My most important criticism when reviewing the Dell 27 Ultrathin Monitor (S2719DM) earlier this 12 months was its paucity of video inputs. (It was restricted to only HDMI.) The $549.99 Dell 27 Ultrathin Monitor (S2719DC) cures this with the addition of a USB Type-C port, in addition to two USB 3.0 ports. Not solely are you able to show content material from a pc or different gadget from the USB-C port, however you can even cost the gadget—even a laptop computer—similtaneously you stream from it. These additions, together with the panel’s skinny and practically bezel-less design, lofty luminance and colour accuracy, and good efficiency in our gaming and video testing, are sufficient earn it our Editors’ Choice as a midrange leisure monitor.
About That USB-C Port…
Although the S2719DC drops one of many two HDMI ports that we noticed on the Dell S2719DM, it greater than makes up for this omission with its addition of two USB 3.0 ports and particularly its USB-C port. All of those can be utilized to cost units, whereas the USB-C can even switch knowledge over the cable.
My private laptop computer is a Dell XPS 13; once I purchased it in the summertime of 2016, it was one of many few Windows laptops to incorporate a USB-C port. When I misplaced the XPS 13’s energy provide, I used to be shocked to search out that I might simply as simply cost it from a dock over a USB-C connection. I did in order effectively with the S2719DC, whose USB-C port helps the USB-PD (USB energy supply) protocol.
In this case, it permits for high-speed charging with energy supply of as much as 45 watts whereas receiving knowledge over a single cable. This is ironic, as a result of the S2719DC show itself consumes solely 25 watts in regular operation.
Anatomy of an Ultrathin Monitor
The panel has a really slender bezel, which I measured at 1 / 4 of an inch on either side, on the prime, and on the underside. This properly maximizes display space, and, mixed with the panel’s thinness, offers the S2719DC a glossy and trendy really feel.
This is considerably offset by the stand’s restricted ergonomics. It, alas, supplies tilt adjustment however not top, swivel, or pivot changes. Including the stand, the S2719DC measures 17.8 by 24 inches by 6.2 inches (HWD), whereas the panel portion alone measures 13.9 by 24 by a mere 1.1 inches.
The S2719DC’s 27-inch panel has a local WQHD decision (2,560 by 1,440 pixels). You can consider WQHD as a contented medium between full HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels, or 1080p) and UHD, a.ok.a. 4K (3,840 by 2,160 pixels). Full HD/1080p can, for instance, help excessive refresh charges for players, doubtlessly at the price of low pixel density on giant screens, whereas 4K requires a robust graphics card to maintain body charges at playable ranges. (See our information to one of the best graphics playing cards for 4K gaming.)
Nubbins and Menus: The Controls
The bodily controls on the S2719DC consist of 5 tiny buttons—I consider them as nubbins—on the underside proper fringe of the panel. They’re usable however a bit difficult to govern, and a far cry from the mini-joystick menu controller you usually discover on hardcore gaming screens.
The nubbin furthest to the suitable is the on/off button. The different 4 allow you to navigate the onscreen show. You can change settings resembling brightness and distinction, and from the Color setting, you possibly can change amongst preset modes resembling Standard, Movie, Game, Warm, Cool, and ComfortView.
From Display, you possibly can change the facet ratio, tweak sharpness, and activate (or deactivate) HDR, for which there are a number of additional settings, together with Game HDR and Movie HDR. Getting a monitor to show HDR content material in at this time’s atmosphere below Windows is usually a difficult course of, although. For starters, each your pc’s graphics subsystem and your monitor should help HDR. HDR should even be turned on in Windows 10. The precise strategy of enabling HDR varies amongst monitor manufacturers. With the S2719DC, it’s essential to change the monitor itself into an HDR mode earlier than the choice to activate HDR even seems in Windows 10. Once it does, you simply transfer a slider to allow it, and you need to have the ability to show HDR content material.
Testing Says: High Brightness, Great Color
Luminance rankings—which measure brightness per unit space—for the S2719DC are 400cd/m2 (nits) for standard-definition (SDR) viewing and 600 nits for HDR. We measured its luminance utilizing a Klein Ok10-A colorimeter and SpectraCal CalMAN 5 software program for testing.
