Mini-review: Dell 2407 FPW rev. A02 hooked up to my Xbox 360 (pics)

Z

Zinn

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Well my Dell 2407 A02 finally came and I thought I'd share some of the ups and downs of it with my fellow [H]'ers.

1) This monitor is bright, I mean really bright. I never thought I'd do this with an LCD, but I actually turned the brightness down a notch.

2) At the default brightness, the contrast suffers a bit. Turning the brightness down brought the contrast to the same level of the 2005FPW which is what I'm used to. The contrast is fine like this.

3) Colors are fairly accurate. Look for any banding in the images (click the thumbnails for fullsized)

Anyway, there is little to no banding. It's not perfect, but even in this "synthetic" test I had to really look for banding, so in the wild, it won't be noticable. (My camera is actually making it look worse than it actually appears to the eye)

4) Blurry text? Not with this panel:


5) The Xbox 360 looks great connected to the 2407 via the VGA cable. One caveat, the aspect ratio on the 360 is slightly wider. If you want to run in aspect mode, there is a very tiny horizontal band on the top and bottom of the screen. The problem is that you can't run in aspect mode and keep your sanity. There is massive screen tearing in aspect mode, at least at 1280x768. So you'll end up needing to run in Fill mode.

In terms of the difference in aspect ratio, this is negligible (equal to the difference between the Xbox 360's 1920x1080 and the 2407's 1920x1200) -- you will not notice the image being stretched vertically because the difference is too small. But this is worth mentioning as it could potentially impact your experience running in aspect mode at different resolutions. (Side note: aspect mode worked fine for me on the 2005FPW... does anyone know if it works on the 2007FPW? If so, it may be the resolution difference that is tripping the monitor scaling up.)

Bottom line is, Xbox 360 looks great at 1280x768 stretch mode, but forget about gaming over VGA in aspect mode.


6) Non-native resolution scaling over DVI and over VGA looks great. I verified this by playing several Xbox 360 and PC games at non-native resolutions. Of course you'll want to run native if you can, but the scaling is a bit better than on the 2005fpw.

7) I cannot detect any ghosting on this monitor.

8) The backlight is great on this monitor, with minimal bleeding and both sides evenly lit. It looks much more even than it did on my 2005fpw which itself had remarkably low bleeding.

I'm too lazy to get a fully black screen, so you'll have to pretend that prompt isn't on the left side causing CCD bleed on my camera and obscuring the fact that there is minimal bleeding on the left edge of the panel as well.

9) No dead pixels... I've never seen any on a Dell monitor, but of course this is luck of the draw.

Playing games and watching videos on this monitor is truly a pleasure. The pixels seem a little bigger (in addition to there being more of them) than on a 20" 1680x1050 panel, so I can sit a little farther back which is more comfortable. I really have no major complaints, and for the price, it was a great deal. Dell is still running it right now I think. I would highly recommend this monitor, and coming from a 2005fpw with high expectations for widescreen gaming on my Xbox 360, I am thoroughly satisfied.


Dell 2407 FPW rev. A02 Pros
- Cheap for its size class
- Vibrant colors, great contrast, even lighting, sharp pixels
- Huge resolution
- No ghosting, great for gaming
- 3 year base warranty
- Built in USB and card reader (like you're ever gonna use that)

Cons
- Too bright by default, needed adjustment to look its best
- Useless component inputs (see below)


 
Hey man,

Thanks for the great mini-review. Would it be possible for you to post some pics of your 360 running on component cables at 720p by any chance? I hear it looks rubbish, but I'd like to see for myself.

Thanks
 
Okay, I just hooked up the component cables to see. I didn't bother trying in the first place because I heard the same thing about component sucking on the 2407

With the component cables, the pixels are undefined (in a bad way, blurry) and the colors and contrast are oversaturated beyond the point of tweaking. Bright highlights "bleed" into the surroundings. In fact, everything seems to bleed a little bit. It looks bad in a way that's hard to describe and the screenshots don't fully convey. Running 1080i produced an awful "shimmer" effect from the interlacing. 720p was slightly more tolerable, but still ugly as sin.

Component:


VGA:


Component:


VGA:


If you want really high resolution shots for comparison, PM me. I don't want to kill my bandwidth.

At this point, I believe that the component inputs on the 2407 are fairly useless. That may change, as I have yet to hook my Gamecube up at 480p, (too lazy to drag it in here tonight and pull the monitor out again to plug stuff in) but I wouldn't be optimistic. This is looking to be my one big disappointment with this monitor.

The Microsoft VGA cable is like 15-20 bucks used, and definitely money well spent if you want to game on an LCD with the Xbox 360.
 
looks like a great monitor. I just got a 2007fp Rev: A02 so maybe it will be sweet too. thanks for the pics. My confidence in dell has been restored, lol.
 
yea. this monitor, (partially because of your review) will be my next splurge. the only problem: im running an AGP righ with a 6600GT. if i can find a Gainward Supplier, ill try for a 7800GS with a G71, and ill put a few bucks into a new CPU.

but this monitor looks awsome. i love my rig, got nice new tiny (but very ballsy) speakers, in surround (sound storm) i watch movies a fair chunk on this pc. so a 24" monitor with my speakers, autta make for some kick ass movie watching, not to mention a great Cal season :)

awsome review, i like its size.
 
