Dell P2414H 24" Monitor Thread

I know it's not the first monitor you've owned, but how many IPS monitors have you owned? Or closely monitored user feedback for? There's no point making out like this is just a problem isolated to the 23.8" IPS panels either - that's completely misleading. As I've said previously this is one of the better IPS-type models out there even when it comes to backlight bleed. It's difficult to believe, I know, but as some one who is very much in touch with all of the alternatives to this model which satisfy the same key criteria - I'm telling you, this is on the lower end of the 'problem spectrum'.

I can quite agree that modern IPS panel monitors in general have a higher incidence of black uniformity issues compared to other panel types. VA are generally very strong in that regard and TN panels are a bit variable but usually seem to suffer more from clouding than obtrusive areas of backlight bleed these days. If somebody comes to you saying that rich and well-represented colours are particularly important to them, they want a 23-24" model and plan to do everything from gaming to a bit of photo editing and have a ~£200 budget what do you recommend to them? Because models with IPS or IPS-type panels are clearly the strongest at matching those criteria and when you look at the current models available the P2414H is right up there at the top. The excellent luminance adjustment range, flicker-free backlight and fully adjustable stand are also big bonuses for some users.
 
PCM2 said:
I know it's not the first monitor you've owned, but how many IPS monitors have you owned? Or closely monitored user feedback for? There's no point making out like this is just a problem isolated to the 23.8" IPS panels either - that's completely misleading.
Click to expand...
Well I don't want to get into a ****ing contest about who's seen the most IPS monitors, I'm sure you'd win that one, but I've had personal hands on experience with about a dozen different makes/models I suppose - HP2475W, Dell U2410, U2312HM, U2711, 3007WFP, an expensive NEC whose name escapes me, various LGs at different price points. The P2414H (both of the samples I've seen) has the worst backlight bleed by a country mile.

And I didn't say it was a problem "isolated" to the 23.8" IPS panels - however, all the evidence I've seen suggests that monitors using these panels seem to have a particular problem with backlight bleed in the bottom-left corner, which suggests a common cause rather than it being a more general random issue. Or wouldn't you agree?

PCM2 said:
If somebody comes to you saying that rich and well-represented colours are particularly important to them, they want a 23-24" model and plan to do everything from gaming to a bit of photo editing and have a ~£200 budget what do you recommend to them?
Click to expand...
I would say to them they should consider a P2414H *if* severe backlight bleed is of no consequence to them *or* they're prepared for the possibility they'll have to keep exchanging them until they'll get a good one, with no guarantee of ultimate success. If the backlight bleed is a dealbreaker for them, it wouldn't really matter how rich and well-represented the colours were, or how fabulous the stand, would it?

I completely take the point that there's no guarantee an alternative make/model wouldn't be as bad or worse, but in my own experience at least, choosing a P2414H seems to be loading the odds against you right from the outset.
 
The U2312HM is really the only model in that list that is closely comparable to the P2414H in terms of price (at launch or soon after) and target market. As it happens I've outfitted an office where I used to work with about a dozen of those and would not commend them for good uniformity at all. This is something that echoes more broadly for the U2312HM and of course other directly comparable models.

I am not debating that there is an issue with many P2414Hs, especially in that bottom left corner. You're absolutely right to say this is caused by pressure being applied there, either during or post manufacture. So something in the design that could be improved. Some of the more solidly built CCFL-backlit models - many of those in your list - did generally have low levels of backlight bleed. But you have to look at what is available to users today, for the price of the P2414H and even beyond. And it's not a pretty picture. Most directly comparable models are generally worse than the P2414H because not only is there an 'often troublesome corner', there are troublesome patches all around the monitor. In other words the backlight bleed is far more extensive.

There's definitely room for improvement, I don't deny that. But singling out the P2414H for this sort of issue and comparing apples to oranges doesn't really help users looking to buy today with certain criteria in mind. If one of those criteria happens to be good even blacks from a normal viewing position then VA panels are really the main ones to look at. Unfortunately the current selection of such models (particularly of this size) and drawbacks in other areas means they are ruled out by many users. Actually many users I've spoken to don't even know that VA panel monitors exist and really only focus on 'TN' or 'IPS'. Sad but true and something I aim to change as much as possible.
 
