A great-looking, well-priced and
fully equipped 21:9 panel
Don’t be fooled by the numbers in Dell
U2913WM’s model name, or at least don’t accept their meaning at face value;
while it does offer a 29in diagonal, the U2913WM uses an unfamiliar 21:9 aspect
ratio, with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,080. This means it matches the anamorphic
2.39:1 aspect ratio of most modern films, allowing for widescreen HD video
playback without any black bars.
Away
from its unusual design, the U2913WM is as well-equipped as you’d expect for a
high-end Dell panel
This alternative approach to the aspect
ratio also means that the U2913WM has a slightly lower surface area than the
27in panels on test (1,943 cm2 in comparison to 2,009cm2), as well as a lower
pixel density of 95ppi compared to a 27in 2,560 x 1,440 panel’s 108ppi. Of
course, this lower resolution also means that it’s easier on graphics cards
when it comes to frame rates, but it also has the downside that, in comparison
to a 1,920 x 1,080 display, there’s no vertical gain.
The panel’s odd design doesn’t stop there
either, as at first glance there appears to be no top or side bezel, with the
anti-glare-treated display looking like it runs from edge to edge. Look
closely, however, and you’ll see that the screen is indented 1 cm from the top
and 1,5cm from the sides beneath the thin anti-glare-coated layer. The result
is a smooth and uniform surface across much of the monitor that’s very
attractive.
Away from its unusual design, the U2913WM
is as well-equipped as you’d expect for a high-end Dell panel. The stand is
solid and reservedly styled, while allowing for a great degree of movement.
There’s 128mm of vertical travel, as well as the ability to smoothly tilt and
swivel, although not surprisingly for a panoramic display, there’s no option to
rotate it into portrait mode.
The U2913WM is bursting with inputs too,
with DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort and VGA all included. This
makes it easy to use the monitor with a variety of devices, old and new. There
are also four USB 3 ports (two on the side and two on the rear), enabling the
monitor to function as a USB 3 hub, although it lacks the (questionably useful)
9-in-1 card reader of the U2713H.
However,
when running anything in 16:9 mode, the effective screen diagonal is reduced to
less than 23in, so those who watch a lot of TV on their PCs should go no
further; you’d be paying for a whole lot of unused screen area
Meanwhile, capacitive touch-buttons along
the bottom-right corner control the OSD, which is well laid out and easy to
navigate. The monitor supports 1:1 pixel mapping when running at lower
resolutions, ensuring no stretching or loss of detail.
However, when running anything in 16:9
mode, the effective screen diagonal is reduced to less than 23in, so those who
watch a lot of TV on their PCs should go no further; you’d be paying for a
whole lot of unused screen area.
Performance
The panel itself is an 8-bit AH-I PS
(advanced high-performance in-plane switching) model with a color depth of 16.7
million colors, capable of displaying 99 percent of the sRGB color space.
It didn’t perform perfectly out of the box
at its standard, default preset, though, producing an overly warm color temperature
of 5,876K. Color accuracy overall was decent, however, with an average dE94
deviation of just 2.1 and a maximum dE94 of 5.3 which is far better than the
U2713H under the same circumstances.
The
panel itself is an 8-bit AH-I PS (advanced high-performance in-plane switching)
model with a color depth of 16.7 million colors, capable of displaying 99
percent of the sRGB color space.
While its stock performance was reasonable,
the U2913WM is factory-calibrated by Dell at its sRGB preset, so we switched to
this preset to continue our testing. The result was a significant improvement,
with a more neutral color temperature of 6,165Kand even better color accuracy.
The averaged E94 was just 1.1, while the maximum was just 2.7. This was a
superb result, matched only by the similarly pre-calibrated ViewSonic
VP2770-LED in terms of color accuracy.
Average gamma variation was also spot-on at
2.2, while the brightness of 197cd/m2 made for a contrast ratio of 927:1, the
best of any panel on test and very close to the advertised static contrast
ratio of 1,000:1. The even backlight with no discernible bleed was also very
pleasing, and video and games alike looked excellent, with deep blacks and
smooth greyscales.
Adding software calibration to the mix
enabled us to compensate for those minimal deviations in color accuracy and
improve performance even further. The resulting, spot-on color temperature of
6,499 K and higher contrast ratio of 970:1 improved the image even further,
with an averaged E94 of 0.5 resulting in excellent sRGB color space
performance. In fact, it’s hard to find anything to criticize about the panel’s
image quality when it’s properly calibrated.
The wide aspect ratio also has a major
impact on gaming. The effect is akin to an Eyefinity or Nvidia Surround setup,
where the vertical resolution is unchanged but you’re suddenly able to see much
more of the landscape on the horizontal plane.
The experience of driving vehicles and
aircraft in Battlefield 3 was particularly impressive, for example, as was the
effect of watching a 21:9 movie covering the full screen on a 16:9 display
you’d be stuck with horizontal black bars on either side of the picture.
Conclusion
We’re huge fans of the Dell U2913WM, not
least because of its great panoramic aspect ratio. It provides some of the
benefits of a multi-screen setup, but without the colossal GPU performance hit,
and without the need for several monitors, each with interfering bezels.
We’re
huge fans of the Dell U2913WM, not least because of its great panoramic aspect
ratio.
Plus, it’s wide enough to allow you to
comfortably compare large documents alongside each other when you want to get
some work done.
Meanwhile, the excellent color accuracy
using its pre-calibrated sRGB mode, not to mention high contrast ratio, make it
great for everything from image editing to gaming and watching movies, with the
latter being particularly enjoyable thanks to the 21:9 aspect ratio. In short,
it’s an absolutely brilliant panel that’s highly recommended on all fronts.
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Information
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Price: $743
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Manufacturer: www.dell.com
Specifications
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Screen size: 29in/73cm
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Aspect ratio: 21:9
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Screen area: 301 in2/1,943cm2
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Resolution: 2,560 x 1,080
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Pixel density (ppi): 95
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Size [W x H x D): 700 x 487 x 194 mm
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Panel technology: IPS
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Backlight type: LED
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Stated static contrast ratio: 1000:1
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Stated response time (grey to grey): 8ms
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Inputs: DisplayPort, mini DisplayPort, DVI-D,
HDMI, VGA
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USB: 4 x USB 3
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Adjustment: Tilt, height, swivel, rotate
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Warranty: 3 years
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Dead pixel policy: Zero bright pixels, 5 dead
pixels
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