Dell U2212HM/U2312HM monitor

[jetbean]

I bought a Dell U2212HM monitor a few days ago. This monitor has the exact specs (with the exception of luminosity which the U2312HM is brighter) as the U2312HM one but it's smaller (21.5" vs the 23" U2312HM). I chose the smaller one since I work on it from close range and the pixel density is bigger therefor it has more sharp images.
I always used notebook to develop and all of those have/had glossy displays. My current Sony notebook of 15.4" display has a 1440x900 and stuff just looks awesome on it. Anyway, I wanted a bigger display to work on and a few guys recommended the Ultrasharp monitors from Dell.
Out of stupidity I bought this without investigating more into matte vs glossy displays. I hooked it up to my notebook via DVI cable (I tried VGA and the colors don't look as good) and the image that it displays is very very 'grainy'. This is only noticeable on white and light colors though, darker colors and black looks great. Also, movies look really good on it.
At first I honestly thought it's dirty and tried to clean it without (obviously) much difference. The grainy look (to give you an idea it's like it has fingerprints all over it) is so noticeable (at least to me coming from a very glossy display) that it's basically impossible to do any work(I use Eclipse to do my programming).
My question: are all matte displays like this ? What should I be looking for on matte displays in order to realize how 'grainy' the image might look ?

This is the second monitor I purchased and now I'm returning it. Is it possible that this could be defective somehow? I don't see how though; no dead pixels, dark colors look great, movies look good etc.
I know matte is good for offices since it doesn't reflex that much light but really I can't imagine anyone liking the images this monitor produces, it's just that bad.

 

[MagicPants]

Dell's matte finishes are pretty standard. I prefer them because I hate reflections.

I hear some of the new samsung pls (their version of ips) monitors use a semi glossy coating, so you might give that a try.

http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/monitors/LS24A850DW/ZA

On the other side of the spectrum, the new zr displays from HP use a super aggressive AR coating that would drive you nuts.

 

[jetbean]

Ok, so I went to see a few other monitors just to compare them with my dell Ultrasharp. All of them had a matte finish and all did not have that grainy/noisy picture on whites and light colors. I was specifically looking for that. Also, I looked at monitors with TN and IPS panels.

I can now say for sure that the grainy look is due to the materials dell uses for their monitors (aggressive coating). If someone wants to buy a monitor and they're considering this model, you might want to either look at one in person or think twice about the purchase. You might regret it afterwards.

Cheers.

 

[MageVortex]

That good to know, and now i want to go and look for myself to tr to see what you are atalking about. When i go to a store to check a few out, what exactly should I be looking for so i can see what you are atalking about, that way i can know if it would bother me as well..?

 

[jetbean]

@MageVortex Honestly, I think it depends what is your current setup. If you only used really glossy displays (like me) the going for a matte monitor, especially this dell, you will notice the difference. To answer your question, you should look at how text on white background reads. Open a website like this forum in a browser and see how it displays.

 

[johnshardware]

Regarding the Dell grain. Did you do the Dell auto adjust feature on the monitor when using the VGA connection? I had this problem on my old Dell monitor and that fixed it. The problem is you were using an analog connection and there is no way for the monitor to talk to your computer to automatically set the correct resolution. If you were using a digital connection then it would be handled automatically without you having to do the auto adjust. I’m assuming your monitor has this same feature as mine. The setting on my monitor is under “Image Settings”. Also make sure you are selecting the native resolution via the software driver on your computer, THEN do the auto adjust. Let me know if it helped.

It's hard to believe that it's that bad via DVI. Maybe try auto adjust there too? Or maybe unplug and replug display power? Maybe make sure you have the monitor's native resolution setting selected via your driver/graphics card software? Or maybe it's working just fine and it's just not up to your standards. I see the grain on mine but it's not bad considering it solves the glossy reflection problem.

Anyway, good luck, hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[Toddcraft]

I apologize for bumping this thread as it's a bit old, but I just got a U2312HM and it looks very pixelated to me (coming from a CRT). I found out that the pitch in the U2212HM is closer to that of my old CRT.

Jetbean, by any chance did you compare the two? I'm wondering if the U2212HM would be clearer/less grainy/sandy.

 

[photoshoop]

I just set up my U2312HM, the grainy-ness is horrible on whites and light colours. I can't believe this. It's like the add noise filter on photoshop; it's driving me insane.