Dell U2713HM - Unbeatable performance out of the box
by Chris Heinonen on October 4, 2012 12:00 AM ESTDell U2713HM Display Uniformity
Where our new ANSI testing will really pay off is on the Display Uniformity testing. It gives us far more information for how uniform the brightness and contrast levels are for a screen, as nine points is a fairly coarse measure on a screen of this size. Looking at the Dell I can see some small hints of backlight bleeding at the corners with an all-black screen, and when you look at the black levels you can see that seems to be the case.
The minimum black level at our calibrated 200 nits setting is 0.198 in the center, once again very close to that 1000:1 contrast ratio we saw before. This drops down to 0.175 and 0.182 in two corners, and rises up to 0.233 and 0.247 in other corners, indicating a bit of backlighting uniformity issues. The central area of the display (the inner nine squares in the ANSI pattern) is +/- 11% relative to the center square, but the outer edge goes all the way to +/- 25% compared to the center. Those two corners really push the level up and lead to this unevenness.
The white uniformity is better, though not ideal. With the center at 198 nits (we aim for 200 nits, but usually are just off), the middle nine squares are +/- 10% relative to it, which means a drop down to 178 nits just adjacent to the center. On the outer edge it falls to +/- 17% with the same corners causing the main issues here. With those same corners also being darker here, where they were lighter with the dark samples, I think this is more a uniformity issue than a corner bleed issue. The white uniformity here is fine but not stellar.
The contrast uniformity basically reflects what we discussed above. The center of the screen and most of the surrounding samples all have a contrast ratio of close to 1000:1, but three of the corners (all except the upper-left) have contrast ratios closer to 700 or 800:1 due to the lack of backlight uniformity. Now this is still better than some other 27” displays, but on full screen images such as gaming the difference could be noticeable. Overall the contrast ratios are still very good, with 16 of the 25 measured areas scoring at least 950:1 or greater.
The dE uniformity of the panel is a completely different matter it seems. I only measured nine spots here, as measuring 25 on this is not as easy to pull off or quite as essential I feel, but the results are very different. On the black and white uniformity tests, the center top area of the monitor always performed well, with deviations of 2% for black and 7% for white. With the color dE it is the single worst performing area of the screen, coming in with an average dE of 2.21 compared to the center where it’s 1.62. The lower left corner, which is the worst in black and white uniformity, is the best area outside of the center in dE uniformity.
So here it seems that brightness uniformity and color uniformity don’t go hand-in-hand all the time. It could be because of the different grid sizes, but that wasn’t what I saw before. More likely I just have results that don’t quite line up, or the cause of one is independent of the cause of the other. Either way, the dE uniformity isn’t perfect, but other than that one spot it remains below 2.0 for the rest of the screen and is a very good performer.
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landerf - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
so it's officially confirmed their AG coating is improved to samsung levels now? no more having to remove it to make a bearably unblurry image?khanov - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
Thanks for the review. I was wondering what options the scaler offers?I have a U2412M and an old 2709W. The 2709W offers proper scaling while maintaining aspect ratio.
Strangely, the newer 2412M does not, it only stretches and is very annoying if you feed it a 16:9 signal.
Strulf - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
How many Hz does it do? I presume it's not 120, right?IceDread - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
The input lag makes the screen a deal breaker if you ever want to play a game where reaction time matters.swindmill - Saturday, October 6, 2012 - link
We can sell these monitors for around $600 USD + shipping. Send an email to delldeal@circu.it for more information.Wkstar - Saturday, October 6, 2012 - link
I paid $300.oo delivered each for my Catleap 2703's. To me they are wonderful.I do not need USB builtin or OSD or pivot, rotate
They do get my Tea on the morning
I guess if you want USB, OSD, Pivot, Rotate etc. Then it would be worth an extra $30.oo
To pay anything more for a screen would be Crazy ! !
Wellsoul2 - Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - link
I also bought a Catleap 2703 for $295 shipped.No bad pixels I can see.
The base isn't great but I don't move it anyway.
It doesn't look cheap.
It has glossy gorilla glass in front.
It only has DVI-D and no OSD . Just adjust backlight basically.
Colors and Contrast (Black) is awesome.
So many people have bought these and had great luck.
surgex - Monday, October 8, 2012 - link
I don't understand why Dell is doing this.I've had a U2410 for years now -- I'm STILL waiting for an UPGRADE to it!
They keep releasing these awesome budget monitors but they are actually worse in tech specs than the previous model -- oh it's got USB3 but the color isn't as good and the resolution is the same as the model that came out 2 years ago.. what the fuck!?
Why is Apple the only one who actually cares about display quality?
Dell keeps sending me emails saying to use my buying power (dell account) to upgrade -- and I awlays reply to their customer service team, I'll upgrade when you come out with a product thats WORTH UPGRADING TO.
How about 120hz, higher resolution \ pixel density!? All we get is a shitty USB 3 hub and a lower quality display compared to the U2711. BOO!
serons - Thursday, October 11, 2012 - link
There's a thread in a Swedish forum about units suffering from severe backlight bleed. Another common problem is a yellow color cast in the lower left corner. It seems to be quite common, but the Dell representative I've been in contact with says that they've only had complaints from Sweden. I have two of these monitors and both suffer from yellow color cast in the lower left corner. What you make of this? The posts in the forum are in swedish but there are images: http://www.sweclockers.com/forum/101-skarmar-och-t...jacknhut - Saturday, October 13, 2012 - link
I would love to see a direct comparison between this and the recently released ASUS PB278Q 27'' 2560-1440 monitor. The Asus seems to be a decent monitor that is geared toward gaming. Thoughts?