Dell UltraSharp U2410 Review

Fuyoh…can turn to portrait position one. You must bought PS3 liao…haha

@Ah Hong: Nope. Saving money for other stuffs now. 🙂

You’re making the classic mistake of only measuring one point of the screen at a time to measure input lag. The peak lag is less than 2 frames on the U2410. But because you’re only measuring a small point on the screen you’re only seeing a 2 frame delay for that part of the screen. Monitors don’t refresh the whole screen at exactly the same moment. If you measured more sections on the screen at the same time you’d realize the peak lag is much lower than the 2 frames, and that your average lag is flawed because there tends to be just under a 2/3rds of a frame lag on the U2410. If you measure only 1/3rd of the screen you’re never see that the other 2/3rds aren’t actually lagged..

@Pat: So how do you test it?

Either place multiple timers on different sections of the screen or use a tool like Refresh Rate Multitool .exe , the link on the Hard OCP forum should be the first link if you search it on Google. It dispenses with numbers entirely and counts what actually matters – frames.

Some of these monitors also have the same green and pink tint issue as the HP LP2475w 24″ Widescreen (Which uses the same LG panel). This is a known LG panel flaw, and Dell are knowingly shipping some monitors with it. Although it only affects a minority, anyone who buys this screen should check that the left side doesn’t have a green tint and the right side a pink tint, when you view a white background..

How is the color performance? what did u use to test the accuracy of the factory tuned settings?
also @pat, for the issues mentioned with the ‘flaw’ does Dell warranty cover it? Dell malaysia is having promo for this model currently at 1599 which is very tempting to me.
hehehee

thanks

The U2410’s sRGB mode doesn’t work very well for solving wide gamut issues and, unfortunately, the Windows 7 desktop doesn’t support wide gamut yet, even though Windows 7 does contains support under the hood – it just doesn’t use it except for its photo viewer! If you look at something like the lagom.nl black level test you will also see many of the darker squares are grainy when you use the sRGB and Adobe modes on the U2410. Whilst the sRGB mode does help the wide gamut problem a little, it also makes the screen look quite dark too..

The Dell warranty should cover the green and pink tint flaw, yes. The problem is, once you’re reliant on your warranty, Dell tend to swap your monitor from a pool of other peoples problem monitors. The only way to avoid this is to get them to replace it with a factory new monitor, which you will often have to wait much longer for..

Dell aren’t any different from most other companies in this regard – when you send back a flawed monitor that is otherwise working and “within spec”, they put it back into the pool of monitors that will be swapped out under warranty.. So your replacement monitor is taken from all the rejected monitors! I would suggest the safest bet, if you get a bad monitor, is to get your money back and buy again at a different time, or from a different source..

@lurker: I don’t have colourimeter to test it yet. Based on Dell colour calibration factory report, both Adobe RGB and sRGB modes has average Delta E of less than 4.

By the way, you still have 3 days left to grab it at RM1599. Promotion end on 13/09/2009.

I have the same monitor. Bought it when it was launched for over 2k.

The unit I received have a very impressive view angle.
Been so busy doing work on it that I haven’t even had the time to play with the features!

I am definitely picking another one up at this 1599 deal.

@choen: Does your unit have the symptom that brightness starting to fade on > 22° like the unit that I have here?

Nice review, this just became available in the US and I was looking for info on its input lag. I’m trying to decide whether its worth it or not to replace my Gateway FPD2485W, which is pretty nice except for a slight ghosting in certain color contrast transitions.

But this panel doesn’t look to be any better with regard to input lag! About the same as the 2408 in sRGB mode, and about the same as my 2485 in Game mode. Also, does it change modes automatically? Having to launch that feature manually would become cumbersome I think?

Also, didn’t see it mentioned but I’m assuming no noticeable ghosting? Thanks.

Jayce: Will let you know next week when I get back to work. Need a break this weekend.

chizow: Maybe this is not a gaming monitor?

Perhaps not, but that is one of the major purported advantages of IPS over *VA panels. If its not significantly better with regard to input lag, it most likely won’t be worth the upgrade for most *VA users, especially with newer technologies like OLED and 120Hz panels on the horizon.

jayce: Based on eye balling, the monitor do seem to dim a little bit at 22 degrees, but does not seem to be as bad as your photos show. That’s ok by me as I dont look at it from anywhere but centre when I do work.

@choen: Thanks for checking it. It’s okay for me too as we don’t usually see from other angles. 🙂

Re: Jayce,

In your testing are you using DVI or Displayport? Displayport has superior bandwidth and color support over DVI. This should make a difference in your testing.

Hi, Please can you post some pics with same camera settings from different angles? In the example pics from the side, its not just the screen thats darker from the side… its the wall behind too. I assume this is due to the camera using different exposure settings for the shots from the side.

Thanks for your review, its one of the only ones up at the moment!

@Dan: I am using DVI. No DisplayPort on my current ATI HD 4870 display card.

@Chris: The camera setting is the same for all the photos. However, I think the metering system makes the colour different a bit.

Shooting Mode – Manual Exposure, Evaluative Metering, 1/30 sec exposure, F/7.1 and ISO 400.

Keep your WB the same. i.e don’t use AWB.

Hi Jayce,

Thank you for the review of the U2410f. Currently I’m using the Dell 2407WFP and considering to purchase the U2410f as a 2nd monitor using Dualview mode.

I wonder where can I buy the U2410f as local Dell website does not offer it for sale. By the way, how long has the U2410f in local market?

Hope to hear from you soon, and keep up the good works.

Thank you.

@Kenneth Chiew: It is under Small & Medium Business. Wait for Friday. Dell update the pricing that day every week. It is priced at RM1799 right now. Hopefully tomorrow will have special discount ~ RM200 and make the price to RM1599 again. 🙂

Hi Joyce,
Do you the think the price will go down further ?It’s still RM1799..

