Dell U2711 Strange Un-Movable Smudge on LCD - Should I Exchange?

Hello everyone, I just picked up a new Dell U2711. At first everything was great, but I noticed that under certain lightning conditions there is a strange smudge about the size of a kiwi fruit on the top right corner.

This smudge is ONLY visible if:
- Display is turned off or showing very dark colours
- Room is dark with only certain nearby lights turned on
- I position my head just right so I can see it (even this photo was hard to get)

In bright operating conditions and normal room lighting, you can't see anything.

Is this serious? Should I do an exchange? Or just too OCD? Please tell me what you think.

PS: I've tried cleaning with iKlear and 50/50 isopropyl alcohol / water and it did not help. Maybe this smudge is not on the outermost layer but behind the AG coating or something.



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Thanks for your comments.

Seems like your ag coating somehow got damaged. I would return it if possible, if you still have the guaranty on it.

are you sure it was actually new?
looks like someone used sandpaper on it

It does look like someone used some kind of solvent on it and thrashed the coating. Definitely RMA.

Absolutely return.

Hi everyone, thanks for all the great responses.

dowant120hz said:

are you sure it was actually new?

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Yes, I bought this directly from Dell. Made in Mexico July 2012.

Return it. For but be prepared for a refurb which will most likely have it's own issues. Dell makes great stuff for the price but their exchange policy sucks. The last time my 2707 went bad and I had to exchange and ended up getting.. other peoples exchanges. Problems included scratches, backlight bleeding, dead pixels. I ended up returning it 3 times until I settled on one missing the E in the Dell on the front lol at least the panel was nice.

I had something similar once on a 24" panel. Tried everything... even isopropyl alcohol didnt work. The only thing that removed the spot was distilled water and a microfiber cloth. In fact thats all I use to clean with now, just plain distilled water.

Chrisroman said:

I had something similar once on a 24" panel. Tried everything... even isopropyl alcohol didnt work. The only thing that removed the spot was distilled water and a microfiber cloth. In fact thats all I use to clean with now, just plain distilled water.

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How much rubbing / cleaning was necessary?
I definitely have the microfiber cloths and have already tried them with the cleaners listed in the 1st post.

Jucius_Maximus said:

How much rubbing / cleaning was necessary?
I definitely have the microfiber cloths and have already tried them with the cleaners listed in the 1st post.

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Took a long time, I almost gave up on it. I was pretty sure I had ruined the monitor with all the different cleaners I tried. But the distilled water and micro fiber ended up working. I didnt apply much pressure, circular motions... and I made sure the monitor was off and cool. I would work on it a few minutes each day, after about a week it was gone.

Micro fiber I used was from the automotive department at Target. Grey on one side, yellow on the other. Works great.

Good luck

p.s make sure its distilled water.. tap water will leave deposits.

@Chrisroman
Thanks for the response!

I keep on reading about people using alcohol.

I have never done that because I thought it damages the coating?

athlon1.2 said:

I keep on reading about people using alcohol.

I have never done that because I thought it damages the coating?

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Depends on the kind of alcohol.
If you decide to share some of your vodka with the monitor, be prepared for a destroyed coating.

But even Dell's own site recommends isopropyl.

As an alternative, I will gladly accept donations of all vodka you had reserved for cleaning your monitor.

I still say send it back. You spent $800 on a top flight monitor, you shouldn't have to waste your time with this.

The U2711 will be going back to Dell. I am phoning later tonight to get my RMA number. Thanks again for everyone's comments.




As an aside, I want to make a few comments about the Dell U2711's matte coating. Hopefully this will help some future undecided buyers.

Some people complained about the "sparkly" effect of the U2711's matte coating, claiming it destroyed the viewing effect when looking at bright colours. White in particular was troublesome. I disregarded these warnings because I had bought two previous Dell monitors with the matte coating and never had a problem.

Let me warn you all: The matte coating on the U2711 is different. As I type this, I have the U2711 and my old U2007WFP running side-by-side on the same PC with the same video card. The coating on the U2711 is much more sparkly when viewing bright colours. White in particular is troublesome. I have always been a matte display loyalist for all my LCDs, but this sparkly coating is just too much.

Does the U2711 have much superior contrast ratios and colour accuracy versus the U2007WFP? Of course. But the U2007WFP is more useable.

The other issue that makes the U2711's coating even more problematic is its very high DPI. Because items on the screen are so small on this high-resolution display, you have to bring the monitor closer to your face to see everything. Otherwise, you won't get the full benefits of having the extended desktop space and super-fine pixel size. But bringing the display closer to your face only enhances the grainy / sparkly matte effect.

In my opinion, compared to the U2711 and its 2560x1440 resolution, it's probably better to get a much cheaper large 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 panel and park it farther away from your face.

Hopefully this helps any future shoppers who happen upon this thread.