[PCM2]

Hi Saphir,

Refer to point 4 of this post on the first page. The key issue with the BenQ BL2711U is that the screen surface is grainier than on the Dell P2715Q. That isn’t the only difference, but it’s a crucial one in my view.

[Saphir]

Hi,

thank you for your anwser. Do you know maybe if the Dell has something like FlicerFree? I coudn’t find anything about it on the net.

[PCM2]

Yes the P2715Q is flicker-free, same as the P2415Q (refer to our review of the smaller model).

[Saphir]

Thanks for the fast answer. Wow, it’s a really huge review, respect for that work. So, thanks to you, I will probably buy the Dell. 🙂 However, I read a lot of reviews at Amazon, where “Professionals” are writing that they monitor came with some defects, like dead pixels etc. Is it possible for me, I mean someone, who only worked with a really standard monitor, to catch out these defects, like not the right, washed out colors, uneven backlight etc.? If I become mine, may I ask you to check (if it’s of course possible) it, sending you some sample photos? 🙂 I just want to make sure, that I become everything, for what I paid for. 🙂

Thank you in advance. 🙂

[PCM2]

Unfortunately such defects are a fact of life for modern monitors. Any model can suffer from them and the Dell P Series is certainly no more prone to them than others. If you’re expecting perfection then you’re setting yourself up for a lot of stress and disappointment. That isn’t to say you should accept huge clusters of defective pixels are massive amounts of backlight bleed – and the nice thing about Dell is that they will generally help out with replacements for those sorts of issues even after the retailer return period has expired.

I wouldn’t advise taking photos of backlight uniformity unless you’re able to capture them in a realistic way that is representative of what the eye sees and avoids capturing ‘IPS glow’. And to be honest, I wouldn’t go to such lengths to look for defects like that. If it doesn’t bother you or jump out at you during normal use, it isn’t a problem. Too many users expect perfection and go looking for issues – and many of them set themselves up for a great deal of stess and disappointment. Some will never be satisfied, and that’s just a sad state to be in.

[bluegrass]

The viewing distance was about 90cm.

On average the brightness was 40% or less.

I would alternate between Warm & Paper settings. Warm was better most times but I still had to reduce the brightness.

I have re ordered the Samsung C27F591 which I found to be the most usable of the two. I think that since most of PC usage involves text work the Dells were too strong ( if that’s a suitable term for a monitor).

[PCM2]

Note: Discussions on the CF591 were moved to an appropriate place – https://forum.pcmonitors.info/topic/best-27-fhd-monitor/page/8/

[pacifier]

I am wondering if Asus MG24UQ 24″ is a good option here in terms of graininess and color accuracy? Has anyone tried this monitor?

[PCM2]

The ASUS MG24UQ uses the Samsung LTM236FL01, which is the same panel used in the ViewSonic VX2475Smhl-4K that we’ve reviewed. You can therefore get a reasonable idea of what to expect from it by reading that review. As with all current UHD models of this size, the screen surface does have a bit of graininess to it. Furthermore, there are issues with static interlace patterns as raised in the review.

[PCM2]

Hi Malefiz,

As per our news piece on the Samsung U32H850, it uses a similar panel to the AOC U3277PWQU. With its grainy screen surface, poor colour consistency and motion issues it simply isn’t in the same league as the PD3200U. However; it could still be a decent enough choice, depending on your uses. You state that you do not play games, but didn’t state what you actually need to use the monitor for.

The LG models are better in these respects as they at least use IPS panels. Users have reported them to have a good factory calibration, good 60Hz motion performance and a decent enough screen surface (i.e. not overly grainy). However; users also report interlace pattern artifacts – so some shades appearing with faint bands of a slightly lighter and darker variant of the shade. Given the price difference between the cheaper of those models and the BenQ PD3200U seems to be negligible I don’t see the draw of the UD89 over the BenQ really.

[PCM2]

Just a side note, I wouldn’t bother with the 27UD88 over the 27UD68. It doesn’t offer any substantial improvement and certainly doesn’t justify an extra €100. Which is why the ’68’ is featured as a recommendation instead. This is based on a user who actually ‘upgraded’ from a ’68’ to an ’88’ because he thought there’d be a good reason for LG replacing the former with the latter. However; he found performance extremely similar and couldn’t really work out why he’d bothered. He is into photo editing and design and has a keen eye for colour and detail, too. I’m sure in time, when the ’68’ is properly disconituned, the ’88’ will become the natural choice but will also become cheaper so that the price is in line with the current ’68’ price.

Speaking personally, I can actually use 27″ UHD models without scaling, but even I feel things are just too small. Not unreadable for me, but just ‘too small for my preferences’ without scaling. I feel having the extra physical screen space and not being so reliant on scaling is a huge plus with ~32″ models like the BenQ, so I would pay the extra myself. But it’s something you’d have to weigh up for yourself. 🙂

[PCM2]

Of relevance to this thread, the Dell 15Q models now support HDMI 2.0 – https://twitter.com/pcmonitors/status/935773551986184192

[kanot]

Hi,

I’m looking for a pair of 4K IPS displays to replace my aging Dell U2711s. The Dells have served me well for a few years and I’ve appreciated the amount of real estate they have offered me for photo and video editing.

I noticed Lenovo has a new affordable wide-gamut UHD display, the P27U-10. Ordered those but while the panel seemed to be acceptable, the build quality and osd interface was just terrible… So I sent them back for a refund.

Now I’m eyeing the new Dell U2718Q. It’s not a wide-gamut model, but then again I haven’t REALLY needed wider than sRGB for the last six years with my U2711s… And I can keep those with my secondary computer if needed. So the U2718Q sounds like a reasonable choice.

