Official Dell 2707WFP Thread !!! Info, Pictures, Reviews

Hello, This is my first post to this forum. I have been lurking for a while and your discussions helped my decide on purchasing a 2707wfp. I ordered my monitor from Elliptic Systems. They offered the monitor with a Four year warranty, shipped for $1190.00!!! I called dell and tried to get them to match the price and they could not get there with adding tax. So I went with Elliptic. The monitor arrived around ten this morning and I had my desk and computer all setup waiting for it. I unpacked it and had it up in 10 mins. I purchased a BFG GeForce 7600gs OC AGP 512MB a few weeks ago in anticipation of this purchase and it was already installed. Power, DVI and USB cables were already hooked up and all I needed to do was route the cables and plug them in and then install the drivers.

My initial impression was that I thought it would be bigger. I have room for the 30" and would have gone with it if it had the range of ports that this model does, however that point may be moot. (more on that in a moment)

The resolution is very comfortable for my 43 yr old eyes and I can read it with my glasses off, something I could not do with my 21" Mitsubishi at 1280x1024. I do not detect any pixelation rather the display to my eyes is razor sharp.As I sit my face is about 28 ' from the screen and it looks very good. However I did have to go and scare up some proper widescreen wallpapers as the stretched image of Kristen Bell was looking kinda grainy pulled out to 1920x1200. The widescreen wallpapers look fabulous on the monitor. I decided to try some of my games, first was Combat Flight Simulator 3 at 1920x1200, the only game I currently own that will support this resolution, WOW , it really looked great. I had all the options turned up and I was really impressed. It looked much better than on my 21". I also tried Joint Operations Typhoon Rising this would only go to 1600x something and it still looked very good with it stretched. I played a few trailers, "300, Shooter and The Kingdom " the 1080P versions from Apple's website and I was quite happy with the way they looked.

My only disappointment is concerning the inputs. I only found out after I ordered the monitor that I would not be able to connect PC's to both DVI and VGA and use PIP or PBP. I had hoped to plug my main PC into the DVI and my HTPC into the VGA and watch TV in a PIP window. This does not work. I could use the S-video port from my HTPC but that is currently going to my SDTV. I was looking at VGA to Component cables but those will not work either. I'm either going to have to find a AGP video card with both S-Video and compenent out or not be able to do PIP from my HTPC. Anyone with ideas I'd love to hear them.

Otherwise I am ecstatic over the purchase and love it. Same comments that most other owners make, It is uber bright out of the box and I have it on 2 for brightness. Color looks very good to me and no dead or stuck pixels. The styling is beautiful, I love the back of this monitor and wish I had a space where it was not facing a wall. The base is very stable and looks great. I love the brushed aluminum and the raised Dell logo on the back, too bad I can't see it.

If you have the space and don't need the ports, get the 30" although I think the resolution on the 30" may be to high for my eyes, you young folk won't have a problem. I'm very glad I didn't get the 24", I would have been disappointed. We have a number of the 24" HP's at work and they are nice monitors but they are smaller than this, I really like the extra real estate this affords.

I need to get to bed. Thank you all for your discussion and talking me into this great monitor,

Dave
 
I was reading some reviews on the dell site and a few people mentioned about the grainy picture, does it look that bad?
 
mine is not grainy at all. I can't believe anyone thinks this display is grainy. They must be sitting 5 inches from the screen or not running it at 1920x1200. I think those comments come from people who don't own the monitor.
 
I just placed my order. :D

Since I specifically bought it for use with a PS3, I'll be posting impressions based around its performance with gaming/1080p Blu-Ray playback once I receive it.
 
I have direct experience with both the Dell 3007-HC and the 2707 and I have to believe that the vast majority of people who say the 2707 is grainy is basing it on the dot pitch specification as opposed to having actual direct experience with this model. It's a great monitor and for me, it was worth every penny. And this is from a guy that just came from a pretty decent Mitsubishi 2040u DiamondTron CRT who stuck with it for quite some time after being rather scarred by LCD techonology for PCs' a decade ago. :) I had great concern about scaling at lower resolutions, black levels and ghosting, but this LCD panel had me pleasantly surprised!
 
