Dell S-Line Screens - S2740L, S2440L, S2340M, S2340L, S2240M

I just received my s2740L from Dell. Like zod mentions, this monitor is mirror-like. I got the monitor for $320 plus free shipping. No dead pixels and the monitor colors are fantastic from edge to edge, text is sharp and backlighting is very even across the entire page. This monitor is excellent...but if you don't like mirror finishes...you're going to hate this one...it is THAT glossy.

I have a skylight overhead and it causes no problems and at night it's even better. I personally have no problems with the reflective surface, and I've owned and worked with tons of monitors at work and at home for many years. My other monitor is an Asus 27 inch and it has barely any reflection whatsoever but it's a TN panel..what more can I say...backlighting is uneven and impossible to properly calibrate it.

The reflection is obviously more pronounced with a black background and during daylight hours. If I had reflections from lights behind me (which I don't)..this would be a major problem.

I do a lot of photoshop work, video editing and gaming. I love this monitor, coming from TN panels, it's absolutely drop dead gorgeous!!

If you don't like reflective panels....stay away!! If reflective panels don't bother you...this is a no-brainer...for the price, this is a keeper.

look in the blacks bottom of screen...you see reflections...

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Scorpio69 you said you do a lot of photoshop and video editing work (same here !). I thought such a mirror would make my work impossible to do. What do you think, honestly ? My room is rather dark, but I still fear I wouldn't be 100% happy. Also, I think such a glossy surface with a lot of reflections isn't too healthy for eyes, right ? If you work 10+ hours a day, it really does matter.

Really loving the design of those new Dells. I think S2440L with AMVA display would suit my needs perfectly. I think I might try ordering it and if it's too mirror-like in my room then I will just return it and buy something else or stick with my old TN monitor.
 
Reflections don't bother me, but if you don't like reflections of any kind...this monitor will kill you! I personally didn't want a monitor less than 27 inches and the calibration on this monitor is spot on!!...that in itself was a big deciding factor for me.

I get the feeling you would be bothered by it, so it might save you the hassle of returning it...just get the 24 (if the reflections are less...I don't know). 24 inch is too small for my uses and I don't like multi panel setups...the panel edges bother me.

If you have a store with monitors...go check them out...and see if you can live with a reflective monitor...if not....don't get this one, it's highly reflective.

This monitor would be extremely bothersome if you worked over black backgrounds in a well lit room. I do the majority of my photo work at night and my backgrounds are grays, so it's a moot point.

For gaming, I'm not even aware of reflections if there are any, it's not a problem.
 
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Hi livefast

I loved my Asus, but being a TN panel I hated it for photo work. Can't justify spending big bucks on a monitor...I love deals. Didn't want to go the Korean displays...no support, no guarantees. Didn't want to have to go and upgrade my video card...more money...I have an ATI 5870...fine card. 1920 X 1080 for everything including watching Blu Rays on my computer late at night....love it! Text is much easier to read on this display...nice and sharp.

When I saw this monitor it had everything going for it that I was looking for. Saw the deal on the net for 359 and free shipping...figured wow...thats a great deal...called Dell and bought it through the business partners portal (our company has a 10 percent off deal with Dell) and they applied the net deal as well. I had just purchased an ultra portable for my wife (excellent little laptop!) so the guy was very generous...and free shipping to boot....took 3 days to get here!! Supposedly Amazon will have these for 339, but I'm assuming taxes will have to be applied and they have none in stock.

This is by far THE freakin best monitor I've ever had...and I've had lots. It's awesome, it's a steal, could be sold for twice the money and I wouldn't feel ripped off.

Like I said, unless you're working constantly over black in a bright or backlit room it's not an issue...and even then, doesn't bother me.
 
I expect as the holidays roll around, prices will drop on these, especially with the many coupon codes floating about. But $320 seems like a decent deal to me.

Someone else stated they could get the 24" version for $199, which is low enough for me to consider too.

I'm the sort who would want to wait for proper reviews first, though. Also curious what owners of other IPS/VA screens think of it. Scorpio69, have you owned a lot of IPS screens, or mostly TNers?

For myself, I'd want to pair one of these up with my NEC 2490, so ideally it'd be at least somewhat comparable... or at least not markedly worse. I currently have it paired up with a NEC 1990, which is a bit smaller than I'd like. The 16:9 thing does bug me a little bit though... shame VA doesn't come in 16:10 flavors.
 
Namelessme

At home, this is my first IPS. I work in the media, and 99.9 percent of the screens we use are IPS, some older, some newer. It would be nice if they came down in price....2 more would be interesting in a 3 monitor setup just for gaming....I'll need a bigger desk though.
 
Yeah I normally love glossy screens. But this is just way way to glossy even for me. Be very careful when cleaning the screen. I ended up getting a few scratches on it in the upper right hand corner by just using a microfiber cloth.To me text is good but its no where near as sharp as my U2412M. I know the DPI on the 24 inch is like .26 where the 27 inch glossy is like .32 But like Scorpio said if glossy screens don't bother you this is one beautiful screen. Pictures colors all pop and come alive compared to my U2412M where side by side the 24 inch looks really dull. But I guess that is the nature of matte screens. What I don't understand is the Apple Display which is glossy is no where near as glossy as the Dell. Apple must use some sort of anti-glare on it. I was Dell would have done that. BF3 looks awesome too on this.
 
