Dell 2407WFP 24" LCD Screen Colour Banding Still a Problem

[Jason Dunn]

Remember how I <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=10327">posted about this issue</a> back in May? Well, it's been three months since the issue was blown wide open <a href="http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&message.id=54714&view=by_date_ascending&page=1">in this Dell forum thread</a> (with an amazing 900+ posts), and in those three months I've been longing for new monitors. There's certainly nothing <i>wrong</i> with my dual 20.1" 2001FP monitors - they are a good size, have great colour, and zero dead/stuck pixels. But every other LCD screen I have is wide screen, and the thought of 48" of screen space (two of them side by side) was tempting.<br /><br />So when Dell Canada had a recent "Dell Deal of the Day" promotion on, I waited patiently for the monitors to be offered on sale. Sure enough, they were: a mere $749 CAN ($674 USD) each. Considering I paid over $1100 USD three years ago for each of these 20" LCDs I have now, that was a tempting price. I can remember paying $950 CAN ($855 USD) for my first dual-LCD panel setup, two Samsung 17" LCDs from Costco - it's amazing how much prices have dropped and sizes increased! The question at hand with the 2407WFPs was whether or not Dell had fixed the colour banding problem: as much as I wanted these new monitors, I wasn't going to drop $1500+ on two monitors that were flawed. So I made sure that when I ordered them I had a no-questions-asked option for return. Getting the monitors proved to be a hassle - the call center in India canceled my first order without telling me - but once I had them set up, I was in awe. They looked SO good!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/dell-24inch-lcd-monitors.jpg" /><br /><br />I was impressed with their brightness and colour reproduction, and immediately loaded up some digital photos and looked closely for banding problems. I could see none. I loaded up a new game, Titan's Quest, and took the monitor and my new XFX 7600GS video card for a spin - 1920 x 1200 resolution was a bit much for that card, but dropping the quality settings a bit smoothed things out. Working in Windows was amazing<!> - as you can see in the picture above, I had space on the left monitor for Outlook, Windows Live Messenger, and Outlook Reminders to stay open all the time. The left monitor was for my browser/Word, IM chat windows, and my active workspace. Fantastic productivity!<br /><br />I used these monitors for about a week, then I realized that if I was going to keep them I had better look closely into whether the banding problem was really fixed. I read through the Dell thread and, much to my dismay, saw messages from people saying that even the newest "fixed" revisions of the monitor had banding problems. They also said that the newer monitors were using a Samsung panel, instead of the LG panel, and that the problem was even more pronounced. The desktop wallpaper you can see in the photo above was essentially one big red gradient, and when I compared how it looked to my 17" Fujitsu notebook, I could see a very obvious difference. Wanting to test further, I found a program called <a href="http://www.ykwong.com/checkemon.html">CheckeMON</a> that had some help tests. I ran the colour spectrum test and compared the results, simultaneously, on the 2407WFPs, the 17" Fujitsu notebook, and my Dell 26" LCD TV. The results were horrible - the 2407 banding was brutally obvious. I even called my wife down to ask her if she could see a difference between any of the monitors, and she immediately spotted how bad the 2407WFPs looked.<br /><br />There's nothing worse for a geek when his new tech has to get boxed up and sent back, so I resisted returning them at first. I reasoned "Well, I didn't notice it at first, so maybe it's not so bad?". Then I thought about the money these cost and how I didn't want to settle for anything less than really great monitors. The final straw was discovering a dead pixel on the left monitor - I'm extremely ticked off by dead pixels, so that sealed the deal. I phoned Dell yesterday, and a very helpful representative was aware of the banding issue and was told it was fixed. When I told him it was most certainly not fixed, he didn't argue with me, and instead processed my return immediately. The monitors will be picked up today, and I'm already back to working with my original 20" monitors.<br /><br />I typically have a lot of faith in the Dell brand, and up until this point have been extremely impressed with their monitors - in fact, Dell monitors are the only brand of monitors I buy any more because they are such high quality while still being affordable (especially if you catch a good deal). This issue has shaken my confidence in Dell, and I'm now going to be very gun-shy about buying a new Dell monitor unless I'm convinced there are no issues with it. I can only hope that Dell will learn from their mistake with these monitors and ensure it never happens again.<br /><br /><i>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He really wishes he could have kept those nice big monitors.</i>

[aroma]

I've had one of these for a while now. I've never even knew there was an issue. I guess now I'm going to have to read through the posts some and see what the issue is to see if mine has it or not. I actually use that monitor as a wall mount LCD TV now (with a Media Center Extender hooked up to it.) It's an amazing monitor with an amazing set of hookups. I swapped it out however, when I got one of the Dell 30" screens. Have you seen that one yet? All I can say is WOW! My main rig now has tri monitors (all Dell). It's a 30" in the center, flanked by two of the 20" WS, truned portrait.

