Dell S2415H Woes

melteye

[H]ard|Gawd
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I just purchased three Dell S2415H monitors from my local Best Buy and was impressed with the colors and the small bezel until I opened a dark image and discovered that anything remotely dark (a significant portion of the movie "John Wick" for example) gave a silver sheen over almost the entire screen and colors that were vibrant on my HP2511x (TN) were hard to see on the Dell S2415H. I fiddled with the screen settings for over an hour and found no improvements through adjusting brightness, contrast, dynamic contrast, saturation, color preset modes nor input color formats fixed the issue. All three monitors also suffer from pretty bad IPS glow so depending on my viewing angle blacks looks great on one side while being a very bright shade of grey on the other... and each monitor has one dead pixel (which I'm sure isn't the fault of the monitors, just bad luck.) I tried using HDMI, HDMI with a DVI adapter and VGA. I am using a AMD GPU and was sure to switch between color modes (Full RGB.)

To clarify this is not just a black level issue... even red ties in dark scenes are vibrant on my TN while looking silvery and dull on this IPS. It's like I'm constantly getting screen glare even though I'm in a pitch black room.

After reading great reviews this ended up being the worst purchase I've ever made.The color shift on my TN panel annoys me but the IPS glow is even worse... I just want some Eyefinity goodness! :-(

Any suggestions would be appreciated... have I overlooked some prerequisite voodoo ritual to get these things looking decent? Am I better off giving up on cheaper IPS panels and going with a TN like my HP 2511x (but with VESA mounts)?
 
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well, i also have an Dell P2314H and i have the same problem, IPS glow, bad black/white uniformity, this is the shit you can expect from an entry level IPS monitor. just lower the brightness and you'll get used to it in time. but even so i wont ever go back to an TN crap, try to overclock yours to 72-75hz and make it a little bit more responsive.
 
If the brightness is lowered I wouldn't be able to see shit in dungeons when playing games like Skyrim... reviews noted lowering the brightness as well. I don't see why I would if dimness is an issue for me.
 
I bought a S2415h also. Pretty disappointed with the glow after coming from a NEC 20wmgx2.

Is this pretty much the norm for all these eips/pls panels?
 
I bought a S2415h also. Pretty disappointed with the glow after coming from a NEC 20wmgx2.

Is this pretty much the norm for all these eips/pls panels?

Considering the lack of replies... looks like. Now I'm contemplating whether color shift is better or worse than this IPS glow.

With TN if I slouch the top colors change slightly. With IPS everything below eye level has terrible black levels... which is worse. :p

Off topic: I'm using a 7950 and forgot to calculate the $40 required for 2x active adapters for mini-displayport to HDMI. Fun times.

To return or not return.
 
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There is also a third option aka VA panel. They don't glow like IPS and have better viewing angles than TN.
e.g. S24E510C and VW2430H (NA/EU/RU) or XB2483HSU (EU/RU)
 
There is also a third option aka VA panel. They don't glow like IPS and have better viewing angles than TN.
e.g. S24E510C and VW2430H (NA/EU/RU) or XB2483HSU (EU/RU)

Thanks. I'll take a look at other VA options.

The IPS glow is noticeable at even a 5 degree angle... I used to own IPS monitors (Dell Ultrasharp 2007WFP) and don't remember having this much trouble.
 
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The glow effect might have changed a bit over the various IPS generations.
But the main reason is older IPS panels used CCFL tubes as backlight, often behind the screen (direct backlight)
They emit a warmer more natural light but get dimmer with time, flicker a bit and use up more energy.
So modern panels almost exclusively use an array of White LED diodes at the edges and often just along one of the sides.
This decreases the uniformity of the screen and can worsen issues such as bleed and glow-effect.
 
The glow effect might have changed a bit over the various IPS generations.
But the main reason is older IPS panels used CCFL tubes as backlight, often behind the screen (direct backlight)
They emit a warmer more natural light but get dimmer with time, flicker a bit and use up more energy.
So modern panels almost exclusively use an array of White LED diodes at the edges and often just along one of the sides.
This decreases the uniformity of the screen and can worsen issues such as bleed and glow-effect.

That makes sense. My old IPS monitor did slowly lose brightness with age until I accidentally knocked it off a desk while moving (RIP).

I found a solution: I removed the TN panel from my monitor array so now I have no comparison to make these IPS panels blacks look terrible ;-) Two of the monitors that had stuck pixels no longer have the problem.

Now I'm awaiting my active adapters so I can set up Eyefinity and plug my TV back in.

