U2410 Green/Pink Failure Analysis

I just bought two Dell U2410 monitors and as soon as I connected them I noticed the green hue on one of them.  I have a beautiful picture of the Grand Canyon, which I have been looking at for years on my older dual monitors - but as soon as I turned the new monitors on I noticed a big difference between my left and right monitor.   There was a green haze over the left and despite repreated adjustments, which actually improved the appearance - I could never get rid of the light green haze over the one monitor.

Mmmmmh...

Just got a U2410 and, using the factory default, it has indeed a slight color uniformity gradient : greenish on the left bottom -> redish on the upper right (I've to say I'm quite picky about lcd display).

Slight but noticable on a full white or grey screen.

I tested two HP LP2475W one year ago and both had this same kind of problem to some degree (same LG panel type).

I was able to strongly minimize the gradient by using the "Cool" color mode. Far from ideal, but you may want to give it a try...

It sounds logical as this one boost "Blue" against R and G.

Apart this color unformity issue :emotion-42:, this monitor looks great to me...

I registered just to express my disappointment in the company's decision to not directly address the Green/Pink gradation.  As a potential buyer, this vastly changes my opinion of the product and your company.  I was about to pull the trigger on buying this monitor, but no longer. 

I agree with odindusk. I was also seriously considering purchasing this monitor and I'm very disappointed to see that Dell is not acknowledging this tinting issue. From what I've read online, this seems to be a major issue with this particular monitor and it's really the luck of the draw if you get one with this problem or not. I don't want to take this chance, especially when Dell will not try to fix the issue and charges you if you want to return the product. I experienced a similar issue this year with Samsung (not wanting to acknowledge there was a sound problem with some of their LCD TVs) and I really do not want to go through this again. I really wanted this monitor and was going to buy it this week because of the sale going on, but after reading all of these complaints, I am going to pass and look into other options. This is a big disappointment.

Obviously, the intensity of the issue is very variable from one unit to another.

For me, using the "Cool" color mode solved it (using sRGB did not helped). The gradient is no longer noticable (of course in my case it was only a slight one).

I know it's not ideal, but maybe a proper calibration with R nad G tuned down could give also good result.

Btw, no LCD panel has a perfect uniformity (except high-end models of Eizo, Nec or others, and even with them you can have bad surprise).

I guess from what I've read that for some 2410 units, the tint heterogeneity is too strong to correct it, and in the same way for others 2410 units the tint heterogeneity is nearly not existent.

Dell should really asks LG to only provide them with panels with minimal (to define) color heterogeniety that could at least be corrected by calibration.

I suggested, not entirely seriously in the other thread on this (U2410 Green/Pink Tint Issues) that perhaps Dell could select out the good ones for us instead of having us keep sending them back until we get an acceptable one. 

It is my understanding that the availability of a reasonably accurate sRGB mode for viewing non colour managed images on a wide gamut monitor sets this apart from anything else in the price range.  I liked the two I had very much, apart from the colour variation.

Given that the following are true:

1. Dell are not going to apply proper quality control to all units;
2. some units are accaptable for photo and graphic work;
3. these good units will remain so over their lifetime (currently not known); and
4. the multicoloured screens are fine for many/most people;

then all Dell need to do is pick some good ones off the line, badge them "U2410 Graphic" or some such name, and charge a bit extra for them.  They could guarantee the colour across the screen on these ones, and any that fail can go out as the standard model.

(1) All received captures were tested and are within manufacturer specifications for color gradation. (2) The Color Calibration Report results are generated by testing the center of the monitor, not the left and right sides. (3) There will not be a firmware written for Green/Pink color gradation. (4) To alleviate this - * Open the OSD (On Screen Display) * Go to Color Settings * Go to Preset Modes and change it to sRGB (5) We are still awaiting the firmware fix for the Graininess in sRGB and Adobe Modes

Well I just received my monitor today, after ordering yesterday, and being blind to the fact of all these problems with the U2410, had I known of these problems, I wouldn't have wasted my time ordering one in the first place.

It still sits here in its box, unopened and untested, and that is the way it will remain so, until the courier comes to collect it on Thursday, thus returning it back to where it was bought (at my expense I will add) for a full refund.

I am not prepared to enter into another 'Dell Lottery' game of cat & mouse, been there and done it all before with my 2007WFP a few years back.  I can also see that Dell have not changed their attitude one little bit in these years that have passed since the last fiasco.

The above 'statement' numbered 1-5 is an absolutely shocking response to those who have spent good money on something not fit for public sale, hence I will not be opening my box to find out either way, nor will I be purchasing any Dell product again.

I urge people to think twice before spending this sort of money on the Dell U2410, otherwise you will find that getting the quality product you paid for, depends on the roll of a dice.

Awful!

Probably start? Base on what reason you are gonna exchange? I don't think they will allow anymore exchanges for tinting issues. Just return this monitor. :emotion-15:

Im getting this email today, hope the issue goes well:

Good day to you.

Thank you for contacting Dell. My name is and I am from the Executive Escalation Team.

I understand that you are currently experiencing a color gradation problem with the Dell Monitor that you have recently purchased.

As I may need to investigate further with the related team on your queries, please allow me 1 – 2 working days to have this investigated.

At the mean time, should you have further inquiries, please feel free to contact me and I will assist you in every way I can.

Thank you for taking time to provide us with your feedback on your purchasing experience. You can be assured that your matter will be my top priority.

You have a lovely day.  

The U2410 has a hardware LUT now, which (as far as I understand things) is actually the first step required in solving the color gradation /  uniformity issues many U2410's have.