Can someone please post the size of the screen itself in inches.

Thanks.:)
 
Hi guys, I appreciate all the info and pics....but I'm curious how one goes about watching HDTV via a capture card, VGA won't do anything, and DVI doesn't do 1080i, so how would you watch either 720p or 1080i broadcasts?
 
Hi guys, I appreciate all the info and pics....but I'm curious how one goes about watching HDTV via a capture card, VGA won't do anything, and DVI doesn't do 1080i, so how would you watch either 720p or 1080i broadcasts?

If it’s a capture card in the PC wouldn’t you just be watching it in a window with media player or the capture card app just like when you watch a DVD with the DVD app in a window or scaled to full screen?
 
If it’s a capture card in the PC wouldn’t you just be watching it in a window with media player or the capture card app just like when you watch a DVD with the DVD app in a window or scaled to full screen?

Oh I see, you're saying that for external devices, VGA and DVI have their problems, but a capture card should presumably run all HDTV resolutions over DVI...?
 
Oh I see, you're saying that for external devices, VGA and DVI have their problems, but a capture card should presumably run all HDTV resolutions over DVI...?

Yes. If you are running your desktop at any res that the 2707 will work with then any program that you are in turn running on windows should display. Everything being displayed is being generated by the video card in the PC and being displayed on the screen through the DVI or analog VGA connection. So if you are running a 2707 at 1920x1200 and play an Apple 1080p movie trailer the monitor don’t know or care that there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen because the movie is 1920x1080. The video card is still sending a 1920x1200 signal to the display just with the black space. I have not tried it myself but the issues others are having is when you try to send it a 1920x1080 signal from an XBox or HD-DVD player through the DVI or component inputs.
 
Yes. If you are running your desktop at any res that the 2707 will work with then any program that you are in turn running on windows should display. Everything being displayed is being generated by the video card in the PC and being displayed on the screen through the DVI or analog VGA connection. So if you are running a 2707 at 1920x1200 and play an Apple 1080p movie trailer the monitor don’t know or care that there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen because the movie is 1920x1080. The video card is still sending a 1920x1200 signal to the display just with the black space. I have not tried it myself but the issues others are having is when you try to send it a 1920x1080 signal from an XBox or HD-DVD player through the DVI or component inputs.

Totally understood.....thanks for your concise reply:)
 
does anyone know if this monitor comes with dvi or vga plugs included?

oh and is there a way to turn off the backlight on this monitor if so how?
 
What brightness level does everyone recomend?

yeah i asked a dumb question b4 sorry.
 
Okay, so I just got the monitor, and I have some serious concerns with the black levels.

Quite frankly, they suck shit. I'm comparing the 2707 to my Macbook, and it's insane how much they differ. When watching a 1080p clip with 1:1 scaling on, the difference between the blacks inherent in the video file and the portion of the screen clipped off due to the scaling is just massive.

Is this normal, or did I somehow receive a dud? Any immediate feedback would be appreciated, since I'll have to be quick in deciding whether or not to keep it.
 
So after an hour of experimentation, it seems that the black level problem only occurs with the PS3 over DVI... after discovering this, a quick Google search led me to this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=788813&page=1&pp=30&highlight=washed+out+HDMI

Basically, the PS3 is sending a fudged signal to the 2707WFP, causing the image to be extremely washed-out.

Has anyone else here tried using a PS3 with a 2707WFP? This seems to contradict some of the earlier statements I've read about the compatability between the two, which makes me wonder if this is a problem unique to my PS3.
 
I'm sending mine back to Dell on Monday.

