Color Tracking Uniformity

Building on the 5-point testing we did in the Dell U2711 review, we’ve added testing at 9 different points across the LCD. To test this, we take our best center calibration profile and then test Delta E performance at 9 different places on the display.


 

We're adding a 3D plot visualization of color uniformity. As you'd expect, the top corresponds to top, right to right, e.t.c. as you would view the monitor normally.

We can see pretty clearly that calibration profiles are pretty localized - there’s a fair amount of deviation just about everywhere else. This is expected, especially since the display luminance isn’t the same everywhere, which we’ll illustrate later. We’ve shown in our previous Dell U2711 review that even the best monitors have this nonuniform color tracking; it isn’t to say that the display is worse at the edges, just different. Even at a Delta E of 3.17 at the most extreme, we’re still relatively in range, though much more would make a visual difference.

Analysis - Color Quality Analysis - Processing and Input Lag
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  • strikeback03 - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    Using the native software packages for both I liked the i1D2 better than the Spyder3. But when my i1D2 dies after 8 months and xRite/Pantone wouldn't do anything for me I wasn't about to buy another.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    should be died, not dies
  • Brian Klug - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    Oh man, it died? That sucks. I hope ours doesn't give out. Thus far I agree with you - the i1D2 is producing better looking/more consistent results than the Spyder 3 subjectively, but I haven't been really good about testing, just initial messing around.

    Hmmz, this could be a review of its own... ;)

    -Brian
  • strikeback03 - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    I don't care overly much about the actual power consumption, but would like a display that draws less power just to keep the heat down in the summer. My Gateway FPD2485W draws about 100W regardless of brightness setting and is quite toasty.
  • ctsrutland - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    If you really want to tell us how green it is, you also need to tell us how much CO2 was generated during its manufacture in comparison to other screens. How much oil was used in its making? Does it have a thinner plastic shell to reduce oil use? You also need to tell us whether the finished article is particularly easy to recycle in some way. Does it have a longer warranty than normal - if I can keep it in use for more years before replacing it, then it would be greener. Does it have components that are easier to fix? It's much greener to fix faulty things than to chuck them out and buy a new one. Has Dell undertaken to make spares available for more years to help with this? Don't suppose so...
  • dragunover - Monday, May 10, 2010 - link

    Mine supports like 150 or so hertz at that resolution...
    NEC MultiSync 90
  • ReaM - Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - link

    THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TESTING THIS ONE!!!

    I had it in the shopping cart for a month now in an online shop. Very low power consumption!
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 - link

    Yeah, after about 8 months it wanted to calibrate everything to a very green hue and would flat out refuse to even run the calibration on my laptop at settings I had previously used (and had a screenshot of). It was stored in a drawer with the clip-on diffuser cover on when not in use. I know hardware goes bad, the lack of support is what disturbed me.
  • AllenP - Sunday, May 16, 2010 - link

    Concerning the processing and input lag:

    TOTALLY AWESOME that you are adapting this new CRT comparison technique. :) This is by far one of the most important elements of a display to me, so I'm happy to see a solid site like AnandTech giving some solid data.

    But, two comments that struck my eye about this test:

    1) It seems a little strange that you're using an HDMI to DVI adapter, instead of just going straight form a DVI off the graphics card, but it shouldn't make a difference anyway.

    2) WOW. 9ms total latency is VERY low for an LCD. I usually find around 30+ms when looking around (which is totally unacceptable to me). This is a nice monitor -- I'm looking forward to seeing some more data to verify that your test methods are solid. Man, that's low latency. :)

    The human eye can see apprx. 85Hz out of the rods (greyscale) and 60Hz out of the cones (colour). So this means that the center of your vision sees at around 60Hz and 85Hz at the edges (due to a lot more cones in the center).

    I assume that this would mean that we can therefore discern between 16.66ms and 11.76ms of lag. (Please correct me if my assumption is wrong... I'm sure I'm a bit off on that) 9ms is nicely below that threshold, which is quite impressive for an LCD.

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