In many reviews the U2718Q is compared rather unfavourably to it’s predecessor, the P2715Q. But AFAIK most of the critique can be tracked down to the DisplayPort color clipping bug, which is now fixed in the latest firmware. Are there any other reasons not to get the Dell? One thing I’m a bit worried is image persistence – this has been reported to occur in the LG 27UD68/69, which uses the same (or almost the same) panel. Can anyone confirm if the U2718Q is free of any such burn-in problems?

Another option I’ve been pondering is to stretch my budget a little and get a pair of 32 inch BenQ PD3200Us. I’d appreciate the extra real estate especially in the vertical direction (damn that they don’t make big 3:2 displays). But I wonder if two 32″ monitors in dual configuration would be too wide for practical use, and exaggerate IPS glow etc in the farmost edges. The PD3200U also has the mysterious glitch problem which would occur twice as frequently with dual monitors… But still the thought of having two huge canvases for my work intrigues me…

Any thoughts? How would these monitors (and any other similarly priced ones) compare for example regarding uniformity (my main gripe with displays), blacklight bleed and viewing angles?

[PCM2]

Hi kanot and welcome,

Firstly, sorry that you had such a hard time registering. I checked the logs and the website spam filter went a bit crazy as you tried to register with several similar names/email addresses in a short space of time. Obviously you aren’t a spammer, it just gets confused sometimes.

Secondly, sorry for putting your post here instead of keeping your dedicated thread up. I am quite fond of this thread and like to keep it going. It also has some relevant information, as does this recent thread. Including from somebody who from my email correspondance appears to have upgraded from a U2711 (or used one previously) to a PD3200U and may be able to give some additional guidance. As I point out in that thread, earlier on in this thread and in the review I simply feel that ~32″ is the optimal size for the ‘4K’ UHD resolution. You said you were intrigued by the prospect of having two of these as your work canvas. I would too, I think it would be great. And if budget and space allowed, I would overlook other ‘issues’ in favour of this solution.

As to the question of backlight uniformity, backlight bleed and related issues… That varies between individual units, so it is too difficult to cross-compare different models in that respect. People are generally happy with the BenQ in that respect. You’re correct about the larger screen potentially giving more ‘IPS glow’. In reality, though, the PD3200U has lower ‘glow’ than you might expect from a screen of its size. And the ‘IPS glow’ on the 27″ models is pretty significant anyway. It also depends on your viewing distance.

[kanot]

Hi and thanks for the quick reply! Sorry for messing up the logs, had some trouble with my other email account 🙂

And yes, I’m quite familiar with the individual temperament of these units; one of my U2711s had to be exchanged twice before I finally got a good one… And come to think of it, most of the monitors I’ve had over the years haven’t been acceptable on the first try. So I’ll also need to weigh in the manufacturer’s RMA exchange policy and the dealer’s return terms. Almost makes me loath the buying process enough to stick to my old displays a little longer.

I know from experience that Dell’s been pretty good with their service policy. But haven’t heard how’s it with BenQ? Was also interested in BenQ’s 27″ inch option, the BL2711U at some point, but while seemingly pretty good, it’s over three years old model now. And in the worst case scenario they might send me some three+ year old “refurbished” replacement if something went wrong. Luckily both the PD3200U and U2718Q are rather new models. The prices seem to go up and down quite a lot, at least here in Finland, so I might have to wait a bit and see if I can catch a good bargain from some reputable dealer.

[PCM2]

Dell are indeed excellent with their customer service and their replacement policy. BenQ are alright as well. Not up to the same level as Dell, although I don’t hear many complaints from users and have heard some stories of their processes being pretty efficient. I wouldn’t be put off going for a BenQ for fear of poor service, anyway.

I’d look back over this thread for some thoughts I have on the BL2711U. In short; it’s decent if you can tolerate the screen surface. How did you find that on your U2711?

[kanot]

The BL2711U might indeed be an option too – at the moment you could buy three of them cheaper than two of PD3200Us… Though it’s not really optimal for multi-monitor setup due to the large bezels. That said, I don’t mind the bezels on my U2711s that much, and the AG coating has also been ok for me. How’s the surface in BL2711U compared to these? I also have a pair of Dell U2412Ms, where the AG seems to be a little too coarse to me – but they are hard to compare with the U2711s as they have a lower dpi, which also contributes to the fuzziness.

[PCM2]

The BL2711U’s screen surface texture (i.e. smoothness) is similar to the U2711s which is why I brought that up. From memory, though, it’s also similar to the U2412M. But then again ‘from memory’ so is the U2711… You’re correct that the pixel density influences how grainy things appear, you may find the BL2711U okay in that respect. It is also a ‘very light’ matte surface, unlike the Dell models mentioned, so it doesn’t appear as a sort of thick layer of graininess either.

[GHarbord]

Can anyone else with this monitor confirm if an issue I’m experiencing is unique to my setup?

Displaying a test image (at 100% scaling),
– No GPU scaling,
– Desktop set to 3840×2160,
– Monitor aspect set to 1:1

This causes vertical lines to appear on screen, in horizontal parallel stripes across the screen. The stripes are aligned with the vertical line patterns in the image and move when moving the image around the screen. They are most visible with the desktop displaying a mid grey background.

I am using a DisplayPort cable and have seen the same effect over HDMI. I have not witnessed the same effect on other monitors connected to the same setup so currently do not suspect it to be a GPU issue.

Displaying the following image:
Test Image

Has the following effect:
Effect on screen

[PCM2]

Inversion artifacts related to slight imperfections in voltage control. You’ll see more examples here. Common on many monitors when certain patterns are displayed and nothing of concern in the real world. Unless you work with patterns like that or that ‘Test Pattern’ is one from your own work, of course.

[Author]

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