
New Dell UltraSharp Monitors - susi22
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2013/10/31/new-dell-ultrasharp-monitors-deliver-phenomenal-screen-performance-and-clarity-for-an-impressive-viewing-experience.aspx
======
stephen
The U2414H is 1920x1080, that's only 91 DPI. Wtf?

The UP3214Q is 3840x2160, but it's huge, 31.5", so it's only ~140 DPI.

Neither of these are mind-blowing, especially the U2414H. I suppose it is nice
to see >100 DPI on a really large monitor, given how stagnated/shitty external
monitors have been for so long.

But, still, doesn't quite seem "front page of HN" exciting?

~~~
jacques_chester
> _But, still, doesn 't quite seem "front page of HN" exciting?_

It's exciting because there is _movement_ at the top end of the general
monitor market (ignoring specialist stuff like medical imaging), for the first
time in almost a decade. Dell moving into this new segment is particularly
important because they make excellent monitors as a rule.

~~~
jader201
Movement is terribly slow though. I remember keeping an eye on anything
greater than 1920x1200 (16:10) since I got my monitor at this resolution 8
years ago. The best thing has been 2560x1600 that are still priced higher [1]
than the price I paid for this one 8 years ago (~$800).

To put it another way, after 8 years, you still can't buy a 24" monitor at a
resolution above 1920x1200. And when I saw this link, I thought the drought
was finally over -- only to realize that it's still not.

So yeah, this news didn't really excite me.

It seems that display technology advances much more slowly than that of any
other component, especially on pixel density of larger (20+ inch) displays.

[1]
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007617+600012686&IsNodeId=1&Subcategory=20&AdvancedSearch=1)

~~~
ericabiz
Check out the ASUS PB278Q. $549.00 on Amazon right now, 27", 2560x1440, 16:9
ratio. I upgraded from a HP LP2475w (24", 1920x1200) and it is a night and day
difference.

I now have two of the ASUS monitors (one at home and one at work) and could
not be happier. I run them on a $6 Monoprice Mini DisplayPort->DisplayPort off
a Retina MBP.

Unless you need 16:10 for some reason, the ASUS are the best deal around right
now.

~~~
bradyd
I picked myself up an Auria EQ276W earlier this year and couldn't be happier.
It is a 27" 2560x1440 IPS (16:9), same as the Asus, but it can be found for
$399. I did replaced the stock stand with an HP branded Ergotron LX stand
($80) as the stock stand only had tilt control, though.

[http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/auria-eq276w-review-
ips,...](http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/auria-eq276w-review-
ips,3465.html)

~~~
taude
I got an Auria, and I think I got a dud based on what my friends say. :( I can
see colors shifting on the screen even when clicking different "inbox" tabs
inside of Gmail. The text isn't very sharp, it's fuzzy. At first I thought it
was because of the AD coating...but now not sure. I'm going to go talk to the
place I bought it from, hoping they'll exchange it or something (even though
it's been a few months since I purchased).

------
ck2
Thank you to all the early adopters which will make this $500 in a few years
so I can buy one.

~~~
Negitivefrags
I bought a Dell 30" for $2.6k NZD in 2006. In 2013 the same Dell 30" costs
$2,239 NZD right now on their store.

The monitor still works, and still looks great. It must be the best tech
purchase I ever made. I actually bought a second one earlier this year.

~~~
ck2
Yeah I am on a $600 27 inch U2713HM I got when it came out a year ago.

Took me a long time to accept the steep price but it has been worth it for my
eyes.

$2600 nzd = $2200 usd, now that much I couldn't afford/justify.

I think the old Dell 30 inch has a harsh anti-glare coat that makes it
sparkle? They finally solved that with the U2713HM which has a much lighter
coat.

~~~
NickNameNick
The exchange rate between nz and us dollars shifted dramatically in the
2006/2008 timeframe, I suspect in US dollar terms he spent rather less than
that, probably closer to $1800 USD.

------
djhworld
Why do Dell make such good monitors?

I bought the 24" u2412m earlier this year and it's superb. It doesn't look
flashy, but cosmetics are not important. The build quality and color
calibration on these things is absolutely incredible.

~~~
jotm
Thank LG for the latter - their IPS panels are used in pretty much every IPS
monitor on the market, and I've _never_ seen one with a single dead pixel,
amazing QC...

~~~
jacques_chester
The panels aren't enough. You need good cases and, this is often overlooked,
good electronics driving the panels.

I've learnt this the fun way by buying cheap Korean 30" screens. The cases are
poorly designed, the electronics are flaky. I'd pay 2.5x for the Dell
monitors, but I know they would keep working for a lot longer.

~~~
w1ntermute
I can't comment on the 30" Korean screens, but I got a 27" QHD Yamakasi
Catleap and it's been wonderful. No quality problems at all. And I had an
expensive 1920x1200 HP before.

