im thinking about buying a DELL 2713HM - how important is wide gamut?

[smithy]

I own the 2713HM and my unit appears to be fine. In fact, after calibrating with a Spyder4 Pro, the data shows that it produces 100% of the SRGB space and 82% of the Adobe colour space. I use it for Photoshop and gaming.

My second monitor is my old Dell 2407WFP. The first one I owned died after a year, but Dell provided a 'next day' replacement with a unit that has been working reliably for the last 6 years.

No dead pixels on either unit.

The 2713HM uses an LG IPS panel - a newer version of the one found in the Apple Cinema Display. When investigating monitors I'd recommend checking the technical details on www.tftcentral.co.uk to find out exactly what you're getting.

 

[pwp]

STAY AWAY FROM DELL.

Worst Monitors I have owned. I am going on my 4th monitor in 5 months because of dead/dying pixels and other issues.

Specs are nice - but product is crap. Your luck may vary, but I don't even bother putting the box in the attic any more... I just leave it right besides the desk.

Maybe Dell can offer a new service and include a future dated RMA with every purchase.

Sounds like you have been buying the Dell office grade cheapies. They're patently not suitable for working with images or performance gaming. In a recent similar CR thread I mentioned we have five Dells in the studio, U3011, U2711 and three older UltraSharp spec 24 inch panels.

They have all been faultless workhorses. I will buy more Dells when required. My first Dell, a 24 inch Ultrasharp from around 2007 is still working perfectly. It calibrates fine with the EyeOne. Very stable. Go figure. People just seem to love flaming Dell. That said, I wouldn't buy anything from them other than their premium monitors. It's not that their other hardware is bad, it's just not suitable.

-PW

 

[J.R.]

STAY AWAY FROM DELL.

Worst Monitors I have owned. I am going on my 4th monitor in 5 months because of dead/dying pixels and other issues.

Specs are nice - but product is crap. Your luck may vary, but I don't even bother putting the box in the attic any more... I just leave it right besides the desk.

Maybe Dell can offer a new service and include a future dated RMA with every purchase.

Sounds like you have been buying the Dell office grade cheapies. They're patently not suitable for working with images or performance gaming. In a recent similar CR thread I mentioned we have five Dells in the studio, U3011, U2711 and three older UltraSharp spec 24 inch panels.

They have all been faultless workhorses. I will buy more Dells when required. My first Dell, a 24 inch Ultrasharp from around 2007 is still working perfectly. It calibrates fine with the EyeOne. Very stable. Go figure. People just seem to love flaming Dell. That said, I wouldn't buy anything from them other than their premium monitors. It's not that their other hardware is bad, it's just not suitable.

-PW

Thanks pwp!

I had ordered the 2173H on Tuesday and it is on the way to be delivered Monday. I had lost some sleep last night wondering whether it would be a crash and burn for the $ 1,000 I paid for it.

 

[jondave]

IF YOU DON'T HAVE CALIBRATION EQUIPMENT (OR HAVE NO MEANS TO CALIBRATE), DON'T GET A WIDE GAMUT MONITOR.

That being said, if you print your own photos (assuming your printer is also properly profiled) or use a pro lab for your printing needs, then you would need a wide gamut monitor to ensure your prints are as accurate and as close as possible to your post-processed output.

Owning a wide gamut monitor is really all about your output - if your output will not be displayed through a wide-gamut environment, either in your clients' monitors or through lab print, then you don't need it. It's like how you don't need a D800 if all you're doing is post photos online or print A4 sized photos.

 

[sheedoe]

STAY AWAY FROM DELL.

Worst Monitors I have owned. I am going on my 4th monitor in 5 months because of dead/dying pixels and other issues.

Specs are nice - but product is crap. Your luck may vary, but I don't even bother putting the box in the attic any more... I just leave it right besides the desk.

Maybe Dell can offer a new service and include a future dated RMA with every purchase.

