Lenovo Legion Y32p-30 Evaluate | PCMag

Lenovo’s Legion model might evoke the tech large’s lineup of gaming laptops, but it surely additionally encompasses many different forms of gear, together with gaming displays. The most recent is the Legion Y32p-30 ($749), a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) panel that boasts a 144Hz refresh fee, a built-in KVM change, and a rated 0.2ms response time. Surprisingly good shade accuracy in testing, a large association of ports, and a bounty of gaming options like AMD FreeSync Premium make it price a glance. However its brightness, distinction ratio, and enter lag could possibly be higher, they usually maintain the Legion from reaching greatness. In case you’re seeking a monitor for informal 4K gaming, film watching, and even some mild content material creation, the Legion Y32p-30 is a strong, if unremarkable, selection.

Prepped for Battle

Regardless of its identify, the Legion Y32p-30 will not be precisely a 32-inch monitor, however reasonably a 31.5-inch one measured diagonally. With skinny bezels on the highest, left, and proper sides of the display, the Legion will not be bad-looking, although it is no standout. The svelte display attaches to a easy two-legged stand with no additional frills, except for a skinny, retractable hook to assist your headset, plus some minimal RGB lighting that provides the monitor an accent of shade.

(Credit score: Molly Flores)

The monitor measures 16.7 by 28.2 by 2.3 inches (HWD), and weighs simply 16 kilos with out the stand and 21 kilos with it. It measures simply barely smaller than different 4K 32-inch displays, just like the Dell 32 4K UHD Gaming Monitor, but it surely’s barely heavier. That additional heft doesn’t cease it from being versatile, although, with a tilt angle of -5 to 22 levels, a swivel of -30 to 30 levels, and an adjustable peak of as much as 5.3 inches. Lenovo left the choice to rotate into portrait mode on the reducing room ground, nevertheless.

(Credit score: Molly Flores)

Turning the monitor round showcases the Legion’s cumbersome hump filled with ports, which embody two HDMI 2.1 ports, a USB-C port, a USB-B port, and each full-size and mini DisplayPorts on the suitable of the stand. To the left facet of the stand, you may discover a 3.5mm audio jack and two USB-A ports. Two 5-watt audio system reside on the again of the monitor, as nicely, and produce first rate sound high quality. I solely want they had been forward-facing as an alternative of taking pictures sound out the again, the place it could get muffled. Run your hand down the panel’s right-hand facet, and also you’ll discover the OSD management stick and some buttons with enter and video-mode shortcuts.

(Credit score: Molly Flores)

Now for an important half: the display. Recently, we’ve seen many spectacular curved gaming displays, just like the Samsung Odyssey OLED G9, however whereas fancy curves and OLED screens may win the hearts of deep-pocketed players, the Legion’s IPS display remains to be nothing to scoff at. IPS screens are the mainstream gaming-monitor panel of selection because of their good response occasions, strong shade accuracy, and improved viewing angles, that are all on show right here. In fact, they pale as compared with OLED’s vastly superior shade vary, however IPS panels are ol’ dependable for a motive.

(Credit score: Molly Flores)

This monitor’s large celebration trick is its built-in KVM change, which helps you to management a number of gadgets with one keyboard and mouse plugged instantly into the monitor. It additionally helps picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes, welcome options for multitaskers and multi-monitor desk setups.

Testing the Lenovo Legion Y32p-30: We have Seen Brighter Days

We have reviewed an entire host of 4K displays at this level, so we rustled up 4 displays with comparable characteristic units for our benchmark exams from our check pool. To see how they evaluate with the Legion, we put all of them by way of a gauntlet that measures shade gamut, brightness, shade accuracy, and distinction ratio with a Datacolor SpyderX colorimeter, and enter lag with an HDFury Diva. The Legion’s competitors contains two 32-inch displays—the Dell 32 4K UHD Gaming Monitor (G3223Q) and our Editors’ Alternative decide, the ViewSonic Gaming Elite XG321UG—as nicely two 27-inch 4K choices—the Sony Inzone M9 and the HP Omen 27u 4K.