The readings labored out to 270.5 nits in Standard mode and 482.9 nits in Movie HDR mode. Although these are effectively in need of the rated brightness, the SDR rating remains to be respectable, and the HDR rating is without doubt one of the greatest that we have seen from any monitor. (Few screens come near, not to mention meet, their rated brightness in our testing.)
Given that that is an in-plane switching (IPS) monitor, colour accuracy is without doubt one of the S2719DC’s strengths. According to Dell, this panel covers better than 85 p.c of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and greater than 99 p.c of the sRGB colour spectrum. Above is a colour constancy, or chromaticity, chart, which was generated with an SDR (non-HDR, or customary dynamic vary) sign in customary mode utilizing the Klein colorimeter and CalMAN.
The space inside the triangle represents all the colours that may be made by mixing the first colours purple, inexperienced, and blue. The circles, representing our measurements, are exterior the triangle and pretty evenly spaced, indicating an expanded colour gamut. Testing in Movie HDR mode produced a really comparable chart.
Gray-to-gray pixel response in quick mode is 5 milliseconds, and enter lag—as measured with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester—got here in at a really affordable 11.2 milliseconds. (This is a bit in need of our chief, the BenQ SW2700PT, which tallied a 9.5-millisecond studying for enter lag.)
Also, the S2719DC carried out effectively once I ran sequences from the sport Far Cry 5 utilizing our Windows 10 testbed outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Founders Edition card. I famous crisp, easy gameplay with minimal artifacts. Users with the right AMD-chip-based graphics , resembling a Radeon RX Vega 64 card, can even make the most of the panel’s AMD FreeSync adaptive sync expertise, designed to scale back picture tearing. It adjusts the panel refresh fee on the fly to match the frame-rate output of the cardboard.
The panel’s refresh fee is a mortal 60Hz, respectable sufficient however effectively in need of the charges we see on hardcore gaming screens just like the Editors’ Choice Asus ROG Strix XG32VQ. That show will be set as excessive as an overclocked, screaming 144Hz.
See How We Test Monitors
One strong trait that the S2719DC shares with the Dell S2719DM is an on-par guarantee. Dell’s plan covers the monitor for 3 years, very similar to many producers of premium screens do, and it additionally provides advance trade within the occasion your panel goes off the rails, sparing you some downtime. That’s particularly vital on condition that this isn’t an affordable unit.
A Flexible Member of the C-Suite
The S2719DC does not have the blazing-fast refresh fee, gaudy LED cupboard highlights, or many different options you’d discover in a hardcore gaming monitor, however its vibrant HDR sign and FreeSync adaptive sync expertise nonetheless put in good stead for individuals who love gaming however do not feel compelled to speculate closely in its . It’s equally good for video watching, particularly in case your pc helps HDR and you’ve got entry to HDR content material or the gumption to ferret it out.
For a $50 increased record value than the Dell S2719DM, the S2719DC provides two USB 3.0 ports and a USB-C port. They can all be used to cost units, however the USB-C port is mostly a godsend, capable of switch sufficient energy to cost most so-equipped laptops with ease, in addition to stream content material or knowledge over the identical connection. This connectivity, mixed with its slim and practically bezel-less body, on-the-mark colour accuracy with a large colour gamut, and good gaming and video efficiency—all at at a good value—are sufficient to make it our newest Editors’ Choice midrange monitor.
As such, it joins the ViewSonic VP2768 on the rostrum, which has superior colour settings and calibration whereas including two DisplayPort inputs and a totally adjustable stand. The VP2768 is an efficient alternative for budding picture or video editors who can use it as a springboard to finally getting a higher-end skilled monitor. They’re each nice screens, every supposed for a barely completely different viewers. If you’re keen on gaming and watching video, and significantly you probably have a USB-C laptop computer that wants each charging and a second display, the Dell 27 USB-C Ultrathin Monitor (S2719DC) ought to show the extra compelling of the pair.