Dell U3011 Review: Dell's New 30-inch Flagship
by Brian Klug on January 13, 2011 9:17 PM ESTBrightness Uniformity
For brightness uniformity, we test at the same 9 points we measure Delta-E on, but this time measure white and black levels when the center point is as close to 200 nits as we can get. We use the same colorimeter and software as before, - an Xrite i1D2 and ColorEyes Display Pro. Similar to the ordinary brightness test (taken at the center), contrast is set to 100 in the OSD and brightness is set to as close to 200 as possible in the center before measurements are taken.
White Uniformity
Black Uniformity
In both of these, there's a very obvious horizontal brightness dependence. The display is just a bit brighter at the far right than the far left, which also nicely explains why the top right and bottom left (extremes of brightness) also seem to have the highest Delta-Delta-E (as shown on the color uniformity page).
The brightness irregularity measured here isn't readily visible, in fact in the dark it subjectively looks the other way around (or at least how my camera captured it). I measured both twice and got similar results.
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beachhead2 - Tuesday, January 18, 2011 - link
Dell outlet has these from time to time for $899. When they pop up, they go fast. I got one last week and it's top notch (coming from 2408WFP). I'm using it primarily for PS CS5. I calibrated it and I'm well pleased with my prints. Awesome display.godel - Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - link
It's a pity they didn't go to LED backlighting instead of CFL.The monitor is already over a thousand bucks, so a few extra dollars shouldn't matter much, and it would benefit greatly from a reduction in power consumption, as well as the reputed gains in picture quality that comes with LEDs.
cjl - Friday, January 21, 2011 - link
LED is a benefit for power consumption, but it can actually be a detriment to image quality. This monitor's CCFL backlight allows for a wider color gamut than WLED would, which is why they chose it.spilled - Thursday, January 20, 2011 - link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrjDbWU_43AGreat video showing the clear input lag winner. A shame... without the lag, and with the audio output, this would be a nobrainer for me. The limited inputs on the z30 make it less attractive, but still moreso I think.
As an aside, I did a similar comparison to this using my M6500 and a trusty dusty 2001FP I still have from 10 years ago. About 1/3rd of a window similar in size on that test behind for the old Dell.
Things have gotten better, but for $1300+, I think I'll sit the fence.
pkoi - Friday, January 21, 2011 - link
I really like seeing displays reviews benched with meaningful metrics.I want MORE,,,
iaw4 - Sunday, January 23, 2011 - link
why do all the 30" monitors miss speakers? (the DELL speaker bar for the 3008 is worse than my worst notebook computer. I don't need much, but the DELL speakerbar is really bad.) and yes, many people just like having a one-in-all monitor. heck, I would even like a webcam in it, but I understand that this is not a common need. I would also not tuner while we are at it, but again, this is not needed.
but speakers?? come on.
for lack of speakers you should subtract a half-star.
JonathanMEdwards - Monday, March 7, 2011 - link
DisplayPort has some problem with power management. Won't wake up after going to sleep. Too bad, it's a really sweet monitor visually.http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/periph...
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/periph...
Manhar - Thursday, March 10, 2011 - link
The review states that there is no pivot mode.Are you sure that this has no pivot and cannot be used in portrait mode?
Dell have confirmed in writing to me that it can pivot and do the portrait mode!
voganville - Saturday, March 12, 2011 - link
I want to use two of these monitors side by side. I have an Nvidia GTS450. Will it work?ruzveh - Sunday, May 29, 2011 - link
I dont understand why 30" Monitor so expensive than usual 40" TV? Is it really worth buying a 30" TV than 42" or 46" high end TV at the same time? If resolution is not the priority or preference or use then better to go with TV than a monitor. Anyways we r still way behind the technology like how Anandtech rightly introduced us right at the start.