Eve, the company that crowdfunded and crowd-developed a rival to Microsoft’s Surface convertible, is taking its community-built approach to the gaming monitor space with its first display, the Eve Spectrum, with production poised for Q1 2020.

In February, Eve (formerly Eve-Tech), started off its next project by surveying 2,000 people on what product that should be. Eventually it settled on a monitor, and ever since, Eve has been developing the monitor based on input from the community. From display panel types and firmware to the stand and ports, Eve has making development decisions based on community votes (rom a quick scan, voter counts often range from 200-300).

From the looks of its already-released specs, the Eve Spectrum is shaping up to a be competitive gaming monitor. Today, Eve exclusively shared with Tom’s Hardware additional specs, including confirming that it will use the same panel 1ms response time IPS panel found in the LG UltraGear 27GL850-B, Usually, gaming monitors with a response time that low require TN panels, which typically offer worse viewing angles and color. LG’s monitor is getting a lot of attention by being able to deliver speedy gaming-level specs through IPS. The ViewSonic Elite XG270QG (coming in November) uses this panel as well.

Eve CEO Konstantinos Karatsevidis told us that the QHD display will use the same panel as the LG 27GL850-B but with a brighter backlight and different polarizer treatment for higher contrast. The LG is specced with a 1,000:1 contrast ratio.

Eve also confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that the monitor will have a motion blur-fighting feature that Karatsevidis claimed will work the same way’s as Asus’ proprietary ELMB (Extreme Low Motion Blur) backlight strobing technology, promising an evenly bright experience.

We also learned that the monitor’s max brightness will be 400 nits and got more details on the full lineup of ports that will be available, including two USB-C ports and support for DisplayPort Alt Mode, dual inputs or daisy-chain pass through.

Eve Spectrum Specs

Panel Type IPS, VESA DisplayHDR 400 Screen Size / Aspect Ratio 27 inches / 16:9 Max Resolution & Refresh Rate 2560 x 1440 @ 144 Hz, 165 Hz overclock refresh rate Native Color Depth & Gamut 8-bit / 98% DCI-P3 Response Time (GTG) 1ms Brightness 400 nits Speakers None Ports 2x USB Type-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.0a, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack

Adaptive sync -- FreeSync 2 and G-Sync Compatibility -- will work from 48-165 Hz.

In terms of the backlight, documents shared with Tom’s Hardware point to global dimming rather than local dimming. It notes that Eve was previously looking at 8-zone local dimming, which may have provided slightly better contrast in some images. However, the document shows Eve believes that tech would “mostly result in light banding on dark screens with one bright element.” It goes on to say the vendor was warned that “due to manufacturing tolerances, the exact brightness of each backlight zone may not be identical, leading to an uneven brightness across the screen even when local dimming is turned off.

Design

Last week, Eve posted 5 different concepts for the Eve Spectrum. We’ve included some pictures below. It will announce the final design on October 18. In the meantime, the company has been working on the monitor’s electrical engineering.

Image 1 of 5 Image 2 of 5 Image 3 of 5 Image 4 of 5 Image 5 of 5

Since the design of the Eve Spectrum isn’t decided yet, the vendor isn’t able to confirm pricing until the beginning of next month.

However, Karatsevidis told us that pricing will be “very competitive,” as was the selling point of its Surface competitor, the Eve V and upcoming Eve V2. But considering the LG monitor using the same panel is $500 and the ViewSonic $600, we expect it to be under $500.

We do know that, like the Apple Pro Display XDR, the Eve Spectrum’s monitor stand will be sold separately. Karatsevidis assured us this decision was made way before the Apple display shocked many by revealing a $1,000 monitor stand. The CEO explained that this should help keep the price low, and makes sense for those who will use end up using a VESA mount anyway. Apparently, 46% of Eve’s users said they wouldn’t use a stand.

"Since [the] stand is not the cheapest item to make (height adjustment, tilt, et cetera), we realized that we could offer much better user value by offering stand as an add-on," Karatsevidis told Tom’s Hardware.

Production and shipping for the Eve Spectrum are scheduled to start Q2 2020. First prototypes will be available in November and tested with members of the Eve community.

In consideration of delivery issues some experienced with the original Eve V, PCH International will handle fulfillment, inventory management and help with components sourcing and supplier development costs for the Eve Spectrum.

Photo Credits: Eve