Dell 2713h

[billy4030]

Hi
Dell are having $300 off this week on the 2713h monitor. Anyone have any advice/reviews on this monitor. I have been looking at this for a while thinking to upgrade my 23". But I have a spyder and I see you cant use the spyder on the dell. So the $300 saving will be spent on an x-rite a bit later. Any help appreciated.

Cheers
Wayne

[arthurking83]

..... But I have a spyder and I see you cant use the spyder on the dell. .....

You can use the Spyder and it's related software to calibrate the screen.

The x-rite calibrator is only required if you want to do a hardware calibration.

The difference between a hardware and software calibration is that the changes to the screen's colours are stored in the monitor on a hardware calibration, whereas in a software calibration the colour changes are stored on the graphics card's LUT.
Is there a real difference in terms of accuracy between the two ... in effect there shouldn't be, and if there were, they'd be so small that humans can't see those differences anyhow(this is why we use calibration devices!)

Where a hardware calibration is handy is in it's stability.
It's not susceptible to operating system vagaries and such like.
You may(or may not) notice, that if you have calibrated your screen, that as the OS boots up, at some point early in the boot up process, the look of the screen may flicker suddenly.
If you see this, then this is the calibrations LUT change(at the software level) finally being loaded as the OS boots itself up in a specified order.

A hardware LUT calibration is set on the screen no matter what OS environment is used. Because the changes are set into the screen itself (theoretically) no matter what OS you want to use with the screen, it's now calibrated for good(rather than needing the calibration data from the graphics card).

I'd say if it's the screen you want get it, without regard for the x-rite hardware point.
Calibrate it as you have your other screen(s) using what you have.

If you then decide that an x-rite hardware device is something you need later, you can take advantage of the fact with your screen.
Note that a hardware calibration requires the use of Dell's specific calibrating software, which is what requires the use of the X-rite hardware.

[billy4030]

Many thanks for that explanation Arthur. You always seem to be a wealth of knowledge. I think I will get it, as it seems a good deal and use the spyder, and maybe if im inclined later on get am x-rite. yes, I do notice when win7 boots up, towards the end, the screen changes brightness, so the callibration taking effect. It is supposed to be calibrated in factory. How long do you think that lasts before it needs a spyder calibrate?

Cheers
Wayne

[arthurking83]

I used to notice sometimes when I used the Spyder software, that the calibration point may have loaded up to a couple of minutes after my OS was ready to go.

So for example, OS would load, I'd be logged in, I may have opened up a couple of programs(eg. photo editing and browser) .. and started doing stuff.
The a short while into my browsing, the screen would suddenly darken. ie. calibration point finally loading up.

A few years ago tho, I changed my calibration software, stopped using the Spyder software and started using basICColor instead.
Calibration was just a touch slower, but much more involved .. but the important thing is that ever since I started using basICColor the calibration point always loads up immediately before the login screen loads. ie. the calibration software seems more stable.

This is where a hardware calibration is important(ir that's important to you) .. it's loaded even before you turn the computer on. It'd hard coded into the screen.

I don't have a Dell screen(yet!) .. but from what I'm reading the factory calibration point is quite good. Maybe a bit bright(brighter than it should be for photos) tho.
So if you have a Spyder, the first thing you'd do is to definitely calibrate the screen in your usual manner. Not calibrating it would be a semi tragedy I reckon.
You have the means .. so may as well use it.

The common consensus is that you should recalibrate every month or so, or check it every month or so.
I did that for years, and found basically no change from each measure point.

I still do a recalibration every now and then, but probably ever few months(4 .. maybe 6) .. if I can remember.


I just had a read up of a Dell 3214 screen review, and part of that review was about measuring the differences between a hardware and software calibration.
It appears that for all intents and purposes, there isn't enough difference between the two types in terms of colour accuracy, and the only limitation with the hardware calibration was that the screen brightness appeared a bit higher than is ideal but with no option to alter this, whereas with a software calibration you have options to change black and white points(ie. brightness and contrast).


My main interest in the ability to do hardware calibration, as opposed to using software .. is simply that you don't have superfluous software services running in the background!
Do a hardware calibration, unload the software and your PC has more resources available for other stuff.

[billy4030]

Thanks again Arthur. I now understand the difference between hardware and software calibration. Late last night it was a bit harder to understand. I will have a look at the basICColor software and see if it would suit me better. I will try the software calibration for the time being. Thanks again

Cheers
Wayne