X-bit labs

24" LCD Monitors Roundup. Part II (page 6)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 04/28/2008 | 11:40 AM ]

Of course, there are RTC artifacts. The RTC error level is rather high at 13.5%. The diagram shows that there are long transitions from dark to lights as well as vice versa. As a result, you can see both light and dark trails behind moving objects depending on the specific colors.

Dell’s monitor is not the only one to have this problem. The Samsung SyncMaster 245T has an average RTC error of over 13%, which is quite a lot for a PVA-based monitor.

The color temperature is set up perfectly but you should note that there is no really warm mode here. If you choose Red, you get a color temperature of about 7000K. The temperature dispersion between the levels of gray is small, though.

The monitor’s contrast ratio is surprisingly low. Notwithstanding its PVA matrix, it is inferior to many modern TN-based models in this respect.

Formally, the Dell 2407WFP-HC offers factory-set image modes but they are hard to access. There is no quick access to them – you have to loop deep in the menu instead. Anyway, I checked out the monitor’s characteristics in those modes, too.

There are three modes here, their names quite self-explanatory. They all have the same brightness. Does it mean they differ in color reproduction?

In the Game mode the gamma value is too low again, resulting in a whitish and dull picture.

It’s no better in the Multimedia mode: the curves are all higher than the ideal one and are shaped so curiously that you can hardly correct them using the gamma setting in your graphics card driver.

Well, considering that these modes are hard to access, you may just think the monitor doesn’t have them at all.

Highs:

• PVA matrix
• Excellent color temperature setup
• Rich selection of inputs
• Good response time

Lows:

• High level of RTC artifacts
• Low gamma
• Impractical factory-set image modes
• Unfriendly onscreen menu

Recommended usage:

• Text-based applications (documents, Internet, etc)
• Viewing and simple editing of photographs
• Movies and games (including those that require a fast matrix)