Display Review: Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP

The Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP 30in. display features four USB 2.0 ports that provide easy access to USB devices you access frequently.

The flatpanel manufacturing race in Asia is on and competition is driving prices down and innovation up. In the past 12 months, there has been a 50 percent decline in prices for flatscreen televisions, a trend that is likely to continue. For example, Shanghai, a joint SVA Group and Nippon Electric Corporation venture, announced in 2005 that they would be investing $6 billion in the thin-film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD) industry over the next five years, and both Phillips and Samsung are also increasing supply in pursuit of market share. On the consumer side, Dell is leveraging its enormous buying power to enter the high-end display market with 24in. and 30in. monitors for graphics professionals. This is a new market for Dell, one that was pioneered by Apple with its nearly identical Cinema Displays over the past few years. The big news is that Dell is pricing its monitors very competitively.

The Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP is a stunning 30in. display at $2,199, a price less than the Apple 30in. display at $2,499, and with slightly better specs. While Dell's pricing is attractive, this is a product that requires some evaluation. For instance, you might want to ask yourself whether or not two side-by-side 20in. screens is a better investment than one 30in. The Dell 3007WFP has a maximum resolution of 2560×1600 pixels (WQXGA widescreen format), which means you will need a dual-link DVI-D graphics card. Dell recommends various cards that are listed on its site, including the Dell Nvidia Quadro FX 3450, 2DVI, or VGA; Dell Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX; Dell Nvidia Quadro FX 4500, 2DVI, or VGA; and the Evga GeForce 7800GTX 256MB PCIE and Evga GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB PCIE. These are cards that are packaged with Dell workstations, but you can also use cards with the ATI X800 and X1800 graphic chips. There are other dual-link cards on the market as well, and it's best to check with Dell to make sure you have a compatible card. If you purchase the Dell 3007WFP within a Dell system, the monitor is discounted.

The Dell 3007WFP has a few features I particularly like, including four USB 2.0 ports that provide easy access for USB devices that you access frequently, a hardware key for software (Bias Deck and Ultimatte Advantedge), or my Wacom tablet. The USB ports are conveniently located on the bottom and left side of the monitor (two each), along with an upstream USB port on the bottom. The upstream port must be connected to the PC in order to use any of the other USB and memory ports. Above the two USB ports on the left side are two media-card slots (9-in-2) one for CompactFlash cards and a multi-format reader for SmartMedia, Secure Digital, Memory Stick, and MMC cards. If I owned a Dell 3007WFP, the media card slots would allow me to get rid of the two Dazzle card readers and cables I now use to read the aforementioned cards.

I did not receive the Dell Sound Bar speakers, which are available as an add-on. These inexpensive speakers are designed to fit the Dell 3007WFP. These are connected to a 12V jack on the bottom of monitor — another opportunity to reduce cable tangle under your desk.

This Dell product does not provide FireWire ports, despite the fact that FireWire has become a standard used by many peripheral and camera manufacturers (including Sony) throughout the industry and it has advantages over USB for moving video. To be fair, this is a minor annoyance.

One complaint about the 3007WFP that has been circulating on blogs is the lack of video inputs. The Dell UltraSharp 2405WFP (24in.) provides inputs to play video from a DVD player, VHS deck, or any other analog source. At 30in., the 3007WFP seems very much like a television you might find in the rec room, and I was interested to hear online opinions mention that the Dell 3007WFP might do double duty as a monitor and a television. I'm not sure about the practicality of that idea, considering my workspace is not where I watch TV, but for video professionals, being able to monitor NTSC is an obvious win.

One other issue that has dogged many LCD monitors is the lack of onscreen controls. The Dell 3007WFP is no exception. The only control on the actual monitor is the on/off button and two additional buttons (+ and -) on the lower left of the bezel for brightness. While color correction controls on the monitor are a little bit more convenient than having to access luminance controls within Windows XP using Windows' Display Property controls, this type of mucking about is what you do on your television, not a monitor used in a production environment. For professional control, Windows users will want to download the Microsoft Color Control Panel Applet, allowing for true color profiling. Additionally, having the controls off the monitor discourages unauthorized changes to the monitor's settings. Frankly, if you are using a 30in. monitor to evaluate color, then it makes sense to buy color calibration software such as Chromix ColorThink, ColorVision, X-Rite, and others, and properly manage the color of your system.

