Dell S2722DZ Monitor: Specs, Pros, Cons – Record-Breaking 5X Accuracy Improvement!

LaptopMedia.com Reviews and Analysis Dell S2722DZ Monitor: Specs, Pros, Cons - Record-Breaking 5X Accuracy Improvement!

From: Severin Kolakov 08 February 2024 / 19:49 | 0

A monitor with an integrated Webcam and Microphone, huh? The tech enthusiast inside us is quite happy with this development, however, the tinfoil hat at the back of our mind is screaming. Nevertheless, the Dell S2722DZ stands very impressive with its integrated USB ports, speakers, and the aforementioned webcam. In terms of specs, it has a QHD IPS panel spanning across a 27-inch canvas, as well as a 75Hz refresh rate, a 4ms response time, as well as FreeSync Support, which does unlock some potential casual gaming on this apparently “office” monitor.

Today, we’re putting a major focus on the Dell S2722DZ’s Creator capabilities, by testing its color coverage and accuracy. HUGE SPOILER, we made the monitor almost 5 times more accurate using our Display Profiles (BUY THEM HERE).

You can check the current price of the Dell S2722DZ here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Specs sheet, What’s in the box?, Drivers, Design, Connectivity
Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

Specs sheet, What’s in the box?, Drivers, Design, Connectivity

Screen size	27 inch (68.58 cm)
Refresh rate	75Hz
Response time	4ms
Panel type	IPS
Backlight type	LED
Screen finish	Matte
Resolution	2560 x 1440 (Quad HD)
Technologies	Contrast ratio: 1 000:1 (Static) Brightness: 350cd/m² Viewing angles: H/V° 178/178 VESA mount: 100×100 Tilt: -5° to 21° Swivel: -30° to 30° Pivot: -90° to 90° Height adjustment: 0 – 110mm Power consumption (Max): 18.26W Power consumption (Stand by): 0.30W Built-in speakers: 2x 5W Built-in webcam: 5MP Built-in microphone: Noise-cancelling
I/O	1x HDMI 1.4 1x DisplayPort 1.2 2x USB 3.0 1x USB Type-C (up to 65W charging) 1x Audio jack

What’s in the box? Assembly

Drivers and Software

You can download the driver and software package from the monitor’s Support Page. This includes the drivers as well as the Dell Display Manager, which gives you more control over multitasking, as well as getting the OSD Menu inside the OS, so you can tweak colors and other settings with your mouse and keyboard enabled.

Design and Connectivity

We’ve had a bunch of Dell monitors recently, and they all look the same. Basically, it has a white plastic textured finish, while the stand and base have a silvery metal finish. The bezels are thin, and the webcam protrudes from the top. The stand, as with most Dell monitors, is very impressive, with Swivel, Pivot, Tilt, and Height Adjustment. With all these mechanisms, you can make the position of the screen perfect for your eyes, so that your back and spine are straight and aligned. In terms of ports, the monitor has two USB Type-A ports, one Type-C port, an audio jack, one HDMI port, and a single DisplayPort.

There are also a pair of built-in speakers, with two 5W units, which are some of the more powerful we’ve seen, as usually we see 2W or 3W speakers in these types of monitors.

Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

A very nice option for Creators, the 27-inch IPS panel brings a Quad HD resolution and a pretty wide color gamut, which you can check out below. We’re also happy to report that the color accuracy shows massive improvement, probably the biggest that we’ve seen on any monitor. Before we get to specific numbers, let’s get you settled with color gamuts and what each represents.

Color coverage

Here’s an illustration (Fig. 1). The whole “sail-shaped” map below consists of all the colors we can see, while the black crooked line shows all the colors from real-world scenes and nature around us.

Then, we’ve drawn some of the most important and interesting color spaces, compared to the colors the panel of Dell S2722DZ can show:

Standard/For Web: sRGB – widely used color space for most consumer devices, ideal for Web design and development
For Print: AdobeRGB – used in professional graphic design, and print
For Photographers/Video Editors: DCI-P3 – used in high-end film production, and digital cinema, and photo editing
Premium HDR: Rec.2020 – the widest consumer ITU color standard, covering a massive 75.8% of the visible spectrum, a benchmark for premium HDR content

Dell S2722DZ: the yellow dashed triangle (– – – – – –) represents the range of colors this monitor can display. In our tests, we calculated the total color coverage of the monitor at 99% of the sRGB gamut, and 86% of the DCI-P3 gamut.

(Fig.1) Dell S2722DZ covers 100% of the Web colors (sRGB)

This means that if the Dell S2722DZ tries to show any color outside of its triangle, it will show the closest color to it that’s inside the triangle.

Color accuracy

Now let’s see how big is the difference between the real colors and the one you’ll see on the Dell S2722DZ. We measure that distance in DeltaE – the bigger the number, the more different they look.

For the next illustration, we’ve chosen 24 common colors like dark and light skin, blue sky, green grass, etc.

Values below 2.0 are considered suitable for color-sensitive work. Before our calibration of Dell S2722DZ, the Average color accuracy was 5.0 dE (Fig. 2), and with our Web Design and Office Work profile, it lowers to 1.1 dE (Fig. 3), which is a nearly 5x increase in accuracy. With a dE value of 1.1, you’re almost reaching below the 1.0 value which is where there’s no difference from seeing the color in real life and on screen. This means that the monitor is absolutely

(Fig. 2) Dell S2722DZ in its factory condition

(Fig. 3) Dell S2722DZ with our display profiles

Comparison in the sRGB color space (primaries and D65 white point specified in ITU-R BT.709, sRGB encoding curve).

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Web Design and Office Work Profile

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom-tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate (they may seem strange at first but after a few minutes our brain will start recognizing them as accurate ones – that’s how Health-Guard differs from alternatives like f.lux).

Pro Tip: As the Health-Guard profile simulates paper and has as accurate as possible colors, it could be a great tool for prepress designers!

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Health-Guard Profile

Gaming and Movies

We also have a third Gaming and Movies profile, which regulates the black colors, making dark areas in games and movies appear more visible, thus giving you a better viewing experience. Shooting at your opponent first can be a make-or-break moment, so make sure you’re best prepared with our profile.

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Design & Gaming Profile

BUY OUR DISPLAY PROFILES

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Dell S2722DZ.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount

$19.90 BUY NOW

Verdict

The Dell S2722DZ offers everything you might need from a mid-range creator monitor, as it’s super accurate and covers a wide gamut of colors. With our Web Design and Office Work profile, we managed to get the dE value from 5.0, which is quite inaccurate, down to 1.1, which is incredibly accurate and just on the verge of being indistinguishable by the human eye. The rest of our profiles improve the work of the Dell S2722DZ outside of work.

As this monitor supports FreeSync, you will be able to do a lot of casual gaming, as the FreeSync works even for the 75Hz refresh rate that we have here. Our profile improves the picture that you see, bringing out the details in the shadows and darker areas, so you can have a better understanding of what you’re actually looking at. Last, but probably most important, the Health-Guard guards your eyes from unwanted Blue Light and screen flickering at lower brightness levels.

All the profile improvements, along with the good design of the monitor, as well as the populated port selection, make the Dell S2722DZ worth having, or at least considering heavily.

You can check the current price of the Dell S2722DZ here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Pros

Wide color coverage (99% sRGB and 86% DCI-P3)
Studio-level color accuracy with our Web Design and Office Work profile (dE of 1.1)
Port selection includes USB Type-C and Type-A ports
Stand offers a lot of adjustability
Webcam with microphone
Built-in speakers