Test What is the value of the Sony Inzone M3 monitor with a 27-inch Full HD 240 Hz IPS panel?

The design of the Sony Inzone 27M3 is widely recognized for its white and black stand, which is clearly reminiscent of the PlayStation 5. The display itself remains quite classic and quite sober for a model. the game. For example, Sony ignores RGB LEDs.

This monitor is equipped with a medium-sized external power supply, which should be placed under the desk: it is bulkier than the integrated power supply, but it is also easy to replace in case of problems.

This monitor offers only 7cm of height adjustment and tilt between 0° and +20°. The height adjustment is quite original. It’s not exactly vertical because the monitor slides forward when it’s down and back when it’s up. It doesn’t offer left and right panning or panning to switch to portrait orientation.

The back of the chassis is made of grained matte white plastic, very similar to the one used on the PlayStation 5. The fasteners are directed downwards. With the stand removed, the display is compatible with VESA 100 x 100 mm mounts. The leg has an efficient cable management system.

Connectivity consists of two HDMI 2.1 inputs compatible with the latest generation console (PS5 or Xbox Series S/X), a DisplayPort 1.4 input, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), which are very useful for use with video. -only a USB-C port, three USB 3.0 ports with a keyboard/mouse switch, and a headphone jack. It also has two 2W speakers, which are far from exceptional, but even help for system sounds and watching short videos. Unfortunately, the USB-C port is not powered and therefore cannot charge, for example, a laptop. Instead, the monitor has a keyboard/mouse switch called a KVM. Simply connect the keyboard and mouse to the monitor and set one source to the USB-C key and the other to the USB 3.0 Type-B port. So the controls will be sent back to one or the other of the connected computers.

The clickable joystick is the most pleasant way to navigate the settings. Just press the cursor to display the main menu, then slide it to the right to confirm the options and to the left to go back. It is possible to change the source, mode (preset) and input parameters (brightness, contrast, sharpness, overclocking, temperature, etc.). For example, it also includes settings for gamers, such as the ability to display an FPS counter (frames per second) or a timer. Menus are easy to read and navigation is quick. It is possible to directly adjust the brightness (up/down) or volume (left/right) without entering the menu. Sony also uses a separate power button to avoid mishandling. A good point.

A 27-inch Sony Inzone monitor is logically very comfortable on our 120 x 80 cm table. The leg depth is limited to 24.8 cm, providing enough space for keyboard and mouse. The 1920 x 1080 px Full HD resolution is good for gaming, especially at 280 Hz – the maximum frequency that can be achieved, which already requires a powerful graphics card. For other tasks such as office automation or even web browsing, Full HD remains quite limited, especially in terms of workspace.

Out of the box, the Inzone M3 SDM-F27M30 is configured in the most unreliable “Game 1” preset mode. If the temperature curve is constant, the average measured at 7920 K is quite far from the 6500 K reference. On the other hand, the gamma curve is constant throughout the spectrum and decides the reference value (2.2). Colors can even be considered faithful to those sent by the source thanks to the average Delta E measured at 3 – the eye no longer distinguishes shifts. Switching to standard mode saves lives, because the average Delta E then drops to 1.7 and the average temperature measured at 6470 K is set almost exactly at the reference value. In these conditions, there is no need to calibrate the monitor with the probe. Colorimetry is already perfect in this mode.

The native contrast of 11130:1 is slightly lower than that measured on the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ and AOC 27G2U, both higher than 1200:1. Therefore, this contrast is average for an IPS panel without being bad. Either way, this monitor falls far short of the contrast raised in the best VA monitors on the market, such as the Huawei MateView GT 34 and the AOC Q27G2E, which boast a contrast ratio of over 4000:1. Dark scenes and solid blacks look grayish, especially in a dark room. However, this does not cause any problems during daytime use.

The average difference in white homogeneity is 7% on a 27-inch panel. Thus, there is no change in the brightness perceived by the eye. We didn’t see any light leaks in the corners or anything cloudiness (“cloud effect”) in our test model. IPS technology also offers very good viewing angles with very little variation in angles.

The Sony Inzone M3 does not use pulse width modulation (PWM).Pulse Width Modulation“) to adjust the brightness, so it’s flicker-free and headache-free for those sensitive to flicker.

This monitor handles FreeSync and G-Sync between 48 and 240 Hz, so it works best when the graphics card is sending between 48 and 240 frames per second. It also supports LFC, which quadruples, triples, or doubles the number of frames displayed to maintain a smooth feel. For example, a monitor with a speed of 20 frames per second works at a frequency of 80Hz and quadruples the number of frames. It works at a frequency of 90 Hz at 30 frames. Does not use CFL between 53 and 280 Hz. Therefore, the supported range is very wide and covers all uses. To take full advantage of this monitor, you’ll need a powerful graphics card, especially one capable of displaying Full HD at 240 frames per second. A graphics card like AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti looks minimal; you can even choose higher performance with certain games. In all cases there is fluidity and the image does not suffer from tearing problems (to tear) or crushing (microstuttering).

This monitor doesn’t offer a black image input system to improve sharpness by tricking the retina’s persistence; A feature still available on some competing monitors like the Asus TUF VG279QM.

With overclock set to “Fast” (“Response Time” in French on the OSD), we measured the time after flashing at 4.5ms. This value limits don’t dream avoiding the effect of (“ghosting effect”). reverse dream It looks very noticeable with the “Faster” setting. Like the Asus TUF VG279QM, the Sony Inzone 27M3 is one of the most responsive IPS displays on the market. Only the Alienware AW2518HF with a TN panel performs better, flashing at 240 Hz 3 ms, but the IPS panel is more comfortable thanks to better viewing angles and greater contrast. Of course, Oled (and QD-Oled) technology with sub-zero flash time is far ahead, but it is still rare in monitors. We measured screen lag (input delay) at 12.6 ms (at 60 Hz). This is a very good value that does not create any delay between the mouse movement and its effect on the screen.