[Jason Dunn]

I actually use that monitor as a wall mount LCD TV now (with a Media Center Extender hooked up to it.)

As a TV display, I'm willing to bet that the banding problem would never be obvious, since you're probably viewing from 3+ feet away. At 18 to 24 inches away from my nose, the banding was more obvious.

My main rig now has tri monitors (all Dell). It's a 30" in the center, flanked by two of the 20" WS, truned portrait.

Now that's something I just HAVE to see a picture of! Care to share? :-)

Also, what are you using for a tri-connect video card? It's hard enough for me to find the right kind of video card (i.e.: silent) with dual DVI, let along triple-head. I thought about getting one of the 30" Dell monitors, but the panels are still on the slow side and not great for gaming (which I still tend to dabble in), and getting two 30" monitors would have been rather expensive but also rather ludicrous. ;-) The one 30" + two 20's sounds cool...

[Phronetix]

Aw man, Jason, I really feel for you. I've sent stuff back that I knew was a poor buy upon close inspection. A eurocom notebook comes to mind about 4 years ago.

I did the exact same thing the last Dell Deal of the Day event, and sent the monitor back. I didn't get any warranty with it though, and there were no questions asked. They did offer me $100 to keep the monitor, which I found compelling for 10 seconds. I felt like I was on the phone with Monty Hall.

[aroma]

Now that's something I just HAVE to see a picture of! Care to share? :-)

Also, what are you using for a tri-connect video card? It's hard enough for me to find the right kind of video card (i.e.: silent) with dual DVI, let along triple-head. I thought about getting one of the 30" Dell monitors, but the panels are still on the slow side and not great for gaming (which I still tend to dabble in), and getting two 30" monitors would have been rather expensive but also rather ludicrous. ;-) The one 30" + two 20's sounds cool...

I'll try to snap a quick picture this evening. I'm actually using an ATI x1900 and x1900 Crossfire, but not in crossfire mode, so I can connect up to 4 monitors.

I do some gaming on the machine, and haven't really had a problem with the 30", but I'm probably not quite as picky as most.

Edit:
Also, as far as noise goes, I took off the cooling fan off of each of the x1900's and replaced with a liquid cooling system.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

The 2405/2407s are all Samsung PVA panels. LG-Philips does not make a 24" panel; the 23" S-IPS is the closest.

I'd have gone for the 30" myself given the cash. It's a S-IPS panel too, and their response curve is more tolerable despite not boasting the best response "statistic." Though gaming on that would need a very beefy video card.

[BugDude10]

Seriously, man, if you're using more than one monitor, you're just working too hard... 8O

[Jason Dunn]

Seriously, man, if you're using more than one monitor, you're just working too hard... 8O

Haha...if you've never tried a multi-monitor setup, you can't imagine the difference it makes in terms of being able to multi-task and be more efficient. It's SUPER cool. 8)

[Kursplat]

I agree. I've been using dual-monitors at home (using 2 graphics cards - not a dual-head card) for years. I immediately snagged a spare monitor and graphics card from our desktop IT folks and was the only IT person in our company running dual monitors for the last few years. Now, suddenly, a few people (including the head of the department) are seeing the benefits for themselves.

I, too, would like to see a picture of the 30" + dual 20's.

I figured that standard 17" LCDs should be about the same height as my Dell 20" WS, so I was considering putting one on either side for a triple display. When I bought my 20" WS, I actually stopped using dual displays because I found I could manage with the extra width and resolution of the 20" WS.

In a few years, when I finally drop a few K on a big TV, my recent purchase of a 1080p 37" Westinghouse LCD "TV" (sans tuner) will become a huge monitor for my computer room. :) I just want to give the industry to mature and stabilize on things like HD players, CableCards, HDMI, HDCP, etc. before sinking several thousand dollars on something that could become obsolete faster then a notebook computer.

[aroma]

As requested....

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8397/img5482auo2.jpg

Sorry for the terrible picture, but you get the gist... and yes, in the foreground on the right is my new little buddy, the Q1.

[Jason Dunn]

As requested....

Ok, you're officially my new hero. ;-) That's one SWEET set of monitors. The 20/30/20 setup is killer. Hmm.

