TFT Central

I am sure many people have heard the reports of issues on the Dell 2407WFP since it's initial release in Japan. There is some concern about text clarity, and more notably about colour banding. I will try to summarise the history of these issues below including what the problems are which you may have heard about, and what has been done to rectify these problems.

Since it's initial release in Japan there has been some user reports of blurriness and fuzziness of the text displayed on the 2407WFP. This was based on the very early stock and the A00 revision of the screen, see below for improvements with the A02 and A02 revisions. This isn't something which effected the 2405, but seems to have been noticeable to some users of the new screen. This is characterised by a slight blur / shadow above text which can be off putting to some users. This seems to be evident on both VGA and DVI connections. The image below summarises what people are seeing from the new screens:

I think consumers need to be wary of these reports a bit. Please remember before panicking about this that these reports have come from very early releases in Japan with the A00 revision only, and UK stock is more recent than this (early shipped models being A01 revision). This is the kind of thing which only the very fussy users are likely to pick up and the average user would probably not even notice it. There may well have been a problem, but don't let it put you off a screen for something as minor as this. Please also see the details further down about this situation.

The following user reports taken from Widescreengamingforum have been made about this early issue. Please note, this is for stock in Japan and Australia, and concerns the A00 revision:

Again, early reports from Japan and Australia discussed colour banding, and this is still one of the primary concerns about the 2407WFP. The screens showed some distinct colour banding in what should be smooth gradients. This is something which has been reported on the 2007WFP as well. The following pictures help show the problems being reported (Click for full size images):

As you can see from the above gradients (click for full size images) the gradients on the 2405FPW were nice and smooth. However, some users have reported issues like that shown above for the 2407WFP. Colour banding is obvious, with blocks appearing where smooth transitions should occur. This actually seems to be a little worse on the DVI connection as the below pictures demonstrate:

It was initially unclear what was causing this banding, but it is suspected that it is caused by dodgy firmware and perhaps panel electronics. The S-PVA panel from Samsung certainly shouldn't show this issue, and it is not something which has been reported on the other TFT's using this same panel. Again it's likely to be something picked up by enthusiasts, and for an average user probably not a major issue. However, there appears to be some improvements made as detailed further on in this article.

The following user reports taken from Widescreengamingforum have been made about this issue (again, Japan and Australia A00 stock):

This anomaly has been discussed in depth on forums across the net, but has not been acknowledged in any main stream reviews. The 'input lag' discussion focuses around a delay which the Dell 2405FPW has in displaying it's image, which seems to be delayed after the signal is sent from the graphics card. Some users can 'feel' this in their use, and particularly in fast FPS games. This is an issue which has effected some high level gamers since their aim and shooting is often slightly off due to this delay between what the graphics card is outputting, and what the screen is actually showing. The lag is only minor, commonly around 40ms (milliseconds) and to most average users it is totally undetectable.

The most common way of testing this problem is using a software stopwatch application like Virtual Stopwatch Pro for instance. By cloning the display with a CRT (or another TFT for that matter), you can notice the input lag which the Dell TFT demonstrates in the discrepancy with the timers.

There are continuing arguments about whether this lag is present and to what degree, and many people cannot notice it at all. Others find it annoying. It's something to be wary of, but unless you are a serious gamer, then I don't think you need to worry about it at all. To be honest, if you're a serious gamer, there are better TFT's out there for that use than the 2405FPW anyway.

Some say that playing at a lower resolution than the native 1920 x 1200 can help the 'feel' in games, but lag is still there. There has been reports about whether it can be improved by forcing a windows refresh rate of 100Hz, and there are also common misconceptions that driver updates, v-sync toggling and mouse connections can make a difference. At the end of the day, there is a lot of proof that there is a delay, but it is so minute that many people cannot detect it at all!

It's not just the 2405FPW which has this input lag either. It has been reported to a larger degree on the Samsung 244T (55 - 65ms), and also on models like the Samsung 204B (35 - 40ms). There is often mention that PVA panels seem to show this more than others, but only speculation as to why.

mikephotos: "I just received my 2405fpw a few days ago. Do not notice any lag whatsoever. USB MX-310 (I know, will be upgrading soon). Playing mostly FEAR and BF2 right now, plays great at 1920x1200. I highly recommend the 2405"

neoWidescreen: "I have play mostly FPS's, and I was super critical when first playing fast games like UT2004 and Q4... but the 2405 was flawless. The only problem I initially had was my mouse sensitivity. I also had a buddy come around who is obsessively critical about stuff like this, and he was surprised by the 2405's performance. He could perceive no lag."

