Dell U3011 Review: Dell's New 30-inch Flagship
by Brian Klug on January 13, 2011 9:17 PM ESTOSD Controls and Menus
I didn't mention OSD controls on the previous page because they're somewhat interesting on the U3011. Remember that HP stipulated that their ZR30w has no OSD because there's currently no control SoC for it. Well, Dell has one, and they definitely use it and provide an OSD for the U3011.
First up, the buttons are very understated and are located in the bottom right. The power button glows steady blue when powered, and pulses orange when in standby. What's interesting is that each button is unmarked - the bottom one glows blue when you hover your finger above it about a centimeter away, and tapping on it brings up the OSD and lights the other buttons. The button doesn't depress but doesn't seem capacitive - something optical is going on. Either way, button presses consistently work without issue. By default there's no button press sound (thank goodness), but you can turn one on in the menu if you really need it.
The quick pop up has presets, brightness and contrast, input source selection, and a menu button for launching the big OSD. It's easy to navigate and just like other Dell OSDs, but with fancy buttons-that-aren't and that cool hover feature.
There's options inside the sub menus for fill, 16:9, 4:3, aspect-correct, and 1:1 scaling of inputs - everything we want from a panel. In addition, there are the ever important settings for color space clamping - sRGB mode is there alongside AdobeRGB modes which don't clamp the color space. There's also gamma settings and presets for game, standard, and custom color modes.
Console Gaming and Audio Controls
There's really nothing to complain about with the U3011 OSD other than the audio settings. You can put them in 2.0 audio out mode, something which is absolutely perfect for use with a PS3 or Xbox 360 connected over HDMI.
The problem is that there's no volume adjustment parameter exposed in the menu - it acts like line out undoubtedly because that's what Dell intended it to be used for. It'd be nice to get volume controls in that preset menu beyond being able to select between 2.0 and 5.1.
That's a pretty nice segue into some discussion about what audio input options the U3011 supports over HDMI. I connected up a PS3 and played GT5 and a copy of Inception, both of which looked excellent and played perfectly. The PS3 saw LPCM 2 channel and 5.1 channel as options, obviously the U3011 doesn't have a hardware decoder onboard. I connected an Xbox 360 over HDMI and did the same, which worked perfectly. No doubt Dell's rationale for not providing volume controls on the OSD is that it's line out, or you'll use it with their speaker bar, but it still would be awesome to get that for when you're using headsets.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
123 Comments
View All Comments
Sabresiberian - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
Indeed! Thar's the thing I most want at this point; I hope manufacturers are reading your articles! Samsung? LG? Anyone listening?;)
mapesdhs - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
Can this new Dell display accept a sync-on-green signal? How well does it handle lower
resolution inputs such as 1920x1200 or 1600x1200?
Such large displays don't seem to be quite there yet wrt quality and sensible pricing, so I
went with a 24" HP LP2475W (HIPS version).
Ian.
flblws - Friday, January 14, 2011 - link
how much? $1300? and still has a VGA port? REALLY?AND
and no 120HZ or 240HZ ?
Really?
yawn....
cjl - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
No monitor with this res will have 120Hz (or higher) anytime soon - the bandwidth just isn't there over DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort (though the latest DisplayPort might just about be good enough - I'm not completely positive). As for the VGA port, some people still have laptops with only a VGA output. Obviously, it isn't meant to be the primary input, but it is there as an option (among the enormous number of other inputs).DanNeely - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
VGA is there because it costs next to nothing to add, but you can forget running native resolution over it. I tried once by accident (my GPU decided to send analog video over a DVI-I cable) to my NEC 3090, and the result was a ghastly mess. My initial reaction was to wonder if my monitor was DOA.AnnonymousCoward - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
DP1.2 x4 has the bandwidth for 2560x1600, 30-bit, 120Hz. All techs have the bandwidth for 120Hz at lower res.Soldier1969 - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
Well you keep on yawning my poor friend ill keep playing with maximum eye candy at 1600p. I have a 55 inch LED Sony 240hertz for everything else and a second 120hertz 37inch Samsung panel next to my 30 incher for double duty. Meanwhile you keep playing on your puny panel. You need to get educated on the tech or just keep showing your ignorance. You get what you pay for. If you want to play at the best res there is for PCs then get one otherwise just keep playing with TN panel garbage that keeps being churned out for the poor folk that think its good as it gets.Luay - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
Everyone is comparing the HP to the Dell but has anyone heard of Hazro?I'm sure a little attention to this company and its products will encourage them to venture into other markets. review please!
https://www.hazro.co.uk/shop.html#ecwid:category=4...
MeanBruce - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
With do many tech groups claiming to be delivering exactly what their customers were asking for let's hope someone from Dell Monitor Design reads Anandtech or at least these many comments. Everyone seems to be in agreement on the lack of RBG LED and DisplayPort 1.4 for this flagship design. There is hope though, Dell is due to replace the U2410 this year with the U2412, and in the past has introduced it's latest developments on the 24in platform then later they appear on the 27 and 30. So let's hope the new 24inch Ultrasharp is everything we have come to expect from Dell panels, and hey throw in a remote to control all inputs and the OSD and volume on the Soundbar. For all that I would have no problem with a $699 or $799 pricetag, they already make three other 24inch monitors at very low price points. Give the rest of us what we want!MeanBruce - Saturday, January 15, 2011 - link
Even $899, if it's Drop Dead Gorgeous!Peace Brothers!