Dell U3011 Ultrasharp Monitor Review

1. Introduction2. The Dell U30113. Testing the Screen4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

The Dell U3011 is an immensely impressive screen which is an improvement over the older design. As with all high end Dell monitors, the interface and connectivity options are first class and the range of inputs on this panel will cover every possible situation. The new 10 bit panel is capable of rendering very clear, clean and vibrant images without any hint of ghosting or abnormality.

Default settings were well tuned, although the brightness levels are set rather high ‘out of the box'. This is easily rectified, and if it is the only option you adjust, then generally the screen will not disappoint in a variety of situations. The factory calibration of gamma and colour is very good and makes a refreshing change as often we have to spend half an hour or more fine tuning the panels to get the most from them.  Obviously this is important if you don't have access to calibration equipment. We were particularly impressed with the depth of black definition and the purity of white imaging, showing very little shift at all, right across the full physical real estate of the panel. It is clearly a noticeable upgrade when compared to the older 3008WFP, especially in regards to colour accuracy and imaging.

Dynamic contrast claims by Dell are rather optimistic, they rate it at 100,000:1 but I am not quite sure where they are pulling that figure from, it didn't even get close. To be honest, this isn't a deal breaker at all, because its just another mindless ‘figure chasing' ploy by a manufacturer set to impress people reading specification lists online. The image at even half way settings is just too intense to use 24/7, never mind any higher.

Panel uniformity, power consumption and technical design are first rate, and we experienced no issues over the last few weeks of testing. It is backed by great build quality and a good support and warranty system. If you are in the market for a high quality 30 inch panel then this certainly should be right at the top of your shortlist.

Buying monitors from Dell direct is never a wise option, as this screen is retailing on their store for £1,459 inc vat. Other stores such as Amazon in the UK stock it for £1,199 which is a significant saving, more than enough to pick yourself up a fine mid range graphics card to power it.

Pros:

• Good out of the box set up
• Great colour rendition
• high levels of white purity
• rich, deep black definition
• no ghosting
• reasonable power consumption

Cons:

• Dynamic contrast is misleading
• expensive

KitGuru says: Another great screen from Dell which is sure to cement their status in the high end sector.

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