It appears from early reports that the 2407WFP does suffer from some input lag, but it is less than that on the 2405FPW. Again, I would like to reiterate that this lag is so minor that the majority of users would never notice it in real use and in gaming. Some hard core gamers and those looking for the lag will notice it perhaps, but it is not something most people need worry about.

bandito: "Tested mine by splitting VGA signal between 2405FPW and 2407WFP. 2405 was lagging 40 to 50 ms to a ViewSonic LCD... while 20 to 30ms against 2407WFP. The lag of 2407WFP is therefore reduced to a minimal.. 10 to 20ms."

As a reminder, Dell screens allow you to access the hidden ‘factory’ OSD menu to find out some additional information about your screen. Here is how to do it, it will become important later on…

1- Turn off your screen
2- Press simultaneously the 'Menu' and '+' button of the screen.
3- While holding the 2 buttons, press now the 'Power' button.
4- Once the screen in ON, unpress the 3 buttons.
5- Just press '-' button.

It seems that issues reported in Japan have resulted in a new firmware being released for the 2407WFP with some customers receiving the new version of the firmware/panel in the interim between A00 and A01 (see roughly translated article here). The original firmware V1B11 has been upgraded to V1B15 and perhaps more interestingly the panel is also listed differently as the LTM240ML2 instead of the LTM240M2. You can access the screens ‘factory’ menu to identify firmware version as directed above. This was a promising development and there were a few users receiving the "A00+ interim model" before the release of the newer revision.

Text on V1B15 firmware showing no noticeable "fuzziness" as reported by some 2407WFP users

As you can see from the pictures above, the new firmware / panel seems to have fixed reported problems with the text blurriness and also offers much better colour gradients. It might well be only early release models affected by the text and gradient problems.

A user of widescreengamingforum based in Japan arranged to return his 2407WFP due to the banding and text issues which he was experiencing. He had been promised a new version with no issues and so decided to call the Dell technicians to find out what was happening and ask a few questions. Please note this was paraphrased from his conversation, and don't take it for gospel:

sillymrman: "Q) So, about the gradient issues... A) Yes, we have been working on the gradient issues and blurry text. Those will be fixed in the upcoming Revision. Q) I've read online that some people are having problems with the component inputs on their monitors and also High Definition signals through their DVI inputs. Have these been fixed? A) Component video? Unfortunately we haven't received any official complaints about these issues. But, please give the next Revision a try. Q) So there's no word on anything else getting updated for Rev A01? A) Unfortunately I can't give you the specifics on what's been done. We've essentially revised the monitor....Personally, I came out of that conversation with conservative hope. I'm not looking for a perfect monitor come A01 (personally I'll be orders of magnitude happier with just the gradient fix) but I am a bit hopeful."

Dell seem to have at least acknowledged the early reported problems, and this A01 revision has now become much more widely received. Early UK stocks seem to be all A01, and elsewhere people are now receiving the newer version instead of the issue-ridden A00. These improvements appeared to have been handled in a few ways, firstly with the LTM240ML2 panel update which some people have received with improved performance. The panel is actually now listed as the LTM240L2 in the OSD factory menu. Firmware remains updated as V1B15. Now the official A01 version has been released incorporating these fixes with the new panel and firmware. Dell have reported that the problems have been fixed (or at least greatly reduced) by disabling the Faroudja Video Processing in the 'Desktop' preset mode. This seemed to have been causing several issues with colour banding. Dell forum moderator ChrisM reported that:

"Dell has a firmware update that adjusts the ACC (Adaptive Color and Contrast) & ACM (Active Color Management) features, eliminating the banding issue when using the Desktop mode. All of these monitors have three display modes: Desktop, Multimedia and Gaming. The firmware turns off Faroudja video processing in Desktop mode. It remains enabled in the other two modes."

As detailed above, this Faroudja processing has been disabled only in the 'Desktop' preset, and remains active in the 'Multimedia' and 'Gaming' modes. It seems to have done a good job, and the banding is non existent to most users. Some still report some more minor banding but great improvements compared to the A00 version. In the other preset modes, with Faroudja left enabled, banding is still evident. However, these modes are designed for multimedia and fast moving action and so colour gradients are really not as important. These presets still have their use, and it is nice that Dell have left it enabled so the user can choose how they want the monitor to function. They can make the most of the Faroudja enhancements if they want, or turn them off if they are bothered about colour gradients and banding, areas which would mostly effect Windows / Office use anyway. Note that the text blur issue has also been fixed since early firmware / panel updates and is now not a problem in A01. Again, UK stocks seem to be all A01, and so fortunately Dell shipped the new version to the market here.