In our first check, we measure the monitor’s brightness with an SDR sign and its default image mode. The Legion Y32p-30 noticed simply 196 nits of brightness, barely higher than the Dell 32 4K however worse than each different possibility within the check set. HDR mode proved brighter, with the VESA DisplayHDR compliance exams (out there without cost on the Microsoft Retailer) measuring a peak HDR brightness of 368 nits, in putting distance of the Legion’s DisplayHDR 400 ranking.

Inspecting the monitor’s color-gamut protection subsequent, the Legion Y32p-30 spanned 98% of the sRGB shade gamut, 81% of Adobe RGB, and 85% of DCI-P3. These are good outcomes, however once more the monitor was bested by all however one competitor, the ViewSonic XG321UG.

(Credit score: Molly Flores)

Relating to shade accuracy, the Legion Y32p-30 stunned us most of all, recording a Delta E of 0.57. The upper the Delta E, the extra the colours are inclined to stray from their meant hue. A worth underneath 1 is right, although most gaming displays are inclined to hover nearer to 2, particularly out of the field. So this is a wonderful exhibiting, and will even pique the curiosity of content material creators and video editors.

Distinction ratio is measured subsequent, indicating the distinction in luminance between the brightest white and darkest black {that a} monitor can produce. It makes a distinction in image high quality, particularly throughout darkish scenes in gameplay. We measured a distinction ratio of 470:1 and a black stage of 0.42. IPS panels usually intention for 1,000:1, and that’s what Lenovo charges the Y32p-30 for, however in our testing, we by no means bought near that quantity.

Even throughout the similar panel varieties, it’s normal for distinction ratios to fluctuate. Low distinction ratio might be tweaked, although there’s a restrict to how a lot might be completed. Our testing is finished on default settings with the brightness raised to 100, however totally different video modes can produce the next distinction ratio. If you wish to take issues into your personal fingers, you too can strive enabling or disabling totally different settings, and even calibrate the distinction your self. These measures might assist deepen blacks, which in flip will elevate the distinction ratio. Simply remember the fact that these modifications might have an effect on image high quality.

Media and Gaming Efficiency

All gaming displays have one metric that’s most vital to players: the enter lag. To quantify that, we use an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix, in addition to take a spin by way of a handful of video games from our library to see if there are any noticeable blemishes.

In our check, we measured about 5.8 milliseconds of enter lag, which locations the Legion Y32p-30 squarely in the course of its competitors. Ideally, we search for a consequence as near 1ms as doable, and under 1ms is even higher. However when you’re not up late, sweating over the competitors in an esports-heavy first-person shooter like Overwatch 2, 5.8ms of enter lag is greater than ok. In reality, you’ll be able to cope with enter lag as excessive as 15ms with out an excessive amount of subject, particularly when you desire single-player video games.

Extra testing included enjoying Cyberpunk 2077, Returnal, and Counter-Strike: International Offensive. In doing so, we loved the Legion’s 144Hz refresh fee, which is larger than the 60Hz or 75Hz widespread on funds displays, however the minimal we count on from a gaming monitor on this worth vary. Be happy to tweak your recreation settings for larger body charges (in case your PC can deal with it, that’s), as AMD FreeSync Premium ought to maintain display tearing at bay. The Xbox Sequence X and PlayStation 5 may additionally have the ability to make the most of the elevated frame-rate most, because the Legion options the required HDMI 2.1 assist for console charges as much as 120 frames per second (fps). However finally, the sport you wish to play should assist 120fps as nicely, so your mileage might fluctuate.

Verdict: One other Brick within the Wall

The Lenovo Legion Y32p-30 is dependable if not unremarkable, delivering tip-top shade accuracy with an honest array of gaming options. However outdoors of shade accuracy, which is not a primary concern for many players, it doesn’t actually shine in every other space past the bizarre inclusion of a KVM change in a gaming monitor. It’s a very good purchase when you’re keen to attend for a worth drop, however contemplating the value of the monitor, you in all probability ought to pay simply barely extra and deal with your self to a vastly superior OLED display. Our favourite decide? The Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 OLED.