Clearing up a few Dell 2407 WFP questions...

Dingleberry88 · 28 Dec 2006 at 18:49

I've noticed a lot of the same questions being asked over and over again about this monitor. So, seeing as I have one I thought I'd have a go at giving them a definite answer.

I'd like to point out that this is only my opinion. If anyone thinks anything different to me, please post.

I've had this monitor few about 2 months now. It's my first TFT. Before this I had a 19" Hyundai ImageQuest Q995 CRT.

So without further ado:

Backlight Bleed: Looking at a black screen in a dark room there isn't any bleed. There's maybe a tiny patch in the top right, but it's not at all noticable.

Ghosting: None.

Resolution: The 1920x1200 res is perfect for this size screen. I sit probably about 3 feet away and text is clear and easily readable.

Gaming: I have an overclocked 6800GT, overclocked Athlon 64 3200+ and 1GB of GeIL RAM. Gaming at full res isn't a problem. I mostly play CS:S which I run with all settings high and 2xAA + AF. This gives me around 60FPS. Other more graphically intensive games normally run fine at medium settings.

Viewing Angels: If you can read text from looking at it side on, you'll be able to on this. But who uses monitors from the side anyway?

Banding: In desktop mode through DVI there's a very tiny amount. The only way you'd notice this in normal use is if you have a very smooth gradient as your background or maybe if you do a lot of work in Photoshop. The other modes (gaming and multimedia) show a bit more banding, but these seem a bit pointless anyway as desktop mode's fine.

Replacements: My first 2407 had 1 stuck pixel just off from the centre. I used if for a few weeks but my eyes were always drawn to it. I decided if I was paying this much for a monitor it should be perfect. Getting a replacement was a lot easier then expected. I just phoned Dell and asked to be put through to the monitor department. The guy on the other end was surprisingly helpful and arranged for a new monitor to be shipped out and the one I currently had to be collected shortly after. The only thing you'd have to be careful of it that you're being sent a new monitor as at first he was going to send a refurbished one. But it wasn't told this until after I asked whether I was getting a new one or not.

In Conclusion: Like I said, this is my first TFT. I'd never go back to a CRT now. The colours are more vibrant and it's so much clearer. I tried my CRT a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at the difference. It seemed tiny and everything was really blurred. I also have a much bigger display which takes up less room than my previous (smaller) one did. I couldn't recommend this monitor enough.

That's all I can think of for now. Any other questions or specific pictures wanted, let me know. I hope this helps some people.

Kendo Nagasaki · 29 Dec 2006 at 16:46

Thanks for condensing most peoples questions into one thread as I believe you've covered most topics of interest. I'm in the market for a new tft and the Dell 2407 is one that I’m considering.

There are so many threads regarding the Dell out there that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and it’s hard to pick-out the issues that matter most.

The banding is a concern for me as I would use Photoshop and other graphic based programs but until I see one I think it would be hard to judge whether it would bother me or not - would there be any chance of uploading an example of the banding you mention.

Cheers

Humate · 29 Dec 2006 at 17:33

Dingleberry88 said:
The guy on the other end was surprisingly helpful and arranged for a new monitor to be shipped out and the one I currently had to be collected shortly after.

I have just arranged a replacement for my dell 2407. Im a really picky b****** and couldnt live with a slightly uneven backlight that took the form of two darker horizontal patches running across the screen when i view it from the left (its the first thing i notice when i enter the room). When i was on the phone the guy didnt mention what i would be doing with this faulty one. Do they not drop the new one off and collect the faulty one on the same day?... because he never discussed with me on the phone plans for this faulty one to be picked up.

Arranging the replacement was VERY easy. Nice scottish guy on the phone. I asked the replacement to be a new one and not a refurb. He said they would only send me a new one if i could confirm the backlight issue was still visible in the self test (no cable attached just the power on) and also in the BIOS. So i did that, and that was that. My replacement is arriving on wednesday next week what with bank holiday and so forth.

Dingleberry88 · 29 Dec 2006 at 17:50

@ Kendo: The banding was quite hard to capture with my camera. You can barely see it on the first image. I exaggerated it on the second image by turning up digital vibrance in my graphic card options. The actual banding is somewhere inbetween. If you can think of any better way to show the banding let me know.

http://i12.tinypic.com/4g847rt.jpg

http://i16.tinypic.com/2vmhatl.jpg

Edit: Just noticed they've been resized. I can try uploading somewhere else or email you the 2mb originals if you want?

