it's finally here the Dell U2711, wanted it since launch of the 27inch iMac by Apple, knew Dell will bring something better and drooled on launch of the Dell U2711, dreaming of the day i could afford one. let me explain that all photos are taken using the simple HDR mode offered by iPhone 4. this is because non-HDR mode have glare from bright colours that human eyes cannot see, it is true for all monitors, and also, normal mode does not show true colour of the monitor very well (if at all). first off, the good points that i noticed and love, don't worry, there are bad points that need to be addressed, it's not perfect, but very close. The Good: Rich dark colours: i know VA panel users may not agree, but switching from (what seems now) washed out TN panel, the IPS is so much better looking during dark film scenes. the Dark Knight HD never looked so good. (except there's a small price to pay in HD films, more on it later) all those dark photos look natural, no more grayish black. Brilliant other colours: for the record, im using the pre-calibrated sRGB profile. the colours look so natural. i took a photo of the view outside my window, put it onto the monitor, and compared it, it was a cloudy day, yet the things i see on my monitor was not exaggerated as read on reviews, it was pretty much the same as what i see outside the window. pull up the colourful Wall-e film, all colours looks simply brilliant. no Dead/stuck pixels: guess this isn't a good point of U2711, but it is a good point for my monitor, no dead pixels, guess i was pretty lucky. touch wood it doesn't develop any. no colour banding on gradient: this was the thing bugged me most while having the TN panels, a lot of colour banding stopped me from enjoying my all time favourite Homeworld series. played HW during CRT days, and it was brilliant, but cannot play it on TN panels due to visible colour banding. with this new 8-bit IPS panel, 12-bit internal processing and perhaps 10-bit interface from computer, i didn't notice any colour binding at all. zero ghosting: i was worried that it may have a large amount of ghosting due to not an TN panel. but from what i have seen in games and tests, i cannot notice any. due to lack of good DSLR camera, the lack of shutter control on my iphone doesn't help. (non HDR picture, it's worse in HDR mode) but it does give us a good idea that this monitor is just as fast as the TN 24inch next to it. well, as long as you are not OCD about it. fantastic viewing angles: viewing angle on this thing is phenomenal. guess it's expected from a non-TN panel. i set it to 1/3 top at eye level on my desk when im sitting in the swivel chair, get down to armchair for film watching and zero, ZERO, colour difference, dark scenes still perfectly clear. my attempt at taking an extreme angle shot: Soooo much more desktop space than 24 inch: you thought 1920x1200 is big? 2560x1440 is so big, im finding it hard to fill it. well, i don't do any work on this computer anymore, so desktop space is not as needed as before. there's a downside to this resolution, more on that later. with so many pixels, i can have 2 browser window open side-by-side with more than 1200 pixels wide each (websites usually are designed for 1024 width), and still have space for a strip of gadgets on the right. the gadgets are right-most line on the 24inch, taken right after i connected it, before i moved any gadgets. films are fantastic: not quite IMAX, but when you are sitting at arms length to a 1080p film at this size with 5.1 surround sound, it's pretty immense. there will always be little things that makes something perfect not quite so The Bad: Grain from scaling: no matter what video source, SD to 1080p, it all looks like been scaled. 1080p looks like 720p on my 24inch, and 720p looks like SD. this is the price to pay when using such a high resolution monitor. however, if put the computer resolution to 1080p and relay on the built in scale to the monitor, everything looks sharper. Need a faster graphics card: the 5870 is not slow by any measure. but trying to play multiplayer BFBC2 with same setting as before, upping resolution to 2560x1440 will hurt a lot. had to settle with 2xMSAA and HBAO off. Crysis became unplayable at this resolution and Dirt 2 is barely playable. lucky my new time waster L4D2 is completely playable at this resolution. Touch controls isn't as good: was expecting something better. but touch controls isn't my favourite thing. you have to first touch the bottom