Manufacturers don't get it if people say they want glossy displays they mean antireflection glass instead of cheap dusty plastic antireflection crap.
 
Don't get me wrong. The monitor does not feel cheap in any way. Its really a beautiful piece. Its just really reflective. If Dell would have put something to reduce the glare even a little bit I would have kept it in a heart beat. But in my room the way its setup all I see is myself staring back at me.
 
I'm on my glossy laptop right now. And Its now where near as reflective as the Dell. As a matter I can't really see any reinfections in the laptop glossy screen, I wish Dell would have done the same treatment as the Sony laptop I am using...
 
Outbreaker said:
How do you know that a review will be up soon and if soon how soon? :)
Click to expand...
Mailed them couple of days ago and they said it would be online within a week.

Zod96, how bright is your room ? How many windows do you have there and did you use any artificial light while taking those photos of S2740L ? Scorpio96, same question for you - if you don't mind ...
 
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l33twannabe

The room I'm in where I took that picture has a skylight directly overhead...the skylight is on a sloped ceiling angled towards the desk about 3 to 4 feet away...so it's very bright...I didn't use any flash or artificial light to take that picture. I have huge windows to my left that go from floor to ceiling...so basically it's EXTREMELY bright. I forgot to add..the blacks on this monitor are really great...nice deep blacks. Gray scales charts I use for photos look excellent.

Here's a shot I took this morning...obviously no reflections in the monitor at all...ambient light in the room...sun just starting to come up. I cranked up the camera a bit so you could see the ambient light the way I see it...that's why the monitor looks brighter than it actually is.

CuM0b.jpg
 
Hmmm that doesn't look to bad and the lighting is pretty much the same in my room... Prad.de will have a review of the S2440L soon as well, so when you combine their and TFTcentral's review I think we should get a pretty good picture of what that monitor is capable of. Both will be reviewing the S2740L as well, but at a later date.
 
Fodalv

Believe me....when it's daylight out...I'm in the worse possible situation...skylight directly overhead!!

Here's a suggestion....if you have a large piece of glass, put black poster board behind it or use a framed picture with glass over it and set it in front of you, under different lighting situations...that's basically what your going to see. This might help you make the decision right away.
 
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Hi 27" 1080p owners. Don't you feel that perhaps 1080p on 27" is too big?

Scorpio, working with PS why don't you get a 1440p monitor?

I mainly use my PC for photography, internet and gaming. I'd like to buy a 27" but not sure yet about 1080p or 1440p :confused:

If I get a 1440p I'd need a second 670 card too (I got one now) which makes the set up pretty expensive...

Thanks!
 
Hope you guys are not sick of me posting pictures:mad:

Here's where I'm getting a lot of light in the room...sun isn't overhead yet..where it would create the most reflections obviously.

kksef.jpg
 
oton said:
Hi 27" 1080p owners. Don't you feel that perhaps 1080p on 27" is too big?

Scorpio, working with PS why don't you get a 1440p monitor?

I mainly use my PC for photography, internet and gaming. I'd like to buy a 27" but not sure yet about 1080p or 1440p :confused:

If I get a 1440p I'd need a second 670 card too (I got one now) which makes the set up pretty expensive...

Thanks!
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Hi Oton
I don't know why I would need anything higher resolution than 1920x1080(easier to read text without using a larger font)...it's perfect for everything I do...my main priorities are color and gray scale accuracy and great blacks. Lag times in games is important, since I play mostly FPS. And so far I'm a really happy camper! I used a 32 inch monitor at one time and it was too big...eyes had to travel all over the place..very tiring as well the Dell 30 inch I use at work.
The 27 inch real estate is perfect for me....not too big, not too small.


Just to let you know...Dell will be releasing a 29 inch version sometime soon. I don't know the exact details but it will be higher resolution, U2913WM, 2560 x 1080...which is kind of an odd resolution.

I didn't want to splurge on another video card, the 5870 ATI, I have now is fine, I didn't want to have to push more pixels around...so I'm fine with it, and I've found the monitor that fits me perfectly.
 
Scorpio, that does look pretty good actually. I thought it would be much, much worse. If it's not a problem - could you run Photoshop and make a photo ? I would like to see how it looks on grey backgrounds since I work a lot with them. Also, a photo when the most light gets into your room would be appreciated.
 
That U2913WM is made for viewing movies in their native 21:9 screen format. I wonder how that'll work though, because a blu-ray doesn't carry that amount of pixels. On top of that I don't think most GPU's even support those resolutions and most games definitely don't...
 
scorpio69 said:
Hi Oton
I don't know why I would need anything higher resolution than 1920x1080(easier to read text without using a larger font)...it's perfect for everything I do...my main priorities are color and gray scale accuracy and great blacks. Lag times in games is important, since I play mostly FPS. And so far I'm a really happy camper! I used a 32 inch monitor at one time and it was too big...eyes had to travel all over the place..very tiring as well the Dell 30 inch I use at work.
The 27 inch real estate is perfect for me....not too big, not too small.


