Is it time to upgrade my monitor?

I use a simple Dell P series 2414h moonitor that is 1920x1080p. I play no games, watch no movies and just do general stuff like web, docs, and youtube.

Over time I have been feeling like the monitor is not as sharp as I would like or as vibrant. Is this normal monitor aging? Is it related to the LED backlighting?

Today I tried adjusting brightness and contrast adjustments. With brightness at 75%, adjusting contrast showed a wide white balance shift that looked like different color temps of white. I did not expect that.

Given that the monitor is used for many hours of the day, every day single day since maybe 2016 or so has it changed? Or are my eyes just getting old?

In addition to the questions above should I replace with another 24 inch monitor at same resolution or go up to 27" at same even though I do not need more screen real estate? And would a more expensive or better technology than AH-IPS give me any benefit in my use case?

thanks in advance.

 

I have moved to a 21:9 monitor and I haven't looked back(I can see myself easily having a 32:9 in the future). I love dell monitors and would pick up a Dell P3421W. I currently have a cheaper LG vs my dell the colors are no where near as good. Dell in my experience has excellent warranty and software for their panels.

Additionally, a gas spring monitor arm is a must for me at this time. I bought a few cheaper ones on amazon and they are ok, cast iron and not easy to use. The best one I picked up is a Humanscale monitor arm at my universities surplus and it is milled aluminum and feels excellent.

 

@bixby, pretty coincidental but I used dual Dell P2414H monitors at the office for the last 5+ years. I brought one of them home last spring and was using it solo to work from home. I came across a couple old reviews for the monitor, including this one: https://pcmonitors.info/reviews/dell-p2414h/. The PC Monitors link recommendations worked better for me than TFT Central's: https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_p2414h.htm.

Your brightness is too high, and you shouldn't really need to adjust contrast on this model. I didn't notice any decreases in image quality over time. Lack of perceivable sharpness could be due to a few factors:

1. how close you are sitting; and
2. the monitor's relatively lower pixel density (PPI). See: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/technology/ppi-calculator.php. With this monitor, it's around 91 PPI, with an optimal viewing distance of 37". Recommended value to shoot for when buying a monitor is 110 PPI (see: https://www.displayninja.com/what-is-pixel-density/#:~:text=For the best viewing experience,aim for higher pixel density.).

I found a noticeable increase in image quality using the following settings, and then adjusting brightness as necessary based on room lighting conditions during the day (my desk faces a window, so if it's bright outside, even with the blinds closed a good amount, it's still pretty bright). Maybe try a factory reset as well, and making a note of your current picture settings before you do.

• Contrast: default 75
• Brightness (backlight): 42 for bright daylight; 20 for overcast days / sunset; 10 for night time with one lamp in the room
• Sharpness: default 50
• Color: Custom Color, with R: 99, G: 97, and B: 98.

After doing this, colors looked a bit more natural to me and I wasn't burning my eyes out with excessive brightness.

Using one 24" 1080p monitor didn't give me enough screen real estate, so my productivity dropped a bit and it was frustrating. I didn't want to run dual monitors at home, so starting researching ultrawide monitors. I have recently tried a couple monitors: (1) a 34" Acer Predator X34GS ultrawide, which I promptly returned and (2) a 38" Dell U3818DW ultrawide, which I have used and loved for the last 4-6 weeks and will keep. More info here: https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...purpose-advice-thread.19/page-513#post-340482.

If you decide to upgrade, I'd recommend staying with Dell given your use case. Both the Acer and Dell I've tried as upgrades use LG panels, but the Dell is so much easier on the eyes. I'm not even using the "ComfortView" setting, but just the RTings calibration settings that remove a bit of blue push. I'd stick with IPS as well, especially given that you don't watch movies.

Not sure on your budget, but if you want something that's not an ultrawide, not gaming-focused, from Dell, and has a more optimal PPI, I'd consider a Dell 27" with 2560 x 1440 (QHD, not UHD) resolution. Something like:

• Dell S2721D: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-27-monitor-s2721d/apd/210-axko/monitors-monitor-accessories // https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/s2721d //
• Dell P2720D: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...20d/apd/210-aulk/monitors-monitor-accessories
  
• Dell U2719D: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...19d/apd/210-arcv/monitors-monitor-accessories
  
• Other similar options with different feature sets: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/monitors/ar/8141?~ck=bt&appliedRefinements=2551,2583.

From what I've gathered, the difference between Dell's budget "S" series, Professional ("P") series and the Ultrasharp ("U") series is generally a better factory color calibration and/or color accuracy. The RTings review for the S2721D shows pretty good color accuracy after making some basic adjustments, so may be worth looking into for the ~$220.

Ultrawide is convenient, but if you're not doing a lot of multitasking for work, I probably wouldn't recommend it. Pretty expensive.

 

I have a Dell U2719D and it's a great multi-purpose monitor.

I also have a Dell S3220DGF and it's good too, but I believe it's VA instead of IPS (Dell markets it as a gaming monitor). I don't use it for gaming, only work. It's a good panel but looks just a bit different from my other Dell monitors.

Both are 2560x1440 which helps keep things sharp. The 32" has a nice curve to it, while the 27 is flat.

I'd recommend both of them - depends on your desk size, how close you sit, and your budget.

I have a 34" Dell ultrawide at work, and it's a beast of a monitor. I do prefer the 32" though - something about the superwide makes it somewhat less useful to me.

 

I've used some of the Dell monitors mentioned above, but if you're a Mac user and don't scoff at spending $1,200 on it, the LG 27" UltraFine 5K has been awesome.

Perfect amount of real estate with sharp text, for email, web browsing, code development, general productivity purposes.

