Technologies

How CNET Tests Monitors

The method behind our monitor-review madness.

Monitor testing and evaluation consists of formal and subjective quality tests and hands-on assessment of the display’s design and features — connection selection and location, menus and options and overall behavior. As part of the process we use the monitor for tasks specific to its mission, such as everyday productivity, video streaming, image and video editing or different types of gaming (such as FPS or RPG). Note that we only report a fraction of our results, usually what’s necessary to adequately convey a monitor’s strengths and weaknesses for particular uses.

The process begins with unboxing and setup; it’s connected to our Windows-based desktop testbed (or a relatively high-end Mac in cases that require it) equipped with a current-generation Intel Core i9 and high-end Nvidia GeForce graphics card. Both the computer and monitor are plugged directly into a wall outlet to prevent any power issues that might impact performance.

We generally prefer to use our cables rather than the manufacturer-supplied ones since they’re a known quantity and tend to be higher quality; if we run into any issues, we double check using the manufacturer’s cables. DisplayPort is our primary connection for testing. If the monitor specifies any console-specific capabilities, we connect it to the relevant console(s), Xbox Series X and/or PS5 via HDMI.

Before any testing begins, we photograph the default settings and all menu options for reference and to determine the complete set of tests we’ll need to run on that particular monitor given its specific capabilities; how extensively we test depends on the capabilities of the monitor, the screen and backlight technology used, and the judgment of the reviewer. We disable power-saving measures where relevant, which can affect brightness and related measures (the option is mandatory per California law). We use a subset of these tests to evaluation laptop displays and run them both plugged into a wall outlet and on battery using the default profile but with screen timeouts disabled.

We also record any relevant information about the panel — manufacturer specs for resolution, color gamut and profiles, refresh rates and so on — that may impact our evaluation against manufacturer’s claims. While we review a display with the company’s publicly expressed target market in mind, we also consider the monitor’s suitability for other uses that might apply.Wherever possible, we download drivers and color profiles specific to the monitor.

What we measure

All measurements are performed using the most recent version of Portrait Display’s Calman Ultimate software using an X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus (rebranded as Calibrite ColorChecker Display Plus) and a variety of included patch sets, with additional HDR testing using a Murideo Six-G pattern generator and or the Client3 HDR patterns within Calman. We periodically spot check the colorimeter’s accuracy against the Konica Minolta CS-2000 spectroradiometer used for our TV testing.

Our test lab is equipped with blackout curtains to fully block ambient light, though complete darkness isn’t essential since the colorimeter sits directly on the screen and isn’t affected by dim lighting. The room has natural light and various artificial sources for normal usage evaluation.

Color accuracy results are reported in units of Delta E 2000. We perform most of the tests (where we know results vary) at both 100% and default hardware brightness levels.

Core tests — those we run on every display, regardless of intent or price — include:

White point, brightness (peak and minimum), contrast and gamma for sRGB and the native color space measured across 21 gray patches (0-100%), reported rounded down to the nearest 50K as long as there are no big variations. A variation of plus or minus 200K around the target color temperature is considered acceptable for all but the most color-critical displays.
Color gamut coverage and accuracy for sRGB and the native color space using Calman’s standard Pantone patch set plus grayscale and skin tone patches.
We add Blur Busters‘ motion tests for gaming monitors to judge motion artifacts (such as ghosting) or refresh rate-related problems.

If a monitor has menu options beyond the basics, we run the same core tests for the following settings when available:

All color presets
All gaming presets (such as FPS). We also test brightness for pixel overdrive and motion-blur reduction modes (which tend to lower brightness considerably).
Gamma for at least 1.8, 2.2 and 2.6
Color temperatures for at least 5000K, 6300K, 6500K and 9300K

For HDR, we add testing for HDR-specific presets (such as Game HDR or Cinema HDR) and brightness for window sizes of 1%, 5%, 10% and 100% of the screen.

Finally, there are tests we only run when needed to understand the measurements we’ve gotten or to confirm that artifacts we’re seeing — notably nonuniformity — aren’t imaginary.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was a fairly easy one, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Word before «card,» flood» or «photography»
Answer: FLASH

6A clue: Joust weapon
Answer: LANCE

7A clue: Brain, heart or lungs
Answer: ORGAN

8A clue: «Frozen» reindeer
Answer: SVEN

9A clue: What can be found on frozen roads or frozen margaritas
Answer: SALT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Follow a dentist’s recommendation
Answer: FLOSS

2D clue: Baby bug
Answer: LARVA

3D clue: Shape made in the snow
Answer: ANGEL

4D clue: Very little
Answer: SCANT

5D clue: Egg layer
Answer: HEN

Technologies

Amazon Speeds Up Delivery Even More With 1- and 3-Hour Options

The retailer says the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities, with discounted shipping for Prime members.

Same-day delivery apparently isn’t fast enough for some Amazon shoppers. The retail giant said on Tuesday it’s adding new shipping options that will get products to front doors within a one- or three-hour window.

The company said in its announcement that the one-hour option is available in hundreds of cities across the US, while the three-hour option is now live in more than 2,000 areas. Amazon’s web page at amazon.com/getitfast shows whether those options are available to shoppers for their location. More than 90,000 products will be available for those shipping windows, the company said.

For those who can’t get those services (including the author of this post, who lives between Austin and San Antonio in Texas), a message will display: «3-hour delivery is currently unavailable. Check back at a later time or shop products with Same-Day delivery below.»

Pricing for the faster delivery options is not cheap: It’ll cost you $20 for one-hour delivery and $15 for three-hour delivery for those without an Amazon Prime account, or $10 and $5 for customers who subscribe to Prime.

Last year, the company rolled out faster Amazon delivery options to 4,000 additional areas.

In a video of the podcast Learn and Be Curious with Doug Herrington, hosted by Amazon’s CEO of worldwide stores, Kandace Kapps, the director of the company’s same-day strategy team, spoke in more detail about the challenges of fast shipping. Kapps discussed shifts in customer buying habits over the last few years, such as more people buying household essentials like toilet paper on Amazon.

She said that Amazon can deliver so quickly by placing same-day delivery hubs close to customers in metro areas and by getting products ready to ship within 15 minutes, aided by warehouse robots.

«I think customers are going to continue to get magically surprised by how fast we can deliver to their doorstop,» Kapps said.

Herrington said fast shipping increases sales: «When we speed up the service, the probability that somebody buys a product from us goes up.»

Other retailers, including Walmart, have been adding same-day delivery options or exploring other ways to speed up shipping times to compete with Amazon.

Removing buyers’ moments of hesitation

Part of Amazon’s strategy, which has involved a massive buildout of locations, deployment of thousands of trucks, deals with other delivery services and investment in logistics software, is actually pretty simple: being there when people need last-minute items or make impulse buys.

«It’s about removing the last moment where you would’ve reconsidered the purchase,» said Stephanie Carls, retail insights expert at coupon and promotional-code website RetailMeNot, a sibling site of CNET. «It changes how you shop, not just how fast you get things.»

Carls said that Amazon’s super-fast delivery is removing the timeframe when people might change their minds about a purchase.

«There used to be a gap between deciding to buy something and actually having it. That’s when you’d price check, rethink it, or decide you didn’t need it after all,» she said. «This closes that gap.»

The retail expert said that competitors, including Walmart and Target, have been speeding up delivery times in some markets. Still, they’re not matching Amazon’s scale or product range at those speeds or levels of consistency.

«And that’s what starts to make everyone else feel slow,» Carls said. «Amazon’s advantage is how tightly connected its technology, inventory and delivery networks are, which makes this level of speed more repeatable.»