Dough Spectrum ES07E2D with 27″ Glossy OLED Panel, 1440p and 240Hz Refresh Rate (and also now BFI!)

Originally published 12 Dec 2022, last updated 15 May 2023

Dough (formerly known as Eve) are today announcing their exciting new monitor, the Spectrum ES07E2D. This is a 27″ sized screen featuring a 240Hz refresh rate OLED technology panel and is “the World’s first crowd-developed glossy OLED gaming monitor”. Yes…glossy. This new screen has a 2560 x 1440 resolution and an impressive spec sheet thanks to the OLED panel, including a 0.03ms G2G response time, 240Hz refresh rate and adaptive-sync VRR for gaming. Thanks to the OLED panel there is also per-pixel dimming for excellent HDR performance and a near infinite contrast ratio, with true blacks. It’s an alternative option to the LG 27GR95Q we have already reviewed, and also the Asus ROG Swift PG27AQDM also reviewed, which both use the same panel, although those models have a traditional matte screen coating instead of glossy. Dough have decided to opt for a glossy panel coating instead. Plenty more info on this new screen below.

Disclaimer

We should say here that we are not in a position to vouch for Dough (formally known as Eve) as a manufacturer or supplier or not, and that is not the aim of this news piece. We are simply covering the announcement and launch of a new and interesting display from the company at this time. After much feedback from our audience we have added this disclaimer to the article as well so that readers can consider all aspects of their possible purchase.

It’s fair to say that the company has not been without its problems and controversies over the years. We will leave you, the reader, to consider your purchase and Dough/Eve as a brand. If you want further information from previous buyers and owners of their products and displays we would encourage you to check out the Eve community and also the Eve section on Reddit for lots more information.

Development background

Dough explain that “back in May when we attended Display Week, we shared our take on major display trends and polled our community to find out which of the upcoming displays they found most exciting. A 27-inch QHD OLED panel raised the most interest and discussion, so based on these survey results, we picked this panel as a starting point for our new project.” This is a WRGB sub-pixel layout panel, just in a smaller size.

Glossy panel coating!

Dough have opted to use a glossy screen coating for this model which is bound to be popular with some buyers. There’s a lot of debate about whether matte or glossy coating is better for a desktop monitor, and for an OLED panel. It really depends on your lighting conditions and usage patterns, but it’s great to see a glossy option provided for those who’ve decided they want it. In the right room conditions you get a better black depth and contrast, as well as an image that pops more. You do need to be more mindful of reflections though with a glossy coating. Dough previously released a glossy version of their popular Spectrum 4K screen as well, which we talked about and tested here.

For lots more discussion on matte vs glossy on OLED panels, check out our comparison video of the LG 42C2 (glossy) and the Asus PG42UQ (matte).

Dough Spectrum ES07E2D Specs

The Spectrum ES07E2D is 26.5″ in size (27″ class) and has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a flat screen format (not curved). It has a 2560 x 1440 resolution (1440p) which is well-suited to a screen of this size, allowing refresh rate to be prioritised as well. There is a 0.03ms G2G response time and the high native 240Hz refresh rate is supported by adaptive-sync for VRR, including expected certifications under the NVIDIA ‘G-sync Compatible, AMD ‘FreeSync Premium Pro’ and VESA ‘Adaptive-Sync’ schemes. There is a 48 – 240Hz VRR range by the way. There’s a few gaming extras like crosshair and frame rate counter available too.

In other specs there is a 1.5 million:1 advertised contrast ratio, although with the OLED panel being able to turn off pixels individually, this is approaching infinite:1 with true blacks. For brightness, Dough list a “typical” brightness of 150 cd/m² (presumably for SDR) and a peak brightness of 1000 cd/m² (HDR) which is decent for OLED technology. It remains to be seen how brightness in SDR mode behaves with things like ABL.

For HDR the screen will carry the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification (for OLED, not to be confused with HDR 400) and supports HDR10 content.

There is a 10-bit colour depth as well, and the screen comes factory calibrated. The monitor has a wide 98.5% DCI-P3 colour gamut. They also list the fact that the screen has “pixel perfect integer scaling” to handle lower resolutions as with their other monitors like the Spectrum 4K.

Black Frame Insertion (BFI) now confirmed!

A feature not originally included, but that has now been added by Dough is Black Frame Insertion (BFI). This is the OLED equivalent of a strobing blur reduction backlight on LCD screens, and really helps improve motion clarity in practice. It works especially well on OLED panels thanks to their near-instant response times, and the lack of BFI is something we’ve often lamented on recent OLED displays. LG and Asus did not include it on their equivalent 27″ 1440p 240Hz monitors, but Dough have said in an update from May 2023 that they already have this working up to 120Hz and are planning to extend this if possible up to 240Hz. The final options will be confirmed later on, but it’s excellent news that it will be featured in some form on this monitor.

Connectivity options

The screen has a decent range of modern connectivity options. There are 2x HDMI 2.1 ports and Dough go as far as to specifically list the capabilities supported which is great to see. There’s support for HDMI-VRR and ALLM included here which is good, although the port bandwidth is not listed – we are confirming with Dough. There is also 1x DisplayPort 1.4 (with DSC) and 1x USB type-C connection (with DP Alt mode and 100W power delivery). An additional 2x USB type-C data ports are provided along with 2x USB A ports and an audio jack.

The screen supports Picture in Picture (PiP) modes. The screen has a built-in KVM function as well. The additional Spectrum stand supports tilt, height, swivel and rotate adjustments.

Warranty and Burn-in cover

Dough say that the screen will have a 3 year limited warranty, a zero bright dot pixel policy and also a 2 year burn in warranty.

Availability and Pricing

Just like the company’s current models, the price of this new monitor will gradually increase as it nears shipment and a global retail release. Early supporters can benefit from Dough’s lean online-only cost structure with no middle-man markups. As they near retail launch, the price will go up to reflect the extra costs charged by retailers. As an example of what you might expect here, the original Spectrum 4K model that currently retails for $949 USD was picked up by early customers for as low as $569.

The early launch prices for Spectrum ES07E2D are as follows:

• North America = $649 for the monitor + $99 for the optional stand if you need (this is very competitively priced compared with the LG at $999.99). This will eventually reach up to the MSRP of $1099 + $99 when it hits major retailers around July 2023
• Europe = €749 for the monitor + €99 for the optional stand. This will eventually reach up to €1199 at final launch.

The original pre-order period has already passed, but you can check the current pricing and place orders with Dough here if you’re interested. Deliveries will start in July 2023 apparently and we hope to feature a review of the screen when it’s available.

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