Author Topic: Dell S2719DGF Review: Matte 27" 2560x1440 144hz AUO TN Panel with AMD Free-Sync  (Read 20527 times)

NCX

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 761
    • View Profile
Calibrated Image Quality

Dell S2719DGF Calibrated Chart by Deepinthesky Teslastorm, on Flickr

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.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2021, 08:20:28 pm by NCX »