Queation about U2410 - white glow, panel coating, slow wakeup after sleep mode...

Post a picture of the issue here and the monitor 20 digit Serial PPID number.

Hey Chris,

I've searched all over the monitor, my papers for the number, and ended up finding it on the side of the case it came in -) Why don't they put it on the monitor? Anyway, the number is:

S/N: CZ-0F525M-73608-994-147L, Rev. A00

I hope that this is all of it.

I'm having some problems with posting photos, as I only have a nokia 6300 2mp mobile phone. All pictures looks ugly  :-) But I've found my "white glow" problem descriped on more web pages. For example her:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/1279267.html

And I found a picture of the same extend of the problem, as I have:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/content/dell_u2410.htm

(go down to just before - office and windows use.. section). A black background, where the corners are lit up, looks like backlight bleed. But when you center your eyes on the corners, most of the glow goes away. Symptoms of IPS panels without polarizer build in, or a fault on my panel?

I tried to search for the dirty text look I've descriped, where it could be the panel coating that makes black text on white backgrounds look kind if dirty. Not as clean as my 2007FP S-PVA panel. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture that describes it. But search on "dirty" on this page:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1441159&page=18

Which can tell, that I'm not alone on this one :-)

Last problem that irritates me is the game mode. The colours are way too powerful and overdone in game mode. So much contrast and brightness, that it hurt my eyes. Is it possible top

All the best,

Moef

If the corner glow disappears when you change angle it is indeed IPS related. As you've already figured out, the "work around" to this is to buy a screen which has a polarizer. You can also carefully adjust the panel position to help minimize the problem.

The "dirty look" on white backgrounds is the anti-glare coating. The only solution to this is to switch to a different panel which doesn't use this type of coating.

In game mode you can minimize the contrast by disabling Menu/Display Settings/Dynamic Contrast and setting this to off. Since game mode bypasses processing to minimize input lag, if you want to tweak to reduce wide gamut issues (glowing reds etc) then you'd have to find a way to do that via game settings or your graphics card drivers.

HTH

Thank you so much P.A.K for helping out with some answers :-)

Comming from a S-PVA panel, I think its a little strange that many people instantly would switch to the U2410 over the 2408 for example. Text and white/black backgounds, viewing angles are much better on my old 2007FP screen. To me the mentioned things are serious problems, which really don't raise the U2410 above my 2007FP. Especially the white glow thing, which is very easy to see in front of the U2410 screen, and worse at angles when the background contain much black is bad. I also think the coating is too thick or as said grainy, and text is getting more un-sharp to look at.

I know the game mode is good on the U2410 for minimal input lag, and also precise sRGB colours. But what makes the U2410 such a fantastic monitor over S-PVA 2408, 2007FP and others? What makes people say, that the new U2410 is sp much better than previous ultrasharp models?

I'll have the weekend to decide if I wanna keep the U2410. I have thought of exchanging it for a 2408 SPVA screen. But it seems to the input lag is very bad on the screen. But will the coating be the same as my 2007FP, so that text, white backgrounds, black backgrounds will be as on my 2007FP?

Moef

Keep in mind your 2007FP is only 20 inches, and the bigger you make LCD screens the harder it tends to become to overcome certain problems inherent to them. Having said this, I recall seeing some people saying they thought the vertical viewing angle on the 2007FP was better than the U2410.

PVA has an advantage over IPS in that it produces better black levels. However, if you look carefully, colours tend to "shift" more when you move in front of the screen. It's down to personal preference as to which you prefer. You trade off poorer black for not just better colours, but also better colour stability with an IPS panel. The U2410 also has a wider gamut. This, again, can be a good or bad thing depending on how you use a screen. Of course there's also better input lag for gaming - as long as you're in game mode. But whether it's overall "better" or not is purely a matter of personal requirements and preferences.

You're not alone in not liking the coating, some people have returned the U2410 because of it, but I don't really notice it unless I'm looking for it personally. A requirement for low input lag does limit your choice of screens, and the 2408 is quite high if you intend to play fast online games sensitive to delays (quake type games etc). PVA panels tend to have higher lag and even the one I'm aware of which was designed for gamers, the discontinued 24" NEC Gaming screen, had noticeable ghosting problems in certain scenarios. The U2410's ghosting is pretty much non-existent whilst gaming. They're very good in this regard.

As to whether it'd live up to your expectations based on your 2007FP, I wouldn't like to comment.. :) I agree though - it'd be nice to get to a stage where polarizers are seen as a necessary requirement for IPS screens, rather than a luxury extra reserved only for expensive panels.

Thanks again P.A.K, very useful feedback :-)

Hmmm..  right now I can't decide between 2408 and u2410. I'm not picky with input lag. In fact, I don't know what it feels like playing games haha. I've never felt anything on my 2007fp A02 monitor, which probably aren't the quickest. But again, it would also be a shame if I got another problem panel in a 2408, for example with pixel faults, tint or an old revision A00 :-) Okay, I guess all 2408 monitors that dell has is at least A01 now?!

