Dell 2408 - quick review

tedbird

n00b
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
11
Hi - just got the monitor this afternoon. Here is the open box:

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2281060614/

Pic of the panel on the stand. Stand and panel are first rate and very solid:

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2280270447/

Cables included - DVI, Displayport, VGA, USB and power cord (no power brick!)

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2280270509/

Pic of back and side of 2408 - pretty good access to all the ports.

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2280270581/

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2280270645/

Now on to the good stuff - slight bleeding from top and bottom left. Overall, excellent balance - much better than the HannsG 28 that I returned.

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2281061038/

I have no way to really measure input lag, but COD4 felt a bit sluggish. That may because of the higher resolution I'm pushing. I will need to tweak the settings before I draw a final conclusion, but I'm concerned.

http://flickr.com/photos/24061818@N08/2280270723/

Overall, I'm really impressed with the unit. The black levels look really good, colors are bright and vibrant. Off axis viewing is excellent and the unit has every port imaginable.

Tomorrow, I will plan to test how real the input lag is, test scaling on all the ports and tweak the settings a bit.

I'll try to answer any questions you might have.
 
Wow, you got that quick! When did you order and did you pay for expedited shipping? Also, are you playing COD4 on a PC? That looks far better than my XBOX 360, though I was playing on component!

Thanks
 
Yes, I paid the extra $24 for expedited shipping. You are looking at COD4 on my PC at 1920x1200.
 
Please confirm us that the dark ghosting issue that plagued the Dwll 2407WFP-HC is fixed!

Would you be able to compare your new lcd with the 2407WFP (Black, contrats ratio, viewing angles, etc.)?

I must say that I really like all the connections!:eek:
 
Sorry, but my prior monitor was the Dell 2001FP, so I can't compare it to the 2407. How would I test for the dark ghosting problem?
 
bit worried about cod4 being a bit sluggish myself. looking to get a 2408 to use with my xbox360 and with my gaming pc.

thanks and let us know how u go on.
 
the lag you experience in COD4 could also because the lower framerate you have now.
what resolution where you playing before?

And also pretty important what system do you got (cpu , memory, gfx card) ?

doesn't it have a 2nd -+ native resolution or is that only with the 27inch and 30inch monitors ?
 
Thanks for the quick review, I've been looking into this monitor, if it ever gets released in Canada that is ;)

*subscribed for more pics and information*
 
My rig is a Intel quad core overclocked to 3.2 Ghz. and 2 GB of ram. I have a Nvidia 8800 GT card with 512 MB. I was running it at 1600x1200 previously. This morning before heading to work, I tweaked some of the settings (turned off anti-aliasing and lowered some of the effects), and COD4 seemed much better. I need more time before I can draw any conclusions.

I have an old CRT monitor, but no Y cable to test input lag. Can anyone tell me how I can get some definitive lag numbers?
 
I have an old CRT monitor, but no Y cable to test input lag. Can anyone tell me how I can get some definitive lag numbers?
You don't need y-cable, just plug CRT to other connector of graphic card (cards should come with at least one DVI to D-sub adapter) and put displays to clone mode.

I guess you have digicam... with hopefully at least shutter priority. Start with 1/100s exposure and see does it show picture clearly. Longer exposure than time of frame (1/60s) surely blurs numbers so best to use at least little faster shutter speed than that.
Taking at least ten pictures with clearly showing number.
Also progressively scanning video camera should work well for getting bigger amount of samples if exposure of video frame just stays short enough.

And you'll find one counter program from here:
http://tft.vanity.dk/
 
Dell went with their old fashioned cheap frame and stand with this monitor? I wonder why they didn't go with the awesome black polished treatment that their new 30" and 22" LCD's got.
 
wanted to get a lenovo l220x , but this one starts too look more interesting :)
keep posting, screensshots, things you notice, etc...

and yeah turning antiliasing off is probably a good thing, that one is kind of a framerate killer. and probably not so noticable at 1920x1200

gonna look up some benchmarks of cod4
 
I tested the Dell at lunch for ghosting per the youtube video that alco23 posted. Good news - I saw no ghosting what so ever when dragging a white window around the dark desktop. Also, after tweaking COD4 some more, the input lag seemed very low. So far, I'm very happy with the unit. Tonight (late), I'll hook up a cable box, PS3 and Wii to the hdmi and component ports. I'll also try to measure the input lag against my old CRT.

Are there any other tests that you would like me to run?
 
tedbird - Apprecaite the mini-review. Please keep the info coming.

Not really related to the monitor, but I'm curious as to what FPS you're getting when running COD4 with the 8800GT @ 1920x1200.
 
maybe a 720p movie or show, and xvid movie , see what it does :)
try unreal tournament 3 demo or full , to see if it lags, that game goes preetty fast sometimes :)

Good news indeed that there is no white border, but I think thats normal because that was an issue with the HC (hot cathode?) version only

maybe take a shot with firefox or something, see how sharp / readable the text is
 
Are there any other tests that you would like me to run?
All those that BeHardware/TFTCentral/Prad.de do...
Just kidding.:p

Doing input lag test also at non-native resolution, like 1400x1050 or 1680x1050 with aspect ratio scaling selected would be good thing because that would tell how much internal scaling increases input lag.
Actually equally interesting thing would be testing also how much using scaling of graphic card rises lag compared to display's scaling, I've never heard anyone testing it. (so that might be first of the kind result)
 
Hi, I'm Bwaze, author of the previously linked YouTube video of Dell 2407WFP-HC overdrive ghosting.

I'm very interested in your review, Tedbird, especially the lack of ghosting in 2408WFP.