All Dell need to do is beef up the LUT features by giving it the ability to adjust several screen zones independently. This wouldn't add THAT much to the cost and, as I've already pointed out (So you can feel free to stop using Eizo as the only alternative example now Chris M) the NEC 2490 WUXI actually costs less in the USA than the Dell U2410 costs in the UK, but yet it manages to include a monitor factory calibrated to at least 15 independent points (NEC call this feature Colorcomp).

If Dell aren't prepared to do this then I agree with some other peoples comments on this thread - I would rather Dell hand pick some screens they ARE prepared to guarantee are substantially free from these green pink type color gradation uniformity issues, slap a U2410 Photographer/Premium edition sticker on it, say it's been checked/calibrated at, ohh, say 9 points on the screen, and charge an extra 20% for this service. I would have gladly paid this to avoid all the annoyance I went through to get a U2410 I was happy with. Otherwise perhaps this is Dells way of saying we should just buy Apple products - since it appears Dell is simply buying Apples leftover panels from LG, which didn't meet Apples required grade..

If Dell are not prepared to do either of these things (offer a U2410 that's been checked at several points rather than just the middle, or offer enough hardware features to make these gradation problems a non-issue) then it means the U2410 is simply not viable for any sort of colour-critical work  - unless you're lucky enough to get one substantially free of tint, and I would even go as far as saying unusable for general browser usage - unless you don't mind one side of your browser being a different colour from the other!  Some of us are extremely active on various forums/blogs and will make sure the word gets out there, which is unfortunate because we'd be cheerleading this monitor (current sRGB/Adobe mode dither issues aside) if it weren't for these gradation issues which Dell are refusing to fix.

To add insult to injury the HP LP2475 (which uses an earlier revision of the same panel, and thus suffers the same green pink tint issues) tends to cost LESS then the U2410, and yet HP *will* exchange the panels for anyone who is suffering from these green pink colour uniformity issues. That being the case, perhaps Chris M would like to ask Dells management to extend that offer to Dells customers? If not then Dell obviously must think its customers are better off buying what's essentially the same screen (minus the LUT) from HP?

My u2410 was just shipped, and I just came across this forum thread. Naturally I'm concerned that I made a mistake buying the u2410.

I have a few questions for anyone who can help -

1. Would I be better off never opening the u2410 box and just returning it? Would this allow me to avoid the 15% admin/restock fee?

2. Do all of the u2410's have the "grainy text" issue, or is that a problem for only some of them?

3. Does anyone know if the HP LP2475 also has problems? (That model also uses an H-IPS.) Has anyone switched to that monitor from the u2410?

Thanks!

3. Does anyone know if the HP LP2475 also has problems? (That model also uses an H-IPS.) Has anyone switched to that monitor from the u2410?

Having tried both panels I can say that the HP is a bit rougher than the DELL panel, few differences, the first is that DELL has implemented a proper color matrix for the sRGB and Adobe RGB modes whereas on the HP when you select those color modes the firmware only lowers the general luminosity of the panel and rises the color temperature so that colors look less saturate....I repeat they look less saturated but i reality you still get the radioactive reds and yellows. The other is that I think the HP is 112% of the adobe space whereas instead the DELL is only 95-100% so pratically even in wide gamut mode colors are a little less saturatedon the DELL. The desktop color saturation on the HP is ral bad, I spent some 3 days clibrating and recalibrating trying to get a reasonable result at the end I gave up.

Other (huge) difference is the OSD on the DELL you have much more control on the image and colors, the HP osd menu leaves you baffled with only very basic controls, some controls (black RGB) are only accessible through their Windows software, but since I use a mac I was stuck with the basic on screen OSD.

Tint problems are very similar on bot panels, unfortunately DELL is sourcing cheap panels from LG, these panels are the same that Apple has in their Cinema Displays but for some reason Apple panels are free of tint problems so I guess Apple has a real person doing QC and not automated sensors like DELL has on the production lines, also Apple is quite happy to discard 3 out of 10 produced monitors ifg they show such a problem whereas instead DELL is quite happy to ship the whole production to customers and let them do the QC.

I would say unpack the monitor, check for any problem, if you are not happy send it back and keep sending it back until they supply you with a product that leaves you satisfied. This is a huge problem for them, there are threads on various forums, HardOcp forum has a thread of 50 pages on this monitor problems, Overclockers UK has a thread of 40 pages, HWUpgrade (an italian web site) has a thread of 120 pages, DPReviews, a photographers site has several threads on the argument, a big thread over AVForums...all of them about the tint issues and those threads are full of people that are at their 4th-5th monitor exchange.

It baffles me that DELL hasn't yet stopped production of this unit until such problems are solved. 

My u2410 was just shipped, and I just came across this forum thread. Naturally I'm concerned that I made a mistake buying the u2410. 1. Would I be better off never opening the u2410 box and just returning it? Would this allow me to avoid the 15% admin/restock fee?

I never even opened mine, sent it back as I got it.  We have a thing called the 'Distance Selling Regulations' here in UK, whereby we have 10 days in which to send the item back if we 'change our mind', and thus get a full refund with no fees, which is exactly what I did.

Your chances of not incurring fees will be greatly reduced if the packaging is how you received it.  It ain't worth opening anyway, but if you do, be prepared for a long hard slog and numerous rolls of the dice :)

Thanks for all of the great info - don't think I've ever found a group so responsive and well-informed. You too Sirmausalot, sorry your post was removed.

First, I think I'll confirm whether the admin fee would still apply if I choose not to open the box. If the fee does still apply, I'll go ahead and try the "lottery." So much has been posted about the issue, it should be easy to tell right away whether mine is defective.

Will be sure to post my results and any tips I learn along the way.