Dough Spectrum Black 32 review: I feel like a beta tester

Dough (previously Eve) isn’t the primary model that involves thoughts if you’re speaking concerning the best gaming monitors. Infamously overambitious, the community-driven model has discovered itself in hot water over the previous few years with unfulfilled buyer orders and a scarcity of communication with its group. The Spectrum Black 32, Dough’s second OLED show, is a monument to the subsequent period of the corporate.

The times of strife appeared to have handed for Dough, with its screens now obtainable on Amazon and seemingly within the arms of shoppers.

The Spectrum Black 32 faces different issues, nonetheless. Regardless of showcasing promising options, a ton of customization choices, and an envy-inducing third-gen WOLED panel, the Spectrum Black 32 nonetheless wants a number of work earlier than it might sustain with best OLED monitors in the marketplace.

Dough Spectrum Black specs

Design

You may stack up the Dough Spectrum Black up towards the Eve (Dough’s previous name) Spectrum from just a few years in the past and barely discover a distinction in design. It’s a black rectangle, however that’s not a nasty factor. Even with no branding and a minimal design, the Dough Spectrum Black feels premium, much more so than one thing just like the MSI MPG321URX.

A giant purpose for that’s the dark-gray end that wraps across the again facet of the monitor, which is constructed absolutely of metallic. Like related OLEDs I’ve reviewed, such because the Sony InZone M10S, the panel itself could be very skinny. Dough stuffs your entire connections and the center of the monitor in a raised part behind the show. It’s utterly out of view, which makes the monitor really feel a lot thinner than it truly is when considered from the entrance.

It’s a great-looking show, however the huge factor that stands out from a design perspective is the stand. Dough doesn’t embody a stand by default. You’ll must spend an additional $99 to get the stand. It’s a pleasant stand, constructed absolutely of metallic and with a cable routing channel by way of the middle to maintain your cable muddle at bay. But it surely’s an additional that you simply’ll need to pay for, whereas almost each different monitor you should purchase features a stand within the field.

The shortage of a stand by default may very well be good or unhealthy relying in your state of affairs. For starters, Dough solely makes use of one stand. In case you have a earlier model of the Spectrum, you’ll be able to swap over the stand. As well as, the stand mount makes use of an ordinary 100mm x 100mm VESA mount, so you’ll be able to throw the monitor up on an arm in order for you. If you have already got a monitor arm, you’re saving cash, and that’s nice.

Alternatively, in case you simply need a monitor with the entire regular conveniences (like a stand), you’ll find yourself spending greater than the competitors. As somebody who has a number of monitor arms I’ve acquired over time, I finally like the choice to separate the stand out. Nevertheless, it’s one thing you’ll want to remember when buying round when you have nothing to prop the Spectrum Black up on.

Options

Should you’re questioning if the Dough Spectrum Black has a specific function you may want, there’s a great probability the reply is sure. It’s packed to the brim with extras. The standout function is the twin refresh price, permitting you to modify between 4K at 240Hz and 1080p at 480Hz. Just like the LG UltraGear Dual Mode OLED, there’s a devoted button beneath the entrance lip of the monitor that adjustments between the 2 modes (you’ll be able to rebind the command of this button, as properly).

That’s the standout, however there’s much more right here. For starters, you get Black Body Insertion, or BFI. I’ve seen this function earlier than on screens just like the Asus ROG Swift 32 QD-OLED, which halves the refresh price and inserts a black body in between every refresh. You don’t truly see these black frames. As an alternative, you get extra secure frames throughout every refresh.

Should you’re, for instance, enjoying video games locked at 60 frames per second (fps) on a console, you’ll see movement blur between two frames. BFI supplies higher movement readability by blacking out the display screen between every body so that you don’t get any unusual transitions the place a number of frames present up on the display screen without delay. It’s an ideal function for consoles, although you’ll need to considerably sacrifice the brightness of the show with a view to use it.

Along with BFI, Dough contains clamping for in style colour areas like DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB, in addition to an anti-flicker setting for the variable refresh price (VRR) within the show. The latter will elevate the decrease certain of the VRR vary, stopping flicker on content material operating at a low body price. Lastly, Dough helps two inputs without delay, both by way of break up display screen or picture-in-picture mode.

My favourite function is display screen emulation, although. The Spectrum Black contains pixel-perfect scaling, and it permits you to emulate a 27-inch, 25-inch, or 21-inch monitor. That’s extraordinarily helpful for aggressive avid gamers who’re used to enjoying on a smaller 1080p show, particularly contemplating the 480Hz refresh price possibility.

Ports and menu

It’s uncommon to discover a monitor with customization choices, however that’s precisely what Dough presents with the Spectrum Black. You may choose up the monitor with or and not using a USB hub, and with totally different DisplayPort requirements. Getting the barebones mannequin will prevent some huge cash in comparison with the competitors, and all with the identical picture high quality.

