Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K Monitor Review: HDR And Superior Accuracy
Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K HDR Calibration And Controls
Dell makes it quick and easy to access and manipulate the OSD (on-screen display) of the UP2718Q. The physical buttons for accessing the OSD are under the right bezel corner, and are easy to see, feel, and actuate, unlike the touch-sensitive buttons used on some displays or those hidden in strange places around the back. Navigating through the menus is also intuitive and things are well labeled, which makes it easy to quickly access and alter a particular setting. Tap one button to bring up the menu and use the other buttons to navigate and select options and features.
From right to left you'll find the main Power button, then the OSD button, and three function buttons for navigating and selecting the pages and features. You can also go directly to specific menu sections and bypass the main menu using shortcuts. For example, you can quickly access color settings and presets, input / source options, and brightness using these buttons outside of the OSD.
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Sample Test Screens
We used the Lagom LCD monitor test pages found at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ for some of our testing. The Lagom LCD monitor test pages provide tests for saturation, banding, sharpness, color uniformity, and much more.
If you're used to sitting in front of an inexpensive TN panel (which are very common), looking at a high-end IPS panel like the one used in this display will be eye-opening. As expected, The Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K HDR is richer in color saturation with deeper near-pitch black levels, thanks to its support for local dimming. We did not experience any banding at all and the contrast was excellent, with stark, evenly lit whites. There is slight color shift when peering at the screen from an extreme angle, mostly beyond the suggested 178-degree viewing angle, but that is normal behavior.
As noted earlier, the slower response time and 60Hz refresh leave a bit to be desired for hardcore gamers looking to play fast-paced driving or high-intensity shooting games. Games like Destiny 2 and others that support HDR, however, look absolutely fantastic with the added colors and vibrance at their disposal. But these titles also suffer from noticeable tearing and some stuttering when they go beyond 60 FPS, unless V-Sync is enabled, which could alternately result in some lag. Unfortunately, the display doesn't support variable refresh rate technology like AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-SYNC.
The gaming experience probably isn't a deal-breaker if you're interested in this monitor, though, because it doesn't really target gamers. This is primarily a high-end tool for content creation professionals, movie editors, photographers and the like. And in that regard, the Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K HDR monitor shines.
