Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor, Black

So Ill get the big points out of the way first. No, its not a 10 bit panel, and yes, its an e-IPS panel (the low-end of IPS). If you dont know what either of those things mean, dont worry about it. This is far and away a better monitor than any TN panel out there (even the best TN panel wont match a low-end IPS panel for color reproduction, and its likely what youll get with any monitor under $200). So with that out of the way, Ill review this monitor as someone looking for a better than average LCD panel. That is, after all, what Dells U2412M is designed to be. Its not aimed at professionals. Its aimed at consumers that arent happy with how their TN LCD cant quite ever do white justice. Its aimed at the casual or enthusiast photographer that wants decent colors but doesnt have a job riding on it. Its aimed at the gamer that is disappointed by how hard it is to make out a dark room in their favorite game. It wasnt that long ago that TN panels in this size and resolution were going for the same kind of money (the Acer P241w sitting next to this Dell was $300 new). The fact that you can now get an IPS panel for under or around $300 is incredible. Compared to my old Acer (which Ive never been able to get decently calibrated) the Dell is fantastic. Whites are so much whiter. Colors are richer. Details are sharper. The OSD is quite frankly brilliant (the softkey system makes fumbling for the right button in the dark a thing of the past). Then add features I never had with my Acer, like the height and swivel adjustments, rotation, and a USB hub. Its money well spent as far as Im concerned, and Im very happy with it. Now to address an issue Ive seen in several reviews: yellow tinting. The display I got (model U2412Mb, rev A00) shows no signs of it. Thats only a sample size of one, so I cant claim that its gone, but its definitely not present on the one I got. I ran the Windows 7 monitor calibration (which is a visual calibration, calibrated eyeballs required), and was generally pretty pleased with the results. I dialed out a bit of green and just a hint of red (the gamma was pretty much spot on), and if anything it makes it look like my old Acer has the yellow tinting problem. For sake of mentioning the competition (I know how much some people like to comparison shop), you might check out ASUSs PA248Q. I havent seen one myself, but it seems to be the only real price to price direct competitor. The ASUS has USB 3.0 and HDMI if thats important to you. This Dell has neither (no HDMI at all, and the USB hub is 2.0). If youre like me and just cant stand how average TN paneled LCDs are these days, this Dell is a very good option. Im very happy with mine. It arrived with no issues (no weird tints, no dead/hot pixels of any kind). While I cant say for sure that your Dell will be just as good (quality control being what it is these days), I can say its worth it if you do get a good one. As always with Amazon, youre likely to have the best luck buying directly from Amazon (thats what I did).

This is the 3rd U2412M Ive ordered. The previous two were ordered 11 and 13 months ago, and were REV A03. This is a REV A01 (model U2412Mb). It does have the yellow tint that others have talked about, and is very noticeable compared to the two previous A03 monitors. However I was able to adjust it so the difference is less noticeable by changing the preset to color temp and selecting 7500k (as opposed to standard and 6500k) - its still noticeable, but now mostly for blues instead of whites. Since Im not doing graphic design this is acceptable for me. I will be keeping this model, even with the yellow tint, but have to return this specific one as it has a loose part inside that rattles whenever I move it. I would have rated this monitor a 5 previously, but its dropped a star because of the color uniformity issues and the loose part inside (there is no damage to the monitor or the box, and it works). Update: Amazon shipped me a replacement, and this monitor works great. It is also a REV A01 (model U2412Mb). It does have a yellow hue compared to the REV A03 monitors, but this monitor isnt nearly as bad as the previous one, which stuck out very obviously when the monitors were next to each other. This one is much less obvious, enough that I may not even bother to adjust it. This monitor Ill be keeping.

