Dell S2716DG - Dells first G-sync

as easyrider said it is 8 bit. I was referring to the + dithering or frc which I don't think it has.

Taken from tft central on the subject of banding

Banding is an issue which you can sometimes spot on a monitor, and involves blocking and gradation of colours to a considerable level. This is most evident when viewing colour gradients, and rather than the colours showing a gradual change in shade as they should, the image appears as blocks with clearly defined steps. A certain degree of gradation in a gradient image can be expected from many monitors, despite the fact that in an ideal world, the gradient would be smooth and all transitions would be transparent. However, it is in the cases where the gradation is more noticeable that it results in what is popularly referred to as "banding".

Some users think that striped gradients are due to the use of 6-bit matrixes instead of 8-bit ones, but this is not exactly true. The lower colour depth of the matrix may indeed lead to stripes in gradients if the Frame Rate Control is poorly implemented (this is the technology that emulates 16 million colours while the matrix itself is only capable of displaying ~262,000), but the real reason is usually different. Before outputting the image on the screen, the monitor performs a series of calculations and transformations: colour temperature correction, gamma compensation, contrast correction, etc. If the accuracy of those calculations is low, you see striped gradients. The matrix’s colour depth has nothing to do with it. Even an “honest” 8-bit matrix cannot guarantee that the monitor will correctly process the data before sending them to the matrix. Some models will offer technologies which have higher bit internal processing (commonly 10-bit or 12-bit for example) along with higher bit LUT to help provide wider colour palettes and better processing. This can help minimise and avoid banding issues on gradients.

Some monitors have made banding rather infamous and so many potential buyers now cite this as an important test of a screen, and something which can really separate the good from the bad. A lot of this is quite exaggerated however, with far too much concern about even slight gradation across colour gradients. The early releases of the Dell 2xx7 series were a classic example of where colour banding became a concern. The early releases did show some pretty bad banding, which was promptly fixed by Dell with firmware upgrades. However, it has resulted in many users criticising displays for even slight gradation, and not really considering whether it is really an issue in real use. For the majority of users, it would probably not be an issue in practice, and you'd probably be hard pressed to see any adverse affects of this issue in anything other than colour gradient tests. I would advise caution about the talk of banding on displays, and consider whether there is really as much of an issue as some people make out.
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I wonder if a firmware like with the Dell 2xx7 series will make it less noticeable?
 
Twirlywoos said:
as easyrider said it is 8 bit. I was referring to the + dithering or frc which I don't think it has.

Taken from tft central on the subject of banding



I wonder if a firmware like with the Dell 2xx7 series will make it less noticeable?
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While I accept what TFT Central are saying in this piece is correct generally, banding on the S2716DG is a live issue and something which manifests in day to day use, not just in a Lagom test.
 
That is one thing which I can't stand, banding, it just looks awful and completely ruins a display imo.

I was going to say, you guys should try a different connection type but then remembered you only have display port :p Just with my LG 29um65 when using display port, banding was awful, it was really noticeable and I could easily make out the 254 grey squares on here:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/white.php

However, with HDMI, there is no noticeable banding whatsoever, lovely smooth looking gradients but the 254 grey squares are a lot harder to see now....

EDIT:

If watching films/tv shows on your monitor, use MPC-HC with madvr, it has some built in anti-banding stuff now:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1357375-advanced-mpc-hc-setup-guide.html
 
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Nexus18 said:
That is one thing which I can't stand, banding, it just looks awful and completely ruins a display imo.

I was going to say, you guys should try a different connection type but then remembered you only have display port :p Just with my LG 29um65 when using display port, banding was awful, it was really noticeable and I could easily make out the 254 grey squares on here:
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Maybe I'm being daft but I can't see 254. Can see 252 if I look really hard but not 253 or 254.

Edit: Different monitor, I am being daft.
 
Nexus18 said:
That is one thing which I can't stand, banding, it just looks awful and completely ruins a display imo.

I was going to say, you guys should try a different connection type but then remembered you only have display port :p Just with my LG 29um65 when using display port, banding was awful, it was really noticeable and I could easily make out the 254 grey squares on here:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/white.php

However, with HDMI, there is no noticeable banding whatsoever, lovely smooth looking gradients but the 254 grey squares are a lot harder to see now....

EDIT:

If watching films/tv shows on your monitor, use MPC-HC with madvr, it has some built in anti-banding stuff now:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-home-theater-computers/1357375-advanced-mpc-hc-setup-guide.html
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That's a gamma and contrast test, although gamma does have some affect on banding.

I bet it's a case of people haven't noticed it before but it is there in dark areas in games. Like PCM2 said it depends on the source material. I can get rid of it but then the monitor will either look completely washed out or very dark. Do you not get banding in Zavod Graveyard whilst looking at the sky?
 
Yeah I know, that was just something else that I noticed when switching back and forth between display port and HDMI connection, iirc badass said it could be something related to gamma curves with some difference in presets from different interfaces on the monitor.

The actual banding test on lagomn was awful with display port, it looked like the contrast test with regards to the "steps" to a new shade of whatever colour and was very obvious on certain wallpapers i.e.

http://i.imgur.com/GFhPlB7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4fBlD3W.jpg

If I look very closely, I can still see banding on those wallpapers but when using the display port connection... yuck, it was just awful.

I will check night zavod out later tonight and report back, it is too bright atm to really be able to detect minor banding on darker gradients.
 