Sounds like you have been buying the Dell office grade cheapies. They're patently not suitable for working with images or performance gaming. In a recent similar CR thread I mentioned we have five Dells in the studio, U3011, U2711 and three older UltraSharp spec 24 inch panels.

They have all been faultless workhorses. I will buy more Dells when required. My first Dell, a 24 inch Ultrasharp from around 2007 is still working perfectly. It calibrates fine with the EyeOne. Very stable. Go figure. People just seem to love flaming Dell. That said, I wouldn't buy anything from them other than their premium monitors. It's not that their other hardware is bad, it's just not suitable.

-PW

Thanks pwp!

I had ordered the 2173H on Tuesday and it is on the way to be delivered Monday. I had lost some sleep last night wondering whether it would be a crash and burn for the $ 1,000 I paid for it.

Why did you pay $1000? You could've bought it from from ecost or nextwarehouse (which is where I bought mine), you could've gotten it for $727. With $8 extra, you could also opt for free return shipping if you dont like it. With the money saved, you could've bought the xrite i1 display pro for hardware calibration, which you will eventually need for proper calibration.

 

[J.R.]

STAY AWAY FROM DELL.

Worst Monitors I have owned. I am going on my 4th monitor in 5 months because of dead/dying pixels and other issues.

Specs are nice - but product is crap. Your luck may vary, but I don't even bother putting the box in the attic any more... I just leave it right besides the desk.

Maybe Dell can offer a new service and include a future dated RMA with every purchase.

Sounds like you have been buying the Dell office grade cheapies. They're patently not suitable for working with images or performance gaming. In a recent similar CR thread I mentioned we have five Dells in the studio, U3011, U2711 and three older UltraSharp spec 24 inch panels.

They have all been faultless workhorses. I will buy more Dells when required. My first Dell, a 24 inch Ultrasharp from around 2007 is still working perfectly. It calibrates fine with the EyeOne. Very stable. Go figure. People just seem to love flaming Dell. That said, I wouldn't buy anything from them other than their premium monitors. It's not that their other hardware is bad, it's just not suitable.

-PW

Thanks pwp!

I had ordered the 2173H on Tuesday and it is on the way to be delivered Monday. I had lost some sleep last night wondering whether it would be a crash and burn for the $ 1,000 I paid for it.

Why did you pay $1000? You could've bought it from from ecost or nextwarehouse (which is where I bought mine), you could've gotten it for $727. With $8 extra, you could also opt for free return shipping if you dont like it. With the money saved, you could've bought the xrite i1 display pro for hardware calibration, which you will eventually need for proper calibration.

I am not in the US and the imports attract a customs duty of 30%.

 

[Canon 14-24]

I am a fulltime photographer and really like the 2711's and when working on photo's for print etc it's really good. But some of the work I deliver is digital only to consumers and that's where it goes wrong. I like my photo's light and fresh and I push that in my workflow. On my calibrated screens I have no blown out whites and really like the photo's. On the clients laptop / crappy screen with no wide-gamut the photo's are to white and have blown out colors.

My solution is placing de U2412m in sRGB mode and since it has no wide-gamut I use that screen to "proof" what the client will see.

Hopefully not to detract from the original poster's thread, but what you posted are some of the concerns I have in my search for a 30" monitor which for a budget under $1500 seem to be really limited to just the Dell and HP.

In regards to your solution of "proofing" what the client would see on their monitor, does this involve having to re-edit or tweak all your previous work for the client to be viewed on a standard non-wide gamut sRGB screen? I am just trying to get an idea into my work flow, if I will be doing "double-duty" in my workload with the use of a wide-gamut monitor.

Also, would it be easy to swap modes in these Dell monitors with minimal re-calibration work for the novice user? For example, these wide gamut monitors can be set to a sRGB mode for the 99% of the work I do, and then for that 1 picture the client wants an enlargement print, I can change the sRGB mode to a saved preset wide-gamut mode with minimal or no re-calibration work necessary?