Dell UltraSharp U2711: Quality has a Price
by Jarred Walton on January 22, 2010 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Dell U2711 - Near Professional Quality at a Pro-Am Price
If you're a professional image or video editor, it's possible that the U2711 will fall a bit short. Specifically, we've seen better color accuracy, especially after calibration. For the price, we'd recommend looking at HP's LP3065, or one of the other 30" S-IPS displays. However, the U2711 does win out in quite a few areas. If you want a fine dot pitch, there's no better desktop LCD right now. The U2711 also supports 30-bit deep color with 12-bit internal processing; most displays with 30-bit color output cost twice as much! Look at the HP DreamColor LP2480zx for example: $1800 online and it's a 24" 1920x1200 LCD. (Note that we haven't tested that particular LCD; for the price we would hope color accuracy is better than the U2711, but we can't say for sure.)
Since the U2711 uses an IPS panel, viewing angles are a non-issue. Off-angle viewing isn't perfect, but it's far better than what you get from any TN panel and as good as any LCD on the market. Color quality and accuracy on IPS panels are also very good, and given the various compromises you can make we feel IPS is the best overall solution for LCDs right now. Very likely we won't get anything better until OLEDs, SEDs, or some other display technology takes over, and right now the cost of larger OLED solutions is prohibitively high.
Another great feature on the U2711 is the large number of video input options. HDMI, DisplayPort, and two dual-link DVI connections will be the preferred method of connecting, but you can also use VGA, component, or composite video. The ability to handle lower resolutions very well is a definite plus, though with a decent GPU you can often let the graphics chip do the scaling and not worry about shortcomings in the LCD's scaler. The problem with LCD scalers is that they also add a bit of latency. We don't know how much, but we do know that the U2711 has about 15ms more latency than other IPS displays that we've tested in the past. The latency may also come from the 12-bit internal color processing, but that would be part of the scaling hardware. Having seven different video inputs is going to be overkill for just about every potential user, but we could certainly see situations where using two or three of the inputs is feasible, e.g. PC, HDTV, and gaming console. The U2711 supports an optional audio bar along with audio out, but in either case you'll be limited to 2-channel audio, so you might want to look somewhere else for an ideal home theater display.
Aspiring imaging or video professional looking for a capable display will find the U2711 is a great option. We've seen better color accuracy, true, but few displays offer out-of-box colors that are anywhere close to this good. Dell guarantees every U2711 will have a Delta E of less than 5.0 without any extra calibration, and our test unit delivered an extremely good result of 2.24 (average Delta E). Buying a separate colorimeter and software will set you back another $200-$300, though you could then use just about any IPS or PVA LCD. The U2711 also delivered very good color uniformity. I still like the larger 30" LCDs, but then I have access to a colorimeter, I only need one video input, and I prefer a larger dot pitch.
We suspect "true" professionals will still prefer more expensive solutions that can achieve a Delta E of less than 2.0 for every color patch, but that's a very small market. If you're wondering if you might notice the colors where the U2711 "only" scores ~4.0, then you likely don't need to worry about it. In fact, we think most professionals would only "see" the problem if they had access to a colorimeter; you really won't notice any problems with the uncalibrated results using your naked eye.
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Bottom line is that if you're looking for a large LCD with lots of features, a high resolution, great colors, and what we feel is the best current LCD panel technology, the Dell U2711 should be at the top of your list. $1050 isn't chump change by any stretch of the imagination, but you won't find quality like this in a sub-$500 LCD. In fact, the only real competition right now comes from the 30" S-IPS panels that have been around for several years. If you want something a little smaller, or if you have a need for 30-bit color support, the U2711 is a better buy than anything else currently on the market. This is a great high resolution display that delivers on the quality and features fronts, and we're pleased to award the Dell U2711 our Gold Editors' Choice award.
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blyndy - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
I've been keen on this monitor since it was announced.However it may use the same panel as the 27" apple imac, which has gotten alot of complaints of yellow tinging on the bottom half.
A few user reviews with multiple units are in order.
JarredWalton - Friday, January 22, 2010 - link
Remember that the Apple version uses a completely different backlight, so even if the glass substrate is the same the two displays can't be directly compared. Yellow tinging on the bottom half is a backlight problem (and possibly a design issue).gadgetdan - Sunday, August 8, 2010 - link
Hi,Just got this monitor on order now, for use with my new computer I am yet to buy (chose monitor first). I have not seen any comments regarding video cards to drive this one. I have read about this monitor and seen recommendations to run this with 2 DVI-D cables to get full use of the resolution. I am considering the ATI 5770 card, which should handle this resolution according to the specs. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has any experience on this card/monitor combination or any other input to a suitable videocard to make justice to this monitor.
