The official Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP Thread
- Thread starter dan^uk
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So what about the professional £1000+ monitors that are made to be what they are through calibration/tweaking?
Well lay-z-boy that's quite easy to answer, a professional monitor would most likely be used by someone in design or print perhaps? where an exact colour match is pretty important, especially in the fashion world where designers have chosen their tones very carefully etc etc.
For real professionals I can see why calibration is important however I am not talking about that, what I am talking about is taking a monitor out the box and having a pretty nice picture straight away, then from there you could perhaps tweak some settings to make the picture really good.
You shouldn't have to tweak a £500 monitor just to make it look good. Hopefully you get what I'm saying now.
I will hold fire until I received a replacement because there may be something up with the unit I have but the 2408WFP's picture is not as good as the three year old 2405FPW I have been using prior?
If there are any 2408WFP owners reading who have previously used a 2405FPW I would be interested to hear what they think?
I believe Baddass still owns a 2405FPW? That speaks volumes. . .
For real professionals I can see why calibration is important however I am not talking about that, what I am talking about is taking a monitor out the box and having a pretty nice picture straight away, then from there you could perhaps tweak some settings to make the picture really good.
You shouldn't have to tweak a £500 monitor just to make it look good. Hopefully you get what I'm saying now.
I will hold fire until I received a replacement because there may be something up with the unit I have but the 2408WFP's picture is not as good as the three year old 2405FPW I have been using prior?
If there are any 2408WFP owners reading who have previously used a 2405FPW I would be interested to hear what they think?
I believe Baddass still owns a 2405FPW? That speaks volumes. . .
I've had a 2407WFP / then 2407WFP-HC and now a 2408WFP, we also have 4 3008WFP-HC at work and also 2707WFP / 3007WFP and 3007WFP-HC's.
The 2408WFP has a better picture than the previous generations of 2407WFP , that I have used. But we used a Spyder 3 colour calibration device (they cost £99) to calibrate the colour. We do a lot of graphics / photo work so ti's worth the money and as a result the image is perfect and extremely vibrant even in comparison to the 2407WFP-HC. I'm not into PC gaming but as a result of the brightness / colour contrast being so high I can understand where the problems may arise for gamers with moving graphics on different colour backgrounds.
The 2408WFP has a better picture than the previous generations of 2407WFP , that I have used. But we used a Spyder 3 colour calibration device (they cost £99) to calibrate the colour. We do a lot of graphics / photo work so ti's worth the money and as a result the image is perfect and extremely vibrant even in comparison to the 2407WFP-HC. I'm not into PC gaming but as a result of the brightness / colour contrast being so high I can understand where the problems may arise for gamers with moving graphics on different colour backgrounds.
The SPyder 3 works by connecting to your PC then hanging / clipped to the front of the LCD, it then runs it's own program to calibrate the colour of your monitor
More info here http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/profiling/spyder3elite.html
More info here http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/profiling/spyder3elite.html
It really should be red not orange, if you load the picture into an art package the colour is 255,0,0 (RBG). Weird.
Yes but they mostly come with a colorimeter to calibrate the screen whereas the 2408 doesn't.
Aye, I think most of the LaCie monitors come with the kit as standard... don't quote me on that though 
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Sallermas, sorry for double posting, but in case my question drops to the bottom of the forum abyss, which of the calibration tools would you recommend? I mean, if you get a Spyder 3 Pro, would the calibration be any less accurate that the Elite, or does the Elite just have extra bells and whistles that you might not use? Also, the LaCie BlueEye is what's used for the reviews on TFT central. I've never really used any of these magic boxes before, and would appreciate any info anyone had
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.Sallermas, sorry for double posting, but in case my question drops to the bottom of the forum abyss, which of the calibration tools would you recommend? I mean, if you get a Spyder 3 Pro, would the calibration be any less accurate that the Elite, or does the Elite just have extra bells and whistles that you might not use? Also, the LaCie BlueEye is what's used for the reviews on TFT central. I've never really used any of these magic boxes before, and would appreciate any info anyone had
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The problem you are seeing is the "wide-gamut" snake oil. The reason your 2405 looked better is that it had the standard 72% NTSC gamut. The Dell 2408 has way overcooked colours out-of-the-box as it can physically display a wider-range of reds and greens. This means that bar calibrating in the factory (and adding £££ to the cost, ignoring the fact that you should recalibrate often) you're stuck with getting a colorimeter to sort out the mess you've been landed in.