With out the USB hub, you’re getting an ordinary lineup of ports — two HDMI 2.1 connections and a DisplayPort 1.4 port. You’ll have to make use of the lossless Show Stream Compression (DSC) to attain 4K at 240Hz, however that’s true of even way more costly screens packing this panel, such because the Asus ROG Swift PG32UCDP. If you wish to flip off DSC at the price of your refresh price, you’ll be able to.

This mannequin, which is probably the most cheap at $900 for a matte coating and $1,100 for a shiny coating, doesn’t have any USB ports. It contains one USB-C connection, however that’s just for firmware updates. If you would like USB ports, you’ll must spend $1,300 for the highest-end configuration.

Dough makes the highest-end mannequin well worth the cash. You’re getting the shiny Gorilla Glass coating, together with DisplayPort 2.1 so you’ll be able to have the total decision and refresh price with out DSC — newer OLED choices just like the HP Omen Transcend 32 are transitioning to DisplayPort 2.1, as properly. Extra importantly, you get a complete of 4 USB ports (two USB-C and two USB-A), together with a USB-C enter that’s able to 100W of energy supply.

I really like the truth that you’ll be able to ditch the hub and avoid wasting cash. For a ton of customers, a USB hub is extraneous in a monitor, and no different model presents this degree of flexibility. If you wish to go along with the USB hub, you even get a KVM swap, which I like to see.

The menu facet of issues isn’t as rosy. The on-screen show (OSD) has every thing you want, nevertheless it’s troublesome to navigate. Dough makes some makes an attempt at readability with quick explainers for every of the choices, however I think a number of customers will nonetheless get misplaced within the OSD. There are a ton of choices, and with solely a four-way joystick to get round, discovering all of them could be a ache.

Picture high quality

Nice design, a ton of options, and a worth that — minus the stand — could be very aggressive with extra mainstream choices? So, what’s the catch with the Dough Spectrum Black? Picture high quality, it seems. I’ve examined the very same panel loads of instances earlier than, and the outcomes right here don’t line up with what I’d anticipate. That is nonetheless an OLED monitor, and it nonetheless seems nice, however Dough has a number of work to do.

Gamut efficiency, which you’ll be able to see beneath, units the stage for why. In SDR, the gamut is spot on. I’ve seen some QD-OLED panels just like the Alienware 32 QD-OLED crack above 90% of AdobeRGB, however for the latest WOLED choices, the gamut right here is true. By default, the monitor sticks to DCI-P3, nevertheless it has choices to clamp the gamut to totally different colour areas, as properly.

After which HDR comes into the image. These outcomes are all off, however that’s as a result of the tone mapping for SDR content material is all off. You get that horrific grayed-out look that was acquainted with HDR screens just a few years in the past. HDR content material seems good, however attempting to run any SDR content material on the show will throw the colours and distinction manner off.

Dough has addressed SDR tone mapping a bit with a brand new firmware replace. Extra on that later on this part.

Colours are a ache level typically, as you’ll be able to see from my colour accuracy outcomes beneath. This panel needs to be hitting a colour error of simply over 1, however Dough’s show is hitting a colour error of over 2 when measured towards sRGB. You don’t want any fancy calibration instruments to see that the colour is off, both. Whatever the preset I selected, it appeared like one thing was off. The Show-P3 settings pushes too closely into the greens, for instance, whereas the sRGB mode is just too blue.

The firmware I examined isn’t the ultimate firmware for the monitor, or so Dough tells me. And a firmware replace right here can repair the shortage of correct tone mapping in HDR, in addition to the colour accuracy points. Nonetheless, this can be a truthful evaluation of the show proper now. Dough has been promoting this monitor for some time, and primarily based on the Dough subreddit, there are many customers with the show in-hand.

Fortunately, the colour points don’t bleed into brightness. A few of LG Show’s newest WOLED panels, such because the one on the Asus ROG Swift PG32WCDM, can attain above 1,200 nits, however the brightness efficiency remains to be nice right here. Dough is ready to clear 1,000 nits for highlights with ease, and SDR brightness, though not the perfect I’ve seen, isn’t unhealthy.

In the end, that is nonetheless an OLED show. It seems nice, significantly if you’re enjoying video games or displaying correct HDR content material. It’s clear the sliders are off, although, and also you don’t have a ton of choices to deliver the picture high quality again in-line and not using a correct firmware replace. I’d be completely happy to advocate the Dough Spectrum Black if it’s in a position to get near what this panel is able to after a firmware replace. Because it stands now, nonetheless, the monitor wants extra work.

A be aware on firmware updates

I initially examined the Dough Spectrum Black 32 with firmware 1.0.4, which is what the monitor shipped with. Most customers won’t ever carry out a firmware replace on their monitor, and I’d wager a great chunk don’t even know that screens have firmware. Until there’s some important change with newer firmware, I like to check how the monitor performs the way in which it reveals up — that’s the expertise most customers are going to get.