most one to activate menu, then press menu to activate the actual OSD, to press stuff repeatedly, have to lift finger pretty long way off, otherwise it will not register repetitive presses. Strange coating: the anti-glare coating is a bit strange. it is noticeable when looking closely at the monitor displaying white background (eg, when trying to read small print on websites) im using it for films and gaming, so it's okay, but i'd imagine some photo professional will find it annoying. Ports: i consider this a bad point because im sad that i'll never use them all..... 2 DVI ports? what's that for? could do with cheaper price tag and less ports (eg. Displayport, DVI, HDMI & component will be enough) and a couple pictures: from going clockwise from top left: Displayport, DVI, power, USB, VGA and manuals, with the factory calibration report. (report says mostly below delta E 2, the longest one is about 4, seen there) was surprised it came pre assembled, just lift it up and ready to go. before setting it up on the stand properly, it was plug in and immediately display the correct resolution. connecting using displayport. just one monitor missing for eyefinity at 1080p all in all, a brilliant monitor. it's not for everyone with its price and its resolutions, also the strange coating. but if you've got the money, and want something special, this is the one to get. for my multimedia and gaming needs, it's brilliant even if it's a bit overkill, you cannot find any other monitor of this size with the vertical viewing angle i need (large, due to switching between armchair and computer chair) hope that answers why i wanted to buy this monitor, even though for a little more, 2 U2410 can be had. i need single large panel for multimedia, 3 monitors are no good when watching films or playing games that doesn't support eyefinity. 3 monitors are like 3D, a lot of hassle for what is only useful in very limited things.
Interesting stuff - thanks for posting Is it really just the vertical size that has been trimmed a little compared to a 30-inch? I'm wondering if the width of the screen is the same as, say, a Dell 3008WFP. EDIT: I've checked and there's an extra 5cm in physical monitor width on the 30" monitors. The Pixel density in this 27" is just that much higher.
The question is though, and i'm sure you probably can't answer this, but is it better than Apples offering? I do have the 27" iMac, sitting along side my Dell 3007 and i can say, the iMac's is better, but, that's hardly surprising given the Dells age etc. SAm
the pixel density is the highest in any consumer monitor. so i guess for same width as 30inch would probably need be 28inch 16:9? as comparison to Apple iMac or their 27" display, i would say for PC use, this one is definately better: more connectors options (not that you'd use them), wider colour range and pre-calibrated profiles. however, if you want to use a Mac with 27" display, i think Apple's offerings are better. the Dell does have a Mac mode which has a strange colour to it on the PC, but you will save a lot of electricity with Mac's LED backlight, and Mac one doesn't have a strange anti-glare coating (guess it's person preference) the main thing that's putting off on Apple display for PC use is its lack of options. no option to choose a different gamma setting, no options to use other connectors and have to have iMac turned on to use as external if you buy the iMac. end of the day, both display are using the same panel from LG. only difference is Dell uses CCFL backlight which uses more power, but gives more accurate colours (doesn't matter to me since im using it for multimedia) while Apple one uses single LED design for power saving.
The mac one has a sheet of glass in front of it, which is pretty awful if you've got much in the way of light in the room. I think anandtech did a recent review where the two monitors were compared, would be worth checking out for anyone interested. There was also a similar NEC model mentioned in another thread here which I can't seem to find but was also comparable.
For any who are interested, Dell just released a new 30-inch panel. These launches are few and far between - the 3007WFP, the 3008WFP, and now this Dell U3011.
it's NEC MultiSync PA271W. this thread it depends on your budget really, on the cheap, it's Apple vs Dell, if you have more money, then it'd probably be NEC vs other budget 30incher. i was looking at the U3011, decided it's too expensive for me, so didn't wait for it.
