Dell U2311H

Well I love the monitors BUT I hate the dead pixels!

Bought two of these, 2 months apart. Both have dead pixels. Returning the most decent one under DSR though as I cant be bothered with it. Going to order another from a different supplier in the hope its ok.

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Wah, I tested it out in Windows 7 and sure enough there's no pinstriping on solid colors going going on. I'm thinking of posting about this on an Apple mailing list- it's probably the closest you can get to Apple's engineers.
 
Hi people, I've come and register on this forum solely to find some info on this monitor. I read some stuff here and read some reviews and had my doubts, but I ordered it anyway and hope I will get lucky.

First I am noob, so my knowledge is limited but I have eyes and I saw what others people report.

  • Europe.
  • Its revision A01 july 2010
  • DVI
  • Tinting is very subtle, only when I look for it across the test white image. Its like on Rikki's first image, but much less obvious maybe 30% of intensity. Not noticeable on common white web pages.
  • Backbleeding is obvious in lower left corner and reall small one in lower right corner. But Its not a dealbreaker for me. IMO Its not visible 98% of a time I use PC.
  • Movies are awesome
  • Games - I tried NFSMW and CS 1.6 and they looked fine. I can't test it extensively cause my current graphic card suck and resolution put just more strain on it.

When I got it, I put it next to a 2 years old Samsung 2232BW that is family monitor(I had 17" CRT). The difference in colors was there. White is definitely whiter on Dell. But only if I split the image to be partly shown on both panels, color difference is truly obvious. But If I just hide all icons and keep changing wallpapers I did not see much of a difference.

I am kinda disappointed, because I often visited small czech forum where IPS panels are praised to high heaven and TN panels are crap for poor. Its not that its bad, its just that I am not thrilled by it. If people 2 years ago asked me about that samsung I would definitely recommend it, with this one I am not so sure but I am a noob who can only compare 3 monitors that he seen so far and there might be nothing better then this atm. The funny thing is that this one is better but I just don't feel so thrilled by it, as I was with the samsung and its all your fault you ++++s, with your knowledge and tests... I think otherwise I would be more happy with it, yeah ignorance is a bliss.

Ok that was something to inform people now mine questions.

Preset Profiles
  1. "Game" profile lowers the latency? I think I read something like that around here, but want to be sure about it
  2. In one post I read that "change the phase" but I can't, its grayed out... so I cant use it to see what effect it has.
  3. Preset modes sucks. I want to have one profile for reading web with low brightness and maybe contras and other for movies and games with high brightness and contrast. Can I set it up? What are this preset profiles about anyway? only about RGB? Do I have to manually rise brightness for movies?
  4. I remember I used some adobe software calibration, does it have any effect? Should I bother? Or only hardware calibration is the real deal.

thanks
 
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Rikki said:
Well I love the monitors BUT I hate the dead pixels!

Bought two of these, 2 months apart. Both have dead pixels. Returning the most decent one under DSR though as I cant be bothered with it. Going to order another from a different supplier in the hope its ok.
Click to expand...

I see tinting on both monitors. Does it bother you?
 
bonecandy said:
Wah, I have the same issue on my Macbook Pro. [...] I tested it out in Windows 7 and sure enough there's no pinstriping on solid colors going going on. I'm thinking of posting about this on an Apple mailing list- it's probably the closest you can get to Apple's engineers.
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Thanks bonecandy for the corroboration. Do you have your Dell hooked up via DVI or DisplayPort? It really is a shame: I love this monitor but this is kind of a show-stopping problem.

So far I've only tested 10.6.3 and up (that's as far back as the Mini will go). I have some test partitions on an external drive, so I will hook it up to the old iMac and see what happens on default 10.4 and 10.5 installs. If the DisplayPort cable doesn't help, I will certainly be consulting MacRumors, the Apple boards, and maybe even give AppleCare a call (I doubt they'd be able to help with something this specific, but worth a shot). I'll be sure to relay any important developments.
 
I don't have this monitor, but I've found that Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6) seem to dither colors since I can calibrate and load ICC profiles without getting banding, which isn't possible without some form of dithering. 8-bit dithering is not easy to see directly, so it's hard to tell. It sounds like this monitor is also doing its own 8-bit dithering, which is clashing with the dithering being done in Mac OS X and causing the artifacts you're seeing. I've seen this happen with the Samsung F2380 and the HP DreamColor LP2480zx. HP later released a firmware update to address the issue, but that's a high-end pro monitor with user-upgradable firmware. I never found a way to work around the issue on the Samsung. I wouldn't hold out hope for a fix from Dell or Apple. I'd return it and get the NEC EA231WMi instead, which has no trouble with Macs.
 
