Dell U2410 24" IPS Professional Monitor

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 09 Nov 2009, 22:56

I can not say I would recommend this monitor currently based on my experience.

And now I would recommend against it even more due to this: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19302919.aspx?PageIndex=1

I have sent back one monitor already and got a replacement, the replacement seems ok but it was a nightmare getting the exchange.

Today I had to call and get another exchange, same issue a color shift from one side of the screen to the other. Apparently Dell says this is not something they test for and I cant accept that on a "premium" monitor.

My center monitor goes from white to light pink, I tried to fix it and now it goes from blue to white lol. So it has more red on the right side or more blue on the left.

No matter what its not a good panel and its annoying me to no end. I have a replacement coming for it and I hope to god the new one is perfect and my set of 3 is complete.

The color tint/shift issue is note the only one problem the U24010 has, it also has some kind of dithering issue in sRGB and AdobeRGB modes, however I have no idea what that problem is or if I suffer from it, I guess they could mean the fuzzyness or the splotches of color you can see when moving an object but thats not as big of a deal to me as the color change.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 10 Nov 2009, 00:21

ViciousXUSMC -

To see the dithering, go to this page and check the gray squares. Switch your monitor between RGB modes and other modes. All modes other than RGB will show smooth grey. RGB modes will show dithering.

To me, this is a pretty minor issue and you're not likely to ever notice it in practical applications (these squares are made to show it).

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

I think any wide gamut monitor that tries to conform to an RGB space has to somehow reduce all those colors into a limited RGB gamut - hence some processing is required.

To me, the RGB setting looks pretty damn good. I've had good results in this mode and I reduced the saturation in my ATi CCC to 90%.

I'm VERY pleased with this screen's color, sharpness and viewing angles.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 10 Nov 2009, 00:24

P.S. The thing I'm reminding myself of with this monitor is that it's only a couple of hundred bucks more than a TN panel and it absolutely blows away any TN panel I've seen or used. Especially the viewing angles, which in a larger screen (24"+) become quite noticeable.

I know a lot of people are expecting a lot from this monitor (I'm guilty as well) and you are seeing comparisons to Eizo and LaCie, NEC, etc., but those are all generally $1000 or more ABOVE the cost of the U2410.

Just my $0.02...

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 10 Nov 2009, 06:28

Yeah a few hundred more than a cheap TN, but since a cheap TN is only like $200 that's over double the price.

I expect it to be tested better for color uniformity than just the center area of the screen.

Im sending back the center monitor it has a noticeable red area on the right side, but even still I can see minor color shift on the left monitor and that is the replacement one.

I cant keep calling for replacements, at some point they will say "no" infact it was hard to get this one exchanged today since the person asked why I did not return it with the other one. Truth is I dont really know, I didnt notice the problem till I started to get the monitors to match in color or saw the right color background for the color shift.

Can you notice some strange "spots" on your monitor. Drag a white window around your screen and see it change darker in certain spots? All 3 of mine do that and I have never had that on any monitor before.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 10 Nov 2009, 12:48

That's most annoying. :cry:

Looks like that's another Dell screen that needs a couple of revisions. :(

rookjcarter · Post by **rookjcarter** » 10 Nov 2009, 13:46

my triple u2410s will be arriving at my front door in exactly 3 hours.. ill post a report on any issues.. hope this is just localized problems for my own sake

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 10 Nov 2009, 14:25

Yeah a few hundred more than a cheap TN, but since a cheap TN is only like $200 that's over double the price.

Can you notice some strange "spots" on your monitor. Drag a white window around your screen and see it change darker in certain spots? All 3 of mine do that and I have never had that on any monitor before.

True, it's double, but there's nothing really after that...you have TNs at $300-ish, this panel and maybe the HP for about $500-600 and then you have to jump up to $1000+ for the truly pro monitors (LaCie, Eizo, Some NECs, etc.).

So...while it shares a high quality IPS panel with the aforementioned pro monitors, perhaps the cost-cutting is in the processing. Something has to give in order for Dell to make that price point. Thus expectations need to be measured accordingly. I think the dithering 'issue' is part of that.