I've found that the monitors don't return from sleep mode after I've been afk for a while. I know its the displayport connection rather than the monitor but anyone got a solution?
 
redstar1 said:
I've found that the monitors don't return from sleep mode after I've been afk for a while. I know its the displayport connection rather than the monitor but anyone got a solution?
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Same with mine, but I've disabled my PC sleep as it was causing it to reboot so it's happening less now.
 
Just checked night zavod out on my LG 29um65, if I concentrate and look really close at the sky/clouds, I can see some very minor banding but if I was just looking at the screen normally, I wouldn't have noticed it tbh. The 2 wallpapers I linked above have more obvious banding than zavod's night sky.
 
Really a lot of what is being discussed here comes down to gamma. The source material is banded, the gradations are not smooth. It's simply that elevated gamma (>2.2) can hide this and lower gamma (<2.2) can make it far more obvious. Sometimes these 144Hz models do have certain issues beyond that and tend to lighten up some dark shades more than they should. This doesn't seem to be something you can overcome with any amount of calibration either and would certainly make banding more obvious. Just a general observation, I haven't actually tested the S2716DG myself.
 
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Alright about the 8 bit panel :)
Thanks for the update about it guys, was about to be getting worried :)

When I think about it, I was seying some banding when I had the Rog Swift, and that other thing, pixel inversion. But it wasent all time, only on some games.
 
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JunkieXcel said:
I haven't tried it myself but the debanding filters in Reshade apparently add extra information to the source material which can assist in limiting banding at source but I'd image it could cause unintended consequences/side effects in some circumstances. Its essentially modding the game itself to smooth out the banding at source, rather than addressing the problem of the panel. It might well work satisfactorily with some games but it seems a bit of an extreme measure as a long term solution.
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I'd been having banding problems in Elite Dangerous with this monitor, and gave the above suggestion a go last night.

It made a big difference, and I hardly notice any banding at all now.

I haven't noticed any "side effects" yet, but probably haven't done enough testing to be sure. I don't know how well it would work with other games yet either.
 
MadMouse101 said:
Up for £455.99, Hows everyone getting on with it, Hopefully be able to get this over the weekend.
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I am really pleased, no problems at all. People have posted regarding the banding, but from where I came from I see nothing to cause me concern. I was more worried about pixel defects, but after a week mine is still clear. The G-Sync is amazing, and though at this moment I only have a KFA2 GTX 670 OC EX 4gb I am getting 120 hz, which after 60 hz seems so fluid.
The 8 bit colour makes for a vivid picture, far better than I expected, not far off an IPS without the bleeding imo.
 
Finger is currently poised over the buy now button but one question: is the wake from sleep issue resolved? If not, do we have any assurances that it will be? Can someone explain what exactly happens and how you get around it? Switching off windows power saver mode for the screen doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence.
 
No idea.

Replacement sent to wrong address so 3 weeks after ordering, I still don't have one.
(partly due to being away over new year)
 
MadMouse101 said:
Up for £455.99, Hows everyone getting on with it, Hopefully be able to get this over the weekend.
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I have this and will list Pros, Cons and Subjective areas which can be seen either way followed by a Summary. Read the tft central review though. I assume that you know the traits of IPS vs TN so I won't cover this.

Pros
- At time of writing the most affordable 1440p 144hz Gsync TN monitor (Note that Viewsonic will release their version soon though and I believe will have a higher refresh rate and will be cheaper)
- Decent build quality
- Matt bezel
- Dell warranty is the best and have great service should anything go wrong
- Thin outer bezel
- Various ways to adjust, tilt, swivel etc

Cons
- Anti glare coating is grainy only really noticeable if you have your monitor 2 inches in front of you.
- Banding but then this depends on source material but due to the panel type and fact that it is only 8 bit it can be apparent even with an elevated gamma of 2.2
- Simplistic menu and no options to change gamma
- Not edge to edge. There is an inner bezel which adds around 1-2cm to the outer bezel

Subjective
- Buttons are mushy and hard to press
- Pressing buttons causes the screen to wobble
- lack of Gaming features & asthetics which you find on the ROG swift. Eg. Gsync light indicators, Aimbot feature, illumination.

Summary
- Has a gamma of 1.8-1.9 out of the box which makes colours look washed out and the default .icc profile is highly saturated
- Using a profile which can be found on TFT central or within the thread will greatly help as an elevated 2.2 gamma is more pleasing.
- I created a 3D LUT with games that support Reshade and it uses the Desktop profile in games without resetting the gamma table it does help games look better.
- For a TN the colours are decent (around 850 contrast ratio and 94% sRGB colour space). Black luminocity are not bad too (0.14)
- Panel uniformity, backlight bleed, dust specs is all a gamble still as there are people who have had some and some who have not.
- I personally paid under £400 for this monitor and whilst I still think it is expensive I don't think it is worth £400 + as it is a TN panel at the end of the day. These can be had for £390 if you know where to look.
- Some people have had pixel inversion issues, there is someone called Daryl on Youtube who has posted his issue. I ran the same tests as him and also posted my results here and it doesn't display the symptoms he had.
- Using smooth scroll on any browser causes fuzzy lines. I was going to RMA my monitor thinking it was faulty but it was smooth scroll that caused it.
- Gsync is as good as people say. Very smooth with low frame time variance. No hitching.
- I don't notice any difference from 120hz going to 144hz.
- Increase in Desktop real estate is nice but icons and text will become much smaller.
- You need a decent GPU to utalize the monitor to it's "full" potential, I have a 980ti.
 
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