Thanks ToastyX for that insight. I'm familiar with the 'noisy' kind of dithering on non-8-bit monitors, but this kind of pinstriping is new to me... so it's actually a type of dithering?

I've considered the NEC, but with it being over $120 more than what I paid for the Dell, I may just send this monitor back and buy my friend's 2209WA....
 
Yeah, I actually just ordered an NEC (found a decent deal) and am returning the Dell. Really unfortunate.
By the way, wah, in your previous posts you said you had horizontal pinstripes. I actually have vertical pinstripes. Really strange.
 
Yeah the tinting actually isn't too bad on mine. The first one I got was really really terrible though.
However, if anyone has OS X and is considering this monitor I'd have to advise against it.

...But man, if the NEC has the same problem I will be so unhappy :(
 
wah said:
Thanks ToastyX for that insight. I'm familiar with the 'noisy' kind of dithering on non-8-bit monitors, but this kind of pinstriping is new to me... so it's actually a type of dithering?

I've considered the NEC, but with it being over $120 more than what I paid for the Dell, I may just send this monitor back and buy my friend's 2209WA....
Click to expand...

Sounds more like an interference pattern caused by two different ditherings, one applied by the OS, the other by the monitor.
 
bonecandy said:
By the way, wah, in your previous posts you said you had horizontal pinstripes. I actually have vertical pinstripes. Really strange.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is indeed weird. Or perhaps I'm just confusing terminology... the pinstripes are horizontal in that a band of color goes across the whole screen lengthwise. It's reminiscent of OS X's old blue/white pinstriping from the early days.

Also, just so I have some more concrete corroboration to share if I end up calling AppleCare, what are the specs of your Mac? And did you use a DisplayPort cable for the Dell? I hope the NEC works out for you!

sethk said:
Sounds more like an interference pattern caused by two different ditherings, one applied by the OS, the other by the monitor.
Click to expand...

Interesting... so there's still dithering going on despite being an 8-bit panel? I guess it makes sense if the GPU/driver operates at a 32-bit color level. Any idea if it's possible to 'turn off' one or the other?

FWIW, using my iMac, I was able to confirm pinstriping on both 10.4.9 and 10.5.0. With 10.4, horizontal pinstriping was much more muted (harder to see... didn't show up as often), but moving diagonal striping on grayscale was much worse. So whatever's up in OS X, it's been pretty longstanding.
 
wah said:
Yeah, that is indeed weird. Or perhaps I'm just confusing terminology... the pinstripes are horizontal in that a band of color goes across the whole screen lengthwise. It's reminiscent of OS X's old blue/white pinstriping from the early days.

Also, just so I have some more concrete corroboration to share if I end up calling AppleCare, what are the specs of your Mac? And did you use a DisplayPort cable for the Dell? I hope the NEC works out for you!



Interesting... so there's still dithering going on despite being an 8-bit panel? I guess it makes sense if the GPU/driver operates at a 32-bit color level. Any idea if it's possible to 'turn off' one or the other?

FWIW, using my iMac, I was able to confirm pinstriping on both 10.4.9 and 10.5.0. With 10.4, horizontal pinstriping was much more muted (harder to see... didn't show up as often), but moving diagonal striping on grayscale was much worse. So whatever's up in OS X, it's been pretty longstanding.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Yeah my pinstripes run up and down the screen, never diagonal or across the screen. As far as I can tell, the stripes are always there but really only visible depending on the contrast and the color. In terms of how they look, they do bear a resemblance to the old OS X pinstripe UI elements.
I'm running a Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz with a 128MB 8600M GT graphics card and I'm using DVI as that's all this thing has :eek:
Since whatever is causing this seems to be a software issue there might be a way to disable it. I was thinking of scouring the insanelymac forums for information. They're involved with the hackintosh scene and getting PC cards working on OS X so they might know a lot of the lower-level graphical/display options.
 
So the DisplayPort cable arrived today and.... after trying all my usual methods, I'm happy to report there are no pinstripes to be found! So I'll probably end up keeping the Mini and the Dell after all (there's a separate problem where certain colors cause my Samsung monitor to flicker, but it's so rare I'll be able to live with it).
 
wah said:
So the DisplayPort cable arrived today and.... after trying all my usual methods, I'm happy to report there are no pinstripes to be found! So I'll probably end up keeping the Mini and the Dell after all (there's a separate problem where certain colors cause my Samsung monitor to flicker, but it's so rare I'll be able to live with it).
Click to expand...

