Edit: An update, I liked my first monitor so much that I just bought another one. I can't believe how bad my old monitor, the Acer XG270HU, was compared to this one. These are the best monitors I've used in terms of eye strain and usability while still producing pleasing colors. The high resolution, high refresh rate, and semi-gloss coating along with TN like symptoms that are on the minimum (and I personally don't notice after adjusting it), mixed with a great price make this impossible to beat. Semi gloss is very pleasing to look at. I am happier with this monitor than monitors costing over twice as much. It's perfect for me, personally, and my own use cases, hopefully my review helps someone get a great experience from theirs too.
That all being said, I'm seriously considering purchasing two more for my work office space. I think they're that good!
About me: I use this product for gaming and for work. I am a software developer.
Long story short, with some tweaks (my settings are at the bottom), this monitor looks fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quality monitor for gaming or work.
When I hooked this monitor up, I was initially disappointed. Colors looked just as washed out, if not more-so, than my current TN monitor (Acer XG270HU). I'd read a lot of reviews praising this monitor but was let down by the out-of-box settings. However, after spending some time tweaking the monitor, I've gotten the colors to "pop" and am completely happy with it. I now see what people mean when they compare the colors on this thing to an IPS. They are very good and honestly do compare to the IPS monitors I've used. It seems the biggest problem of this display is gamma that is set too high by default, and color saturation settings needing to be increased. I would have greatly appreciated the option to adjust gamma on the OSD of the monitor itself, but sadly that can't be done.
Text on this monitor is crystal clear. The anti-glare coating used is better than others in that regard. Seriously, text looks very very good on this thing. For reference, I run windows DPI scaling at 125% because I don't t enjoy squinting. This is my favorite aspect of this monitor. I can look at this thing all day and not be annoyed.
Color uniformity is great - After trying numerous IPS and VA panels, this was my biggest gripe with them, particularly the curved VA panels and all IPS panels I tried. I just can't stand this. When I moved my head from one side of the monitor to the other, google search pages went from light pink to light green from right to left. Or I'd see color temperature hot spots that just looked terrible. The gamma shift that's present in TN monitors does not bother me though, because it's consistent. It's worth noting the gamma shift on this monitor is great for a TN. It's noticeable but minor. I can and will live with it.
I love the physical design of this thing. Dell knocked it out of the park by NOT adding useless RGB lighting or obnoxious "gamer" flare and sticking with a clean and sharp design. It looks straight up classy and should fit in with any desk environment including professional settings. The ergonomic adjustments are classic Dell and work well. It simply feels like a quality product. The USB hub is awesome as I drive this from a laptop and only have to worry about one USB cable to plug into the computer. My peripherals stay plugged into the monitor.
With the above being said, gaming is great on this thing. 155hz is appreciated over 144hz, and freesync works fine with my GTX 1070. No Issues here, loving it.
To conclude, after being disappointed with the VA and IPS high refresh panels on the market, mainly due to uniformity issues that bothered me constantly, I'm very happy to have found a TN monitor without those issues. The viewing angles aren't as good as an IPS, but they're good enough for me. I don't do gymnastics at my desk. I see no need to "upgrade" to another panel type because the colors are just that good on this one. 155hz + excellent colors + a clean and professional design + minor (and expected) gamma shift are a winning recipe. I'll be picking up another shortly.
Settings I use for this monitor (settings not mentioned are not changed from default):
--changed through monitor OSD--
Edit: Updating this based on more recent settings I've found I like better.
Brightness: my settings range from 40 to 60 percent depending on ambient lighting. This thing gets SERIOUSLY bright.
Contrast: 75
Overclocked to 155hz
Freesync on (works great with Nvidia cards)
Preset mode: Custom Color
Gain: R 97, G 92, B 96
Saturation: R 63, G 63, B 63, C 63, M 63, Y 63
--changed through Nvidia control panel--
Gamma: .82
| Standing screen display size | 27 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 2560x1440 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 2560 x 1440 Pixels |