Just to let you know...Dell will be releasing a 29 inch version sometime soon. I don't know the exact details but it will be higher resolution, U2913WM, 2560 x 1080...which is kind of an odd resolution.

I didn't want to splurge on another video card, the 5870 ATI, I have now is fine, I didn't want to have to push more pixels around...so I'm fine with it, and I've found the monitor that fits me perfectly.
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Nice observations. I'll see what I do...

Thx Scorpio ;)
 
Ok here's an off axis shot to show you how nice the screen is, even at acute viewing angles.
The shadow line is a reflection of the wall intersection behind me. I'm using a prime lens to shoot this with a narrow depth of field...so that's why the center is the sharpest...in case you're into photography....that will explain it.

The photo on the screen is not mine. I just used it to try and show skin tones and viewing angle on the monitor. If your monitor isn't calibrated the skin tones may be off....but this picture has great skin tones.

You can check out the photo at the link below and the person who shot it...just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

http://500px.com/photo/14766307

jxgZL.jpg
 
For those interested the monitor is set and calibrated from the factory at 2.2 gamma, I've checked it...it's spot on. Out of the box I've only had to adjust brightness and contrast...was way too bright...brightness I've set to 50 and contrast adjusted to 67. Brightness out of the box will scorch your eyeballs:eek:
 
livefast

The IPS glow is inherent in this monitor as well. How bad is it? I can't see it unless the room is totally dark and I'm shifting side to side in front of a totally black screen. Under normal conditions it's not noticeable. There are no hot spots showing up on the screen, it's appears very uniform to me.
 
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The software that came with the monitor lets you set up the monitor on the fly with prearranged boxes where you can drop apps in predetermined places on the screen and the windows will stick in the box...don't know how useful that is...but it's there...and you can just turn it off via software if you don't want it. There are 20 different choices for screen layouts.

sorry bout the blurry shot...cam in one hand and mouse in the other. Just found out you can build your own custom layouts....pretty cool.



oCSSz.jpg
 
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scorpio69 said:
livefast

I've checked it for glow, banding, flashlighting, bleed, dead pixels, uniformity and I see nothing but black all the way around the screen. I've checked it over black, white, red, etc...., and all are uniform and perfect...no hot spots or anything. When it's black it's black.

An options in the menu is called LCD conditioning...to remove burn in...if you've left the monitor on for too long on a single high contrast object...it runs through full screen colors for a duration....clever.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you know what to look for concerning ips-glow? Make the room as dark as you can and use a black background. Then view the screen at different angles, i bet you will see some kind of glow.
 
Ok...I checked it out again tonight. And yes in a totally blacked out room with just a black background it is noticeable...if you shift from one side of the monitor to the other...you'll see a glow across the screen. I usually don't sit in total darkness staring at a black screen, otherwise it's not noticeable.
 
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This monitor looks awesome. I'm currently using a samsung UN32EH5000FXZA and while I think it's great, it's also a little too big for me. Thinking about selling it and picking up one of these dells.

Thanks for all the pics scorpio. I keep my room pretty dark so your pics make me think glare won't be an issue at all.
 
On the left...lots of overhead light from skylight, sides of picture are deep black...it's like a black mirror. Same conditions on the right except photo with colors. Mind you, this is with the sun beating down through the skylight over my head and lots of ambient light from living room windows...and all my walls are white.


hUSty.jpg
vgOF2.jpg
 
Do you play games by any chance? If so, could you show what it looks like when you play a game?
 
@scorpio69

How does it do on the lagom tests? Can you see all white and black levels?

You wouldn't happen to have a hardware calibrator there, would you? I'm curious how contrast and calibrated black levels are.
 
Namelessme

First thing I checked it with....passes with flying colors (no pun intended). No I do not have any hardware calibration equipment. I've been working in the media business for over 20 years, calibrating monitors with and without hardware was part of my job, I work in the television industry in the engineering department.

I'm an avid photographer...color precision is of the utmost importance to me but within financial expenditures..not willing to fork out a ton of money for overly priced hardware.

I'm not trying to brag...just letting you know what my background is....if that helps


When I went and played TFT2 the monitor changed...went to Dynamic contrast, sharpness went up....couldn't figure out what was going on. I turn all that stuff off and run the monitor in standard. I then realized that the software that I installed has different settings for whatever applications you're running...whether it be a movie, games...etc...and it changes your settings depending on what application you're using. Could be useful...you can add or delete individual settings that auto apply themselves upon starting up an application. I don't like that so I deleted them all...
 
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Fodalv

I play mostly FPS games...can't wait for Far Cry 3!!

Quickshot from TFT2 & CSG....very bright in the room right now




2FCUR.jpg
Z7QjO.jpg
 
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