Dell UltraSharp U2722DE quick review – Wide Color Coverage, Ergonomic Design

LaptopMedia.com Reviews and Analysis Dell UltraSharp U2722DE quick review - Wide Color Coverage, Ergonomic Design Page 2

From: Severin Kolakov 21 December 2023 / 08:40 0

2. Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

1. Intro, Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box Previous page Next page

Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

The Dell UltraSharp U2722DE offers a sharp QHD IPS panel that’s stretched across a 27-inch screen. This means a pixel density of 108.79 pixels per inch. The refresh rate sits at a measly 60Hz, however, since this device is catered towards productivity freaks and maybe designers, depending on the tests below, the refresh rate isn’t that important. According to Dell, the monitor completely covers the sRGB gamut. So, let’s check for ourselves.

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 UltraSharp U2722DE 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 UltraSharp U2722DE: 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 99.9% of the sRGB gamut, and 91.6% of the DCI-P3 gamut.

(Fig.1)Dell UltraSharp U2722DE covers 99.9% of the Web colors (sRGB)

This means that if the Dell UltraSharp U2722DE 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 UltraSharp U2722DE. 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 UltraSharp U2722DE, the Average color accuracy was 2.6 dE (Fig. 2), and with our Web Design and Office Work profile, it lowers to 1.9 dE (Fig. 3), which is a 1.4x increase in accuracy. Also, the dE is just a smidge lower than the 2.0 value which we consider the entry barrier for a color-accurate monitor. So while not perfect, the device is certainly ready to handle color-related work. And just so you know, values below 1.0 are generally indistinguishable to the human eye.

(Fig. 2) Dell UltraSharp U2722DE in its factory condition

(Fig. 3) Dell UltraSharp U2722DE with our display profiles

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

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

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.

$9.99 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.

$9.99 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.

$9.99 BUY NOW

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount

$19.99 BUY NOW

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Dell UltraSharp U2722DE.

*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].

Verdict

The Dell UltraSharp U2722DE could be better considering the price that it charges, however, with our profiles, you can absolutely use it for color work – in addition to the useful Health-Guard and Office Work, our Web Design profile lowers the dE to 1.9 which is a 1.4x increase in accuracy.

The accurate colors are supported by a wide color gamut, with 99.9% sRGB and 91.6% DCI-P3 coverage. More importantly, it’s very ergonomic and the stand moves in any way imaginable, as it tilts, swivels, and can go both high and low. The integrated UBS hub also makes connecting peripherals a lot easier, while reducing the cable clutter. There’s a second DisplayPort, with which you can daisy-chain a second monitor without direct connection to your PC, as well as several USB ports, both Type-A and Type-C ports.

You can check the current price of the Dell UltraSharp U2722DE here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Pros

Very adjustable stand
Wide color coverage – 99.9% sRGB and 91.6% DCI-P3 coverage
Our profiles adjust the accuracy below the 2.0 entry point for color-related work
Brings a LAN port for network management and connectivity
Wide port selection thanks to the integrated USB hub