The launch of new Dell
monitors is always surrounded by a large degree of anticipation and excitement.
Dell have established themselves as one of the top providers of TFT screens over
the last couple of years with some of the most popular models in the market
being provided by them. They’ve managed to satisfy the performance enthusiasts
and reviewers alike with some top end panels, while also offering ergonomically
pleasing designs and multi function performance from their displays. Two of the
most popular screens in the last two years have been the Dell 2005FPW and Dell
2405FPW. These have been huge sellers and rightfully so. Dell have now launched
their new Dell 2xx7WFP range which offers new designs, updated specs and
hopefully, an improvement to the already well established screens before them.
This article will focus on the new 2407WFP in particular.
A Look at the Old 2xx5FPW
Range
|
Dell 2005FPW |
20”WS |
 |
1680 x 1050 resolution |
16ms LG.Philips S-IPS
panel (LM201W01) |
600:1 contrast ratio |
300 cd/m2 brightness |
176 / 176 viewing
angles |
DVI and VGA |
pivot / rotate / tilt
/ height adjustments |
S-video / composite
inputs |
Dell’s 20”WS offering has
been popular, offering very good all round performance from its LG.Philips S-IPS
panel. Responsiveness has proved suitable for many users, and movies and office
work have been enjoyable thanks to the WS format. This was one of the first
20”WS TFT’s in the market, and before the recent influx of other 20”WS models
like the
Viewsonic VX2025WM and
NEC LCD20WGX2 for example, this was king. Dell did a good job with providing
an excellent panel (LG.Philips S-IPS LM201W01, also used in the Apple Cinema
20”WS Display) and some top notch functionality from its screen. However, the
2005FPW was not without its problems...
The main issue with the
2005FPW has always been its questionable build quality. Severe backlight bleed
is not uncommon and has plagued the 2005FPW since its release. This was the main
problem with this model, something which the 2007WFP will hopefully fix (note:
see
this article for info on how to fix this!).
Responsiveness is not on par with more recent 20”WS models and the panel is
actually reasonably old, certainly before the time of overdrive, Dell had the
time to utilise a newer, faster panel in their 2007WFP if they chose to.
|
Dell
2405FPW |
24”WS |
 |
1920 x 1200 resolution |
16ms (12ms G2G)
Samsung PVA panel (LTM240M1-L01) |
1000:1 contrast ratio |
500 cd/m2 brightness |
178 / 178 viewing
angles |
DVI and VGA |
pivot / rotate / tilt
/ height adjustments |
S-video / composite /
component inputs |
9 in 1 card reader |
The 24” version was even
more popular, being the first affordable large screen in the main stream market.
Again, Dell did a good job of fusing a top panel technology (Samsung’s
LTM240M1-L01 PVA panel) with versatile functionality and ergonomics. The screen
offers very good all round performance and a massive resolution ideal for work
and play. Responsiveness proved adequate for many people and the PVA technology
offered wide viewing angles, deep black depth and good colour reproduction.
Like the 2005FPW, the
screen was not without its issues, although none as severe as the backlight
bleed of its 20" brother. The characteristics of the PVA panel lead to some
minor contrast and colour shift anomalies with only a slight adjustment in the
users field of view. This is not really a major problem, and more a ‘feature’ of
PVA / MVA panels accentuated due to the 2405’s large horizontal size. It might
prove an issue to photo enthusiasts and graphics designers, but viewing angles
are generally considered good and this 'issue' is rarely even noticed by most
users. 'Input lag' proved to be an issue for some gamers and while this does not
seem to be covered in reviews, it became a common topic in online forums
threads.

Dell 2405FPW (left) stood next to
the Dell 2005FPW (right)
What’s Changed
Dell 2007WFP –
The design, updated spec of LG.Philips S-IPS panel (LTM201W01) with 800:1
contrast ratio and 300 cd/m2 brightness. However, no change to response time
quoted (16ms).
Dell 2407WFP –
The design, updated S-PVA panel from Samsung (LTM240M2), 6ms G2G response time
now instead of 12ms G2G, HDCP support over DVI connection.
Note: You can find all
other models including the Samsung 244T, ACER AL2416W and Eizo S2410W which use
the LTM240M2 panel by using the
panel search tool

