Display Enlightment by NCX

Only the most important menu photos will be posted here; click on the Dell S2719DGF Menu Album linked to see photos of every S2719DGF menu.

Usually the Brightness & Contrast menu come first on both monitors and TV's, but not in the case of the S2719DGF.  The contrast is preset to 75% or 75/100, but I reduced it to 66% to increase the color accuracy.


The Game menu contains the Preset Modes (color presets), Free-Sync setting (for AMD gpu owners), Response Time setting and Color Controls.  The Custom Preset Mode offers the same preset color accuracy as the default mode, but must be selected to access the sub-menu with the color (Gain and Offset) controls.  At 144-155hz the Fast Response Time setting is the best while Super Fast is best for 60hz.  The Dark Stabilizer settings lower the gamma and washes out the colors.


The Gain Red, Green and Blue settings in the Custom Color>Gain sub-menu control light colors while the Offset sub-menu with Red, Green and Blue affect dark colors.


Custom Color sub-menu:

Gain sub-menu:

Offset sub-menu:


The Display menu contains the Aspect Ratio sub-menu with a 4:3 and 1:1 pixel mapping scaling setting:

The personalize menu allows one to change which menus and/or settings the Shortcut keys access:

The Dell S2719DGF has a 33.8-395.1cdm/2 brightness range, and a 960:1 contrast ratio at 60, 144hz and 155hz.  The Dell is dim (33.8cdm/2) enough for use in light-less rooms at 0% brightness (0/100 in the menu), and bright (395.1cdm/2) enough for use in open, brightly lit office rooms.

The Response Time setting which controls the pixel response times in the Game Menu is preset to Fast, and is the best setting for 144-155hz use.  The Super Fast setting causes very obvious overshoot ghosting which is bright, colored and transparent dark glowing trails which appear during motion.



The extra 11hz offered by the S271DGF overclocking feature does not ad obviously perceptual improvements over 144hz, but the Fast Response Time setting offers very balanced and fast overdrive performance on par with fellow balanced and fast overdriven 144hz TN panels such as the Viewsonic XG2402 featured in the comparison above.  There's no obvious overshoot ghosting, very minor color streaking and no color smearing unlike 144hz VA panels.  The S2719DGF is slightly faster than the 144-165hz 1440p AHVA (marketed as IPS panels), and free from obvious overshoot ghosting unlike its predecessor with G-Sync, the Dell S2716DG which has less balanced overdrive. 


At 60hz the S2719DGF offers vastly superior overdrive performance compared to the S2716DG which suffered from very obvious overshoot ghosting at 60hz, but has slower pixel response times than the S2716DG, as well as the best 60hz AHVA/IPS/PLS panels like the Acer XB321HK (4K matte AUO AHVA panel).  The S2719DGF is also a bit slower than TN panel using monitors such as the BenQ Zowie RL2460, and the Acer XF240H and Viewsonic XG2402 at 60hz.  The S2719DGF suffers from some slight color streaking, and a bit more motion blur than the best 60hz competitors, however, its overdrive performance is still passable and good enough for console gaming, assuming one can put up with TN panels dull and vertically uneven colors, and very restrictive viewing angles.

I measured the preset color accuracy of the S2719DGF with my Spectracal C6 HDR2000 colorimeter and the free HCFR calibration program which I also use to calibrate displays as best as possible with only their menu settings.  The HDMI 2.0 port is supposed to support 144hz according to the manual (page 15), but only 60hz showed up in the Nvidia Control panel when connected to my GTX 980 ti with an HDMI 2.0 cable.  All TN panels colors and shades are uneven from top to bottom since all TN panels suffer from vertical gamma shift: colors and shades are too dark in the top quarter if the gamma is 2.2 in the center, and colors and shades are washed out in the bottom half since the gamma drops the further away from the top of the panel colors and shades are.

The image quality offered by the S2719DGF is significantly better when using the HDMI input since the preset gamma is significantly higher, but still too low which results in washed out image quality.  The S2719DGF is basically the same at 60hz and 144hz while many 144hz 1080p AUO TN panels suffer from contrast, gamma and uniformity loss when set to 144hz, including the Acer XF240H and Viewsonic XG2402 I recently reviewed.  When the Overclock setting is enabled the S2719DGF can be set to 155hz, but doing so causes the gamma to drop a bit which further washed out the already washed out colors.

The contrast or perceived black depth is very poor by default since the S2719DGF has a matte black bezel on the sides and top which reduces the perceived black depth, and because the brightness is set to 75 out of the box which measures at 280cdm/2 which is way to bright for my single 2200 lumen light source, a 2200 lumen 5000K color temperature LED light made by Anmien.  The perceived black depth or contrast is average once I reduced the brightness to a suitable level (32 in the menu for 140cdm/2) for my room lighting since the contrast is only slightly above average (800:1), and because black in dark content looks light next to the black bezel.
 
HCFR Gray Scale Delta E:

HCFR Gamma Measurements:

At 60hz when connected via Displayport the S2719DGF's gamma is fairly linear and ranges between 1.95 (lowest measurement) and 2.03 (highest measurement), 1.944 and 1.995 at 144h-155hz (tiny drop), and 2.033 to 2.284 when connected via HDMI at 60hz.   The gamma is marginally lower at 144 and 155hz (155hz unlocked by activating the Overclock option the menu), but the drop is too small to be perceivable.  Regardless of which input is used the S2719DGF looks very washed out and dull, abd the preset gamma accuracy is significantly worse than most of the 120-144hz 1080p TN panels I have tested since 2010.  Sadly the Dark Stabilizer setting, which is the only gamma setting the monitor has, is useless since it further lowers the gamma.

