Dell U2311H: E-IPS, Full Adjustments, and DisplayPort
by Chris Heinonen on September 27, 2011 12:20 AM ESTOSD Menus
Dell has had a nice OSD setup for a couple of generations now that uses four soft keys to control all the settings. Brightness and Contrast of course allows access to those controls, but the majority of the settings are located under the Color Settings menu. Input Color Format can switch between RGB and YCbCr when using the DVI input. Gamma allows a choice between PC gamma (typically 2.2) and Mac (1.8)—though note that since OSX 10.6 the Mac gamma standard has changed to the more common 2.2 gamma setting. Mode selection allows you to choose between Standard, Multimedia, Game, Warm, Cool, and Custom (RGB) modes. If you choose the Custom mode you get the option to calibrate the white balance at a single point using Red, Green and Blue gain controls. Here's a gallery of the various OSD settings.
If you are using any input other than the DSUB15, most of the choices under Display Settings are locked off since they aren’t needed with a digital video signal. Other settings simply allow you to customize the menu interface, including position, time out, transparency, and switching between landscape and portrait orientations. Finally the personalization menu will let you change the default behaviors of the soft buttons to whatever settings you need to frequently access, though Auto-Adjust and Input Source are the only two choices available beyond the defaults. A quick selection of Portrait/Landscape orientation for the menu would also be nice for people that often move the monitor position around.
For an in-monitor calibration, the Dell offers very little beyond the single RGB control if you are in custom mode. This does let you dial in a specific point (I chose pure white) to the D65 standard, or another color temperature if that is required. Beyond this, the gamma only offers two settings and there is no RGB Low option for calibrating another point, so this is as far as you can go without using software for the calibration.
Viewing Angles
One of the hallmarks for IPS displays has been wide viewing angles and the Dell 2311H keeps this up. Moving off to the sides, and from top to bottom, brightness and color stay at very good levels until you start to move to extreme angles where you wouldn’t be able to use the display for work anyway. This also allows you to easily use the monitor in the portrait orientation without having large color or brightness shifts while reading or editing a document. As panels gets larger, having these viewing angles becomes more and more important.
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bennyg - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
I got a U2311H for $222 (AUD) bought online, picked up in metro Melbourne a couple of months ago.Nice monitor, superb viewing angles. Way ahead of the rest for its price bracket.
bigpow - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
If you need IPS for work or hobby, you probably won't care for compromises, e.g. this panel.If you don't need IPS, ditto above.
Sadly, it'll probably sell well, since clueless buyers usually go for the mid-priced item of a family.
Add to that, cheap buyers like to compromise and fool themselves believing they just bought a 'higher-end" product
Over time, the compromise will become the new high-end. Lowering market expectation and consumer knowledge with it.
People who couldn't afford nice things should just stick with what they can afford. Compromise only brings standards down for all
DaFox - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
"People who couldn't afford nice things should just stick with what they can afford."Classy.
jecs - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
It sounded bad for him I agree but I think his general idea, even if it looks negative on the words he picked, still has a merit.What we may have with this new Dell monitor IPS line is a superior consumer oriented line or a very low entry for prosumers. Still not competitive in price with TN LED matrices.
It's a higher low end monitor for a medium class not looking for the cheapest. It just sounds dumb in Simpson's words.
Slaanesh - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
> Sadly, it'll probably sell well, since clueless buyers usually go for the mid-priced item of > a family.> Add to that, cheap buyers like to compromise and fool themselves believing they just
> bought a 'higher-end" product
Well I'm looking to buy this monitor.
I want a gaming monitor but can't stand the horrible quality of a TN panel. So I want the best possible image quality still with acceptable input lag and pixel responsiveness.
If anyone else knows of a better, more suitable monitor for me, please tell.
fausto412 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
"People who couldn't afford nice things should just stick with what they can afford"umm...think. about. it.
They buy the mid range because THAT IS WHAT THEY CAN AFFORD!
tzhu07 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
At the design agency I work at, our Art Director has to use one of these as a secondary monitor (next to an iMac screen), and it is plain awful. My boss, who didn't do much research, kinda bought it on a whim. Now even he says it's crap.jecs - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
um, are you using any calibration tool?orenlevy - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Currently in israel the U2311H is last stocks... 235 US$and the U2312HM is stock for 2 weeks 245 US$
Better lag Better response time
Better contrast.
Slaanesh - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Are there any reviews yet for this year's U2312HM model?How does it compare to last year's U2311H?