One of the best purchases I have ever made. As a software engineer and photography enthusiast who works with computers most of the time when not sleeping, I have high standards for monitors and have played with a lot of them. I can say that this one is the best value for the money. The color is pretty accurate (not as accurate as those super expensive monitors that cost $1000+ though), and the uniformity of the display is superb. Dont get tricked by those fancy looks and functions of some cheap monitor (not so cheap though, still cost $100+)--those functionalities have nothing to do with the display quality. This display is so good that I immediately bought another one for my GF after getting my hands on this one. You could easily find that the color in those display you used before (TVs, cheaper monitors) are far more inferior and you immediately enter a new world with vivid color. This monitor is great for programming and photo editing for enthusiasts (pros may choose those expensive ones), and other uses that you could imagine. The 16:10 ratio is also optimal for working, and I never had any problems with movies even though for 16:9 movies you cannot get a full coverage. Actually I found the bottom black gap is perfect for subtitles. If youre looking for a 24-inch monitor, buy this one as fast as you can. You may also want to consider the 27-inch version if youre looking for a larger monitor.

I purchased this monitor after hearing positive feedback from a couple of my friends who have this monitor as well as my own positive experience when testing this monitor on their PCs. The primarily glowing reviews here and elsewhere online confirmed the positive impressions that I had already developed for this monitor. So my expectations were high. Im going to begin this review with a problem that I had and end with the good stuff. If it wasnt for the flaw described below I would have given this monitor a solid 5 star rating. I cant recall reading any other reviews detailing the flaw that Im about to describe so I thought it wise to mention it in the event that anyone reading these reviews may encounter it themselves. The monitor it had a subtle flaw. A portion of the right hand 1/3 of the screen was slightly dimmer than the rest of the screen. It looked like a very subtle gray tint. It was probably an uneven distribution of brightness / luminance, possibly a backlighting problem. I understand that some unevenness in brightness / luminance can be expected but it should only be noticeable when testing / measuring with calibration software and not to the naked eye. The dimmer area of this monitor was visible to the naked eye. There was no way to adjust the problem away. It was most noticeable on a white background. I spend most of my time in Excel, Word, etc. so I always saw that slightly dimmer right hand 1/3 of the screen. I also use a live real-time stock quotation system that has numerous charts with white backgrounds so the charts on the right portion of the screen always appeared slightly dimmer with that grayish tint compared to the other charts. The problem was also noticeable on light colors. For example, if a light yellow or pink color filled the screen, the section of the monitor on the right 1/3 of the screen that was dimmer gave the light yellow and pink colors a slightly very subtle grayish tint. If the screen was filled with a fluorescent green, the same portion of the monitor with the problem had a slightly duller less bright fluorescent green color. The problem was not as obvious on really dark colors or video, but colors were less vibrant and rich. However, I played a couple of videos where there was a white background and paused the image and if the image was paused you could see the dimmer right hand portion of the screen even with a video. If it wasnt for this problem of a slightly very subtle dimmer section of the monitor, the positives were everything that I had experienced when testing this at my friends house and everything positive that I have read in all of these reviews. But since I hadnt read anything negative in these comments about the particular problem that I had experienced I decided that hopefully it was simply a flaw in this particular monitor that had been shipped to me. So I returned the monitor. I was willing to give this monitor another chance and simply wanted to exchange the flawed monitor for the exact same model. Well, upon receiving the replacement monitor I found that it had an uneven distribution of brightness / luminance on both sides of the screen. Less so than the original monitor on the right side but now the left side of the replacement had a touch of the same problem. I decided the original looked better and decided to keep it and return the replacement. Now the good stuff. If it wasnt for the flaw that I just described, the following comments would have warranted a solid 5 star rating for this monitor. I have not made any adjustments to the image at all because everything looks perfect to me right out of the box, at least to my naked eye. The colors are vibrant, rich, and natural. There is no greenish or bluish