Sorry to bump an old thread but I've just recently bought a dell u2414h which is a very similar monitor to the ones discussed in here. My previous monitor that died on me (monitor turns on for 5 seconds then turns itself off) was a Dell Ultrasharp U2311H. It was the LCD variant instead of the LED one available at the time. The thing that struck me straight away with that model was the anti-coating they used. It seemed very visible to my eyes at first, especially on bright white plain backgrounds but after about a month of usage my eyes happily adjusted to the change. The only other issues was a bit of a IPS glow in the bottom left corner which was only visible in the very dark scenes of films. There was the occasionally strange grayish tint to some very dark shadows in films but other than that dark scenes were great in my eyes.

The new monitor U2414h doesn't have the coating problem at all. The new stuff they seem to use is barely visible to my eyes at all. The same IPS glow is present bottom left of the screen similar to how my old Dell monitor was. However, it's slightly bigger, has more features in the menus and looks better aesthetically in comparison. My only concern at the moment is with certain dark games the IPS glow means the darker contrasted areas are being lit up despite my brightness setting being relatively low (38/100). It's not specific to one area and more so covers the whole screen. An example would be certain areas of Operation Locker on BF4 where a lot of the parts of that map are pretty dark. From memory (about a week ago when I was still using my old LCD monitor) didn't really have this problem and tended to have nice balanced dark areas that were not illuminated at all. I'm hoping it's just a change to the system and my eyes will adjust but at the moment a monitor panel thats probably 2-3 years newer than my previous one doesn't seem to be as good in that regard which seems a shame.

Here are some pictures of comparison shots i took with a Samsung 120hz TN panel (not sure of the model as it's not my monitor):

fSnqMcp.jpg

DVCbEKX.jpg

Based on other peoples pictures these seem like the norm. I was hoping the technology or the manufacturing process would alleviate these problems since the purchase of my monitor in 2011 but it doesn't seem so. Oh and another annoying thing is the fact I had to buy a displayport to DVI adaptor because my GPU doesn't have any displayports on it (Geforce 460 represent). I tried the displayport apdator and it didn't work! So I had a spare mini-HDMI to HDMI connector laying around so I've resorted to just using that instead.

Just a little update. I had a look around at other forums and I saw a couple things that I thought I might try. First i installed TFTcentrals colour profile into windows. Then I found a Nvidia full RGB range .exe that adjusts your windows settings. Restarted and it actually has seemed to have helped to my complete surprise. The IPS glow doesn't seem to be as intrusive and there's no longer that much illuminated dark scenes despite my low brightness settings. It was a long shot but I'm happy as the colour/contrast/brightness settings and even in windows it looks nearly exactly how they were on my old monitor. If anyone wants more info just ask and I'll provide links and the actual monitor settings I'm currently using at the moment. May be because I'm using the HDMI port it had some sort of NVIDIA presets in place that I didn't even realise? Not sure entirely but its definitely a big improvement :D
 
Last edited:
medley said:
...
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest you try the 'Full Range RGB 0-255' toggle tool this morning before you edited your post but got caught up with other things. It seems you've discovered the tool yourself now - amazing what a difference it makes isn't it? :)
 
PCM2 said:
I was going to suggest you try the 'Full Range RGB 0-255' toggle tool this morning before you edited your post but got caught up with other things. It seems you've discovered the tool yourself now - amazing what a difference it makes isn't it? :)
Click to expand...

Yep! I had no idea as I didn't need to use it with my old monitor so I just assumed the monitor was causing me the problems. Glad I had a good look around on the net today! :D I was annoyed at myself was for not spending more time researching but based off the reviews and screens of the fully black backlight bleed/IPS glow on websites it looked perfectly acceptable to me but I was slightly bemused after the first couple days of usage. I was experiencing a better all round image like what they were in the pictures.
 
Last edited:
Anybody having any problems with the P2414H or U2414H turning on or off by itself? Or activating any of the other buttons on its panel by itself?

Started a thread here but perhaps I should just have posted here :)?
 
Redgie said:
Anybody having any problems with the P2414H or U2414H turning on or off by itself? Or activating any of the other buttons on its panel by itself?

Started a thread here but perhaps I should just have posted here :)?
Click to expand...

Haven't had any issues so far. How long have you had it? Could it warrant a send back to dell? Oh just re-read your forum post and you've only had it couple days.

Sounds to me like something that probably would need replacing. Pretty limited in what you can do if it is the actual touch sensitive panel buttons. That wasn't very helpful I'm afraid.