Wow, glad you found a fix!
Unfortunately, I only have DVI or else I might actually keep it.

Edit - Huh. Weird. I just tried using VGA and there are no pin stripes. Of course, the now quality is a lot worse... Man this is annoying
 
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lianregnif said:
Reading the good experiences people have with this monitor I couldn't wait any longer. I coughed up the $50 and bought it.
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Well, I finally got mine in. I was deathly afraid of the cons I read about this monitor. I think I got very lucky considering of what I was personally prepared for. I got one that doesn't have a lot of light bleeding. Uniformity was acceptable...although definitely noticeable....0 dead pixles....and minimal tinting that I would never ever bother me.

Coming from an old samsung 226BW it's about a 0.25inch or less shorter and about an inch wider. Honestly it took me a little while to get used to it with it being all 16:9 and all of that....in fact....about a day after I played with it I wished I got the u2410 dell. It's now been a few weeks and now I don't know how I ever liked 16:10 to begin with.

Movies are great, gaming is great, looking at two browsers side by side is great, color is great, i mean....all of the things that bothered me initially disappeared. Absolutely no regrets opting to not wait for the discount to come back around. Best monitor I've owned for sure!
 
bonecandy said:
Wow, glad you found a fix!
Unfortunately, I only have DVI or else I might actually keep it.

Edit - Huh. Weird. I just tried using VGA and there are no pin stripes. Of course, the now quality is a lot worse... Man this is annoying
Click to expand...

Grrr.... what is going on... after a reboot the pinstripes are back?:confused::confused::confused:

Not only that, but now the monitor refuses to wake up once it goes to sleep, and the Mini locks up if the system ever goes to sleep.

This is getting ridiculous.....
 
Rikki said:
Well I love the monitors BUT I hate the dead pixels!

Bought two of these, 2 months apart. Both have dead pixels. Returning the most decent one under DSR though as I cant be bothered with it. Going to order another from a different supplier in the hope its ok.



[img]

[img][/QUOTE]


Stuck sub pixels, one shows up blue and the other one red.

You should try [url]http://jscreenfix.com[/url]
Click to expand...
 
I thought I'd give everyone a heads up, these are back on sale for $239 at Dell small business. Just picked one up after having returned an EA231WMI (hoping the Dell's faster response time bothers my eyes less than the NEC did when gaming).
 
I'm going to try to pick up a 27in today...but the cash is a bit tight, might keep saving till next time.

I was going to grab 3 of these but I'm fairly certain I'd end up having to exchange the panels 2 or 3 times.
 
As for describing the pinstripes, I'll use the gray message reply box here on the forums as an example. It's a solid gray color, but when exhibiting pinstriping, you'll actually see alternating horizontal lines (maybe 2-3 px tall) of two different shades of gray. These pinstripes stay in an absolute position relative to the physical LCD (i.e. if you move the window around, the pinstripes will stay in a fixed position on the panel).

More importantly, however, after a bunch of troubleshooting, I found a decent workaround. When connected via DisplayPort, the pinstriping (and the associated monitor/system sleep/wake problems) only appear if the DisplayPort cable is connected and the monitor is powered on as the system boots. If these two conditions are met and the pinstriping exists, simply disconnecting and reconnecting the cable will make the problems go away. To avoid wear and tear on the connector, one can simply leave the monitor powered off until the system boots (arriving at either the desktop or the login screen). Why the system acts this way, I have no idea. I'm just happy I found an easy workaround that lets me use my monitor, for now at least.
 
Can't decide between this or the Asus VE276Q. Mainly gaming

As I've only experienced 20" TN, I asumme the Asus will be fine, but don't want to deal with returning either monitor.

23" quality vs 27" huge+quick
 
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MirageMobile said:
Can't decide between this or the Asus VE276Q. Mainly gaming

As I've only experienced TN, I asumme the Asus will be fine, but don't want to deal with returning either monitor.
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May my experiences with my ASUS VK246H and my Dell U2311H count?

I like my u2311h better, simply due to the much reduced eyestrain it gives me vs any monitor I had, even the vk246h. There is a slightly noticeable ghosting effect on my u2311h, but only if I directly comapre it to my vk246h. I am not really big on fps gaming, so I cannot say if I have had any issues with input lag/latency. The attached speakers on both my u2311h (I bought the Dell Soundbar) and my vk246h are decent, though both lack any base whatsoever.