Honestly, the monitor's fantastic for general PC use, but one key issue motivated me to organize the return:

THE 2707WFP IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH PLAYSTATION 3s. Well, perhaps I shouldn't say "incompatible", but unless you have a high tolerance for overly washed-out images, then do NOT buy this as a solution for your PS3. The issue lies in the fact that the system doesn't output a "colourspace" that cooperates with the 2707; it's not a fault of the monitor, it's on the PS3's end, and after inquiring about the topic at a few select forums, a solution seems highly unlikely. So again, if you were thinking about buying the 2707 for your PS3, DON'T DO IT, unless Sony issues a firmware fix.

You can find more details about it here:

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&thread.id=76270

As for the pixel pitch... I dunno, I could tell a bit of a difference - it wasn't a dealbreaker or anything, but I can definitely understand the complaints. As long as you sit a fair distance back, it's not noticable, but if you're close up, then yeah, you're going to notice it, and it could be a problem.

Additionally, I was a slightly dissapointed with the black levels after hearing all the great things about them, but they're still quite solid, and this is coming from a person who's still used to CRTs.

Its analog inputs are garbage (Component, S-Video, etc.), so don't plan on using them.

Overall, I was impressed with its use as a PC monitor, but because of the problems listed above, I just wasn't able to hold onto it, especially for the high price I paid. I would not recommend paying more than $1000 for this, but that's just my opinion.

Finally, kudos to Dell Canada for their more-than-forgiving return process; their website stated a mandatory 15% restocking fee, but after a quick conversation with their Returns representative, the restocking fee was waved, and shipping & handling will be covered by Dell. Absolutely kickass - the 2707 certainly won't be the last item I purchase from them, that's for sure.
 
...As for the pixel pitch... I dunno, I could tell a bit of a difference - it wasn't a dealbreaker or anything, but I can definitely understand the complaints. As long as you sit a fair distance back, it's not noticable, but if you're close up, then yeah, you're going to notice it, and it could be a problem.

Additionally, I was a slightly dissapointed with the black levels after hearing all the great things about them, but they're still quite solid, and this is coming from a person who's still used to CRTs...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1030718986&postcount=210

Not trying to give you grief (too each there own and all) but I want to understand what is that I’m missing. I’m the pickiest guy I know and the folks saying that the small, little and ever so tiny enlargement of the screens LCD elements must have laser vision with laser pixel size comparison built in. Even when I zoom in with my (pics at above link) camera I can’t tell the difference between the 24 and the 27 not to mention with them side by side. The image as a whole is 3” bigger but looking back and forth over and over I can’t tell the same image on both looks any different. ??? Also, the blacks and black light uniformity are noticeably better than the 20 or 24.
 
Not trying to give you grief (too each there own and all) but I want to understand what is that I’m missing. I’m the pickiest guy I know and the folks saying that the small, little and ever so tiny enlargement of the screens LCD elements must have laser vision with laser pixel size comparison built in. Even when I zoom in with my (pics at above link) camera I can’t tell the difference between the 24 and the 27 not to mention with them side by side. The image as a whole is 3” bigger but looking back and forth over and over I can’t tell the same image on both looks any different. ??? Also, the blacks and black light uniformity are noticeably better than the 20 or 24.
I sat about 3.5 ft. away from the display. Due to the nature of my setup, it was impossible for me to go any further. At that distance, the text did appear to be visibly blocky and lacking "volume", if you know what I mean. If I were to back up slightly, it wouldn't be noticable, so it all depends on how far away you're sitting.

As for the black levels, maybe it was just the ambient lighting, but they definitely weren't what I was expecting, especially with movies. I guess if I were to have tweaked the lighting in my room, they would have been greatly improved, but I didn't really have the time for it.

However, I have absolutely no complaints with the backlight uniformity whatsoever; mine was 100% perfect. I should have mentioned that in my OP. No dead pixels, either.