I don't really notice any dark spots? I tried dragging the white screen around, but didn't really notice anything? Lol...I think I started to see things that weren't there...sometimes you have to just stop looking for defects as you'll eventually find something wrong with it... :wink:

I think all LCDs that are backlit with CCFL will have some banding - you can't run a tube behind a screen without some inherent uniformity issues. An LED lit panel will have a much more even distribution.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 11 Nov 2009, 03:04

my triple u2410s will be arriving at my front door in exactly 3 hours.. ill post a report on any issues.. hope this is just localized problems for my own sake

I just received my second replacement from Dell today and I'm very pleased with it. No tint issues whatsoever, and no pixel problems either.

It looks incredible.

rookjcarter · Post by **rookjcarter** » 12 Nov 2009, 12:51

Well good news and bad news..

i got all three monitors..

2 of the monitors are nearly flawless in every way..

however one of them has all the problems people have been mentioning..

it has an ever so light green red on the edges.. however its so minor i can only notice it on a white screen and its very minor..

the other problem with the same monitor appears to be a very feint red glow right in the middle of the monitor its very small looks like someone is shining a laser pointer on the monitor.. but it is very feint.. only noticeable on a black background.. very strange..

also the same problem laden monitor does the 1 degree tilt to the right very annoying.. i have it weiged down with 1/2 a pound of fishing weights to straighten it out works great for now lol..

so looks like i will have to return one monitor the other two are awesome though.. i would definitely recommend the monitors as long as your wiling to deal with the monitor return hassle..

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 12 Nov 2009, 13:56

also the same problem laden monitor does the 1 degree tilt to the right very annoying.. i have it weiged down with 1/2 a pound of fishing weights to straighten it out works great for now lol..

Lol...all of mine did that, guess it is a design thing. My current one I was able to straighten by simply applying a light pressure turning it to the left.

It's a quirk I can easily live with. :wink:

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 12 Nov 2009, 23:15

got my 2nd replacement today, it was more red than the monitor it replaced and you can see a slight color shift in it also, but the way it shifts was not a strong gradient so after some color tweaking with the factory menu I have it matching up really well.

I think I can stick with what I have now and be happy. My 3rd monitor I had to boost the brightness on a bit and it looks good too it was more "dull" than the other 4 monitors for some reason.

Now to sit on it for a few days and get some new pictures up of the setup.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 12 Nov 2009, 23:38

got my 2nd replacement today, it was more red than the monitor it replaced and you can see a slight color shift in it also, but the way it shifts was not a strong gradient so after some color tweaking with the factory menu I have it matching up really well.

I think I can stick with what I have now and be happy. My 3rd monitor I had to boost the brightness on a bit and it looks good too it was more "dull" than the other 4 monitors for some reason.

Now to sit on it for a few days and get some new pictures up of the setup.

Nice, glad you're happy!

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 13 Nov 2009, 01:16

We will see :D

I still have tweaking to do, I have all 3 matching well now but I have too much blue in them to get rid of that pink tint, so I need to slowly back it out and get white instead of blue.

Trying to back it out so far has yielded un matching monitors again. But I do not think its going to get better than this even with more exchanges and I am to the point where its only white/gray that you can see any change between the monitors.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 18 Nov 2009, 15:17

Ok, this monitor is annoying me now, officially. I am considering returning it for a refund.

Was playing FEAR 2 in RGB mode and I noticed the dithering for the first time. It is very noticeable with the graphics set at high settings. Changing modes eliminates the issue, however the other presets have absolutely ridiculous color schemes.

Did a blind monkey on quaaludes calibrate these?

Dell is writing a new firmware for the dithering, but you don't get your monitor back, you get a replacement from the hub. So it's panel lottery time again folks, step right up.

I am damn pissed about this. You'd think with the marketing and hype they put behind this monitor, they'd take the time to get it right.

How the dithering got past production checks I'll never know.

Also - the grain from the anti-glare coating is brutal. Thought I could get used to it, not sure now. Looking back at my Viewsonic VX2025wm, it's leagues better. All I had to do with my trusty Viewsonic is select sRGB mode and turn the brightness down a notch. It's been perfect since.

I think it's time to return this joke of a monitor and fire up ol' faithful again. :x

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 18 Nov 2009, 16:05

I see the tide turned lol.

See since I have 3 of them now and went thorough so much trouble to get 3 of them that work/match I dont think I can send it back. heck I dont even know if they would let me.

But yea the coating does cause a strange grain effect, but its a matte monitor and the only other matte monitor screen I have is my EEE 1000H netbook and it has the same effect so I guess it kinda comes with the game, well my old 19" Scepter I do not remember any grain and it was Matte.

Its quite brutal on a white or bright color but the rest is ok.