Edit: I lied and it was still driving me insane.
 
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It appears your Dell has some backlight bleeding coming from the right bottom. Mine has the same in exactly the same spot.

I'm gonna try to take some pics comparing the Dell against my old trusty NEC 20wmgx2. Should be later this week because I seem to have lost all my hdmi adapters and might need to buy new ones.

Honestly, if my NEC hadn't started to turn noticeably yellow I would still use it despite being a midget by today's standards.
 
It appears your Dell has some backlight bleeding coming from the right bottom. Mine has the same in exactly the same spot.

I'm gonna try to take some pics comparing the Dell against my old trusty NEC 20wmgx2. Should be later this week because I seem to have lost all my hdmi adapters and might need to buy new ones.

Honestly, if my NEC hadn't started to turn noticeably yellow I would still use it despite being a midget by today's standards.

I have a combination of IPS glow and backlight bleed on all three monitors, as the sheen shrinks and blacks get darker when looking straight on (perpendicular) to that spot on the monitor.

I ran Windows Color Calibration and ended up with: Brightness = 30, Contrast = 79, Red = 91, Green = 99, and Blue = 98. I also ended up adjusting the gamma in the calibration tool itself but I'm not sure how to determine what windows set it to. Now blacks aren't quite as dark but they are a bit more consistent which is easier on my mind. I'm going from "worst purchase ever" to starting to be ok with it. Once my mini displayport to hdmi active adapters arrive tomorrow perhaps Eyefinity gaming will finally sell me on this purchase.

The dead pixel is near the middle of the screen on one of the monitors but only shows up as bright pink on black scenes. I also have to really focus on it or move closer in to see it... sometimes I lose it (hard to find) which indicates it shouldn't be a problem. I'll probably keep it instead of returning it. With how much stuff I've returned/exchanged at Best Buy I'm sure I'll be banned one of these days ;-)
 
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Yeah I sold my IPS because of the blacks I still have a IPS a newer ASUS AH-IPS and it's fine.
 
The first adapter causes the monitor to go into standy mode every 10-30 seconds.

The second adapter doesn't work whatsoever.

That's the last time I buy a Cable Matters product.

There are so many negative reviews about these active adapters doesn't exactly what I've described... wish I had purchased the 760 instead.

Instead of spending $50 on adapters do you think upgrading from a HIS IceQ Boost 7950 to a MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G be a decent upgrade for 5760x1080 gaming? I can sell my old card for $100ish and I'd save $40 in adapters. So the upgrade would be about $200.
 
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Anyone have any recommendations on a decent 23-24" 1080P glossy IPS that doesn't have these same issues?
 
Any IPS is going to have that issue. Search "IPS glow," you'll find endless posts about it.

Also the glow almost always emanates from the bottom right corner, so looking at it with any kind of slant from the left makes it even worse.
 
Here's the Dell S2415h next to my old NEC 20wmgx2. That's how bad the yellowing was.

WbUshYT.jpg

mTsi5vx.jpg


Aside from the glow in dark movies/games, the Dell looks very nice. Accurate and vibrant colors. Is the BenQ VW2430WH the best VA alternative?
 
29,174 hours.

Even with all the yellow the NEC still spanks the Dell in image quality. :(
 
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Ah man, I just came across this thread and I feel so disappointed, for 8 months now I have been searching, Buying and returning monitors. I have made some threads on Hardforums and blurbusters asking for help and advice. So far I have purchased about 7 monitors and returned them all due to various problems. I came across this Dell glossy IPS monitor on Amazon and watched some videos, read some reviews about it and it got me kind of hopeful that finally this could be the screen I can live with as I currently have purchased a new desk from IKEA a triple monitor VESA stand new corsair K70 keyboard and I have no monitors for the past week.

Now I come across this thread and I see you have problems with Bad IPS glow and some Lightbleed to go along with it and I feel horrible. I have not purchased this screen yet but I was planning on buying 1 from Amazon and adding 2 more if I liked the screen, but now I don't know what to do again this is really a sad situation, I have not been able to find 1 decent monitor in the past 8 months.