Anyway, I'll use it over the weekend. Trying to disable the dynamic colour/brighness stuff, as this seems to act strange sometimes. I can actually see, that the brightness or colour sometimes levels itself out in the screen. First now, when you talks about he dynamic stuff in the 2410, I know what it does and how it looks when it auto adjust. A little sluggish when you look at it. But I guess it works :-)

Can you actually suggest, that I'll get the 2408, or would you keep the u2410? Or do you have another favour 24inch brand, that isn't too expensive (if we're aloud to speak of that?)

Moef

...."PVA has an advantage over IPS in that it produces better black levels."....

Is this an opinion or based on what you've read, and if the latter, please provide a link (or links) for confirmation.

Based on this CNET review of the u2410, in the Performance section and using calibration software, the UPS u2410 monitor displays black from 0 to 255 without issue when set to sRGB.

http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-ultrasharp-u2410-339298064.htm

...."PVA has an advantage over IPS in that it produces better black levels.".... Is this an opinion or based on what you've read, and if the latter, please provide a link (or links) for confirmation. Based on this CNET review of the u2410, in the Performance section and using calibration software, the UPS u2410 monitor displays black from 0 to 255 without issue when set to sRGB. http://www.cnet.com.au/dell-ultrasharp-u2410-339298064.htm

The same CNET review where I had to post to his blog and tell him to use Game Mode to accurately measure input lag? (And I didn't even own a U2410 at the time :) ) He kindly redid the numbers, although they're still "high", in that he only bothered to measure one section of the screen.

The black I'm referring to isn't really about reproducing the shades, but rather the glow you get on black backgrounds with IPS screens which do not have an A-TW Polarizer, and which PVA panels do not suffer (Although, as mentioned, PVA has its own disadvantages).Thus it's about your perception of black, rather than the ability of the screen to reproduce blacks.

Incidently, sRGB mode simply won't show below an RGB level of 6 with Dells factory calibration. It also has "dither type" issues which are clearly visible in darker shades, and which make darker images appear grainy. Chris M from Dell (on this forum) has said this should be addressed in a future firmware update for the U2410, which will hopefully help the grainy issue. The fact that reviewers fail to pick up on these sorts of things does  cause me to wonder sometimes.. :)

Can you actually suggest, that I'll get the 2408, or would you keep the u2410? Or do you have another favour 24inch brand, that isn't too expensive (if we're aloud to speak of that?)

There is actually a certain other brand of 26 inch IPS screen which has low input lag and apparently sometimes contains a polarizer (note the "sometimes"!). They're only available in North America, thus weren't an option for me in the UK, and have fairly poor availability from what I can tell. Since there's not too many 26" IPS screens that should be enough info to find it perhaps. I'm not entirely confident about the company though (they're smaller).

I would add that, as bad as we like to think Dell is sometimes, their customer service and exchange policies are light years ahead of many companies. Usually you'll only do better by spending much more money, and you can do a lot LOT worse (some companies keep you waiting months for panel exchanges even though they have warranties that make "next day" type claims). So I'd be very cautious of going with brands outside the likes of Dell, or other "very recognizable" brands. To go only a bit above the U2410 you tend to have to start paying double the price, depending where you're based in the world.

I'm extremely happy with the U2410 for the most part, other than the tint issues some screens have, which is being discussed on another thread here. I'd take it over the 2408 personally, but wouldn't like to make that decision for someone else since everyone has their own personal preference..

Which monitor (2408WFP or U2410) would you recommend for video editing and why? I'm using a 24" iMac and can't get a decent gray level on color bars. So I want the monitor that can 1. best produce a set of standard color bars with black to white range and clear color separation after calibration and 2. Work the best when displaying high def video in full 1080P I'll be using iMac and the second monitor together

Pluses and minuses of both monitors appreciated , assume the difference in price is not an issue

Many sites say the PVA has better blacks but I have yet to side by side pictures to prove this.

Asking...

Many sites say the PVA has better blacks but I have yet to side by side pictures to prove this.

Given that Dell has both type panels in their inventory I would think the issue could be resolved rather easily with the calibration apps and equipment Dell uses to test and provide the u2410 color calibration factory report shipped with the monitor like I got. How about throwing this in engineering's lap??

Again, and with all due respect, to claim IPS panels can't display blacks as good as PVA panels without providing a validation source is an opinion...or as you posted, a "perception of black, rather than the ability of the screen to reproduce blacks" which really says nothing.

Note the glow from the IPS panel on the right? Happier now? :emotion-4:

No offense, but the point I'm trying to make is not to post statements that are worded to be taken as fact by uninformed folks who read it and assume it's gospel and then base their buying decision accordingly. This is why I asked you to please post a link or other source of validation that PVA panels render black better then IPS panels. Should you do so, I will post accordingly that I stand corrected.

Whilst PVA panels are better in this regard, these video (somewhat) shows a disadvantage of PVA panels.. less stable colour shifting..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC7EozTCGSQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gVDMG7AMg

For the record, I have a u2410 and compared to my 5 year old Dell 2001FP (TN panel) the intensity of displayed black in games (FC2, MoH:Airborne, CoD 2, 4 and 5, MS FSX, etc.) is far more intense than what the 2001FP was capable of. It's definitely an observable difference. But this is my opinion - or as you put it - perception, and I'm pleased with the result and my u2410 purchase decision.