@ Humate: Like I said, they dropped off the new monitor and collected the other a few days later. Seems a bit pointless I know, but if that's the way they want to do it, doesn't bother me.

Humate · 29 Dec 2006 at 18:06

He never mentioned pick up of the faulty one. They will have to phone me if they want this one back

Kendo Nagasaki · 29 Dec 2006 at 23:54

Thanks for uploading the pics Dingleberry88 - in the 1st pic I can't see any signs of banding but on the manipulated 2nd image you can definitely see the effect.

So, if in reality the banding is somewhere in-between then I assume that it would be noticeable. I appreciate that the base image is designed with the intent of showing gradients but I guess this is a factor that I’ll have to take into consideration when deciding about this screen.

Can anyone who has this screen make any comment regarding the banding issue - is it really that noticeable in reality and multimedia usage?

To quote Humate

:

Humate said:
"Im a really picky b******"

Does it bother you at all because I’d be the same as yourself with stuff like this and especially when it’s something this expensive? If I’m going to do it, it’s got to be right

.

Humate · 30 Dec 2006 at 00:15

http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00440de7.jpg

thats an image of my uneven backlight.

I can see banding in his first image but then im using a 2407 so

The banding is not a problem at all. You really dont notice it in any aspect of using the monitor unless u load up one of those gradients. However, people have commented that movie playback is quite noisey on this screen. I would agree with them. In fact i get some noise in greyscale gradients which seems to be concentrated around where the banding occurs. I am not sure whether the noisey playback is as a result of this, or simply the panel that the 2407 uses. Either way its not that great for films IMO.

There are some negatives to the monitor. But if u want a 24" you only have two choices: benq or dell. The dell is great value for money, so just buy it, or you will be waiting forever. Just be aware of its flaws so you avoid any disappointment. Only other thing to mention is the anti-reflective coating is also not to some (and my) peoples liking.

Dingleberry88 · 30 Dec 2006 at 00:42

Kendo Nagasaki said:
Can anyone who has this screen make any comment regarding the banding issue - is it really that noticeable in reality and multimedia usage?

To be honest, unless you're looking for it you won't notice it.

Humate said:
However, people have commented that movie playback is quite noisey on this screen. I would agree with them. In fact i get some noise in greyscale gradients which seems to be concentrated around where the banding occurs. I am not sure whether the noisey playback is as a result of this, or simply the panel that the 2407 uses. Either way its not that great for films IMO.

I don't find any problems with video at all. Obviously low resolution compressed video isn't going to look great when stretched over a 24" screen, but it's still more than watchable. DVDs and especially HD videos look fantastic - You could easily use it as a TV, which I do.

normski_ · 30 Dec 2006 at 00:53

Kendo Nagasaki said:
Thanks for condensing most peoples questions into one thread as I believe you've covered most topics of interest. I'm in the market for a new tft and the Dell 2407 is one that I’m considering.

There are so many threads regarding the Dell out there that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and it’s hard to pick-out the issues that matter most.

The banding is a concern for me as I would use Photoshop and other graphic based programs but until I see one I think it would be hard to judge whether it would bother me or not - would there be any chance of uploading an example of the banding you mention.

Cheers

Mate, I use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator professionally on a daily basis, and this monitor is a thing of beauty.

I have just had my most recent magzines back from the printer and I would say that the colour reproduction after a basic calibration is very good for a monitor at this price/size.

The resolution is excellent for taking advantage of the extra workspace in these programs, and the banding is not an issue on my A03 version on the Desktop Mode through DVI. I haven't even used the two other modes, and never will.

Kendo Nagasaki · 30 Dec 2006 at 13:46

Thanks guys for the comments, its good to get a balanced and varied view regarding this monitor and the overall impression I’m getting is that despite some of its flaws (which could be negligible to some) for the money and performance its a winner.

I think in some instances its boils to down to personal preference and whether certain things will bother you or not and the only way to find out is to get one

SilverPenguin · 1 Jan 2007 at 13:10

I love mine also. I only got it last week but already couldn't be without it! I don't have any obvious banding problems either. My desktop has a photo I took in Scotland as the wall paper and it has a nice bluey/purply area of clear twilight sky going across the screen and theres no issues with the way it displays that.

The only probelm I am having, which might be driver related to my gfx card or motherboard(!?) is when I view HD trailers from the Apple site. 720p looks fine unless I view at full screen and then it tears when there is fast moving scenes. 1080p does exactly the same thing. I hope its not the monitor, as I know a few people with cheaper monitors (and gfx cards) and lots of people with Apple cinema displays and they don't suffer from this problem.