The dithering I am not sure I notice it, that test you linked uses dark colors to show it and the only games I play with dark colors so far all have film grain effects so it must hide it lol.

I still have to open the box for the 2nd return monitor and email them to send me a label, not one but both of my returns failed to have the return label included with the replacement monitor like they said it would.

So I have to get all this information off the monitor and email one of the guys on the Dell community forum that helped me last time and see if he sets up a return for me.

I really wish they would find a way to do a user upgrade on the firmware, but last message I saw was that they are not going to upgrade the firmware or fix the dithering issue.

I "FEAR" that I notice the dithering issue because it took me so long to tweak the SRGB settings with the factor menu to get the monitors to match, if I had to do it again for another setting I would die...

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 18 Nov 2009, 16:24

Tide has definitely turned. At first I think I wanted to accept the quirks since I was hyped about this panel (as I think many were, lol check out the CNET video review). However, it is plain starting to piss me off now.

I had the film grain effect on in FEAR 2 as well. Then I turned it off and the dithering is very noticeable. This is unacceptable, period.

Chris M on Dell's support forum (he is a Dell rep) has stated that Dell is working on a firmware to address the dithering. They will not be addressing the tint issues. To them, all monitors are within spec.

My Viewsonic VX2025wm has a matte screen but the difference between it and my U2410 is substantial in that the Viewsonic doesn't have that 'sparkle' effect and text is absolutely, perfectly crisp. The U2410 is grainy in comparison. Mind you, the VX2025wm is a VA panel, so perhaps the grain is related to IPS panels? i.e. different anti-glare matrix required?

Anyway...still on the bench. If I keep it, I will buy a Spyder 3 to calibrate it properly. If I can get the Standard or Custom modes to display properly, it would be usable and I wouldn't have any dithering. However, the colors are VERY saturated in these modes. I am happy with the colors in the RGB presets, but then you have dithering.

ARGH! :x

I can almost imagine the Techs VS Management meeting that must have preceeded this monitor's launch... :roll:

"But we can't release it, it has major flaws!"

"Don't worry, wait until you see the hype we've built up for this sucker. We've spent three times the amount of time writing marketing drivel for this monitor than you have building it. It's an Intermittent Panel Switch monitor, it'll sell itself. By the time anyone notices your silly 'flaws', we'll have sold enough to make a nice profit margin and besides, most users won't even notice any dittering."

"That's 'dithering', sir."

"Are you still here?"

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 18 Nov 2009, 16:45

I think Dell won this round with me, I dont want to exchange these I will be monitorless and not sure how cheap I will find the only competing monitor I know of the 24" HP monitor.

Who knows what kind of issues I may have with that monitor if any...

But yeah this is probably the first and last purchase I will ever make with Dell, atleast if its a monitor I'll wait for Revision 2 or 3 for what ever monitor I am considering.

It was display port that made me jump on this one early, reading the issues with the dvi adapters I just figured why not get 3x native DP monitors, but in hindsight wish I had gotten 3x Dell 2407's and an adapter, would have saved some $$$ and had no issues.

I even already had 2 perfect 2407's that I got really cheap, ended up thinking they were messed up since they did not match the 2408 in the center. I had no idea the 2408 was a wide color gamut monitor and thus that was the problem...

Oh well somebody in Canada is enjoying those 2407's now lol.

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 18 Nov 2009, 16:50

Yep, we all jumped on the 'it's an IPS 24" under $1K' bandwagon and we got burnt, basically.

I would definitely advise anyone reading this to wait for revision A01 at a minimum.

I've got a few days left before the 30-day deadline to decide. I have my VX2025wm still, so that is an option. Might just revert to it and wait for a better monitor.

Pisses me off though, I updated my entire rig for Dragon Age which has apparently met expectations.

Maybe Bioware should make monitors? :lol:

Gecko · Post by **Gecko** » 18 Nov 2009, 17:01

Maybe I should go for a 3008wfp? It's on sale in Canada for $1500, could probably negotiate down a bit further, using my current situation as ammo.

I am getting an 5870, so res shouldn't be a problem.

Thoughts on this one?

YouTube · Post by **ViciousXUSMC** » 18 Nov 2009, 17:51

If you want just one big monitor its a good pick, but for me its all about the 3x monitor setup now.

If you want something like the U2410 but supposedly with none of the issues check out the HP LP2475w

It is supposedly problem free and even better contrast/black levels than the U2410.

Widescreen Gaming Forum