Dell’s latest jumbo Ultrasharp LCD, the 3008WFP (with a native res of 2560x1600), performs exactly as the company’s marketing materials promise. This monitor truly “produces darker blacks.” In fact, we think Dell’s underselling the device—the 3008WFP takes the dark spectrum and covers it with the equivalent of a dark sheet. Even at the monitor’s maximum brightness we found ourselves unable to see distinctions at the low end of DisplayMate’s grayscales.

The situation isn’t much better on the light end of the spectrum: The 3008WFP suffers from a compressed color range. While the 3008WFP’s white is bright and dramatic, it spills over into the light grays, blowing out image detail in our artificial and real-world tests. If we lower the brightness, the dark end of the grayscale worsens. And that’s when we’re using the monitor’s sRGB preset. Other modes, such as the Desktop preset, distort the monitor’s clarity and add color to grayscale gradients.

That said, the monitor’s Multimedia preset did accomplish wonders in our HD DVD test— details in the dark bits of the movie matched what our current favorite 30-inch monitor, Gateway’s XHD3000, produced. However, the setting also made colors appear overly saturated.

Our other real-world tests, including high-quality picture viewing and romps through BioShock, produced similar results. But there was one instance in which the 300WFP’s grayscale issues couldn’t be resolved by any presets. A high-res digital image with shadows that produce a sweeping black-to-white gradient was clearly marred by banding and other artifacts. A very specific example, yes, but something serious photogs and designers should note.

In gaming, the 3008WFP is equal to other high-performance LCDs we’ve tested. We also like the 3008WFP’s adjustable stand, its five built-in USB ports, and its built-in media reader. The 3008WFP is also the first DisplayPort monitor we’ve ever tested. Too bad our high-end videocards don’t yet support the Dual Link DVI–destroying technology.