~~~
jacques_chester
Yamakasi is one of the Korean screen makers.

I bought 2 Yamakasi 30" screens. The design of the case meant that the DVI
plug, when inserted into the socket, would exert sufficient force on the
socket to permanently damage it after a few months (which is what happened to
me).

On the 2nd Yamakasi, my father and I manually cut a channel for the cable into
the plastic to prevent the 2nd screen becoming unusable in the same way as the
first.

In the meantime Yamakasi stopped making that model (I guess 6 months is a long
time) and I was forced to buy a different brand. Guess what? Same poorly
designed case! Plus the electronics are different and, having very cheap
components, it has since burnt out some small components, rendering that
screen inoperable. I emailed the seller asking if a replacement PCB could be
purchased. No answer.

For those keeping score: I have bought 3 Korean 30" screens. Of which 1 is
still working after 6 months. And that one only still works because of
modifications made to it.

At the time, the other Jacques active on HN (Mattheij) gently remonstrated me
for gambling on the huge discount I was getting vs Dells or HPs. I now wish I
could take all my smugness back from that point in time and bottle it for sale
to Harvard MBA students.

My next purchases will probably be smaller Dells, to be arranged in a portrait
configuration.

~~~
w1ntermute
> Yamakasi is one of the Korean screen makers.

I'm aware. I was making a distinction between the 27" and 30" models, because
I only have experience with the 27" model.

> The design of the case meant that the DVI plug, when inserted into the
> socket, would exert sufficient force on the socket to permanently damage it
> after a few months

And this is why I made that distinction. Here's what my DVI socket looks like:
[http://i.imgur.com/CHnrmrh.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/CHnrmrh.jpg)

Absolutely no problems at all with respect to the shape of the case. It seems
like the issue you're referring to is specific to the 30" models.

~~~
jacques_chester
> _It seems like the issue you 're referring to is specific to the 30"
> models._

I never said any differently.

------
jrockway
My almost-10-year-old 24" Dell monitor is 1920x1200. Why is the new one lower
resolution?

~~~
meritt
Because [http://xkcd.com/732/](http://xkcd.com/732/)

~~~
josteink
Reading the alt-text of that one is particularly depressing.

I _want_ 60fps movies damnit.

------
doublerebel
An important caveat: will the new monitors be VESA-mountable?

I have a pair of Viewsonic VX2370Smh-LED with almost identical specs:

    
    
      * 1920x1080 at 23" = ~96ppi
      * Nearly 'frameless' 11mm bezel
      * 178/178 deg. viewing angle
      * _Full_ sRGB support
      * Samsung PLS panel (Samsung's IPS)
      * Matte screen
      * Multiple input types
    

But, to make it 'frameless' the controls are placed in the non-removable
stand! Notice that Dell has left out any mention of mounting, as did the
creative Viewsonic copywriters.

After discovering this I hacked the Viewsonic and turned the stand into a
discreet VESA mount -- giving me an incredibly nice HD panel considering the
price (~$150 each).

But, there are almost no VESA-mountable quality panels for that price.
Viewsonic _doubles_ the price to almost $300 for the nearly-identical
VP2365-LED with VESA mounts.

~~~
jotm
Yeah, Dells have VESA mounts.

Also, I'm pretty sure the VX2370 uses LG's AH-IPS panel, I've considered them
myself, but decided against them because of the non-removable stand...

~~~
doublerebel
Looks like you're right, according to tftcentral.co.uk, it is LG AH-IPS. I
didn't know the "SuperClear IPS" refers to _firmware_ , not hardware [1], the
27" VP-series ViewSonics use Samsung panels.

[1]
[http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/viewsonic_vp2770-led.htm](http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/viewsonic_vp2770-led.htm)

------
mcav
Looks like it'll still be fairly expensive (~$4K+) if the exchange rate
conversion is to be believed[1]. FWIW, I have an ASUS 4K monitor I purchased
recently, and it feels like a world apart. It's not quite retina, but the
extra real estate makes all the difference. I've used multiple 27" displays
side-by-side before and the effect isn't nearly as useful even though the
screen area is greater.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=HK%2441%2C899+to+usd&ie=utf-...](https://www.google.com/search?q=HK%2441%2C899+to+usd&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-
US:official&client=firefox-beta&channel=fflb)

~~~
Kiro
What's better with retina? And are you saying multiple 27" are worse or better
than 4K?