tint or any other color tint that some people seem to have noticed with their monitors (when using the color setting Standard preset mode). The movie mode setting gave the screen a bluish tint and the multimedia mode setting gave the screen a slightly yellowish tint. The text mode setting was much too dark for my personal liking. Text is crisp and sharp. I have no dead or stuck pixels. There is no backlight leakage visible to my naked eye. And there is no color bleeding. I quickly decided the Standard mode setting configuration was best for me. I made absolutely no adjustments and even video looks stunning in Standard mode. In fact, I prefer videos in the Standard mode rather than the movie or multimedia modes. Unlike most of the reviewers here who turn the brightness down to about 35, Im one of those people who like a nice bright screen and find the factory pre-set 75 level to be just perfect for my eyes. The anti-glare hard coating is typical of what you would find on most anti-glare monitors and does what its supposed to do without degrading the image quality. You can see a touch of the anti-glare coating on an all white screen background, but otherwise it is unnoticeable. If you spend all day in Excel with a white background like I do you will slightly notice it if you stare hard at the screen and think about it. But if you have previously used anti-glare monitors you wont consciously be aware of it or notice it. If you are currently a glossy screen user, you may be slightly conscious of it on a white background, but as I said it wont degrade or diminish the quality of your screen image. The stand is excellent. Very sturdy and offers a full range of height, tilt and swivel adjustments. As previously mentioned, I use this monitor primarily for business applications. If I were to use this for professional photography or video editing I would probably want to be sure I had the most accurate settings possible and would have the monitor calibrated or at least use one of the ICC Profiles for this monitor on the TFT Central web site. I did look at the test images on the lagom.nl/lcd-test/ web site and this monitor tested very well on most of the images. The only images that showed possible adjustments are necessary were the white saturation images and the gamma calibration. But this Dell monitor tested extremely close to those images right out of the box. The other test images showed the monitor was very well tuned. But as I said, to my naked eyes, colors look accurate and the image is absolutely beautiful right out of the box! Photos that Ive taken are displayed with accurate colors on the monitor and look just as they should. However, if youre a professional photographer the higher end Dell U2410 offers better color management with the color space having a wide gamut (102% NTSC) and this Dell U2412M having the standard gamut / sRGB (71% NTSC). Essentially, I was actually shocked that the image looked so good right out of the box and had fully expected to spend time calibrating or doing some sort of minimal tweaking to perfect the image. Thankfully, that was not necessary. Its almost as if the monitor was factory calibrated. Of course your monitor image is only going to be as good as your graphics card allows so be sure that you have a reasonably high end video/graphics card installed in your PC with the most current drivers. Since I use this monitor primarily for business, I run my stock quotation system and Excel all day long. One of the primary considerations in buying this monitor was the higher screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 since I need to maximize and make the most efficient use of my screen real estate space in order to display as much data and as many charts as possible at the same time. This monitor is perfect for providing that additional screen space. Most of my Excel spreadsheets are zoomed down to 80% with font sizes averaging 8 to 10 points. Even with worksheets zoomed down to 80%, the 8-10 point font sizes are crisp, clear, and sharp. I did make one change to how Windows handles font displays however. I was previously using windows font smoothing set to standard, which is probably the default setting. At this setting the text is crisp and sharp but I found it a little thin. So I changed the smoothing to ClearType, which made the text look a little fuller and darker, but still sharp and crisp. I prefer this setting on this higher resolution monitor. Its a matter of personal preference. So this monitor is perfect for investment managers, traders, technical chart analysts, or financial analysts in general. Its also great for people who spend considerable time in database applications. If you think you need a 27 monitor for these purposes plan on spending a minimum of $1,000 for the same specifications or better, and the features and customization capability of this 24 Dell U2412M. Do the extra 3 inches justify the big jump in price? But one distinct advantage of a larger monitor would be the ability to run at an even higher resolution than this Dell thus providing even more screen real estate space. When playing a