To see the overdrive ghosting on my monitor, it has to be warmed up (half an hour is enough, but it shows even more if it's on for longer period of time).

Any bright colour moving across the darker coloured background then shows as black streaks, as you can see on my video. Here is a longer article about this problem on Dell 2407WFP-HC: TFT Central on 2407WFP-HC overdrive ghosting

So easiest test would be to set desktop background colour to very dark gray (for instance RGB: 30, 30, 30), and then grab a bright icon (you can paste a txt file to desktop, it's icon is white) and move it around - on my monitor it produces about 1 - 2 cm long black trails, depending on the speed of movement.

In games it is usually not as noticeable, but in some scenarios it's very visible - I play a lot of flight simulations, and for instance in Il-2 Sturmovik anything bright in front of dark blue sea produces these dark streaks. It is also visible in any game that happens at night, since there is usually dark background and very bright moving objects.

This is usually not very noticeable in movies and videos although there are exceptions. I saw black trails following snowflakes falling in front of dark grey sky, and a full moon that has a white halo around it, but when the camera begins to pan, you can see the black shadow behind the moon.

I still love this monitor, colours are very good (no banding), and apart from overdrive ghosting display has very little other ghosting or lag. Text is very sharp and I can work in front of this LCD for a whole day without any eye strain. If the 2408 has no overdrive ghosting, and it’s lag isn’t worse than 2407’s, then it’s my ideal monitor. :D


So, things to test LCD with:

Lagom Lcd Test images - simple images to test and set your monitor.

CHECKMON - short program, no install necessary.

Calibration Guide from TFT Central

Please let us know your findings. But beware, you might find some things about your monitor you would rather not know. :p

(Yaay, my first post. Although I've been lurking here for quite a while)
 
Can you test if it has 1:1? please, maybe watching a movie or something would work :) thanks
 
Thanks for the updates Teabird. :)

I would like to see some of the suggestions that Bwaze pointed out if possible :D.

Hoping that this is the monitor I can finally get if all reports are good. I had the 2407-HC but the ghosting bugged me too much. There is input lag on the 2407-HC but not that noticeable unless you're very sensitive (at native resolution at least).
 
The unit has 1:1 and I did confirm that it worked from the PC on DVI. I'll try to test my DVR/cable box connection on hdmi tonight.

Bwaze - I didn't test the ghosting with the unit warmed up. I will try that tonight, I didn't notice any ghosting when cold. Since everyone seems very interested in the ghosting issue, I will run the test exactly as you suggested tonight.

I have band practice until around 11:00 tonight, but I'll try to get some more tests run before I turn in.
 
I tested ghosting with the exact settings that Bwaze suggested. I can't see any ghosting when I drag items around the screen. The monitor was fully warmed up (over an hour).

Now some bad news - after warming up the monitor, I'm seeing a bit of backlight bleeding coming from all 4 corners. I'll post some pictures later.

A couple of other notes - you can't use hdmi for PIP with DVI. You can only use component, composite and s-video. I got a pretty good picture when using a high def feed from my cable box. Standard def had a lot of artifacts when I set the mode to aspect. 1:1 looked great using both hd and sd sources, but the sd picture is so damn small when you don't scale.

I'll try to post some more later tonight.
 
Can you manage to see how a PS3 hookup via HDMI/HDMI->DVI is like?

I had the 2407-HC and it was pretty darn good minus the ghosting and pixelation of SD (but I don't care about SD anymore, SD just gets it own miniTV).

I just hope no overscan issues arrive like some other monitors by other companies. If this monitor does fine with someone's test PS3 I think this is gonna be a buy for me :)
 
Dell techies told me it was an S-IPS.

And why do you think they know what they are talking about? Some Dell techies said the same thing about the 2407 and they were all S-PVA.

They will often tell you anything you want to hear. "Yeah SIPS we have that.". Then ask them what it is for a laugh.

I don't know who built this list, but it looks accurate to me. The 2007 series seems to come from the panel lotto thread here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_monitors
2408WFP 24 Samsung S-PVA (confirmed by Dell, waiting for part number)
 
I received conflicting info from DELL, I'm hoping the owner of a 2008 monitor can verify.

Thanks,
-Ron
 
I guarentee you that the 2408 is an S-PVA. Confirmed by Dell rep's by phone in CA & US, and just now by Direct2Dell mall kiosk rep. There is no question that this IS NOT S-IPS.
 
And why do you think they know what they are talking about? Some Dell techies said the same thing about the 2407 and they were all S-PVA.

They will often tell you anything you want to hear. "Yeah SIPS we have that.". Then ask them what it is for a laugh.

I don't know who built this list, but it looks accurate to me. The 2007 series seems to come from the panel lotto thread here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell_monitors
2408WFP 24 Samsung S-PVA (confirmed by Dell, waiting for part number)

All I asked was what screen it was. I never asked if it was a S-IPS specifically. So they at least know what the various technologies are. I wasn't even looking for a S-IPS, but a VA since I want the darker blacks.
 
Just want to reclarify, i currently have a Dell 2405 FPW which is a PVA panel i understand ? Correct me if i am wrong. My graphics card is a 8800 GTS ( not the 512 mb model :p )

Anyway i am satisfied with the quality on this panel. Dell pivot, swivel, height adjustment, and tilt is also quite handy i find, so i can't imagine having a monitor without these features. The down side i find is it lacks HDMI >_<:

So was thinking of upgrading to this beautiful 2408WFP.

I know S-PVA is better than PVA, but just out of curioisity is Premium MVA better than S-PVA ?

My general usage is gaming, and video entertainment. More emphasis on HD video viewing :)
 
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