Dell S2330MX Ultra-Slim Monitor
Calibration & Controls
If you don't feel like mucking with onscreen display (OSD) controls, Dell provides several preset profiles so you can take the lazy man's route. These include Standard, Multimedia, Movie, Games, Text, Warm, and Cool. In most instances, you'll want to leave the preset on Standard, though we were fairly impressed with the Cool setting, which didn't introduce so much blue tint that it looks like a Smurf barfed all over the pixels (you're welcome for the visual).
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Dell positions the touch-sensitive OSD controls in the lower right corner of the display. We found them to be responsive overall, but like touch-sensitive buttons, they tend act snobbish and ignore your finger strokes from time to time. We remain preferential to physical buttons for this very reason.
After spending a few minutes getting acquainted with the OSD layout, we
found navigation to be a mostly frustration free experience. It's not
the slickest OSD we've ever played with, but far from the worst. Arrows
appear on screen above the buttons to help guide you through the menus,
and in doing so, you'll find configuration options for brightness,
contrast, sharpness, colors. and more.
You'll also notice an energy meter in the top right corner of the onscreen menu. It's a nice thought in theory, and fits right in with Dell's extensive green computing efforts, but most users will find the meter of little value and/or interest.
You'll also notice an energy meter in the top right corner of the onscreen menu. It's a nice thought in theory, and fits right in with Dell's extensive green computing efforts, but most users will find the meter of little value and/or interest.
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DisplayMate Test Screens
We're now using DisplayMate for Windows (www.displaymate.com) as part of our monitor evaluation process. DisplayMate's smorgasbord of tests allow us to root out potential problems areas, such as geometry distortion and color inaccuracies, to name just two.
As this is a Twisted Nematic (TN) displayed, we're not expecting IPS-like performance, though that doesn't mean TN panels earn a free pass for lazy performance. For the most part, it wasn't an issue with the S2330MX. The panel displayed excellent geometry and pixel tracking, and black levels were above average, though not without some backlight bleeding slightly throughout.
The LED backlight is capable of producing a bright image, and we found the white level performance slightly saturated at the high end. Color tracking was mostly good with solid uniformity, though performance was a little shaky at the darker end of the spectrum. Most users won't ever notice in real-world use, save for professional photographers, who shouldn't be shopping a TN panel in the first place.
One issue we had with the S2330MX is viewing angle. Performance drops as you tile the monitor, and we noticed that even when viewing the panel straight on, the sides appeared darker until we strafed towards either end. Again, it's not something most users will pick up on, but it is noticeable when putting the panel through its paces.
As this is a Twisted Nematic (TN) displayed, we're not expecting IPS-like performance, though that doesn't mean TN panels earn a free pass for lazy performance. For the most part, it wasn't an issue with the S2330MX. The panel displayed excellent geometry and pixel tracking, and black levels were above average, though not without some backlight bleeding slightly throughout.
The LED backlight is capable of producing a bright image, and we found the white level performance slightly saturated at the high end. Color tracking was mostly good with solid uniformity, though performance was a little shaky at the darker end of the spectrum. Most users won't ever notice in real-world use, save for professional photographers, who shouldn't be shopping a TN panel in the first place.
One issue we had with the S2330MX is viewing angle. Performance drops as you tile the monitor, and we noticed that even when viewing the panel straight on, the sides appeared darker until we strafed towards either end. Again, it's not something most users will pick up on, but it is noticeable when putting the panel through its paces.
We already mentioned that professional photographers will want to invest in a higher end display, but what about your average photo junkie? Well, our test photos were bright courtesy of the LED, and the S2330MX does well with different colors. As we've seen on other TN panels, however, photos sometimes appear washed out, at least when compared to higher end displays.