video on this monitor either on YouTube or from any other source, a HD video will fill the screen width but you will see black bands on the top and bottom of the screen since it is a higher resolution than a standard HD monitor with a resolution of only 1920 x 1080. If you watch a movie shot with anamorphic widescreen lenses (usually Panavision) at a 2.39:1 aspect ratio or a movie shot with spherical lenses and cropped to a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (Super 35), you will notice much larger black bands on the top and bottom of the screen than you would see on a lower resolution monitor. The letterboxing effect is more noticeable on this higher resolution monitor. Thats not a negative; its just the result of a higher resolution. Movies shot with the best equipment (Panavision cameras and lenses) look stunning and sharp. Videos shot with a RED digital cinema camera and lenses, or even better with Panavision lenses, also look stunning and sharp. Movies shot anamorphically look the most stunning when Panavision anamorphic lenses were used. Other anamorphic widescreen lenses dont seem quite as sharp and can display a few moderate visual distortions, but then that is most likely the quality of the lens and not the fault of the Dell monitor. YouTube videos shot with reasonably high end HD cameras also look fairly sharp. Of course most of them are not professionally shot so YouTube videos are not the best judge of video images on this monitor. But for those YouTubers who take a professional approach and know what theyre doing and use high end software for editing and color correction, such as Final Cut Pro X, the images look great on this monitor. Of course the video quality for DVD and Blu-ray will also depend on the quality of the mastering of those disks. Im not a big gamer so I havent yet tested any video games on this monitor. I would definitely recommend this monitor. If youre looking for a reasonably priced IPS panel LED LCD 24 monitor with good viewing angles this monitor fits the bill. If you need extra screen real estate space, the higher resolution 1920 x 1200 gives you much more extra space. If you want a monitor with a slightly higher brightness capability of 300 cd/m2 versus the average 250 cd/m2 for this price range or lower, then this monitor will give it to you. If HDMI is a requirement for you, this monitor does not have that connection. It was not an issue for me so I cant give this monitor a reduced rating for its lack of HDMI. If you must have it, splurge for the higher end, higher priced Dell U2410. And hopefully if you buy this monitor you will end up receiving one with an even distribution of brightness / luminance. Bottom line, the Dell U2412M monitor provides a beautiful display for a moderately priced IPS monitor with many easy options for adjusting the OSD should you find it necessary to tweak the image more to your own liking. Finally, the actual vendor for this monitor was WeSellForLess, through Amazon. They were a great vendor. I simply sent an e-mail explaining the problem with the monitor and they immediately shipped a replacement monitor and e-mailed a UPS return label for the original monitor. Everything was handled smoothly and quickly without any hassles. Ive purchased products online for years and have never actually had to return anything for a refund or exchange until now. I guess Ive been lucky.

Hello everyone. So I just got this monitor. I just want to make it clear, that I am not a designer, photographer or someone who, for professional, or whatever other reason is very picky about colors and distinguishing between 96 and 100% blacks. I am a scientist and I mostly use this monitor in portrait orientation (one of the reasons I actually bought it is that it easy rotates 90 degrees -- and it indeed does that easily) for reading articles and writing. I use this monitor with my MacBook Pro connected via DisplayPort-MiniDisplayPort cable. This setup works perfectly for me, and I dont seem to be having problem other people described with this setup (as display not going to sleep, or going to sleep after couple of minutes of usage). Using Macs, I really like the view angle of IPS technology, and this display performs just as well as my MBP display. Color: Little hint for Mac users here, if you go to display setup (on the monitor itself), it does have a Mac profile (it is PC by default). This setup delivers exactly (at least to my eye) the same colors as my mbp display. People are also bothered by anti-glare coating on this display. I can understand that it may bother someone, but I am actually a fan of antiglare displays (even my laptop has a customized AG display) and I find this one very good. I also think that 2 usb ports are handy, but a card reader will be useful too, as other people have reported. Bottom line: amazing monitor if you want to read and type on it (cant say about other applications). Perfectly works with Mac laptops, being much cheaper than Apple Displays (more than 2 fold) and has antiglare coating, unlike apple cinema display. Very easy to set any position you want. That is it for now.

