Dell U2412M - 16:10 IPS without Breaking the Bank
by Chris Heinonen on February 28, 2012 9:00 AM ESTDell U2412M Design, OSD, and Viewing Angles
The look of the Dell is certainly utilitarian and not sexy. Unless you kept posters of 1980s-era minivans on your wall as a kid instead of a Porsche or Corvette, you are not going to find the U2412M to be an attractive display. But as we noted on the previous page, like those minivans, what it lacks in looks, it makes up for in utility.
Dell continues the menu system with four unlabeled buttons that control the OSD, and manages to make it fairly easy to navigate overall. I did hit the wrong button a couple times, so perhaps they could space them out a little more than they do, but overall the menu is easy to use and navigate. There is no switching between horizontal and vertical movements with the same set of buttons, which is a peeve of mine.
In our forums some users expressed concern about the anti-glare coating of the U2412M so I decided to pay extra attention to it. I have to say that I wasn’t bothered by it at all, and didn’t see anything to be concerned about. It certainly was nothing like the patterned retarder on passive 3D displays that drives me crazy from a close distance. If no one had mentioned the anti-glare coating to me then I wouldn’t have even noticed it was there. Perhaps I’m just not that sensitive to it yet and will become more so going forward.
Viewing angles are always a good area of performance for IPS panels, and you can see that in the included gallery. Overall the angles were good, with a loss of contrast at the extreme angles but nothing that you would notice in a normal working position, or even if someone was looking at your monitor for a presentation. Overall from a physical perspective the Dell was unexciting but didn’t cause any areas of concern that some other models have for me.
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bioffe - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
I find this article disturbing because it doesn't mention this monitor's predecessor U2410 which seems to be much better monitor for $150 dollars more. It's putty how Dell destroyed its high end model, and went to monetize its reputation. Dear Anand, I want to see how it measures to u2410.ImSpartacus - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
I think Dell still sells the U2410. The U2412M is complimentary.I agree that the naming scheme is weird, but both monitors can coexist.
Death666Angel - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
Considering the 60% price difference and that the 2410 is still being sold, I don't see why the 2412 is necessarily the successor. I think both monitors are targeting different consumers.cheinonen - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
There isn't a review unit of the U2410 available at the moment, as I checked, so I could compare the two. They do fit into different realms, and can easily coexist at the same time, but the naming scheme is very, very hard to understand.Touche - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
Much better for what? 2412 has better blacks, higher contrast, is sRGB which many find an advantage, has less input lag and is a bit faster. Head to tftcentral and prad for detailed comparisons.Oxford Guy - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
The U2410 is competing in a different space.It has better uniformity.
It has a better color gamut.
It has worse contrast ratio.
It has a higher price.
Sufo - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - link
U2410 has an sRGB profile...sethsez - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link
It does have an sRGB profile. It's very inaccurate, as sRPG profiles on 10-bit monitors tend to be. If someone is doing work primarily for web-based content, a 10-bit monitor isn't just a waste, it's potentially detrimental.vectorm12 - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
Greay review unfortunately I'm looling for something with higher resolution these days. For my kind of workload 2560x1440 have turned out to be the bare minimum. I recently bought 2x u2711 to replace 3x 1920x1080 Samsungs. I'd love to see some eIPs panels reach that size and preferably higher pixeldensities.cwolf78 - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
Does this guy come off as a snobbish bitch to anyone else?