Dell Offers U2518D WQHD IPS panel with Fake HDR

#5454263 Posted on: 07/21/2017 09:29 AM

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AFAIK, Dell isn't known for this sort of BS. "Dell HDR" is a rather unfortunate name (replace "Fake" with "Dell" and there's your meme.)

Not sure what the marketing department was thinking here.

#5454264 Posted on: 07/21/2017 09:29 AM

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There are so many monitor gimmicks these days. Its getting a bit ridiculous and it makes it needlessly complex to buy a monitor.

At least its true 8bit color but its still not great for $500 considering its sRGB and fake HDR. Monitor makers need to clean up their product lines, and make them into clearly defined categories.

If theyre going to support HDR, adhere to a real HDR standard. Same with wide gamut color. All of this "well its got like 70% Rec.2020 or Rec.2100" nonsense is ridiculous in 2017.

Still being stuck with WLED backlights that require low blue light modes not to destroy color accuracy and your retinas because their whitepoints are closer to 8500K than 6500K is absurd too. Personally i would like a standard based on a 5500K, which is direct overhead sunlights CCT instead of 6500K which is the CCT of overcast sunlight.

I could rant all day about how monitors have been backsliding or standing for the most part for almost a decade with few exceptions.

#5454265 Posted on: 07/21/2017 09:31 AM

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Well, it's still IPS, and that's the most expensive panel type. The price isn't the issue, imo. "Dell HDR" is

#5454267 Posted on: 07/21/2017 09:44 AM

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You can get sRGB IPS monitors pretty cheap. The bad thing about monitors these days is that the backlights usually suck. sRGB is a tiny gamut and all monitors should be capable of 100% calibrated to perfection sRGB from the factory, but they arent.

Consumers have been sold the hype of more pixels and better panels for a decade while backlights went from very good, no flicker, wide gamut capable WCG-CCFLs and RGB LEDs to flickering blue tinted WLEDs with terrible color and eye destroying poor spectral power distributions.

If you look at the SPD of a typical WLED its a spike in the worst blue wavelength and a gentle shallow hump in all the other colors. For a backlight you want almost spectrally pure RGB spikes right where the wavelengths of the primaries are. WCG-CCFL and RGB LEDs had that ten years ago.

There are other technologies that offer that too, like quantum dot enhancement films or quantum dot LEDs and OLED(although thats a display tech and not a backlight).

More pixels, better panels and variable refresh rate are nice, but giving up good color reproduction isnt necessary to get those things, even though thats exactly what has happened in the consumer monitor and TV market.

Im sure this monitor isnt terrible, but for $500 in 2017 fake HDR and sRGB isnt tempting to me.

#5454278 Posted on: 07/21/2017 10:28 AM

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The only thing that somehow tries to justify Dell is that monitor makers just HAVE to work with panels that they are supplied.
There are just a handful of panel makers out there, and their capacities are already pretty stretched. It is not like monitor makers can demand only specific panels in unrestricted numbers (especially for not too pricey monitors). That's why we see SO many different models with minor (or not) differencies.

But of course using Fake or pseudo-true marketing claims is a fishy practice.