So after weeks of watching, I went ahead and bought two of these monitors for 265 when a resaler (Triplenet pricing) was having a sale. First impressions were good, the monitors had a simplistic, utilitarian design I especially liked and the stands seemed solid (Im using a monitor stand so I cant comment on those). Upon installation I was blown away by the display quality and viewing angles. The rumors are really true about these monitors; even though its only a 78% gamut display, you wont know the difference unless you are a professional who relies on color accuracy. The display will blow you away if you are coming from a TN panel. I spent the afternoon looking at photos, admiring the quality of the color reproduction. Its actually much similar to getting a new pair of glasses. Also Id like to add that the input lag is minimal and I was able to play FPS games with no ill effect. However, a month into the purchase I noticed a small plastic plate in the rear had popped out. I had to use a knife to lift the plastic to pop it back in. It hasnt set properly and still pops out slightly. Now, I dont know if this was a defect or a shipping problem, but it is an issue that I believe has to do with the cheap plastic construction used on the monitor. On a related note, the (Amazing) panel feels cheaply constructed on a physical level. When you push in the panel, it has way too much play, going a few millimeters past its point. Now I know these seem like trivial, superficial problems, but I expected much more from such a highly regarded monitor that costs about $280 average (at the time). Overall, Im happy with the monitor, but just beware of what it really is before you dive in. An entry-level monitor with cheap materials with a great display. The construction is really just a minor gripe, and monitor does its job well, so Im giving this 4 stars. Pros: Great colors and viewing angle (The 178 degree viewing angle makes portrait orientation a possibility) Intuitive menu makes for easy, quick adjustments USB hub is very useful Comes with most cables, but not DisplayPort Clean, modern design Cons: Flimsy construction, a lot of play in the display Cheap materials used Anti glare causes some discoloration at certain angles (very, very minimal) EDIT: Just noticed the damaged/defected monitor also has a yellowish tint compared to the other one. I never really noticed until now, dropping a star for that. For me, the color wasnt such a big issue, but for many others, it might be huge. Again, take this monitor for what it is: an upgrade for the average consumer, not for professional creatives who rely on color accuracy. Update from 9/13/2014: Got a chance to use the stand, and I can certainly say that this monitor is rugged where it matters, although there is some shaking if you are typing really hard. But, for 99% of the time, you wont even notice it. Aside from the stand, everything is working as it should, and Ive had no problems except for this tiny bright dot that only shows when there is a white background. Not a huge issue but its there... so I stand by my original rating of 3 stars. The value is there, but Dells QA could use some work.

I am a gamer and regular computer user and for me this monitor is just perfect. When I built my gaming rig I had to purchase a new monitor for it so had to get rid of my 24 iMac with IPS 1920x1200 resolution, I said oh well Ill just get this 1080p TN (I didnt do my research on TN and IPS before purchase) panel with 2ms response time ( since it was for gaming this was what I was looking at the most ). Well 1080p felt weird and cramped and the colors were different than my previous display (iMac 24) I thought oh well Ill get used to it, but no I didnt so I did my research and found out about IPS and TN panels. Armed with new info I set out to buy an IPS panel that wasnt too expensive and with decent response time for gaming and of course this new panel had to be 1920x1200. After searching the web and reading many reviews online many people seemed to suggest this monitor and pointed to a review on TFT Central, after this review I was hooked and went ahead and purchased it. If anyone is in doubt about buying this monitor go check out the extensive review over at TFT Central. Set up: I have this monitor connected to a Mac mini through display port and my gaming PC connected through DVI. Both work great with excellent color and image quality, the monitor wakes fast from sleep and goes to sleep fast when device is off compared to my previous panel. Pros: e-IPS Panel (Beautiful colors compared to TN panels) Price (Compared to other IPS panels this is a steal) Resolution (1920x1200 is simply better than 1080p, for TVs 1080p is fine but for computer monitors those extra 120 pixels do wonders) No ghosting or input lag ( I didnt see a difference in input lag between this and my previous 2ms response time TN panel) Adjustable ( This monitors adjusts up, down, tilt, swivel, etc.) LED ( Thinner, lighter, disperses less heat, consumes less power ) Cons: Small light bleed on one of the corners ( This is very small and noticeable only when the screen is completely dark, this may vary with each monitor ) No HDMI ( This monitor does not have an HDMI connection, so if HDMI is a must for you this may be a problem) Final thoughts: This monitor is good for someone that wants a monitor to game and regular computer use with great colors and quality. The price is really good for the quality and resolution that you get and I would definitely recommend this monitor.

