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Where's Dell's Ultrasharp?

David Murphy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:04:43 -0500

You'll note that we've upped our review of Dell's Ultrasharp 3008WFP a wee earlier than normal for Maximum PC magazine content. That's because, well, it's the closest you're going to get to one of these 30-inch displays for the unforeseeable future. We've just been tipped off to the fact that Dell has stopped offering the 3008WFP for sale on its website, citing an undisclosed "technological issue" as the reason for the takedown.

According to Dell, the mystery problem started appearing in the monitors around February. For whatever reason, said problem is fixed, and in order to "manage demand," Dell has pulled the 30-inch displays from its website and will begin fulfilling orders on a "prioritized basis." So if you've already put in a bid for one, you'll get yours. Dell plans to resume normal sales of the 3008WFP at a later, undisclosed date.

So what, then, is wrong with this display? Various rumors have suggested everything from potential problems Dell's having with procuring 30-inch display glass to overheating issues. The problem could even be related to the display's splotchy backlight, as I noted in our review. An underperforming backlight could pave the way for some kind of overheating issue, and I did notice that the display itself was getting quite warm during testing--a little warmer than expected, for sure.

I've put in a call to Dell to see what's up with the monitor. As soon as they get back to me with some answers about what's crippling the monitor, and when we might see new versions of the 3008WFP back for sale again, I'll update the thread!

3:18 p.m.

Just received word from our Dell contact, detailing exactly what I just spelled out above. No ETA on when the displays might be going back up on the site, and no word (yet) as to what exactly the issue was that's extended the production process of the displays.

5:57 p.m.

Chatting with Dell again! Apparently, this issue only affected monitors that were shown as part of early-year demonstrations. So here's what I gather: Dell showed off the 3008WFP, realized it had a problem, and began cranking out fixed units at a frenzied pace. However, it couldn't do it fast enough, and has now been forced to pull the monitors off its website while it fulfills initial orders.

Dell maintains that customers currently using the 3008WFP are not affected by whatever issue the monitors had in the first place. And that's all the company has to say on the matter.

Dell Ultrasharp 3008WFP

David Murphy — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:00:24 -0500

Dell’s jumbo entry in its Ultrasharp line of monitors, the 3008WFP, performs exactly as the company’s marketing materials promise. This monitor truly “produces darker blacks.” In fact, we think Dell’s underselling the device, because the 3008WFP takes the dark spectrum and covers it with the digital equivalent of a dark sheet. We cranked the device to its maximum brightness and still found ourselves unable to see distinctions at the low end of Display Mate’s grayscales.

The situation doesn’t get much better on the light end: As a whole, the 3008WFP suffers from a compressed range. While the 3008WFP’s white is bright and dramatic, it spills over into the light grays, blowing out image detail in both our artificial and real-world test scenarios. If we lower the brightness at all, 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 uncomfortable shades of color to grayscale gradients. The display also fares horribly on our backlighting test, presenting one of the most spotlight-style, splotchy representations we've seen.

That said, the monitor’s Multimedia preset did seem to accomplish wonders on our HD DVD test, making the detail in the dark bits of the movie match that of our current favorite 30-inch monitor, Gateway’s XHD3000. But while this made us happy, 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 when the 3008WFP’s grayscale issues couldn’t be resolved by any presets. A high-res digital image with shadows producing a sweeping black-to-white gradient was clearly marred by banding and other artifacts. A very specific example, yes, but something serious photogs or designers should note.

For gaming, the 3008WFP is as good as any other high-performance LCD. We also like the 3008WFP’s adjustable stand, its five built-in USB ports, and its built-in media reader. This is also the first DisplayPort monitor we’ve ever seen in the Lab. Too bad our high-end videocards don’t yet support the Dual-Link DVI-destroying technology.

Editor's Note: Dell has pulled the 3008WFP line of displays from its online store at the time of this review's posting. According to the company, a technical issue with the monitors has extended the production times for the displays, and Dell is currently working to fulfill orders on a prioritized basis.

Gateway XHD3000

Katherine Stevenson — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:42:26 -0500

When we reviewed 30-inch desktop LCD monitors from Dell, HP, and Samsung back in May 2007, we were left saddened by the large-screen state of affairs. These monstrous widescreens offering unparalleled 2560x1600 resolution seemed like the perfect fit for power users—if not for their inherent limitations. Unlike high-performance desktop LCDs of lesser size, these 30-inch panels lack an internal scaler (and Apple’s 30-inch Cinema Display is no different). The problem is that conventional monitor-scaling technology isn’t powerful enough to drive these screens’ 2560x1600 pixels.

As a consequence, the 30-inch panels are all restricted to a Dual Link DVI interface; they offer no onscreen display options, such as contrast, color, or even color temp adjustments; and if your videocard doesn’t carry high-def copy protection (HDCP) over a Dual Link signal (and most don’t), you’re forced to watch copy-protected high-def content at 1280x800 resolution (half the screens’ native res).

Back in May, we predicted the situation would be remedied in time—we just didn’t expect it to happen so soon, and certainly not by the likes of Gateway. But perhaps it’s precisely because Gateway has fewer resources, and thus a smaller development team and less bureaucracy, that the company was able to see a solution outside the box. That solution is the Silicon Optix HQV Teranex Realta video processing chipset. Capable of performing a trillion operations per second, this video processor has previously been found only in broadcast-industry equipment and high-end home-theater gear, but its pixel-by-pixel algorithmic scaling now serves to make Gateway’s XHD3000 the most flexible 30-inch desktop LCD going.

For starters, the XHD3000 features an array of interface options (see spec box), so you can not only connect to the monitor with a variety of different cables but also have multiple devices hooked up to the screen at once. Then you can switch among, say, your gaming console, laptop, DVD player, cable box, and PC (with each source set at a different resolution) using the onscreen display menu—accessible via touch-sensitive buttons on the monitor’s bezel—or the included remote control. Picture-in-picture functionality gives you access to two content sources simultaneously.

The scaler also makes it possible for you to adjust the screen’s brightness, contrast, and color, regardless of interface. Bundled EZTune software offers similar options, with the aid of step-by-step adjustment and calibration instructions, plus some additional PiP preferences, including the option to make a PiP window invisible when you roll over it with your mouse.

The XHD3000 is unique in yet another respect: It offers decent built-in audio. We’re usually loathe to even mention the presence of a monitor speaker because we don’t want to encourage any reliance on tinny, underpowered audio, but the eight transducers that span the XHD3000’s front-mounted speaker bar are capable of producing fairly rich sound at high volume. It doesn’t deliver the same bass response as a good stand-alone set of speaks, but it’s a worthwhile option if you want to save space on your desktop.

Of course, the meat and potatoes of any display is screen performance, and here, too, Gateway’s on it. The XHD3000’s black looks inky, and a completely dark screen reveals only slight signs of backlight at the corners; grayscale reproduction is strong, showing clear distinction of shades at the extreme light and dark ends; and the picture holds up off-axis.

The screen is capable of playing HDCP-encumbered content at its intended res and the results are impressive. Gaming is also a pleasure on the big widescreen. A powerful PC will let you play at the screen’s native res, but there’s no harm in scaling the res down for a faster frame rate. Either way, the screen’s pixel response keeps apace with the action.

You’d think that with all the extras it offers, the XHD3000 would be more expensive than the competition. In fact, at $1,700 it’s priced lower than 30-inch models from Samsung, HP, and Apple and is only slightly more expensive than Dell’s 30-inch. If you’re after maximum screen real estate and ultimate usability, the XHD3000 is well worth its asking price.