Here is the list of all the screens I have purchased and returned:

1. 24" Dell U2414H 1080p IPS LED (IPS, 60Hz, £188.69) 12/08/2014
2. Asus VN247H 24"Widescreen Super Narrow Bezel LED Monitor (TN, 60hz, £151.39) 28/11/14
3. EIZO Foris FG2421 23.5" 240Hz Widescreen Gaming LED Monitor (VA, 120hz, £311.99) 6/12/2014
4. Samsung S24D390HL PLS Panel (PLS/IPS, 60hz, £149.00) 15/12/2014
5. 24 DELL U2415 MONITOR 1920x1200 (IPS, 60hz, £251.09) 17/12/2014
6. 2x LG 24EB23 IPS LED 1920X1200 (IPS, 60HZ, £200) 8/6/2015
7. 24 AOC G2460PG G-SYNC 144Hz 1920x1080 (TN, G-SYNC, 144HZ, £299.09) 18/06/2015

I can honestly say I just don't know what to do any more :(
 
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I feel your pain.. even with the best/priciest monitors there is always something you have to compromise on. Even the highly anticipated 144hz IPS Acer screen (XB270HU) turned out to be largely a dud because of so many QC problems.
 
Is the BenQ VW2430WH the best VA alternative?

Yes, in US you can try - VW2430H, S24C750P or S24E510C
First two use 24'' AMVA+ panels, I believe the Samsung is a bit better with response times/overdrive, the BenQ is a bit better with color accuracy and viewing angles.
The E510C is a curved 23.5'' SVA panel, there are no reviews yet but its a bit more expensive and going by the other curved Samsung monitors its probably using a slightly thicker matte coating.

@OutlawXGP maybe give the X2483HSU a shot for £129, its one left in that class that has a markedly different picture than the others you've tried (black is a bit worse but colours and angles are better than FG2421)
 
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Maybe it's better to set up a quality neutral lighting in your room instead of playing in complete dark? Not only blb and ips glow are much more pronounced with lights off but the contrast is also reduced significantly. And s2415h having a glossy screen will also benefit from some controlled light sources as well as will your eyes health.

But anyway, I've seen this monitor in a computer store a couple of months ago and I didn't like the image at all, it was really dull and washed out especially the blacks were just plain grey, it was almost as bad as my tn laptop. The difference is literally night and day compared to the imac's screen. So, I guess not all IPS panels are made the same.
 
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Good tips, thanks.

I think it's possible that the floor model you saw might have been feed a limited range signal instead of a full rgb one. When I first connected the S2415h to my gpu it defaulted to limited dynamic range, making everything looked washed and hazy.
 
Nope. I actually took my laptop into the store and connected it through VGA as well to check out if the rgb range was mismatched when connected through hdmi. There was no difference.
It's a really strange panel. On the other hand https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/dell-s2415h/ the unit reviewed here seems fine. And as noted in the review the multimedia preset was the most accurate and it could also display all white levels in lagom test. No idea what was wrong with it, but everything appeared as dull as on a bargain bin tn display.
 
I decided to keep this monitor.

After two weeks I've gotten used to the glow, doesn't bother me anymore. Well that's not exactly true. I think it's more like I can tolerate it without going crazy.
 
I've been using them for 20 days now (which is beyond the return policy) and I am still greatly dissapointed every single time I turn on my computer. I have not become accustomed to the silver sheen that mars my blacks and I do not think I ever will.

I still maintain that this is the worst purchase I've ever made (and it's multiplied by three.)
 
I've been using them for 20 days now (which is beyond the return policy) and I am still greatly dissapointed every single time I turn on my computer. I have not become accustomed to the silver sheen that mars my blacks and I do not think I ever will.

I still maintain that this is the worst purchase I've ever made (and it's multiplied by three.)

As someone who truly emphasizes with you I must tell you last week I bought a Dell S2415h and now I've issued a return with Amazon, however I did not return it for IPS glow because I have come to accept IPS glow and you must do the same mate. every single IPS monitor I have purchased has this issue, the screen is covered in a haze of blue/silver glow when viewed off center and you can see some glow in the bottom corners when viewed straight on. (Although if you keep at least 2 feet distance from the screen the IPS glow will be reduced a lot.)

The 3 reasons I returned this screen was because:

1. Half the screen felt like it had this yellow tint with uneven brightness.
2. Although the colours looked quite nice and seem to have a pop to them, compared to my old glossy monitor it looked very pale.
3. The monitor gave me eye fatigue and headaches but this is a personal issue I seem to have with many screens I have tested, something to do with the insane amount of blue light as this monitor is PWM free and yes I did try flux but I hate flux and my brightness was around 20% and contrast around the default 75 and using the standard setting.

I'm not sure what to do any more but I guess I gonna have to keep looking, I wanted to try the Dell U2515H 1440p but I'm worried that text might be a little too small for me since its only a 25". Man I'm getting so FKing sick of LCD monitors,
 
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