Design and Pictures
|
Dell 2007WFP |
20”WS |
 |
1680 x 1050 resolution |
16ms LG.Philips S-IPS
panel (LM201W01) |
600:1 contrast ratio |
300 cd/m2 brightness |
176 / 176 viewing
angles |
DVI and VGA |
pivot / rotate / tilt
/ height adjustments |
S-video / composite
inputs |
|
Dell 2407WFP |
24”WS |
 |
1920 x 1200 resolution |
6ms G2G Samsung S-PVA
panel (LTM240M2) |
1000:1 contrast ratio |
450 cd/m2 brightness |
178 / 178 viewing
angles |
DVI and VGA |
pivot / rotate / tilt
/ height adjustments |
S-video / composite /
component inputs |
9 in 1 card reader |
DHCP support over DVI |
Like the
3007WFP, Dell have opted to update the design of their 2xx7 range. They have
ditched the semi circular plastic support base, and have opted now for a
V-shaped metal leg and support stand as shown above. This is a fair bit thinner
than the 2xx5 range but still offers the ergonomic adjustments that their
predecessors did. Apart from that, the design remains quite similar. Here are
some user pictures to wet your appetite:


Responsiveness and Gaming
This is perhaps one the
most interesting areas with the new screens. The 2007WFP remained unchanged in
this area, still being quoted with a response time (ISO standard measurement) of
16ms. However, the 2405’s 12ms G2G response time has been boosted to 6ms G2G
thanks to a heavier dose of Samsung’s
MagicSpeed RTC application.
BeHardware reviewed the
Acer AL2416W back in October 2005 in their article
here, which features the same 6ms
G2G S-PVA panel as the 2407WFP (LTM240M2).
Their analysis helps give an indication of its performance in games and whether
there has been an improvement since the 2405FPW. In their review they compared
the Acer AL2416W against Samsung’s 242MP which uses the 16ms PVA panel from the
2405FPW:

PixPerAn Image from Samsung 242MP
(same panel as the Dell 2405FPW)

PixPerAn Image from Acer AL2416W
(same panel as the Dell 2407WFP)
The pictures above show
the responsiveness test from both screens based on BeHardware’s analysis. Please
note that these were taken from the Acer AL2416W (same panel as the 2407WFP) and
the Samsung 242MP (same panel as the 2405FPW). As you can see, there has been
some obvious improvement in the panels response time, and not just on paper
specification. BeHardware state:
“The worst image for the
Acer corresponds more or less to the best one for the Samsung. In clone mode,
our impressions are reinforced by the photo results; one is good for games, the
other isn’t. We feel, just as we wrote about the 770P, that there is a real
difference from Samsung’s previous panels. On the one hand there are the PVA 6
ms panels and on the other all the 8ms and above which have never left us
convinced for fast games. They are good enough for Civilization or WarCraft, but
not Quake. 6ms PVA panels are faster but there is still some progress to be made
to reach the fastest TN reaction times and CRTs”
More recently (July 2006), BeHardware have reviewed
the 2407WFP itself and look at its responsiveness
here:

PixPerAn Image from Dell 2407WFP
"This
test shows the progresses made by the new Samsung panel. You have to count the
afterglow image to see it. The new Dell and Samsung produce the same result. For
the 16ms panel (Dell 2405FPW), the afterglow is very strong and bothersome. For
the 6ms, it has considerably diminished to come back to a much more reasonable
level"
HDCP Support (updated 29/7/06)
The addition of HDCP to
the 2407WFP has been welcomed by many users with the recent promotion of HD
content on LCD TV's as well as its introduction to UK broadcasts in the very
near future from Sky and Telewest TV. With the arrival of HDCP protected content
in the future (Blu-Ray, HD-DVD etc) it will be necessary to have a monitor which
can accept the signal over the digital interface, which is certified to allow
the content to display correctly. The HDCP support is available over DVI on
the 2407WFP. There is an interesting article about HD over at BeHardware
here.