~~~
mcav
I'm saying two things:

\- A 4K monitor has less DPI than a "retina" monitor, so you still see the
pixels, thus it's not like someone took a 27" cinema display and doubled the
pixels.

\- Two 27" displays feel 'worse' to me: While it seems like dual 27" displays
would be able to display more, I can't use them both horizontally because my
head has to pan too much. And if I switch them to portrait, it's hard to fit
two editing windows side-by-side in 1400 pixels comfortably.

So I like the 4K better than the 27" (or dual 27") setup I used before.

~~~
gknoy
You could put one in landscape (code), and one in portrait (browser, email,
etc). that solves some of the width issues, though it might offend one's
aesthetic sensibilities. I got over that very quickly when I decided to try
it.

~~~
Kiro
Don't you mean portrait for code and landscape for browsing? That's how I
thought people with mixed setup were using it.

~~~
mixmastamyk
Not here, web pages are virtually always a lot taller than wide. Putting them
on a portrait monitor means much less scrolling.

~~~
Kiro
Fair point but you also miss out on features because of responsive design. For
example the sidebar on Facebook disappears when I browse it on a monitor in
portrait mode.

------
NLPsajeeth
While I hope that this will be the first 4K monitor to do 4K 60p over
DisplayPort using SST I highly doubt this is the case. I was hoping the same
for the Panasonic's 4K 65" LCD but no such luck.

Still waiting for the first 4K display to support 10-bit 4K 60p over
DisplayPort SST and have HDMI 2.0 ports. Will have to wait until CES 2014 for
more HDMI 2.0 displays.

------
mmgutz
Is the 'dirty' anti glare coating still there? The UltraSharp monitors haven't
compared well against my Apple Cinema Display. I love all the inputs and stand
of the UltraSharp but ultimately it boils down to how good it is for work and
the coating is horrible.

~~~
what_ever
The coating is in fact great. I use U3014 at work and love the that there is
no glare on the screen compared to that on my MBP.

If I am going to edit photos or watch videos/movies, I wouldn't like it. But
for coding it's good.

~~~
CamperBob2
I run a U3011 primary display next to one of the cheap 2560x1440 27" displays
that were being sold out of China a year or so ago for ~$350/free shipping.
After calibration, the cheap Chinese display blows the image quality of the
U3011 away, and the Vaseline-like antiglare treatment on the U3011 is mostly
to blame.

As nice as their monitors are, I won't buy another Dell display until they
ditch that ridiculous coating. The way you fix monitor glare is by not working
with a bright light at your back, not by fucking up the screen.

~~~
gioele
> The way you fix monitor glare is by not working with a bright light at your
> back, not by fucking up the screen.

Some people live in places where they have these things called windows...

~~~
CamperBob2
Then put the frosted glaze on the window, not on the monitor.

------
jmccree
With the new resolutions being pumped out on laptops, (2,880 x 1,620 for 15"
Thinkpad W series) it was inevitable desktop monitors would have to catch up.

~~~
bsimpson
A friend of mine had a retina-quality screen on his laptop in 2003. I think it
was a ThinkPad with a 2048 x 1536 screen. Of course, at the time there wasn't
a concept of resolution-independent scaling, so it didn't look as nice as
today's retina displays.

specs:
[http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:R50p](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:R50p)

~~~
cglace
could laptop graphics cards handle that type of resolution back then?

~~~
claudius
1600x1200 was commonplace as early as 2001 (in a Dell Inspiron 8000, I
believe).

~~~
jl6
I feel obliged to mention that I have an i8k and it's still working
beautifully.

------
timc3
No mention of refresh rates which is somewhat of a make it break it for me, at
least we are moving in the correct way though.

~~~
graedus
Yeah, I looked into it[0]:

Optimal resolution:

3840 x 2160 at 60 Hz (DP1.2*)

3840 x 2160 at 30Hz HDMI

Hmm, I think I'll stick with my $270 144hz 1080p 24" for a few more years.

[0]
[http://accessories.ap.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=hk&c...](http://accessories.ap.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=hk&cs=hkdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&sku=210-ACBV)
(tech specs tab)

------
jccooper
Funny how this landed the same day as ESR's rant about Dell UltraSharp
resolution modes (different model) through various connectors.

[http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5089](http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5089)

At least the 3214 notes that HDMI can't drive it to full capacity. Guess the
lesson is "use DisplayPort".

~~~
ibrahima
That's a problem with the HDMI standard, not with the monitor specifically.
The cheaper random manufacturer monitors do things like run the electronics
out of spec to get away with things like higher resolution support or 120hz on
IPS. Yes, just use DisplayPort, it's just better.

------
r00fus
Anyone else notice that the bezels shown in the single-monitor view and the
dual-portrait view look different?