The Dell 3007WFP has a handsome slim design keeping the black-is-beautiful look of Dell's high-end workstations. The screen is bound by a thin black bezel with a thin silver cap on top and bottom. The stand sits on a V-shaped base that pivots three degrees forward, 19 degrees back, and 30 degrees side-to-side. The stand also allows the screen to be raised 3.54in.

I previously discussed ergonomics in a review of the Apple 30in. Cinema Display and have some further thoughts here. My first reaction to the 30in. viewing experience is that NLE and Adobe After Effects users will love the fact that they get a lot of timeline space and still have room for palettes and the video display windows. However, the sheer width of the screen takes some getting used to. If you use an NTSC monitor in addition to a computer display, desk space may be an issue. Another concern is the distance from your monitor to the wall behind it. I found myself wanting to move farther back from the screen to be able to take it all in. If you are in cramped quarters, viewing distance may be an issue.

Lastly, while LCDs may remove the alleged radiation dangers of CRTs, filling even more of your peripheral vision with a near-focus subject for hours on end may cause additional eye strain. Post-production demands long hours in front of a display. So even though the immediate thrill of extra screen real estate is a kick, the cumulative effects of prolonged viewing are unknown. It makes sense, though, to reevaluate your workspace if you plan to use an oversize monitor like the Dell 3007WFP.

The Dell 3007WFP is based on newer panel material than the Apple 30in. and posts slightly better performance specs. For instance, the 3007WFP's horizontal viewing angle is 178 degrees (vertical and horizontal) as opposed to 170 for the Apple display. Similarly, the response time is 11ms (gray-to-gray) and 14ms (black-to-white) as opposed to 16ms (black-to-white) for the Apple display. These are all fast response times, and I did not find smearing for either display when playing a fast-moving DVD. Gamers will approve of the faster times even though they may not be able to perceive a difference.

The review monitor Dell sent did not have any dead pixels and the screen is a deep, rich black. The published contrast ratio is 700:1, which is also very impressive, particularly with a brightness of 400cd/m2. Both these specs make this the brightest, high-contrast 30in. display on the market. The color consistency is very good across the screen when viewed at various angles. The default white measurement was 6500K, although I detected a very slight warm hue in the blacks.

I would like to mention that I continually encounter reviews in which the color quality of LCD panels are evaluated in terms of their use for color correction for broadcast and even DI for film. This is extremely misleading and an evil trend in desktop production. While it's always important to strive for the highest color fidelity and consistency throughout a graphics workflow, LCDs in the Dell 3007WFP's price range are simply not going to be suitable for proper color evaluation on output. Any studio or artist taking responsibility for broadcast delivery or final color correction will need calibrated monitors of a very different kind to achieve professional results. Having mentioned this, Dell's 3007WFP, when properly calibrated, is a good color reference during image creation or editing, given the understanding that ultimately any material created will be reevaluated in a scoped and calibrated environment for final output.

Dell provides a 36-month parts and labor warranty. Four- and five-year extended plans are also available. The online help is thorough and easy to understand with driver downloads, full specs, setup instructions (including supported graphic cards), and a troubleshooting guide. There is also a 24/7 toll-free support.

The Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP has the best price/performance for a monitor of this size. With a dual-monitor card, you are looking at spending close to $3,000 for 30 inches of screen space; that may be worth the expense if you want all your NLE, Pro Tool, or After Effects windows and timelines available without a lot of crowding. It would be nice if the Dell 3007WFP had analog inputs so it could double as a television like its slightly smaller brother, the 24in. wide-screen UltraSharp 2405WFP, but I doubt this is a major problem for a production studio. The analog capability and FireWire ports would make this the perfect big monitor, but it's close enough to wonderful that there is no reason to wait for something better — in 2006, this is the 30in. widescreen to buy.

Company: Dell Round Rock, Texas; (800) 999-3355 www.dell.com

Product: UltraSharp 3007WFP

Assets: 700:1 contrast ratio with 400cd/m2 brightness, four USB 2.0 ports.

Caveats: No FireWire ports or analog capability, lack of video inputs.

Demographic: Anyone wanting a 30in. display.

PRICE: $2,199

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