Given my outcomes, I reached out to Dough, and it informed me it had a firmware replace nearly prepared that addressed among the points I observed. What was presupposed to be a delay of some days ended up being shut to 2 weeks. The firmware replace frequently failed, even after I resorted to scouring the Dough subreddit for a handful of suggestions that different customers had give you to get a firmware replace to stay.

I finally up to date to firmware 1.0.7, which is the present firmware on the time of publishing. With out the gory particulars, belief me once I say that it was a ache to even flash the replace on the monitor — one thing different Dough customers are already speaking about within the firm’s subreddit. This replace does, certainly, tackle some issues. But it surely introduces simply as many.

As an illustration, the SDR tone mapping with HDR turned on is significantly better. It’s not good, however that’s a big level of enchancment. Alternatively, the firmware introduces a problem the place the colours will considerably shift inexperienced with a full-screen software, and the one solution to take away the inexperienced tint is to toggle HDR on and off.

It’d be one factor if there was some main concern with the monitor that Dough mounted with a single firmware replace. It occurs. However at this level, it’s beneficiant to label any of those firmware updates as 1.0.x. It’s commendable that Dough needs to deal with group suggestions with firmware updates, however at this level, these updates solely serve to get the Spectrum Black 32 as much as par with different OLEDs that value the identical worth.

Gaming

A number of what it’s essential find out about gaming on the Dough Spectrum Black has been lined up so far. You’re getting flicker-free VRR, BFI for console gaming, and the mainly prompt response instances of an OLED panel. Add on a 480Hz refresh price, emulation for a number of display screen sizes, and pixel-perfect scaling for retro video games, and you’ve got a monitor that may deal with nearly any gaming situation you’ll be able to throw at it.

In mild of the present picture high quality, it’s onerous to say it’s an ideal gaming monitor, nonetheless. That is an OLED show, and video games look good on it, however a wide range of screens from Asus, MSI, Alienware, and extra have higher colour efficiency out of the field. It’s not too distracting on the Dough Spectrum Black, nevertheless it largely comes all the way down to the video games you play. In some titles and with some show settings, the colours don’t look fairly proper.

That doesn’t imply it’s unusable. I used to be in a position to have an pleasing gaming experience with Special K, which I used to inject HDR into video games with larger management over the output. These sorts of instruments can counteract among the points baked into the present firmware, and in case you don’t thoughts getting your arms soiled, you’re left with a strong gaming expertise. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t need to resort to third-party instruments, particularly when Dough is asking for simply as a lot because the mainstream competitors.

Guarantee and burn-in

The Spectrum Black has a ton of burn-in mitigation options — too many, in truth. You get pixel shifting, pixel refresh, a display screen saver, static ingredient detection, and emblem detection, however Dough goes a lot additional. You’ll discover settings like temporal peak luminance management, temporal goal curve, and convex energy management — and people are just some of the choices.

Should you’re a show nerd, you may acknowledge a few of these settings or their related acronyms, however I’d wager that most individuals gained’t. I don’t suppose Dough must eliminate these settings, nevertheless it’d be useful to both higher clarify them with the tooltips within the OSD or to cover them in a sophisticated menu so informal customers know which burn-in prevention settings are a very powerful.

That’s a suggestion, as Dough is clearly nonetheless engaged on some points of this monitor. The guarantee is a criticism. Dough presents a two-year guarantee that covers burn-in, matching LG, however falling behind most different monitor manufacturers. The going timeframe for an OLED guarantee is three years. I don’t suppose you’ll develop burn-in inside three years most often, a lot much less two years, however Dough remains to be behind the competitors right here.

Dough doesn’t have an ideal status for customer support, both. There’s a subreddit dedicated particularly to horror tales with the model, significantly preorders that by no means shipped. The official Dough subreddit reveals that clients are getting screens, however there are nonetheless a ton of threads asking about the place orders are.

You shouldn’t have points ordering a monitor — they’re obtainable and delivery from Amazon now, which is the route I’d recommend going with in case you’re all for choosing one up — however the guarantee doesn’t encourage a number of confidence. Given Dough’s historical past, I hoped for a clearer dedication to customer support with its OLED launch.

It wants extra time

I need to just like the Dough Spectrum Black. I really like the design, and I admire Dough’s method to customization choices. The wealth of options even manages to assist the Spectrum Black stand out from the handfuls of different OLED screens which have flooded the market. Nonetheless, it seems like a monitor that’s in beta testing.

I can admire the onerous work that goes into optimizing a product after it’s obtainable, in addition to the communication Dough has with its group on-line after a tumultuous few years. However when the Spectrum Black prices simply as a lot — and generally much more — than the competitors, it’s onerous to justify. There’s not sufficient meat on the bone right here, and in some areas, equivalent to picture high quality, you’re spending the identical worth for a worse show.