I _want_ that dual-portrait view (it's what I have at work but without wide-
angle IPS, and given standard bezels, it's a bit limiting).

IPS + ultrathin bezel (at least one side) would make it nearly immersive.

~~~
jacobolus
The pictures are showing different displays. The first one is a 31.5" diagonal
3840×2160 pixel display (140 ppi). The second is showing two 24" diagonal
1920×1080 pixel displays (92 ppi).

------
gnator
Interesting that the 24 inch is now 1920x1080 rather than 1920x1200 I guess I
will be skipping the 24 inch.

------
marvin
Wow. It's about time - I've had a 30 inch UltraSharp since 2007 (at which time
it cost $2000, and that was with 25% off), and it is the best computer-related
purchase I've ever made. You'll get _so much stuff done_ on this amount of
monitor real estate. It's a shame that things haven't been happening on this
front in a while.

Probably won't upgrade right now, but this is warmly recommended to people who
need to have many windows on-screen at once. It's better than a 2-monitor
solution for most situations.

------
alexgaribay
I wonder if the resolution is meant to be scaled like a retina screen (i.e.
1920x1080). I haven't used a high dpi monitor on Windows. Can anyone that has
a high dpi monitor comment on this?

~~~
wmf
The elephant in the room here is that there's no good way to use this monitor.
If you run in 1x mode everything is probably too small but if you run in 2x
mode you have less resolution than an old and much cheaper 30" monitor.

~~~
Stratoscope
So you run it in Windows 8.1 and let it pick the scaling per app. High-DPI
aware apps will get the full resolution and wil will 2x scale older apps
(assuming you set the scaling to 200%). See the link in my other comment.

~~~
wmf
My point is that setting scaling to 200% is a waste of money. It needs to be
something like 160% which is not handled well AFAIK.

~~~
NickNameNick
I've been using 140% dpi on a vista laptop since 2007, and it's worked just
fine for everything.

------
simplyinfinity
Those look amazing! tho the price of the 4k isn't that great and the
resolution on the 24' is lower than the current U2412/13m models. Just FYI ,
there is a batch of Dell P/U (and probably other series) that is revision A00
that have yellow tint, beware of that ! so far there are 7 revisions but Dell
are shiping A00 manufactured in january - july 2013

------
rikacomet
Still a lot far from true bezel less future, not a complaint, just an
observation.

[http://rikacomet.blogspot.in/2013/01/the-next-screen-
evoluti...](http://rikacomet.blogspot.in/2013/01/the-next-screen-evolution-
bezel-less.html)

------
ijl
Does anyone know how much it costs to produce desktop-sized displays compared
to phone-sized? I'm wondering why Dell would still make the 24" UltraSharp
just 1920x1080.

~~~
jpalomaki
They are dependent on the panel manufacturers. Quite many (if not all) of the
new 32" 4K seem to be using the panel from Sharp. It could be that nobody is
making high res 24" panels right now.

------
nfriedly
BTW, the price it quoted me for the 32-inch screen is HK$41,899. According to
Wolphram|Alpha, that works out to in $5403.92 USD.

------
lawn
I have two 21" older UltraSharp monitors and I just want to say: They are
amazing.

------
aheilbut
Does anyone have the ($600!) 39-inch Seiki 4K display? If so, do you like it?

~~~
bhicks005
I have had the 50 inch version for about six weeks. For programming and office
work, I love it. It's basically the same as having 4 24" 1080p monitors put
together- just without the bezels. I was worried that the 30hz refresh rate
would really bother me, but it's not really noticeable. I'm not sure I'd want
to play games on it though.

~~~
fizzbar
How much did that set you back? And how far away from it do you sit?

------
Kiro
Do you need massive computer power in order to run these?

~~~
CaveTech
Not particularly. A Macbook Pro should be able to drive one, an air couldn't
though.

~~~
npalli
Which pro model are you thinking of? To my knowledge none can. Including the
latest. The only 4K that can be output is via HDMI (in the late 2013 models)
and that too at 30Hz. So only for TV.

~~~
caryhartline
The product page says that all Macbook Pro(retina)(late 2013) models have the
same output which is:

Support for 1080p resolution at up to 60Hz | Support for 3840-by-2160
resolution at 30Hz | Support for 4096-by-2160 resolution at 24Hz

------
pdfcollect
Where is my $500 25600 x 16000 30" monitor :)?

------
x0x0
UP3214Q : 41,899 $HK = 5404.01 $US

------
knodi
Smells like cat piss.

------
callesgg
Probably smells like piss.

------
BigTuna
Yes, yes, but does it smell like cat piss?