Thanks!
/Dan
krotchy - Monday, August 9, 2010 - link
Dan,You need a Dual-Link DVI cable, not 2 DVI-D cables to run this monitor, basically it is a single DVI-D cable containing both channels. A Dual Link DVI cable is included with the monitor, but if you want more information I recommend you check the wikipedia article on DVI...
However, at work we have ordered/installed about 20 of these so far and I am finding that DisplayPort is a much more convenient connection mechanism than DVI since a lot of the computers we are finding actually contain only single-link DVI outputs or other issues such as underpowered cards which max our at 1600x1200 over DVI. It does seem though that any card we find with displayport can do 2560x1440 despite some of them being relatively underpowered compared to other cards that dont seem to reach 2560x1440.
gadgetdan - Saturday, August 28, 2010 - link
krotchy,Thanks for your comments, this is very useful for me.
/Dan
S8 - Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - link
I have a problem using the Dell U27 as a second monitor for an iMac 27. The Dell U27 doesn't let me choose its max resolution 2560 x 1440. I am using a DVI display adapter from Apple.Thanks for any help.
chiadog - Monday, October 25, 2010 - link
"I am using a DVI display adapter from Apple"You need the active dual link DVI adapter, not the cheap single link one. Just get mini DP to DP dongle and call it a day.
sarangiman - Saturday, January 1, 2011 - link
I have the Dell U2711 & have read a number of reviews where people keep mentioning the AdobeRGB & sRGB modes. Yet none of these articles state what monitor profile to set in the operating system when using these modes!Is it so obvious that it doesn't need to be mentioned? What am I missing?
I spoke to a # of people at Dell Tech Support & they had no idea what I was talking about. We started debating it over here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1511987. Don't think we reached a consensus.
I can personally state that when I set the monitor to AdobeRGB mode, & then set the monitor profile in the OS to AdobeRGB (HERESY in the world of color management; that is, to assign a device independent profile to a, um, device), I get the same colors as when I set the monitor to sRGB while setting the monitor profile in the OS to sRGB. These leads some credence to the belieft that one should set the monitor profile to the emulation mode being chosen. What I'm trying to get at here is that maybe Dell created these modes not only to limit the gamut of the monitor, but also to make a mode where the monitor's color response can be reasonably described by the sRGB or AdobeRGB profiles... This would make it easy for people to have somewhat accurate colors without profiling their monitors (so would a good profile in 'standard' mode, or what have you).
I realize that the best option when using the emulation modes is still to profile the monitor & use that profile. But I'm wondering if one can get away with using the emulation mode as long as you select the proper corresponding profile in the OS.
Does anyone know the answer to this?
Many thanks in advance!
Rishi
sarangiman - Saturday, January 1, 2011 - link
I have the Dell U2711 & have read a number of reviews where people keep mentioning the AdobeRGB & sRGB modes. Yet none of these articles state what monitor profile to set in the operating system when using these modes!Is it so obvious that it doesn't need to be mentioned? What am I missing?
I spoke to a # of people at Dell Tech Support & they had no idea what I was talking about. We started debating it over here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1511987. Don't think we reached a consensus.
I can personally state that when I set the monitor to AdobeRGB mode, & then set the monitor profile in the OS to AdobeRGB (HERESY in the world of color management; that is, to assign a device independent profile to a, um, device), I get the same colors as when I set the monitor to sRGB while setting the monitor profile in the OS to sRGB. These leads some credence to the belieft that one should set the monitor profile to the emulation mode being chosen. What I'm trying to get at here is that maybe Dell created these modes not only to limit the gamut of the monitor, but also to make a mode where the monitor's color response can be reasonably described by the sRGB or AdobeRGB profiles... This would make it easy for people to have somewhat accurate colors without profiling their monitors (so would a good profile in 'standard' mode, or what have you).
I realize that the best option when using the emulation modes is still to profile the monitor & use that profile. But I'm wondering if one can get away with using the emulation mode as long as you select the proper corresponding profile in the OS.
Does anyone know the answer to this?
Many thanks in advance!
Rishi
Robincm86 - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
Good:Superb quality for photo, games and videos, plenty of port connectivity options, attractive looks.
Thumbs Down:
Outcome:
Dell UltraSharp U2711 is a bit costly but looking at the performance, quality and the ports we will definitely recommend you this panel. Get this panel if you have enough money and if you don’t, then start saving! It is worth every bit of your hard earned money.
http://www.technicalnavigator.com/dell-ultrasharp-...