail superbly, and the 144 Hz refresh rate is enough for any hardware capable of driving it to its extremes.

I'm still not 100% convinced that the hardware built into the Xbox Series X is up to it, but this is one of the first gaming monitors to allow high-end Microsoft consoles to output at peak 4K/120Hz. However, it is a great match for high-end PCs.

HDR aside, the Eve Spectrum offers a visual feast for the eyes, but the actual design of the monitor itself is just as good. There is almost no bezel around the screen, the frame around it is wonderfully clean, and there is only one LED below the bottom bezel to indicate that it is powered on.

On the back of the screen, just behind the center LED, is the power button and the joystick that controls the OSD. My main monitor still uses the side-by-side button set, which is an absolute nightmare to use when navigating the nested menus. Joysticks are much more intuitive.

Then there is the optional stand, which can be controversial. It does not come standard, and unless you have already invested in a VESA mount, you will have to add another $99 to your order price. On the flip side, the reason 46% of the community suggested this in the first place is so that users who already have VESA mounts on their desktops don't have to pay for a hunk of metal that will turn into junk anyway.

And that is a shame, because it is a stylish stand.

The base is relatively narrow, but the depth makes it perfectly stable, and the slim stand itself is wonderfully minimalist, curving outward to provide cutouts for cable management and a height adjustment mechanism; the Spectrum can also tilt and rotate.

The final feature worth shouting about is another one regularly requested by the community: a USB hub. While not particularly unusual for a gaming monitor, the Eve Spectrum has both USB Type-B and Type-C hub options. The DisplayPort Alt mode feature also allows the user to connect a laptop with a single USB Type-C cable, giving the user the feeling of having one cable to rule them all.

A single wire can output 4K at 60Hz, power the monitor's hub (another Type-C and a pair of Type-A USB ports are available), and charge a laptop up to 100W. This is enough power to charge and output the Razer Blade Stealth 13 and power the three USB ports simultaneously. It is still not enough to keep a heavier gaming laptop running at full power under load, but still enough power to charge it when not gaming.

I am genuinely a big fan of the Eve Spectrum gaming monitors. I enjoyed its birth as a Cloud Design product, was disappointed by the delays, troubled by Eve's history, and finally delighted to see it in action, and while some will rightfully be jaded by the battle over the Eve V tablet and not give the company a second chance, the naivete surrounding the company's first overhyped product has shown that it has learned from it.

The product is manufactured, shipped to customers, and the company has contracts to supply screens to actual retailers. This should convince you that the company has relegated its nightmarish past to the distant past of history.

And if we look at the product itself, the Eve Spectrum is an outstanding gaming monitor. The only problem is the price. At $898 for the full package, it is expensive. However, when it comes to a 4K screen with a high spec and high refresh rate, it is not much different from the competition. Factory calibration is effective, and the overall design makes it one of the most adaptable and easy-to-use gaming monitors.