Granted, I didn't have to pay for it out of my own pocket for work purposes, but if I didn't already use a 27" iMac for personal stuff I would strongly consider shelling out the $$$ for it - I feel it's worth it.

 

Great info.

I will try to readjust the Brightness and Contrast, as both were at 75% prior and I think I just bumped the brightness down a touch today. As for distance, My cheekbone to the center of the monitor is 28 inches, may have to investigate if this is too close per your link. I can't back off because of some shelves that flank the monitor and because my old eyes cannot read the text as well any further back. I do not want to put on glasses, haha.

As for wide, that's a no go for me as I never do work on multiple spaces aside from some small win explorer panes to copy or move files and I am pinching pennies.

I was thinking about a 27 inch QHD but that would make text even smaller, right? I know real estate would be larger on the 27 incher but that is not my problem right now.

I'll try some settings and report back. I have a fair amount of indirect natural light coming in during the day and use the Win night time low blue setting at night.

Many Thanks!

 

That's correct. As the pixel density increases, text looks smaller on-screen unless text scaling is used. The 110 PPI number above is kind of an industry standard to avoid needing to use text scaling, but obviously requires some adjustment for individuals. Sounds like you'd be better served by keeping the same size/resolution. Upping the size, but keeping the same resolution, would make things blurrier (27" 1080p is only 82 PPI) so sounds like the 27" is not the way to go.

If it turns out that the monitor is going bad, you could replace it with the Dell P2417, P2419 or Dell P2421. Dell typically refreshes their models every couple years, keeping the panel the same but adding new features like USB-C support, etc. Older models can be found at decent deals.

 

I've reset the brightness and color to the examples you gave and so far so good. It may have been too bright as you suggested as I already feel a bit more relaxed.

Any resolution upgrade may be moot not only because of my vision but also my 3rd gen Intel on board graphics tops out at 2560x1440 at 60 Hz anyway. It's an old computer (2012 -HP 6300 SFF) but works fine.

Not to throw a banana peel into the mix, what about these few youtubers who feel a 32 inch smart tv at 1080p is a good value alternative? Seems like it might be really easy to get fuzzy text at my seating distance based on the calculator you linked. Not to mention what pixel and panel lighting tech they use.

 

Glad to hear!

Re: the TV, at your seating distance I wouldn't recommend it. Plugging the numbers into that PPI calculator above it gives around 69 PPI. Not only would text be blurry on such a TV, but (1) you'd need to ensure your integrated graphics could connect to the TV, likely via HDMI, and (2) you need to ensure the TV can receive and process a proper 4:4:4 chroma RGB signal from your integrated graphics. A 32" TV may not even fit anyway due to the shelves on the side of the monitor.

 

I do feel that my display is dimming as did my CCFL lit displays of old. An interesting excerpt from a granted patent for dimming displays corroborates my thoughts that LEDs can dim over time just like CCFL, albeit not as quickly. Interestingly, I estimate my hours on with this monitor at about 25,000 so far.

Along with the development of lcd technology, the increasing employing LED-backlit of LCD module provides backlight.The luminescence efficiency of LED can decay as time passes gradually, and the light efficiency of existing white light LEDs decayed to for 50% required about 25000 to 30000 hours of time, and we it has been generally acknowledged that the life-span of this LED is 25000 hours.The light decay of LED can cause the brightness of LCDs to reduce, and has a strong impact on display effect.

 

The story ends with my purchase of an Asus Pro Art Display. A much nicer monitor to view all day. And yes, when setup properly it is brighter than the Dell it replaced.

Moral of the story is that screen brightness declines with LED aging.

 

Any decent options for 16:10 monitors these days? I really have no use for widescreen and appreciate the extra bit of height for working.

 

Not sure what size you need but that is exactly the ratio of the Asus I bought. Not sure if this is current model or not but it is still available, although on back order at the zon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088BC5HKF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

I feel the same. My Dell Ultrasharp 24-inch, a few years old now, is 16:10. I do not need to change it, but still sometimes browse and have a look around, and I find that moving to the next size would be, for me, a downgrade as it would be less high. I don't recall if they do this aspect ratio in larger sizes.

I could only use the extra width with at least the same height. That would allow me to work on photos more clearly, with editing software panels pushed to one side.

There is almost nothing else I do full-screen anyway: photos and youtube. And almost nothing else I use full brightness for either. (I use Compiz window manager: top feature for me is not many of the fancy effects available, but per-window brightness control).

EDIT: Dell UP3017 73GTT 30-Inch Screen. Good grief look at the price. Beyond my means! But I guess bigger monitors are BIGGER prices. And yes, I know, the real pro-graphics monitors are much, much more expensive.

 

I had some Lenovo 16:10's at my old workplace that I really liked, but I think they've all been discontinued now. When I spend half my life looking at spreadsheets and pdfs, it's nice being able to open the document and have two whole pages up on the page at the same time.

 

I've got a 21:10 monitor, pretty nice size/shape for me. 3840x1600 38" dell

 

This is what I run now working from home as well. Amazing, and the extra vertical resolution as compared to the 3440x1440 ultrawide I demoed for a week or two is much appreciated.

 

Ultrawide user checking in, Dell 3419W 21:9 3440x1440. My current workflow is two word documents side by side, each with navigation and reviewing panes. It's an absolute joy to work with.

I think I would probably like the equivalent 21:10 that @zonto and @spwath mention even better, to give a teeny bit more vertical space in roughly the same width. But I just can't imagine ever going back to a 'narrow' screen.

 

For you ultrawide folks, is this really that much preferable to having two screens side by side?