HCFR RGB Levels Measurements:

The preset RGB Level accuracy of both the S2719DGF is excellent, as well as superior to all three of the 144-165hz 1440p AHVA (marketed as IPS) panels (Acer XB271HU, Asus PG279Q and Viewsonic XG2703-GS) I tested.  All three 144hz AHVA panels suffered from obvious preset green and yellow tints to browns, greys and whites while both Dell monitors are very neutral, or free from an obvious preset color dominance.  It's such a shame that the neutral preset color balance offered by the S2719DGF is ruined by the very low preset gamma.

HCFR Color Gamut Measurements or HDTV/REC 709 Color Space Coverage:

As mentioned above, the S2719DGF's color gamut significantly over and under-saturates some colors compared to both the HDTV/REC 709 and sRGB color space.  The top left side of the triangle (HDTV/REC 709 color gamut) falls short resulting in the under-saturation of blue and medium to dark greens. Medium to light greens, yellows, oranges and some reds are all over-saturated, a phenomenon typical of AUO panels, including both their 27" 2560x1440 and 32" 3840x2160 AHVA (more balanced or pure) panels which also over-saturate the same colors resulting in green and yellow tints to browns, greys and whites, even after calibration. 

HCFR Color Temperature Measurements:

The balanced and linear RGB Levels versus the HDTV/REC 709 and sRGB standards results in nearly linear 6500k color temperature.

Overall the S2719DGF offers passable color accuracy, which could have been outstanding if the preset gamma was not so low, and results in very dull and washed out image quality since the monitor lacks gamma settings which can be used to raise it.  The preset gamma is significantly lower than the S2716DG, but it costs significantly more.  The preset RGB level accuracy and white purity is outstanding and superior to most monitors under 800$ US, as well as most monitors I've tested aside from the BenQ BL3201PH and Samsung S27D850T I tested in 2014 and 2015.  Two major improvements offered by the S2719DGF versus most TN panels are the lack of horrific banding when viewing this Dawn Engine image I sourced from this Reddit post, and the matte coating which is completely grain and sparkle free unlike most TN panels.

All TN panels colors and shades are uneven from top to bottom since all TN panels suffer from vertical gamma shift: colors and shades are too dark in the top quarter if the gamma is 2.2 in the center, and colors and shades are washed out in the bottom half since the gamma drops the further away from the top of the panel colors and shades are.  The vertical viewing angles offered by these 27" 1440p AUO TN panels are a bit more forgiving, but the vertical gamma shift (vertically uneven colors and shades) is still very obvious, especially when moving ones head slightly off center in all directions.  Like all TN panels, the S2719DGF can not be viewed while leaning back, or looked up at.  In order to not see obvious darkening and detail loss I kept my posture straight, and the top of the monitor level with my eyes.

The perceived black depth is below average after calibration since I had to reduce the Contrast setting to increase the accuracy and linearity of the RGB levels.  Reducing the contrast drops the contrast to 680:1 which is below the 800:1 average for AHVA/IPS/PLS and TN panels.  Black looks quite gray in dark scenes since the S2719DGF has black side, and top, fake "frame-less" bezels.  Dark matte grey bezels are the best for monitors since they increase the perceived black depth significantly, as well as match the aesthetic pallet or colors and shades of the items most people have in their rooms.  Reducing the contrast is not necessary, especially since the monitors color balance is already nearly perfect out of the box, but the Red, Green and Blue Gain and Offset adjustments required to increase the accuracy reduce the linearity of the Red, Green and Blue levels if the Contrast setting is not changed as well.  I could have left the settings alone, but the perceived contrast or black depth would still be unimpressive since S2719DGF has black side and top bezels.

Calibration with a colorimeter is the only way to make the S2719DGF look good, or not washed out since the preset gamma is quite low.  Once the ICC profile raises the gamma the S2719DGF is capable of delivering top tier image quality for a TN panel thanks to the grey and white purity, lack of obvious banding (vs other TN panels), completely grain and sparkle free matte coating, and more forgiving viewing angles versus 1080p TN panels.  The S2719DGF still looks obviously dulled and washed out compared to AHVA/IPS/PLS and VA panels, however, due to the lower amount of glow one can sit slightly closer to the S2719DGF than a 27" AHVA/IPS/PLS or VA panel.  The S2719DGF offers good image quality for a TN once once calibrated, however, 144hz 1440p AHVA panels with Free-Sync like the Acer XF270HU and Asus MG279Q (review links) only cost a bit more and offer much better image quality.

All monitors had their brightness settings reduced to output 140cdm/2 before and after calibration.  I had to reduce the S2719DGF's Contrast setting to calibrate it which is why the contrast dropped to 680:1.

To properly compare the photos right click on the photos and closely inspect larger versions in a new tab, especially if experiencing trouble with the spoiler pop downs.  Since the S2719DGF has nearly perfect preset color accuracy the main difference seen in the photos is the brightness and darkness of colors and shades which is determined by the preset gamma which is too low, and results in colors and shades being brighter, or more washed out than they're supposed to be.  The un-calibrated versus calibrated differences are very obvious when comparing a TN panel with low gamma and vertical gamma shift to an AHVA/IPS/PLS or VA (A-MVA, S-MVA, S-PVA, ect) panel.




The Acer suffers from obvious back-light bleed in the bottom right corner.


Back-light bleed or uniformity issues are more obvious if a monitor has low contrast.  The S2719DGF does not suffer from obvious back-light bleed, even once the contrast is reduced from 960 to 680:1 after calibration.  My panel has a few impure spots, but no obvious bleed during normal use.



The XG2703-GS also suffers from a bit of back-light bleed in the bottom right corner.