Agh, I jumped the gun. It looks like there is banding after all :( The background gradient on www.gamespot.com causes noticeable vertical banding. Here's the evidence:

This might not look so bad, but it really stuck out at me. The camera is dumbing it down a bit here.

I read that the banding is less severe in Desktop mode, so just to see what I'm up against, I put the monitor in Multimedia mode:

Ouch! It's back to Desktop mode for me.

edit: I have verified that this is an issue with the image compression used by Gamespot. The bands are showing up on two of my flat panels at work. I was wrong on this one and revert back to my original, glowing conclusion
 
changed my view in a helluva hurry.....

edit: yea the first test with the 5 bars, no banding what so ever. but that... eeww....
 
I just had a look at Gamespot and my monitor has it too. But mines a CRT :eek: Maybe that image is meant to be like that and not the monitors fault.

Its exactly like your pic.
 
Zinn said:
Agh, I jumped the gun. It looks like there is banding after all :( The background gradient on www.gamespot.com causes noticeable vertical banding. Here's the evidence:

This might not look so bad, but it really stuck out at me. The camera is dumbing it down a bit here.

I read that the banding is less severe in Desktop mode, so just to see what I'm up against, I put the monitor in Multimedia mode:

Ouch! It's back to Desktop mode for me.

This is a fairly isolated case as far as I can tell, but the issue is there and people need to be aware that the A02 revisions still have banding problems. I'm not sure if this only affects grays at this point, and also not sure why my original color test didn't pick this up.

This isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's an even bigger disappointment than the component cable thing. I would recommend looking more closely at other flat panels in this size range before making a purchasing decision.
Yeah I saw that too. But I just think it's gamespot. I get the same exact banding on a 193p, 2001fp, 172t, 910t, and nec 791sb crt on that website. I later found out that it looked different that I remembered because after turning on one of the premium themes they put diagnol lines over the gradient which makes it look much smoother. So now it looks just like I remembered it looked, heh. I also thought I saw new banding on the ctrl-alt-dlt webcomic, and maybe it is a bit more pronounced on the 2407 but it's still there to some degree on every other monitor in my house.
 
negitive on the "its sposed to be like that" theory, mines fine. dont get any banding and im on my ancient good old Syncmaster 955DF.

hmm. the gaming mode, does that make things any better?

edit: i donno. my eyes are tired. maybe i got some killer purevideo filtering goin on here thats blurring the grays for me. i spose i could see it as being bands of gray insteadof a transitional gray. but its definatly not nearly as defined as on that 2407.

And what other monitors are there that are 24" and that cheap?

ill search for some other reviews tomorrow morning, right now im tired, im going to bed.
 
Well, I have a Viewsonic VX2025wm, and upon checking out Gamespot, I noticed no such color banding.

I have a theory. May I ask, what browser are you using? I'm using Firefox, for reference. The reason I bring this up is that some browsers (internet service providers even?) can sometimes resample images on websites for loadtimes. I ran into an example developing a website for a client who had AOL, and showed me pictures of what it looked like through that. AOL (and I'm sure they're not the only one) mutilated my larger images almost beyond recognition trying to reduce the amount of colors. Keep in mind, however, that some sites escaped AOL's image filter thingie unscathed, so it's unnoticable on most sites.

In other words, since you haven't been able to reproduce the banding elsewhere, perhaps your monitor is fine, and some other (who knows what) piece of software is reducing the color on certain webpage's images.

Just a suggestion.

Oh, and congrats on the new monitor! I'm also using the VGA adapter for my VX2025, and I can certainly attest that it is well worth it. I spent the full $40 to buy it new, and even at that price it's worth it. Definitely recommended.
 
Hey animasaki, what res do you run the 360 in on the Viewsonic? Does the image scale well? Very interested in the Viewsonic for my 360.

Thanks mate.
 
I just checked Gamespot on my 2 laptops and my main computer with a CRT using IE and Opera 9. All of them exhibit "banding", with my CRT being the least noticeable. To be honest, I think it's supposed to be that way. The background image itself is a 2000 x 4 resolution .gif with a grand total of 64 colors. I don't think that's enough to produce a smooth gradient so I'm not too surprised that there was a "banding" effect. Perhaps the sharpness of LCDs makes stand out a bit more... my CRT just kinda blurs them together, but I can still see it.
 
Great review, how much DID you pay for it?

What exacty is 'banding', and what are the differences between the original versions are the Rev. A02.
 