For actual gaming (Halo 2 PC, Starcraft 2, Portal)/(Halo: Reach, Halo Wars) on both my PC and xbox (PC is connected via HDMI on vk246h, DP on u2311h. xbox is connected via vga adaptor), I think there is no real difference between this and my 60" Mitsubichi DLP. Other than screen size, of course.


For general use, however, I love my u2311h far better. It doesn't have a silly oversaturation appearance (for me, the default windows 7 wallpaper just looks like somebody punched the contrast way up - no matter which preset I use) the vk246h has, and the placement of extra USB ports (via the 4way hub) really sealed the deal for me. I love my u2311h over the vk246h, any day. So I kept mine, and sent on the vk246h to my dad (who wanted a webcam, a peakers, and a bigger screen - the ASUS provides all three).
 
jeremyshaw - do you know why there is less eyestrain with the Dell? A lot of monitors give me eyestrain also, and I haven't been able to pinpoint why that's the case.
 
Thanks Shaw, I appreciate the input.

I've not noticed eyestrain with the Dell E207wfp I've owned for years now.
I'm gonna assume it's my youth and not the TN panel in this monitor.

Prolonging my vision would have certainly ended this dilemma for me.
 
addictedto60fps said:
jeremyshaw - do you know why there is less eyestrain with the Dell? A lot of monitors give me eyestrain also, and I haven't been able to pinpoint why that's the case.
Click to expand...

MirageMobile said:
Thanks Shaw, I appreciate the input.

I've not noticed eyestrain with the Dell E207wfp I've owned for years now.
I'm gonna assume it's my youth and not the TN panel in this monitor.

Prolonging my vision would have certainly ended this dilemma for me.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I don't really know why. Maybe it was just luck of the draw, or maybe that's how I percieve it, now, because I used to always buy the cheapest monitor possible. The ASUS VK246H and Dell U2311H were the only two that I "splurged" on, and even so, I waited for some serious discounts before doing so. My 60" DLP is a warranty replacement for another, smaller DLP that I poped a few capillaries to get warranty support for.

If it helps, I am up against a white wall, and I have a east facing window (behind me) that has some sunlight, but not enough to even light up my room during th afternoon (morning is fine, however).

Not a lot of ambient light, except for a few, small, CFL bulbs that light the entire room.
 
I've been looking for a decent deal on a 1920x1200 panel to match my other TN Samsung T240HD, but it appears they no longer exist, and maybe an IPS would be better for my eyes.

I've dug through this thread, and still haven't really reached a conclusion. Should I just pull the trigger on two of these? I feel lousy about downgrading to 16:9, but it seems like 16:10 is dead, and display port is the wave of the future. Will be used mainly for office applications (LOTS of reading/writing; no photo/color critical work) and gaming (maybe another for eyefinity later). My biggest concern is the response time, but reading this thread that appears not to be an issue. Never owned an IPS before.
 
Katalysis said:
I've been looking for a decent deal on a 1920x1200 panel to match my other TN Samsung T240HD, but it appears they no longer exist, and maybe an IPS would be better for my eyes.

I've dug through this thread, and still haven't really reached a conclusion. Should I just pull the trigger on two of these? I feel lousy about downgrading to 16:9, but it seems like 16:10 is dead, and display port is the wave of the future. Will be used mainly for office applications (LOTS of reading/writing; no photo/color critical work) and gaming (maybe another for eyefinity later). My biggest concern is the response time, but reading this thread that appears not to be an issue. Never owned an IPS before.
Click to expand...

What about the HP ZR24? That's 1920x1200.
 
Is it worth buying for $240 ?

I missed the $199 u2211 deal last week :(
 
Awesome. Just bought one.

edit: billleelee is the fucking worst. i just bought another.
 
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If anyone wants to have some professionally calibrated settings for this monitor here they are as follows. Performed on Rev A01 U2311H.

The following settings will get you 6500k with 2.2 gamma and 100cd of brightness. Which is perfect for image/video editing/ anything

Preset Modes > Custom (RGB)

R 94
G 86
B 89

Brightness 18
Contrast 75

Menu > Display Settings > Sharpness 40

In addition here is the icc profile that is generated. It doesn't change much since the RGB controls take care of 95% of the calibration. But it does apply a subtle LUT change to some colors.

U2311H_CE_65K_100CD.icc
 
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Looks like most people are getting the A01 revision. Is that right?

Whats the difference in revision? What does it fix?
 
retardude48 said:
Looks like most people are getting the A01 revision. Is that right?

Whats the difference in revision? What does it fix?
Click to expand...

A00 seemed to have a lot of problems with color tint and backlight . Seems like A01 is near perfect. I have none of those problems
 
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