This is why I don't believe that high-gamut monitors have a place in the mid-range line-ups, it's just being forced on us because it's a bigger number in the spec box when comparing against another monitor.
This is why I don't believe that high-gamut monitors have a place in the mid-range line-ups, it's just being forced on us because it's a bigger number in the spec box when comparing against another monitor.
The work that you do on these monitors - how is it displayed? Are you generally displaying work online or are you more focused towards printed media?
Hi Mizzlebob,
We use a Spyder 3 Pro the Elite is more for true photographers, you can buy the Spyder 3 Pro on Ebay for £99
That said I agree with Fish you should not need a calibrator for the monitor to display the correct colour / images for normal use. A claibrator is used more for professionals , we have to ensure what we see on our screen will be the same as what our client see's , for Professional photographers its critical to see the actual true colour and what will be produced.
Beware that there is a known fault with some 2408WFP's that do not display the correct colours i.e. Whites are slight pink , in this case the monitor CANNOT be calibrated and will need to be returned to Dell.
We use a Spyder 3 Pro the Elite is more for true photographers, you can buy the Spyder 3 Pro on Ebay for £99
That said I agree with Fish you should not need a calibrator for the monitor to display the correct colour / images for normal use. A claibrator is used more for professionals , we have to ensure what we see on our screen will be the same as what our client see's , for Professional photographers its critical to see the actual true colour and what will be produced.
Beware that there is a known fault with some 2408WFP's that do not display the correct colours i.e. Whites are slight pink , in this case the monitor CANNOT be calibrated and will need to be returned to Dell.
To make a call you will need monitor serial number from the back of the monitor and the Dell works order number from the outer packaging (The number at the top). In the event of a warranty call, simply call 0870 908 0500 ask for the monitor department, ignore the messgae asking for a service tag, they wil put you through to the Dell tech support in Glasgow, just quote the works order number and serial number. Dell may also ask the original purchasing companies name Overclockers.co.uk or Esnet Ltd as they are known. They can arrange replacement for next working day
TFT Central has an updated page (6th May) re the 2408WFP;
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/dell_2408wfp.htm
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/dell_2408wfp.htm
Thank you!
My whites are a bit pink, DELL are appearing to drag there feet in replacing the 2408WFP I just received.
HI Big Wayne,
Just push them tell them it has a colour fault it's a known problem with Dell 2408WFP's there are a few that or out, they will replace it immediately , we've had 2 in the office that have been changed as we are unable to calibrate them.
Just push them tell them it has a colour fault it's a known problem with Dell 2408WFP's there are a few that or out, they will replace it immediately , we've had 2 in the office that have been changed as we are unable to calibrate them.
I do need this monitor for web/graphic design, as well as gaming obv
. That's why I wondered if calibration would help, because it really seems to in the TFT Central reviews. However, I've had this nagging in the back of my head if going to all this effort for web-based design is worth it, because even though I may have a nigh accurate display after all this, 99.99% of people out there don't. So it may just all have gone to waste.
L-R Trio of 24" DELLs - boxed 2408 - unboxed 2408 - unboxed 2407
Ok just a quick update, I spent at least one hour on the phone to DELL last week trying to get my umpteenth RMA replacement, felt a bit like I was getting passed around from person to person like a hot potatoe but everyone was fairly polite. Didn't get any calls or emails to let me know what was happening so I was starting to think I may be out of luck.
Anyway a courier just arrived with a brand new boxed 2408WFP which was quite a suprise, then he left.
Don't have the stomach to open it just yet but will get around to it later. Funny thing is DELL have not collected either the scratched 2408WFP or the beaten and greasy 2407FPW yet? so at present I am in possesion of *three* 24" widescreens!
L-R Trio of 24" DELLs - boxed 2408 - unboxed 2408 - unboxed 2407
Ok just a quick update, I spent at least one hour on the phone to DELL last week trying to get my umpteenth RMA replacement, felt a bit like I was getting passed around from person to person like a hot potatoe but everyone was fairly polite. Didn't get any calls or emails to let me know what was happening so I was starting to think I may be out of luck.
Anyway a courier just arrived with a brand new boxed 2408WFP which was quite a suprise, then he left.
Don't have the stomach to open it just yet but will get around to it later. Funny thing is DELL have not collected either the scratched 2408WFP or the beaten and greasy 2407FPW yet? so at present I am in possesion of *three* 24" widescreens!
I'll have one