It has been reported on some forums that people looking
forward to watching Full HD movies, hooking up Playstation 3 or HD DVD / BlueRay
players to the 2407 using a DVI-HDMI cable will be disappointed. From all
information available now it seems the 2407 can't display a 1080i picture, but
only a 480p and 720p picture.
Recently,
ChrisM on the Dell forums reported about the HD support over DVI and
component. Read the thread
here about it. With people keen to understand whether the monitor supports
HD content of varying resolutions as well as the monitor's HDCP capabilities,
the situation boiled down to the following which he stated:
Does the 2407WFP support 1080i/p picture
through DVI? - No.
Does the 2407WFP support 1080p picture through component? - No.
Does the 2407WFP support 1080i picture through component? - Yes.
From what he
has said on the forums, this means that the HD support through DVI will only
run at 720p and nothing higher! This seems very strange since the display can
certainly handle a 1920 x 1200 resolution over DVI from a PC input, perhaps
there is some confusion from him about this. Here is a summary of each
connection with the details available so far:
DVI 1080i -
The support of a 1080i (interlaced) signal over DVI is clear. The 2407WFP
cannot support it, regardless of whether it is HDCP flagged or not. This
is down to the Genesis controller chip used for this model.
The 2407WFP uses the
FLI5962H chip and apparently no HDTV interlaced image can be de-interlaced
by this. A reader of this site has had contact with high level Dell technical
support in Texas who has confirmed that while a 1080 signal can be accepted,
it will NOT be displayed in 1080 HD resolution be the monitor. The image will
instead be scaled down to a lower resolution be the controller chip.
DVI 1080p - It is uncertain why ChrisM stated that "2407 does not
support 1080p over DVI". Perhaps they have a source to test it with? As far as
we can tell from the FLI5962 controller spec it simply cannot properly
de-interlace a digital signal. 1080p, like 720p and 480p which both work, is
not interlaced however. Perhaps they have the means to test a 1080p signal but
sources of 1080p are rare and expensive at the moment. This is one are where
there might well be some confusion, since it would seem odd that the screen
cannot support 1080p since it can certainly support a high enough resolution
over DVI. Some people have speculated that the screen should have no problem
with 1080p signals through DVI from PS3, as well as input from a PC running HD
content (HD-DVD, OTA HDTV PC cards etc), regardless of whether it is HDCP
flagged or not. Hopefully running HD content at 1080 from a PC will be fine as
long as it is a 1080p signal and not 1080i. This remains to be seen however
DVI 720p - There
should be no issue with this. The chip can't handle interlaced signals, but
720p is not interlaced. Channel output from HDTV sources are this setting
should be fine.
Component 1080i -
ChrisM says it can support this signal through component input.
The New
2407WFP – Issues?
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.
Text fuzziness
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:

Text Blur summary

A text picture from the 2405FPW for
comparison
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:
-
FearTec:
“I have found that the DVI cable offers a slightly
clearer image over the VGA. In the 2407's Menu "Display Settings" menu there
is a "Phase" menu and the factory default value is "3", IMHO it should be set
to '50' as '3' makes all test fuzzy. Text shadows are still there but IMHO it
is not as noticeable with the 'Phase' set to '3'.”
-
Bandito:
"One
dot text blurring is present in both VGA and DVI, though they are pretty
insignificant/hard to notice."
Colour Banding
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):

Colour gradient on the
2405FPW

Colour gradient on the 2407WFP

Colour gradients on the 2405FPW
(left) vs. the 2407WFP (right)
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):
-
Bandito:
“My experience 2407wfp, banding was obvious through DVI
and any graphic mode other the desktop setting (multimedia/gamming) is much
worst- the gradient even shows flickering/rearranging/switching before
settling down. I use the Checkmon software. Input through VGA makes gradient
equivalent to what is shown by my 2405fpw."
-
Australian PC Authority
Magazine: "Our
only gripe is that the new model sports noticeable banding in the previously
excellent colour-ramp technical tests. Only very high-end graphics
professionals would complain though."
Input Lag
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.

Above: Input lag of Dell 2405FPW
compared with a CRT

Above: Input lag of Samsung 244T compared with a CRT
User comments about the input lag from Widescreengamingforum users:
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."
So Does
the 2407WFP Have the Same Problem?
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.

Above:
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."
Further reading on this subject:
Widescreengaming forum
discussion
Hardforum
Testing and Discussion
Hardforum
Discussion thread
How to Find the Firmware and
Panel
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.
A New Firmware to Correct
the Problems?
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.

OSD Factory Menu
showing LTM240ML2 panel and V1B15 firmware

Gradients on 2407WFP with V1B15
firmware
Click for larger
image

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.
Dell Acknowledges The
Issues
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."
The A01 Version
(updated 9/6/06)
After the A01+
interim release, users on
Widescreengamingforum based in Malaysia and Australia reported that they received the A01 revision of the 2407WFP
instead:
yyeoh: "
Just got my 2407 today after a 2 week wait. I'm happy
to say that it's Made in China Rev A01. The firmware is V1B15 and panel is
SAMWUXGA LTM240L2. Seems to be missing an 'm' in the panel number. Text is
crisp and no obvious banding(lcds seem to always have banding when I look too
closely). Looks like an excellent monitor and I'm happy with it."
thuanz: "...Showing
banding and no text blurring. This is on desktop mode over DVI. The other
modes show no blurring either. Banding seems to be less pronounced over VGA.
(A01 revision)"
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.
A02 Version Shipped (updated
15/6/06)
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.
A03 Revision Released (updated
2/9/06)
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)"
Firmware and Panel Evolution
This is the history of the 2407WFP
evolution:
A00 - V1B11, LTM240M2
A00+ Interim update - V1B15, LTM240LM2
A01 - V1B15, LTM240L2
A02 - V1B15, LTM240L2
A03 - V1B20, HN208
Good Points
and Other Areas
Let's not let these reported issues put us off too much, the Dell 2407WFP still
remains an excellent screen. Colour reproduction remains very good as can be
seen in the various reviews of this screen and of other models using the same
Samsung S-PVA panel. Viewing angles remain wide, black depth is very good and
the sheer size of the screen and its resolution is still staggering! Movie
playback is nice, albeit a little hampered by noise as many Samsung panels seem
to be at present. Watching from a sensible distance of a couple of metres really
makes use of its size and WS aspect ratio.


