Ok, i've tested all video modes, and same thing, way too dark. If a part of the image is dark, the screen just displays it as black. If i increase the brightness, it is still black, just a little brighter. Contrast doesn't do anything.
I think I might return the monitor, as this isn't at all what I expected.

Mind you, dvi and vga are great, but if that's all I wanted then I would have opted for something else. I particularly wanted the component and other video inputs that this monitor had to offer.

Is there anyone else with similar problems? Anyone else using the component inputs and getting dark colours/bad picture reproduction?

Yeah, that's what I discovered. Luckily i purchased a vga adaptor for my previous display (a 20" benq widescreen) and it's quality is much better colour wise. It is of course blurry (as it's not native resolution for the display) but no where near as dark. I'll be calling dell today or tomorrow and finding out if theres anything I can do to correct this problem. If there isn't, and there is nothing that works correctly using the component inputs, I may see if I can return it.
I now wish I had purchased a 2405, they seemed to have had better component quality. But unfortunately they aren't for sale anymore.

Message Edited by bMaNoNe on 06-25-200604:01 PM

I will be receiving my 2407 tomorrow morning, and I intend for it to be my primary Xbox 360 display. I will be doing extensive testing with it, and will report back with my findings.

So far, I have heard few reports of the component input being anything but garbage. Having that input option was definitely a selling point for me, but imagine my suprise when I got on the forums after I placed the order and found out that it didnt even support 1080p, downscaled 1080i, and made everything too dark.

Try a component to VGA converter. I use it for my PS2 and my gamecube and they both work great.

i don't need too. I have an xbox 360 vga adapter already, and even if i didn't, that isn't the point. I got this monitor with the impression that it supported component, and displayed it ok, if not well. However it looks like garbage, way too dark, contrast is too high, and the settings do nothing to rectify this.

Got my A02 from Mexico today

Yep. It looks awful in component. Both 720p and 1080i are way to dark, and very bad quality. The colors look terrible and it is very blurry. I feel cheated that I picked this monitor because of this feature, and I paid for this feature, and it does not work.

I too have a vga adapter that I was using with my 2005fpw before I upgraded. I found the VGA adapter to be much more crisp and sharp than the component cable. It actually looked pretty good even though its doing massive upscaling from the 1360x768 output of the vga adapter. But there is a catch. About half way down the monitor, there is a line of pixels that appears to lag while the rest of the image doesnt. Hard do explain, but it looks horrible. With any motion at all, you have a line in the monitor that is out of sync with the rest of the picture. What is more annoying is that it does not effect fill mode, only 4:3 and 1:1. I dont want to use fill mode because it stretches the picture.


Other problems with my monitor:

verticle banding (no horizontal)
Uneven backlight (left side brighter than right)




*sigh* Im out a grand, and I don't know what to do. I still want a 2407. Its a beautiful monitor. I just want it to work right. I could get it replaced and maybe solve the uneven backlight and the banding, maybe even the vga input defect, but im still left with a component input that doesnt work.

So I came across a review for the 2407 that I found very interesting

http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?page=7200&head=0

The 4th page of the review begins with this paragraph:

Playing a fast action game, Counter-Strike: Source, was also a great experience. In these kind of conditions minor banding issue just aren’t noticeable. Xbox 360 images also looked great when hooking up via component.

What the heck? Did dell send them a version of the monitor with a functional component input or what? I messed around with my component input and the 360 in every resolution and none of them look anywhere near decent.

That is interesting, eithier he got a good monitor, or quality to him isn't the same as to most people, or he is just lying...eithier way mine doesn't perform well. I recently bought a digital set top box to hook up via component, going to go out and get an aerial cable now to see if the picture is better then from the xbox360. If so, then might just stick with it.

Can't get the set top box to work, so I wasn't able to test component input from it.
I'll be calling dell tomorrow, ask for a replacement, or if it's known that all do it, a refund.
It's a shame, because vga and dvi are great, but I got it for the component aswell, and since that doesn't work there is no point in using it.

So will using an Xbox 360 HD VGA connector or a Component to VGA connector? get me good image quality?

I'm currently using it on component:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/solidmantis/DSC00088.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y86/solidmantis/DSC00089.jpg


Games are generally okay, but I can see jaggies on Oblivion, Kameo looks fine but too dark, Hitman Blood Money (demo) is a little dark and I noticed the trunk/fridge has rectangles of light to dark green (I think it's some kinda gradient problem... Is this what they call banding?). The pixels also seem to be flickering a bit, although it isn't obvious further away.

Man this blows, I want to be able to use component and not have to get a separate cable for it.