I'm concerned by this. Care to elaborate?
Colours were WAAAAAY oversaturated and impossible to finetune - I spent quite a bit of time adjusting colour settings to get a "correct" image, but I just couldn't nail it. It was either too colourful, or not colourful enough, no sweet spot in-between,

In addition, there were visible halos that surrounded all edges in the image, just like if you were to have the sharpness setting on your TV set too high. Again, I tried adjusting the sharpness in the display's menu, but they wouldn't go away.

There was also a persistent layer of grain, and the picture didn't seem to want to scale at a proper resolution (Slight black bars at the sides with 1:1 enabled).

Basically, the images produced were horrible, and almost unusable, especially when compared to the quality of the DVI connection.
 
I sat about 3.5 ft. away from the display. Due to the nature of my setup, it was impossible for me to go any further. At that distance, the text did appear to be visibly blocky and lacking "volume", if you know what I mean. If I were to back up slightly, it wouldn't be noticable, so it all depends on how far away you're sitting...

I set just about the same distance and yes some text looks blocky as I’ve turned that carp Clear Type off. :) But both the 24” and the 27” look exactly the same in this regard. Sliding back slow off them both I can’t tell any difference in the exact distance at witch the text loses its blocky-ness. At work we have lots of Latitude D820s with 1920x1200 on a 15” screen and the text looks just as blocky. I’m glad it dose, should mean that my vision is still good. But I can definitely tell (at the same distance, I’m not a hawk) a difference at witch the text loses its blocky-ness between a 15” and a 24” or 27”. All that being said, who cares? If folks don’t like it and perceive something bad about it, oh well.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I'm guessing if I end up getting one of these, I can sit about 30" away max. Is there any screen door effect or too much graininess at that distance? Thanks! :D
 
Thanks for the replies.

I'm guessing if I end up getting one of these, I can sit about 30" away max. Is there any screen door effect or too much graininess at that distance? Thanks! :D

I came from a 2405 and really can't tell the difference, I haven't really thought about it much.. I think I sit about that far back.
 
Does the 2707WFP have any audible hum? Grateful to know if there is any hum audible from about 50cms. I have a NEC 2690 which is a great display but has a hum and I am thinking about getting a different display - maybe a Dell or idc a Samsung 27". I am trying to find a large display which is good for graphics work and is absolutely silent. Hum drives me nuts when I am trying to work in a quiet room.

Thanks for any info on the Dell.

David
 
Does the 2707WFP have any audible hum? Grateful to know if there is any hum audible from about 50cms. I have a NEC 2690 which is a great display but has a hum and I am thinking about getting a different display - maybe a Dell or idc a Samsung 27". I am trying to find a large display which is good for graphics work and is absolutely silent. Hum drives me nuts when I am trying to work in a quiet room.
Nope, no humming - I'm sensitive to it, as well, so I would have heard something had it been present.
 
Does the 2707WFP have any audible hum? Grateful to know if there is any hum audible from about 50cms. I have a NEC 2690 which is a great display but has a hum and I am thinking about getting a different display - maybe a Dell or idc a Samsung 27". I am trying to find a large display which is good for graphics work and is absolutely silent. Hum drives me nuts when I am trying to work in a quiet room.

Thanks for any info on the Dell.

David

I have not noticed any, but I tend to have a noisy room. I shall test it out tonight, my computer is almost dead silent so I should be able to give it a good test.
 
thx cabezone, other question. The dot pitch is 0.303mm, in windows the text see fine?. You use clear type?.

I have a dell 2005FPW and text see really good , and i not use clear type.
 
Thanks RonaldSage and Cabezone. That's encouraging. Cabezone - thanks too for your further check - the issue is whether there is any audible noise in a quiet room so I appreciate you checking in a really quiet environment. I'll look out for your findings.

David
 
My office is very quiet, and I can't hear any hum coming from the 2707 whatsoever. The only noise it makes is an occasional cracking sound which I believe is caused by heat expansion. Many other electronic components in my home produce this same exact sound from time to time, so I'm guessing it's normal.
 
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