Just a little update for my new backlight/ips glow change after using the nvidia RGB tool:

mziSESn.jpg

I don't notice any real glow in the day time even in dark scenes in films. Bit different at night where i can see the glow in dark parts of films if I full screen the video, but only the bottom left of the screen thankfully. A lot better than what it was, just its a slightly larger chunk of the screen in comparison to my previous monitor but something I'll learn to live with I think. Games and desktop browsing is virtually unnoticeable now though
 
Last edited:
I noticed I was having some banding issues with the HDMI connector so decided to try and find a DVI to Displayport converter. Bought one the other day and the monitor just says entering power save mode. So I bought a non cable converter which just slips into the back of the monitor and it still says entering power save mode. These are just out of the package products and surely both of them can't be broken? Why doesn't this monitor support DVI, so stupid!
 
medley said:
I noticed I was having some banding issues with the HDMI connector so decided to try and find a DVI to Displayport converter. Bought one the other day and the monitor just says entering power save mode. So I bought a non cable converter which just slips into the back of the monitor and it still says entering power save mode. These are just out of the package products and surely both of them can't be broken? Why doesn't this monitor support DVI, so stupid!
Click to expand...

Passive DisplayPort to DVI conversion is possible, but not the other way around. They are one-way connectors which is why you're not getting a signal. You shouldn't have been having any specific issues with banding using HDMI though, not if you've corrected the colour signal as you did. What you're seeing is either due to the image or content you're viewing or something that is due to a monitor limitation (6-bit + FRC) rather than specific to the use of HDMI.
 
PCM2 said:
Passive DisplayPort to DVI conversion is possible, but not the other way around. They are one-way connectors which is why you're not getting a signal. You shouldn't have been having any specific issues with banding using HDMI though, not if you've corrected the colour signal as you did. What you're seeing is either due to the image or content you're viewing or something that is due to a monitor limitation (6-bit + FRC) rather than specific to the use of HDMI.
Click to expand...

I've seen the banding only in cartoon based shows like south park and occasionally on low light areas on games such as diablo but only briefly. It's not a massive concern but more of if I can get rid of it by a simple switch of a port change then why not? But if that's not possible then fair enough. So are you saying I have to get a different adapter if I wanted to use the DisplayPort? I have a mini-hdmi slot which I'm thinking of using for a 32 TV for watching films on because i'm not impressed with the IPS glow on full screen films at night times. But at the moment its being occupied by the monitor and thats the other reason I wanted to try and use the DVI port connected to the DisplayPort
 
medley said:
I've seen the banding only in cartoon based shows like south park and occasionally on low light areas on games such as diablo but only briefly. It's not a massive concern but more of if I can get rid of it by a simple switch of a port change then why not? But if that's not possible then fair enough. So are you saying I have to get a different adapter if I wanted to use the DisplayPort? I have a mini-hdmi slot which I'm thinking of using for a 32 TV for watching films on because i'm not impressed with the IPS glow on full screen films at night times.
Click to expand...

If you see banding in low light areas of certain games it's usually down to the game itself. And on films or TV shows due to the compression used by the encoding software or your video player. It certainly has nothing to do with HDMI as I've said and you're wasting your efforts trying to use another input on the monitor. Unless you have a DP or MiniDP port don't bother. Even then you'll see exactly the same thing. :)
 
Unfortunately the only way to make use of the DP of the monitor (keeping your GPU's HDMI for the TV) if your GPU lacks DP/MiniDP is to use an expensive and difficult to find active adaptor. A company called Atlona makes something called an 'AT-DP400' which is the only DVI to DP (MiniDP) converter I know of. I'm not sure how well it works and what sort of latency penalty there would be either. Getting a new GPU might be the better option, hopefully that would give you an improvement in other areas too (i.e. not just some extra ports).
 
I might just buy a 670 as my 460 can just about pull about 30-45 frames on BF4 at the moment so it might be worth the upgrade just in terms of overall gaming performance as well.
 
So I started this thread about a year ago and have been very happy with my P2414H. However, over the past few weeks I noticed that the backlight had become uneven, with darker 'fingers' spreading up from the bottom of the monitor, as shown in the below image.

http://imgur.com/uBk1bjI

Obviously it was quite distracting. After going through the Dell community forum and then a customer service agent I received a replacement today. It is rev A03 compared to A00 and was manufactured a year later. I hope this one is more reliable, but can't fault the service so far. Just need to get the old one picked up tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom