Curved-display monitors haven't quite taken the market by storm, but they are beginning to trickle in. With the UltraSharp U3415W, Dell joins Samsung and LG in releasing a gargantuan, 34-inches, ultra-wide, curved display designed to bring enhanced panoramic looking at to the desktop. This monitor uses In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel technology to deliver rich, accurate colours and solid gray-scale efficiency, with wide viewing angles. It is equipped with numerous I/O ports and will be offering a USB hub and daisy-chaining capabilities, and it includes a height-adjustable stand. The U3415W at Dell doesn't come inexpensive, but you get yourself a complete large amount of monitor and great performance for your money. It's our top pick for ultra-wide monitors.
Design and Features
Dell's UltraSharp monitors have always maintained a nice aesthetic, however the U3415W takes it to some other level with a slick, (mostly) bezel-free design which makes the gigantic 34-inch panel appearance even larger than it currently is. The U3415W does sport a thin (3/4-inch), matte-black bottom level bezel that holds a Dell logo design, four touch-sensitive function buttons, and a Power switch, however the top and side bezels are microscopic practically.
The slightly curved 34-inch Wide Quad High Definition (WQHD) panel has a optimum resolution of 3,440-by-1,440, a 300-nit lighting level, and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It really is housed within an 18.6-pound, matte-black cabinet measuring 32.5 by 14.7 by 3 ins (HWD), and it has a non-reflective, anti-glare coating. The cabinet is backed by a square, silver stand with a mounting arm that gives you 4.5 inches of height, 60 degrees of swivel, and 26 degrees of tilt maneuverability. By way of evaluation, the LG 34UC97-S gives tilt adjustability, but lacks support for height and swivel adjustments. The U3415W has a pair of 9-watt speakers that are very loud and deliver robust, distortion-free audio. You do not obtain booming bass with these loudspeakers, however they do provide enough bottom to avoid sounding tinny.
A boatload is got by you of ports with this monitor, including two full-size DisplayPort connectors (one in and one out) that allow you to daisy-chain multiple monitors, a mini-DisplayPort input, an HDMI 2.0 input, another Mobile HI-DEF (MHL) input allowing you to connect to and charging smartphones and tablets, an audio line-out for external speakers, and six USB 3.0 ports, two of which are upstream connectors that enable you to share a mouse and keyboard with two PCs. My just gripe here is that all of the USB ports are in the trunk of the cabinet; a few side-mounted ports would make it simpler to plug and unplug peripherals like thumb drives and MP3 players.
The U3415W offers lots of basic and advanced picture settings and a user-friendly menu system. Furthermore to Brightness, Comparison, and Gamma configurations, there are seven picture presets (Standard, Multimedia, Movie, Game, Paper, Color Temp, and Custom). In the event that you choose the Custom made setting, you can tweak Offset and Gain amounts for crimson, green, and blue colors, as well as Hue and Saturation levels for crimson, green, blue, cyan, yellow, and magenta colors. Other modifications include Sharpness, Dynamic Comparison, Picture-in-Picture (PIP), and Picture-by-Picture (PBP) settings, in addition to a calibrated Uniformity Compensation placing that adjust all areas of the screen to maintain uniform lighting and color with respect to the center of the screen.
The U3415W includes a 3-year guarantee on parts, labor, and backlight. Included in the box are a mini-DisplayPort wire, an HDMI cable, and an upstream USB wire. You also get yourself a printed Quick Start Instruction and a CD including a User Guide, motorists, and Dell's Display Manager software, which allows you to change picture presets using a keyboard and mouse and apply presets to specific applications. It also contains an Easy Arrange utility that lets you use custom made or predefined screen layouts.
Performance
The U3415W delivers very accurate colors out from the box. As demonstrated on the chromaticity chart below, crimson, green, and blue colors (represented by the coloured dots) are all very carefully aligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes). As is the case with quality IPS panels usually, shades appear saturated and abundant with tone evenly. Gray-scale performance is also top-notch; the panel got no difficulty reproducing every shade of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale ensure that you displayed complex highlight and shadow detail on my check images.
As was the case with the LG 34UC97-S, the U3415W's curved screen brings you a little closer to the action while gaming or watching films. Playing Contact of Duty: Black Ops on the big screen was exhilarating, as was watching Marvel's Captain America: THE WINTERTIME Soldier on Blu-ray. The 34-inch, wide-screen is ideal for users who work with several windows open typically, as well as those who work with large documents or spreadsheets.
The panel's 5-millisecond pixel response keeps ghosting to a minimum, but doesn't eliminate it completely. I observed small ghosting while playing Burnout Paradise on the Sony PS3 system but only when the backdrop was very dark. Insight lag (enough time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command) is a nonissue, because of the U3415W's low 10.5-millisecond lag time.
Despite its size, the U3415W doesn't draw a lot of power. It averaged 55 watts during assessment while operating in Film mode, which is pretty much in line with the LG 34UC97-S (56 watts in Cinema mode). In Regular mode, the U3415W utilized 46 watts, which is much significantly less than the 32-in . Dell UP3214Q's at Amazon 88 watts.
Conclusion
Whether you're seeking to replace your dual-monitor set up with an enormous ultra-wide monitor or want to bring the curved-screen encounter to your desktop, the Dell UltraSharp U3415W is an excellent choice. Granted, you'll pay out a premium for all this screen property, but the U3415W is in fact less expensive than the LG 34UC97-S and offers better all-around efficiency and a height-flexible stand, which is why it is our Editor's Choice ultra-wide monitor. If the Dell U3415W's price is too steep, nevertheless, browse the 29-inch Acer B296CL it isn't nearly as big as the U3415W, doesn't have a curved panel, and it's not a WQHD monitor, but it is a reasonably priced ultra-wide monitor that provides good lots and performance of features.