Zinn said:
Agh, I jumped the gun. It looks like there is banding after all :( The background gradient on www.gamespot.com causes noticeable vertical banding. Here's the evidence:

This might not look so bad, but it really stuck out at me. The camera is dumbing it down a bit here.

I read that the banding is less severe in Desktop mode, so just to see what I'm up against, I put the monitor in Multimedia mode:

Ouch! It's back to Desktop mode for me.

This is a fairly isolated case as far as I can tell, but the issue is there and people need to be aware that the A02 revisions still have banding problems. I'm not sure if this only affects grays at this point, and also not sure why my original color test didn't pick this up.

This isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's an even bigger disappointment than the component cable thing. I would recommend looking more closely at other flat panels in this size range before making a purchasing decision.
As has already been said, that's Gamestop's image compression so that the page loads more quickly. Nothing with your display, likely.
 
Banding is a problem which occurs most noticeably in smooth transitions between colors. Instead of being smooth, it'll look "stepped" and not continuous color, but instead concentric rings of incremental color. This is less noticeable while watching a movie or game, but for design work it can be excruciatingly annoying, and is considered a definite drawback.
 
Hate to say it but those gamespot shots have far worse banding vs. what Im seeing on my CRT. I have to look really hard to see any here and what I do see is very thin bars not the thick bars seen in the photos.
 
IMO only perfect gradients should be used to test banding, not some random website background images or whatever that are NOT perfect gradients and could lead people to believe the problem is worse than it actually is
 
okay, you guys are right. I have checked out the site on separate monitors at my office and there is still banding present. As a web designer I should know better than to rely on highly compressed images for color/value accuracy. :eek: So it's back to my original conclusion :)

The dell 2407 FPW rev. A02 is an awesome panel!
Betauser said:
great review, but OT, where did you get your desk? :D
The desk is a cheapo from Staples. I ended up replacing the keyboard tray because I smashed the first one.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I don't think so.

If you want to fix the screen tearing in "aspect" mode when using VGA, just turn the monitor off and back on. Should work fine after that.
 
Read the other thread, I made a post on how to improve the component visual quality significantly, and perhaps even more so with tweaking.
 
Can you tilt the monitor to portrait monitor like some Samsung monitors? I am REALLLY thinking about getting this monitor before going back to school. Does anyone know if Dell will release another revision soon?
 
Nice visuals and confirmation on picture quality over VGA cables, now to praise the real star of the show, your desk! Nah but seriously, what company was it made by and if you have a model name or something.
 
btf1980 said:
What kind of speakers are those Zinn? They look nice.
Speakers are Polk Audio Monitor 30s, the sub is the Polk Audio PSW10.

KDub said:
Nice visuals and confirmation on picture quality over VGA cables, now to praise the real star of the show, your desk! Nah but seriously, what company was it made by and if you have a model name or something.
I got it on sale at staples for like $120. I don't think they sell it anymore, but trust me there are better desks out there. When I erase something with a pencil eraser, it wobbles...
 
Zinn said:
I got it on sale at staples for like $120. I don't think they sell it anymore, but trust me there are better desks out there. When I erase something with a pencil eraser, it wobbles...

ya, kind of been looking for stardy desk and your desk looks stardy.. but i could be wrong and like you said it would wobbles when you erase something w/ your pencil :D
 
I DONT have ANY noticeable banding on Gamespot.com and I am on a cheap Compaq 17" crt. It looks perfectly smooth at 1024x768 for me. :confused:
 
neogenesis2004 said:
your resolution is way lower, banding would be much harder to see.
i thought there would be LESS banding at higher resolutions.
 
i think there would be more because it would have to stretch a compressed gradient across more pixels.
 
neogenesis2004 said:
i think there would be more because it would have to stretch a compressed gradient across more pixels.
the more I look at all these problems with high end monitors the happier I am with my pos 17" crt.
 
trek554 said:
I DONT have ANY noticeable banding on Gamespot.com and I am on a cheap Compaq 17" crt. It looks perfectly smooth at 1024x768 for me. :confused:

I didnt wanna start an argument with these guys but honestly I see no banding on my CRT either regardless of resolution (tried 1600x1024 & 1920x1200), If I look very close then I notice a couple *very small* bars but nothing at all like the thick bars shown in the LCD screenshots, clearly the LCD is dithering some of this color pattern rather than showing smooth gradients, But I believe all LCD's are like this anyhow.

If anyone see's any bars in this shot then you've got dithering going on, monitor res was set @ 1920x1200:

IMG_3046.jpg
 
Techx said:
IMO only perfect gradients should be used to test banding, not some random website background images or whatever that are NOT perfect gradients and could lead people to believe the problem is worse than it actually is

QFT

btw hilarios how some of you are posting before reading everything. Animasaki explained it all. that makes perfect sense.

if you dont notices banding on your well done test with full and do notice it on some crap website then the crap website is to blame. do another tests. the one real test you did do showed no banding. im gonna disregard this gamespot crap because theres just too many veriables with it.
 
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