Gaming has been improved thanks to its reduced response time, which does
actually make a difference in real terms, not just on paper. You still need a
pretty powerful graphics card to power this screen, but if you have one, its a
joy to use. For office, the massive resolution remains very useful, allowing
multi tasking easily. The S-PVA panel really does offer some great all round
performance and potential buyers need to bare in mind that it is still a very
good screen, and best of all, a very competitive price.

User Opinions of the New
Screen
Bandito:
The monitor does not store the 1:1 settings of DVI also. One dot text
blurring is present in both VGA and DVI, though they are pretty
insignificant/hard to notice. The problem mainly lies at the DVI input due to
firmware or otherwise, until Dell issue new firmware (unlikely) or a newer
revision, it is better to hold of purchasing 2407.”
Shannada:
“The Australian PC Authority Magazine gave the Dell
2407FPW two awards (the "PC Authority Excellence" award and the "PC Authority
Labs Winner" award) and 6 stars out of 6. The Dell 2407 was awarded the top
prize out of all the reviewed LCD’s. Banding is confirmed in the technical tests
but according to the review did not affect the real-world performance tests. The
reviewer commented on the 2407's sharp picture quality and no mention of blurred
text. Sounds to me like a big thumbs up for Dell 2407
Australian PC Authority
Magazine:
(FYI, this review compared ten 20" plus LCD monitors including the Dell 2407FPW
and Eizo S2410W. The Dell 2407FPW was also compared against the previous model
Dell 2405FPW, and the Dell 2007FPW was compared against the previous model
2005FPW. All monitors were tested for technical performance (using DisplayMate
Multimedia Edition 2 and Meko) and real-world performance (DVD, HD clips, Far
Cry game, PixPerAn, digital photos, and Office applications for text clarity,
etc.)
“The picture quality was
superb. This was particularly clear in our movie test (LOTR), which saw a
tremendous amount of detail in dark scenes and at no point seemed over-saturated
in colourful outdoor scenes. Viewing angles are excellent, easily allowing a
group of people to gather around it with no compromise in quality. The lush
greens of FarCry appeared precisely as they should, and the fast motion resulted
in virtually no blurring and juddering. Our only gripe is that the new model
sports noticeable banding in the previously excellent colour-ramp technical
tests. Only very high-end graphics professionals would complain though. With all
of its features the 2407FPW's only real drawback is that it isn't as stylish as
the Eizo. But considering the superb 3-year warranty, next business day on-site
warranty (plus 14 days satisfaction guaranteed policy as well), the extra
inputs, the card reader and bargain price, it wins this Labs by a clear mile. At
this price it is a real steal. It's the best monitor we have ever seen both for
workers and multimedia buffs alike. Buy one now!”
MR RIZK:
“Writing
was not 100% sharp as per my current HP LCD. Turned off clear type and the text
became sharper. On the gradient test there was minor banding. Not huge but it
was there. I went to the dell store and checked out the 2405 and yes IMHO the
text is sharper and when I ran the gradient test via their VGA connection there
was no banding apparent. I could not test the DVI connection.”
sillymrman:
“I'm impressed with
responsiveness. Ghosting is extremely minimal. Unnoticeable in movies.
Final Fantasy XII is a pleasure to play (minus banding issues).”
Related Links and Further
Reading:
Prad.de
Review of Dell 2007WFP (April
2006)
PC Authority
Review of 2407WFP (June 2006)
Widescreengamingforum
discussion
2407WFP Thread
TFT Central Article about
Faroudja Video Processing
BeHardware
Review Dell 2407WFP (July 2006)
BeHardware
Comparison Acer AL2416W vs. Samsung 242MP (Oct 2005)
TrustedReviews
Review of Samsung 244T (March 2006)
TFT Central Dell 2405FPW
Guide
Various
Pictures 1 (Japanese Site)
Various
Pictures 2 (Japanese Site)
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