DELL 30" Display Poor color

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waverunner

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Apr 13, 2012
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I just purchased an new DELL 30" Display U3011 and was very excited to start editing photos. out of the box the color was not great. I then calibrated it with my i12 GreTagMacbeth monitor calibrater and the colors actually looked word that my 7 year old 20' Apple Display. The 30" display show all of the images as darker, more yellow tones and not as sharp or contrasty, so basically muddy looking in comparison to the old Apple display. I have tried the calibrator about 15 times and no good results. Does anyone know how I can get a better color rendition more closely matching the old Apple display. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The U3011 should be calibrated from the factory to have a delta E < 10. Are you running it on a mac? You may have your Apple Display color profile being used on the new monitor, also you can change the U3011 to be "mac mode"

Also, how old if your i1Display 2? Those color meters have a very short shelf life and will require a recalibration from a spectrometer. I dont think the i1Display 2 can be recalibrate.
 
af22,

Yes I am running a mac, it seems it is using the dell U3011 profile, id did set it to mac ode in the settings of the monitor and defiantly saw a color change when I did that. Maybe I should put it back to PC and try again. I called x-rite and they told me my calibrater was discontinued a year ago maybe that has something to do with it also??
 
all the colormeter calibrators use a chemical filter that is sensitive to humidity and temperature. the chemical filter will dift over time. they are popular due to there affordability (< $1000) and they are pretty fast at measuring ( < 10 seconds), however the accuracy drifts over time. I've had a pantone huey and spyder 3 go "bad" after 2 years.

If your sensor is old, then it's hard for it to be trusted especially when the U3011 is already calibrated at the factory with in delta 10.
 
af22,

would you recommend reseting it to factory settings then? and would that get it back to factory calibration? Sorry I am not very techy on monitor calibration I never had any problems with the old Apple display it is very accurate to what I print.
 
I reset everything to Factory settings and it is still not pleasant to look at. I called Dell and they want to send a new one, I am not sure if this is the answer. To me it looks like a white point or profiling issue. If I have the same photo open up on both displays the one on the Apple display looks good when I drag it on the Dell until 100% of it is on the Dell then it gets all flat an muddy looking.
I have also noticed that after it has been asleep for a while and I wake it up it is extremely yellow and it takes about 4-5 mins to get closer to white if I have say mail open but the mail is a true whit on the Apple display and a ugly muddy yellowish tinge on the Dell. Help!!!!
 
Sounds like a bad monitor. Color is beautifull on the u3011. And af22 is spot on about the mainstream calibrators.
 
The U3011 is still a CFL backlight so it should take it a good 10-15 minutes to fully warm up and stabilize in brightness. Do you think the "muddy" attributes you are describing is due to the advanced anti glare coating on the dell? Apple monitors are known to not use a AG film so "whites" look more clear.

Also, you did mention that your monitor is 7 years old. That seems like a very long life for a monitor to still hold it's colors within spec (unless you recalibrate every year). Without actually seeing your monitor, we can only speculate if it's defective. You will have to use your best judgement.
 
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