Update on monitor 2-12-2014 Raised monitor from 1 to 4 stars! Miracle! The computer was repaired by HP - at first the repaired computer didnt SEE the monitor! (kept going into sleep mode) THEN I tried connecting it to DVI port (instead of DVI to HDMI) Still didnt work - then I just started hitting keys on my keyboard, turning mouse on and off - and.... voila! The monitor was live! (Dont know if the change of port had anything to do with it -- maybe banging the keyboard?) Worked splendidly for a few days - then I thought to reconnect my 2nd monitor (which I had disconnected from DVI) to the HDMI Well... the screen started to flutter when I started a PowerPoint slideshow. This is just what happened before the monitor slowed down to the point of uselessness. I immediately disconnected 2nd monitor -- dont understand this at all! The screen still flutters when I start slide-show -- but everything else is working beautifully. Keeping fingers crossed and praying. I really do love this monitor! previous 1-star review. ............................. It seemed to work all right for about a week. Then my computer, became erratic, slowed down, and became unusable. It was under warranty to HP - they put in a new hard drive. Now the monitor will not come on at all. It goes right into sleep mode. I have 2 other monitors that work as soon as I plug them in. Not this Dell. I am totally mystified. And so disappointed that it is too late to returrn..

Excited to get the new monitor I had it plugged in within the hour. Nicely stylish, and very sturdy I was sure I had made a good choice. I am a photographer and while on a budget I DO need something that is accurate that I can count on. This is my third IPS monitor and is replacing an excellent (expensive) 8 year old 16 X 10 24 HP that gave out. Here is how it fared. Turning it on I LOVED the extra real estate that a 16 X 10 monitor gives the viewer. I couldnt imagine editing photos with anything less. Viewing angles are great. When sitting at a dual monitor setup you are never really lined up to be square with either monitor. The wide viewing angles offered by IPS are fantastic. Plenty of ports on the back and side for anything you are doing. I just use the DVI so I didnt test anything else. Convenient control placement. But, I noticed (side by side) that the colors did not match my other smaller IPS monitor (LG). Not even close. The LG took a little tweaking to get it right so I began to set it up. The LG was close out of the box, in fact, all I had to do was turn down the brightness. Not so the Dell. The colors were all slightly off out of the box. First of all it comes too bright... this is common and a simple test to achieve the proper brightness is to peer at a gradient and adjust till it you see the differences between black blacks and white whites. You can accomplish this by visiting any number of sites or by using the Windows excellent Advanced Color Management tool in control panel. Once that was done I still had colors that were off and dull compared to what I was used to. Plugging in a Spyder 3 finally did the trick. It took the Spyder about 5 minutes and the screen colors matched (very close at least). Colors are bright and seem to be accurate. When something is printed at the lab I use it is right on so.... Here is the conclusion. While much better than any tn monitor it still falls short of the full IPS experience that I had from my previous IPS monitor (I assume that much of this is caused by the 6 bit panel instead of 8 bit). It will have to do for now as I cannot afford the $1000 replacement cost of the previous monitor. It is sturdy and built well. Controls are well thought out and easy to navigate. Lots of connectivity. All things that add to its value. Is it worth its price, absolutely. Does it it rate 5 stars unfortunately not. PROS 16 X 10 Native format (lots of extra real estate from a 16 X 9) Lots of ports- 1 DVI-D with HDCP, 1 DisplayPort 1 VGA,1 USB upstream port 4 USB downstream ports, Dell Sound bar Budget priced for an IPS Great wide viewing angles Accurate colors once calibrated CONS Factory Settings without hardware calibration are going to be disappointing. 6 bit color not 8 bit so to achieve 8 bit color it needs to dither. (I knew this before I ordered but if you didnt...) only standard RGB gamut not wide gamut. Even then falls a little short of the full RGB spectrum

I have never been a fan of LED monitors. Sometimes the brightness can be harsh on the eyes, but I was pleasantly surprised when I received my new Dell U2412M. My eyes were pleased with the IPS Display. The 24 size is perfect for a desktop. I was impressed with the stand and its adjustability that alone is worth the price, most monitors in this price range have a cheap plastic feel to them, not the Dell. I am just an average user who touches up some family photos, surfs the web. Out of the box, the image quality is fantastic and was easy to set up. There is no HDMI input on this particular monitor, you will have to use a DVI adapter if your PC does not have a DVI plug. For the price Amazon sold this for I can live without an HDMI input. Bottom line, I saved a lot of money and got a Dell U2412M, Best Buy could not even come close to this price. Read the reviews, a lot of people here with technical knowhow explain in detail what is good and what is not so good. I have no buyers remorse....I actually want to get a second one.