Ah, that's fair enough then. I do like how you think 2560*1440 is big. And frankly i agree. When i first went to 24" from a 17" display, it was like omgwowwtf, because i had to keep moving my head. Then i moved from 24 to 30" and it was the same feeling as the last jump, only, you really had to move your head from side to side. Anyway, hope you enjoy using your new display, and remember, You can never have too much screen estate. Sam
Obviously, nothing that can be done. But I see more and more 720p videos on the web.. so it will help. And in the case of 1080p, which are also growing solve the problem. The menu navigation format is the same for the other Dell monitors that has buttons instead. The touch sensitive controls doesn't allow you to navigate fast, but it's not something you do very much in any case, and I experience FAR FAR FAR FAR worse touch sensitive controls, where it it just plainly doesn't work, and they made the power button a touch sensitive button. You have 3 film type: - Dell 3M coating - standard-anti glare - Glossy Glossy is the worst of the worst, especially Apple screens, where it's impossible to see your screen. Even in a fairly dark environment you see your reflection, and not your screen. Very annoying. Dell 3M film coating is really the best anti-glare you can get, also ideal if you have the sun behind you, but as you can see, you can see a fine grain up close, as I mentioned this to you. The Upside though, is that it's apparently light scratch resistant. On my side, I had an accident, and that filmed saved me 500$ (well 700$ now as it's no longer on special) on my U2410. Adding digital ports is not expensive, it's probably 10$ of the price tag. What is expensive is the VGA to digital converter, and even more expensive the component and composite to digital (component is a digital signal, but it still needs to be converter, as component uses YPbPr standard and not RGB). I am glad you really enjoy your monitor. Did you set your monitor to sRGB or Adobe RGB color profile, or did you calibrate it yourself, or are you using the settings out of the box?
I agree Glossy is terrible, have you seen ultraportable laptops with them, makes no sense at all. EDIT:According to TFT central review the Dell u3011 is better than the 3008 and has far las input lag and other areas too.
Glossy does give the best picture but totally impractical. I can't even stand it on my laptop, constantly having to tilt it. My iPhone is ok because it is mobile and I can hide it from the light. Monitors on the other hand must have some sort of AG coating or hood because glossy is impossible to calibrate and gets really annoying looking at the same reflection over and over again. You can't hide from the light like a mobile phone, you just have to live with it. Even in the dark the light from the monitor itself gets reflected back. The Cinema Displays are only good for glossy if you are into the above stuff. I know some people who don't have windows in their house and thats good but for people who do its not very good. The LED is not very power saving at all. White LED is dimmer than CCFL, so to compensate apple packed a lot of LEDs in their display. Running your LEDs on 80% isn't going to save all that much power.
If you're from the UK you can buy the Dell U2711 for £640 from Dell Business right now: http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...bncat&~bk=gr:bnMap:CategoryRec,g:NextStep,rk:
ah what!? im so gutted. payed £820 including VAT and shipping. that offer you linked works out to be £752 inc VAT, shipping can't be £70....... totally agree, but i think that only happens if you are using it to do work. i hope i will never need to, since that would mean i am bad at what i do. @GoodBytes so this monitor has that special Dell 3M coating? and i've set it to sRGB, connected using DisplayPort, and at 20% brightness, 50% contrast.
Well I guess you can return your monitor and order again the U2710, and ask for free shipping. I know that sometimes, but rarely, Dell will sell you a monitor at possibly at cost or bellow it, just to attract consumers. I recall seeing for 24h special, my U2410 which was originally priced at 750$, down to 400$ with free shipping. Similarly, I say the Logitech Z-4 when they were new from 130$ down to 60$. Or the MX Revolution, as 160$ mouse, down on special at 60$ for 1-2 days, a few years back. Strangely, Dell doesn't do a promotion on these.. they just happen. Yup. All the U series has it.
Ahh i didn't see the excl . But still YHBR , On the more serious side though did you get the monitor through Home or Bussiness, thinking of getting one since you can price match and get it at a lower price (though i'm wondering if a Dell u2311h eyefinity would be a better buy but maybe be not due to desk i'm getting soon).
not sure if second time would be lucky. no defective pixels with this one. think i'll stick with this one to save myself petrol (for collecting at depo) and time. had to drive across city centre after work to collect it. i ordered through small business, while price is about £950 got the price down to £820 with shipping, thought it is a very good deal and went for it didn't know they can go lower.
the thing with 3007 is that it hasn't got a scaler chip, from what i've read, you can only display 1280x800 and full resolution, nothing in between. but yeah prices has been going up. any decent 30 inch are now over £1000.