There is a fair amount of hysteria and panic in my opinion about this! There was recently mention of an A02 version of the 2407WFP on the Dell forums. Again, ChrisM the moderator said "There is always in evolution in fixing an issue. A02 is the fix. If you have A00 or A01, get it exchanged for A02." This has promptly been followed by a widespread panic almost, with users looking to immediately reject their A01 and assume the A02 offers significant improvements.

While information about the A02 is limited at the moment, with no official difference announced by Dell so far, it would be wise to not immediately dismiss the A01 and assume A02 is greatly improved. Maybe it does help fix some issues, perhaps clearing up that last bit of banding some users are reporting from their A01 monitor. Changes like this can happen quite frequently and aren't always related to substantial changes in performance. It could be something little like a change in components, a change in OSD software....anything really. I would suggest that if you're happy with the A01 that you don't worry about whether the latest "update" has anything new for you, there will always be changes in the market, and for the majority of users, the A01 is pretty good anyway!

Some users over at Widescreengamingforum have started to receive A02 versions now. One user reports:

sillymrman: "In other news, I got my monitor replacement: Dell 2407WFP REV A02. The following are my initial impressions. The first thing I did was check the firmware and monitor. V1B15 SAM WUXGA LTM240L2. Further, the gradient 'steps' are virtually gone. If you look closely you can see slight banding in a few places but it is geometrically better than it was on my A00. Text is also noticeably sharper (it seems less... fuzzily grey)."

It might be that A02 improves the banding problem a little further, but we will need to wait for further reports to be sure, especially from people moving from A01 to A02. The firmware and panel details remain the same however in A02.

With another release of an update from Dell potential buyers and current owners are left wondering whether it will have fixed any remaining 'issues' which some are still reporting from their 2407WFP screens. The A01 revision certainly offered some fairly drastic changes from the original A00 release, including fixes for the text blur problem and colour banding issue (in desktop mode) which many users reported. The A02 was accompanied by very little information from Dell but users still seemed very eager to jump on the band wagon and assume this offered more improvements and that A02 > A01. In reality, users found that there were still some slight issues with colour gradients to some users which still remained the main gripe with the screen. As I've said in the past, I think it is debatable as to whether you would notice such issues in normal day to day use and I'd question whether this slight banding is really a problem to the average user. Regardless, people will continue to test these Dell models in this area and look for new updates to help eliminate the problems.

A03 sticker A03 OSD Factory Menu (Click for full size)

Recently users have begun to start receiving the new A03 revision, and again this seems to be accompanied by almost an hysteria about its possible improvements and updates. The firmware has been updated to V1B20 and the panel is now strangely listed as HN208 as you can see from the OSD factory menu. Don't be alarmed by the panel name change, I am pretty certain Dell are still using the Samsung S-PVA panel, but the OSD is just listing it differently and probably referring to an internal Dell reference code.

Some users of the Dell support forums have reported on the following:

RadXGe: "I have both A02 & A03 revision and I confirm that the banding is gone with A03. I repeat: The banding is DEAD with A03. The only issue I have right now is with the incapacity to set the fixed aspect ratio when applying the 1600*1200 resolution."

He has also posted the below image of the vertical gradients from A02 (left) and A03 (right). However, other pictures show that banding is still slightly evident in some cases and remains unchanged since A02.

My advice with the situation is to be very wary of the hype surrounding these new releases. There have been some pretty sweeping statements I have seen across forums, including on Dell's support forum, which include things like "HDCP via DVI has been fixed now supporting full 1080i/p". These kind of statements are unsubstantiated and as with the A02 release, I'd suggest you don't bank on any massive changes. Chris M who is the moderator of the Dell forums conducted meetings with Dell about the 2407WFP and clears the whole thing up with the following:

"The only changes made to the 2407WFP A03 were language fixes in the OSD (On Screen Display)"

A00 - V1B11, LTM240M2
A00+ Interim update - V1B15, LTM240LM2
A01 - V1B15, LTM240L2
A02 - V1B15, LTM240L2
A03 - V1B20, HN208