Review on Dell UltraSharp 104P6: 27" 2560X1440P Monitor with Plug and Play, Built-In Speakers and Kensington Lock (Discontinued) by Brian Thompson

UPDATED August 27, 2014 It has taken a while to update this review, but in the meantime a critical issue I had with the 2713H has surfaced: the bluish cast on this monitor that I mentioned earlier is color space related of the monitor together. in AdobeRBG, not sRGB. It was a configuration error on my part. When I selected the appropriate sRGB color space for web media playback and 8-bit digital capture editing, the colors were accurate. For clarification: The AdobeRGB color space is responsible for the blue tint when viewing media created in the sRGB color space. So far, this monitor is behaving reliably well. SOLID 4 STARS. UPDATED 4/2/14 This is my latest monitor release. Maybe it's not the monitor itself. This could be my calibration device and I'm still investigating, but the overall color palette seems to have a slight bluish cast. This monitor uses state of the art backlight technology so I suspect there will be a firmware update for my Spider4Pro calibrator coming out soon. Also, the backlighting on the corners of my monitor is a joke. I suspect that each model has a little backlight bleeding. Again, this isn't a game changer for me, the colors are still nice and rich and the detail is amazing, but the slight bluish cast makes me a little nervous when editing. ALSO! Photo editing was much more consistent on my U2412 monitor. Even when editing photos for print, images on the you U2412 were much more accurate for print and web than images from this monitor. If I had to edit photos, I would use the U2412 right away. 02/14/14 Overview "First Impressions". There will be updates soon. I have bought and used two previous Dell monitors (u2410 and u2412 - see my previous reviews). some edits 2 days after purchase, calibration and non-critical review of media files. As my career has shifted from photography to video production in recent years, my continued training in fully digital capture and post-processing has dictated choosing the right tools for the right job. Most of my photographic work that required images to be printed required a monitor with an ADOBE RGB color space. Then, with the advent of web photography and video, SRGB (used only by graphic designers for illustration up to that point) became the appropriate color space because it was much less demanding to display on a monitor than photographic prints and photographic images. mostly seen as illustrations/graphics. Web video is now an important part of my workflow, but lately larger jobs require 10-bit 4:2:2 capture for post-processing/transmission. A monitor that can get me close to that color space/resolution when editing (Adobe Premiere6) for less than $750 is the best option I can find. Let's get this straight: can this monitor compete with NEC and LACIE monitors that cost 2-4x the price of 19" monitors? NO. Not by accident, and if you're frustrated by this and want absolute control over the color of the post, then your client pays for a separate tool to do just that. Such control is not your job. If it were where, you wouldn't be looking at this monitor. BUT. If you, like many others, work as a freelancer or with a small team and want to get higher bitrate footage "almost done" for a color house or really darn good for web/Blu-ray/festival viewing then this monitor is cost effective , efficient solution for this. BUT. If you're just starting out and don't know what bitrate or 4:2:2 is and you're excited because you bought an awesome DSLR and just started posting videos on VIMEO AND you have no intention of taking RAW photos and to print them large format for customers, then honestly save money here and buy the U2412 and put an extra $500 on a lens, computer or fast cards. After many years of ambitious spending in this area I realized that it is relevant to invest in what I need now and in the next 2 years and not in what I think I will need in 4 years . So. Quality control is a bit patchy. The monitor's surface is thin and gives slightly inside the housing frame. It just wobbles a little in the frame. It seems nervous to me, but as far as I know I might get a solution here in the future with information on how the monitor can expand and contract due to the heat generated by the new GB LED technology used in the specific model is being used and the extra space is for gardening/playing (don't quote me on that assumption, just talk nonsense :) My monitor has a glare in the top right corner. It's faint, but there and only visible in total darkness. Is this a deal breaker for me? No. Rather a disappointment. and then I remember how cheap this monitor is and I throw it away because considering the cost of repackaging, shipping, waiting and getting another one only to find a similar situation (based on a lot of low-light -Leak reviews), understand this is a big upgrade from what I had for a relatively cheap price. I don't use a MacBook Pro with a Retina display, so I haven't noticed any color issues with the mini display from my Mac to a display port on a Dell in RGB mode. (as did some reviewers). I did notice a slight difference in resolution when I used the Mini Display Port - DVI adapter and connected it to the Dell's DVI input. For computers without Thunderbolt, it is best to use the display port. Calibration was easy to do with the SPYDER4. Spider calibration has always made my monitors a bit dull for my aesthetic tastes compared to the "pop" and high contrast of the retina displays I look at. The monitor itself can become significantly brighter. but I've noticed that when editing on darker, flatter calibrated monitors in the past, none of my whites were clipped on a brighter monitor, so I'm fine with that. The first thing I did was go to my website and look at some of the work in 1080 and I was really blown away. This monitor is so big and open that a few video errors with exposure and gamma made me wince. Whether it's the limitations of the h2.64 codec or my own workflow, I've realized I now have a checking standard to work within. Those 27 inches are very revealing. The matte surface of the monitor is also quite pleasant and not annoying at all. Later that evening I downloaded RUSH in HD from ITUNES for rental. WOW. In a previous reviewer, the colors were as vibrant as India. Or something similar. I agree. Seeing such a stylized image was pure nirvana. You really feel not only more, bright saturation, but also a lot more colors in the flavor palette. On my iPad, the image was as red as a fire engine. On the Dell it was a deeper, "richer" tone with other separated mid-tones. Having not worked with 10-bit graphics before, I used the SRGB setting and so far the monitor looks great. Smooth gradations of light and dark are handled very well, and any limitations relate to the codec, not the monitor. I will do more testing and revise this review after trying some BMCC, C100 and Davinci Resolve color software. Meanwhile, 3.5 stars for a beautiful 27" HD digital download image and only the dim glow and twitchy screen might keep this from more stars.