@Nat: Not sure. My friend said that Dell usually have promotion during quarter end. Wait until Christmas if can. 😉

Hi Jayce, I believed your U2410 doesn’t have any tinting/panel consistency problems? As in on white/lighter backgrounds the right is pinkish and the left is green. Do you suffer such problem?

@Shawn: So far no pinkish and green issue.

Thanks for the prompt reply, do you mind to take a picture of your screen with a all white background? i just wanna do some comparison. thanks 😀

@Shawn: I updated the review with white background screen shot.

Thanks for the review. On http://www.digitalversus.com/article-357-6292-88.html they had the following comment:

“Contrast is the main weakness of IPS technology. At 200 cd/m², the screen has as ratio of around 670:1, compared to 2800:1 on the Samsung SyncMaster F2380, which uses a C-PVA panel. As a result, black areas tend toward dark grey. Equally, as we’re used to another monitors, there is noticeable clouding, and poor upscaling, because there is no real image correction chip.”

What have you found? I do a lot of black and white photo work, so accurate blacks are important to me.

Once again thanks Jayce, ummm so there’s good panel uniformity exist in U2410 and with Dell Malaysia, im gonna “keep” getting replacement until i get a proper one.

@Adam: I don’t have colorimeter to test the black colour. Can’t comment on it. Sorry…

@Shawn: Wish you good luck on getting a better one. 🙂

So after reading through all this and researching monitors for the past few days (my head hurts) Is this a good monitor if you do graphic design? I know the TN screens are not and that IPS are the way to go.

I just received mine. Was expecting better for all the rave reviews it has received. It’s about the same image quality as the Doublesight 26″ I purchased about a year and half ago. The Dell is a slight improvement, but I was expecting more. The graininess bothers me. I code more than I design and I can honestly say it barely gets a passing grade for normal text work. I’ve used cheaper Acer panels that were 1/3 of this price that have better text quality.

ugh, i just got mine and it has the green/pink tint. its assembled in mexico rev a00(oct 09), btw i live in mexico yet i paid over 200 usd shipping and tariff and took two weeks to arrive!!! wtf???

i hope dell will replace mine for a new one

What about the Dell-2209 WA. Very much cheaper, 1000Rm cheaper. Is it good gor graphics?

What about text? I’m interesting in how good, i.e clear and sharp it looks.

Also, is the monitor making any noise (something like a buzz from the power supply) at low brightness settings?

Hi!
I have a Dell 2408WFP and wonder how this new Dell screen compares to the 2048 in the following:

1) Is the new monitor quiet? My 2408WFP is very quiet. No hum. No high tone. I tested a Samsung and it had such noises. (I have a very quiet environment so I easily notice even low such sounds).
2) My 2048 can be pulled down so that there is only about 3 cm (ca 1 inch) between the screen and the table in landscape mode. (This is important to me to avoid getting tired in my neck having to look up).

So what about the noise of this new Dell and how low can it be pulled down?

Thanks in advance!

I cannot hear my chassis fans 🙂
I use an antec p182 chassis where I have replaced the fans with Scythe S-flex 1200 fans and also have them speed regulated with a Zalman regulator. That makes my chassis ultra quiet – I cannot hear the fans.

ok, so i just got my replacement today. it is much better. still has a very slight hue shift in standard. im wondering if i should stick with it or ask for another replacemet. no dead/stuck pixels here (neither did the first). the new one is also a rev a00, assembled in mexico

Do not buy this monitor yet until they fix some problems. The sRGB and Adobe RGB presets have dithering issues (google black level testing and you should see the dithering problem when switching in between presets, also google dithering and u2410). It also has pink/green tinting issues. You can test this by putting up an all gray image and the tining problem is easily discernible. You can google the tinting issue too.

My monitor has both of these problems. This is a professional level monitor that suffers from low class monitor issues.

Good notes are that the touch buttons on the side are very cool along with the stand.

I highly recommend you refrain from purchasing this up until Dell responds to these issues. I got screwed and got the first version, learn from me and wait for at least the second revision.

Btw, I got my monitor just yesterday (12-12-2010).

ok, my replacement monitor flickers (as in turns on and off by itself). tried it thru displayport, dvi, vga thru two different computers, on three different power circuits.

will call dell for yet another replacement.

anyone considering purchasing this monitor for work should seriously other options

Is there anyone out there that has compared the previous 2408WFP with this new Dell screen?
Reviews and/or personal experience?
Compared how quiet it is, colors, stability etc etc?

if anyone is still reading this, i finally got my 5th!!! replacement. all prior ones had the green/pink tint. the fourth was a refurb which i honestly did not even try. i jsut flat our refused it- even though it was a rev a01. there was a sticker over “a00” that read “a01”. my fifth monitor just arrrived today, brand new in box- rev a01 (stenciled) dec 09 mexico. best part- no green/pink tint. took me three months and 5 replacements and about 10 hours on the phone but i think i finally got what i wanted……..just when the 2711 hits the market

Thinking of buying this to double as a TV for my PS2 and pc monitor, mainly for gaming use.
Do you guys recommend U2410 for games ?

Sure we are reading!
But the confusion is not getting less confused . . . .

What 24″ to buy? I certainly do not look forward to purchasing Dell if that means getting the screen replaced five times. . . .

Anyone out there with knowledge? Sure need some advice here.

Jayce, can you do me a favour and push the edges of the matte surface in? Mine goes in slightly when pushed. Just wondering if it’s the same for all U2410s.

My understanding is the U2410 has a matte screen as opposed to a glossy screen. I have a glossy screen now and really like it. I thought glossy was the new thing, maybe I’m wrong. Is there a preference for a matte screen, or why does Dell have on one on the U2410?