Dell UltraSharp 24 Ultra HD Monitor: The $1300 UP2414Q

Dell UP2414Q 24" Ultra HD Monitor Review

If CES was any indication, 2014 is the year of Ultra HD. Dell’s UP2414Q is now the third 4K screen we’ve had the opportunity to test in as many months. And our experience thus far suggests that monitors with 3840x2160 resolutions are still ahead of the rest of the supporting ecosystem.

Gamers anticipating their favorite titles in the lush detail offered by 4K still need to consider the cost of at least one ultra high-end video card. And they need the right display outputs if they hope to achieve a 60 Hz refresh rate. Anything faster necessitates settling for 1920x1080 (or a modded QHD monitor). Plus, enthusiasts seeking out the fastest screen response and lowest input lag have to turn to TN-based panels. The AH-IPS technology we find in Dell's UP2414Q is still slower.

The company knows this, of course. So, for its first-generation Ultra HD products, the focus is on graphics professionals and photographers. Rather than trying to emphasize speed, the main purpose of this 24-inch (like its 32-inch big brother) is rendering accurate color in both sRGB and Adobe RGB gamuts, while providing a sharp image with no visible pixel structure.

When we first started testing wide-gamut monitors, we lamented the fact that you couldn't choose between gamuts. If a panel can natively do Adobe RGB, then it is theoretically capable of rendering any other gamut within that triangle. Asus delivered the functionality we were looking for in its PA279Q (Asus ProArt PQ279Q Monitor Review: 27-Inch, Wide-Gamut, QHD). And Dell includes it in the Ultra HD UP3214Q.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BrandDell
ModelUP2141Q
MSRP$1300
Panel TypeAH-IPS
BacklightGB-r-LED
Screen Size23.8 in
Max Resolution3840x2160
Max Refresh Rate60 Hz
Aspect Ratio16:9
Color Depth8-bit
Native GamutAdobe RGB
Response Time (GTG)8 ms
Brightness (cd/m2)350
Speakers-
VGA-
DVI-
DisplayPort v1.21 standard, 1 mini
HDMI v1.4a1
Audio In-
Headphone-
USB 3.01 up, 4 down
Media Card Reader1 SD
Panel DimensionsW x H x D w/base22.4 x 14.6-19.8 x 7.6 in569 x 371-501 x 192 mm
Panel Thickness2.2 in / 56 mm
Weight15 lbs / 6.8 kg
WarrantyThree years

At first glance, it's tempting to think of the UP2414Q as a UP3214Q that was zapped with a shrink ray. As you’ll see in the coming pages, that is largely true. The OSD is identical, and so are the chassis and trim.

But the similarities end there. Whereas the 32-inch screen employs a white-LED IGZO panel from Sharp, the 24-inch monitor is built around a GB-r-LED part from LG. This is one of only two 23.8-inch Ultra HD pieces currently made by LG, and the only one that offers the wider Adobe RGB color gamut. We tested one other GB-r-LED-based display recently, the above-linked Asus' PA279Q. Here’s a quick technology refresher, though:

Rather than the white LEDs found in most LCD monitors, a GB-r-LED backlight consists of green and blue diodes coated with a red phosphor. The net effect is that the three primary colors' spectral peaks are pretty much even. With white-LED, blue's spectral peak is much higher, so software and the panel's color filters must intervene to achieve the correct balance. A GB-r-LED panel is more accurate natively, rendering software and the color filter layer less critical. You get the added benefit of the wider Adobe RGB gamut, too. It's  more expensive to manufacture than W-LED, but less so than the rarely-seen RGB-LED.

Dell includes factory calibration with its UP2414Q, guaranteeing color and grayscale errors of less than two Delta E and screen brightness uniformity of no more than two percent deviation. Each monitor comes with a data sheet showing the results for that specific sample. The UP3214Q exceeded its factory measurement data in our tests. Where does that land it relative to the competition? Read on!

Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors. Christian began his obsession with tech when he built his first PC in 1991, a 286 running DOS 3.0 at a blazing 12MHz. In 2006, he undertook training from the Imaging Science Foundation in video calibration and testing and thus started a passion for precise imaging that persists to this day. He is also a professional musician with a degree from the New England Conservatory as a classical bassoonist which he used to good effect as a performer with the West Point Army Band from 1987 to 2013. He enjoys watching movies and listening to high-end audio in his custom-built home theater and can be seen riding trails near his home on a race-ready ICE VTX recumbent trike. Christian enjoys the endless summer in Florida where he lives with his wife and Chihuahua and plays with orchestras around the state.

  • dweezled
    This is a joke right? Dell making yet another mockery of the monitor market.

    Why oh why when you can get the latest 10-bit AH-IPS technology in the 2560 x 1600 30" Crossover Black Tune 30x for $700?

    Reply
  • s3anister
    13121759 said:
    This is a joke right? Dell making yet another mockery of the monitor market.

    Why oh why when you can get the latest 10-bit AH-IPS technology in the 2560 x 1600 30" Crossover Black Tune 30x for $700?

    You obviously miss the point of this monitor. The whole point of a 24" 4K monitor is the pixel density. The fact that it's 8-bit and not 10-bit probably isn't going to bother a whole ton of people and if 4K and 10-bit is what you need than you'd be looking at the Dell Ultrasharp UP3214Q anyway. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ultrasharp-32-up3214q-review,3744-7.html
    Reply
  • voltagetoe
    Tom's should review Samsung's cheap 4k monitor instead of stuff like this.
    Reply
  • Treynolds416
    I love the super indepth articles you guys do, but it would be nice if you also did more reviews about less expensive things, like cases. I mean, it's interesting to read about a $1k monitor but it would be more helpful to more people if you did a case roundup or a higher volume of reviews about them. You don't have to stop making monitor reviews or anything because it's certainly not hurting anyone, but it seems like there are more articles about expensive monitors that most people can't buy/don't have a use for in lieu of articles about more fundamental pieces of computer hardware.
    Just my two cents
    Reply
  • gadgety
    $1300 for a simple panel is a joke, specially when "From our experience so far, these 4K monitors work well, but still have some maturing to do." Thank you for the straightforward, no nonsense review. I'll wait.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    Ahh, 24" 4k monitors are a reality now. Antialiasing in games is soon to be a thing of the past. Which is relieving, because that makes the task on graphics cards a lot more manageable.
    Reply
  • xenol
    (quote thing isn't working for me)
    "Ahh, 24" 4k monitors are a reality now. Antialiasing in games is soon to be a thing of the past. Which is relieving, because that makes the task on graphics cards a lot more manageable. "

    It actually makes it worse if not does nothing. 4K is the equivalent, almost, of 1080p using SSAAx4. MSAA is a lot cheaper and most games are resorting to FXAA or MLAA because it's incredibly cheap, works with any rendering method (Deferred rendering doesn't play nice with MSAA), and the quality is almost as good.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    4K is the equivalent, almost, of 1080p using SSAAx4.

    And modern graphics cards can handle that kind of workload. So, since they're basically equivalent, it isn't a lot more to ask of cards to do 4k without any AA.
    Reply
  • soldier44
    LOL 24" yeh right for that price, make it 30 inches at 4K for that price and i'll bite.
    Reply
  • dark_lord69
    DOES IT SUCK YO' D***?
    ...
    I didn't think so... Not worth the money...
    Reply