[goes off to think]

Nah, I'd need to ditch my Shuttle XPC fetish to do that, plus drop about $3K in monitors. I'd need a Shuttle with two PCI Express slots, which they don't make AFAIK. Damn.

[Darius Wey]

Sorry for the terrible picture, but you get the gist... and yes, in the foreground on the right is my new little buddy, the Q1.

Dayam! That's too cool. 8O

[Crocuta]

Sorry for the terrible picture, but you get the gist... and yes, in the foreground on the right is my new little buddy, the Q1.

It never occurred to me that I was even capable of being jealous of someone else's computer monitor. I was wrong... that is just too cool. 8)

[aroma]

Nah, I'd need to ditch my Shuttle XPC fetish to do that, plus drop about $3K in monitors. I'd need a Shuttle with two PCI Express slots, which they don't make AFAIK. Damn.


I can understand about the Shuttle fetish. What you don't see in that picture is just underneath the desk on the left side, sits a shuttle on a small shelf. (It's actually my Vista test box right now.) I love those little shuttle boxes, except where more room is needed. That shuttle was actually my HTPC for a bit, until I replaced it with a nice Origen HTPC case. In hindsight, I should have included that shuttle in the picture and told you that was the rig running the monitors. :) BTW, I only have about 2K in the monitors. Just under $400 for each of the 20"s, and $1.2K for the 30". What's real nice is that this was all payed for with "extra cash" from my photography hobby.

[Jason Dunn]

In hindsight, I should have included that shuttle in the picture and told you that was the rig running the monitors.

Ok, now you REALLY have my attention. Which Shuttle do you have, and what config enables you to have two video cards? Every Shuttle I can think of has one PCI Express + PCI slot, none have PCI Express + AGP or anything similar. So I'm missing something...

[aroma]

Ok, now you REALLY have my attention. Which Shuttle do you have, and what config enables you to have two video cards? Every Shuttle I can think of has one PCI Express + PCI slot, none have PCI Express + AGP or anything similar. So I'm missing something...

Oh no, no, no. Sorry for the cunfusion. The Shuttle isn't the box running these monitors. I was just jesting that I should have had it in the picture and tried to convince you that it was running them. No, these monitors are hooked up to a tower unit off to the right of the picture.

[Jason Dunn]

Drat. And here I was all excited. ;-)

[bryhawks]

Aroma, that setup is AWESOME! I currently have a 24" CRT (1920x1200) and am dying for the Dell 30" (I do music recording/production and there's never enough desktop), but to add two 20"-ers beside it? HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!

And just how did you get those prices on those monitors?

Oh, and what flight sim do you use and how does it work on those huge-mongous displays? Do you like your throttle stick?

[Philip Colmer]

Back on topic ... :)

I've only recently bought a 2407, so I was a bit concerned about this article. I'd read elsewhere that the A02 iteration had cured the problem.

I've just run CheckeMON and the only test that gives me concern is "Phase". It says:

For LCD monitors not using DVI. It is hard to explain this test in a few words. As long as you see only purely black and white vertical strips, your monitor is not out of phase with the display card.
Well, I'm not seeing strips. I'm seeing some strips but with a undulating pattern of waves going horizontally. It is a bit difficult to describe!

Apart from that, I was actually very impressed by the other test results. The geometry is spot on, as is the convergence. The solid colors, gradients and spectrum are just fine.

The only other thing I've noticed in using the monitor is when I play back a QuickTime HD trailer, there is a horizontal shear as if the fresh of the image is happening part-way through the rendering of the trailer. I'm hoping that it is because my computer is struggling to cope with the demands of playing an HD clip.

Ultimately, both the computer &amp; the graphics card are being replaced, so I should end up with a better rig. I just couldn't wait to replace the monitor with this one, so I'm sorry that Jason has had problems.

--Philip

[aroma]

Aroma, that setup is AWESOME! I currently have a 24" CRT (1920x1200) and am dying for the Dell 30" (I do music recording/production and there's never enough desktop), but to add two 20"-ers beside it? HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!

And just how did you get those prices on those monitors?

Oh, and what flight sim do you use and how does it work on those huge-mongous displays? Do you like your throttle stick?

Those prices are what I got purchasing though my work's account.

As far as flight sims go, so far, I've only used MS FlightSim. In addition to that throttle control you see, I also have the "F1" stick, peddles, and also the standard flight yoke. I use the flight yoke and peddles with the MS FlightSim. I only used the throttle (in addition to the stick) with MechWarrior.