Do You Want a 16:9 LCD Monitor Now?

Overshoot

The acceleration is limited but precise. We registered no overshoot.

In Use

The 2405FPW is an excellent CAD/CAM monitor. The colors are nicely saturated and the 1920x1200 native resolution makes it a dream display for such uses as circuit design. But for the average user, the colors are a little too bright for photo retouching. Frankly that's regrettable. For office applications, the resolution is a plus but the brightness is too high. Note that you'll need to use the DVI input if you want a sharp image - a familiar problem with Dell monitors.

You should also look elsewhere if gaming is what you're most interested in. The latency is really too high. And to be able to play your games in native resolution, you'll need a Ferrari of a graphics card - Half-Life 2 or even Need for Speed: Most Wanted at this kind of resolution draw a lot of processor resources. And you don't want all that amazing polygon rendering spoiled by smearing on your display.

Video Games

Video noise was a real problem when screening DVDs. That's a real waste, because this display's format is perfect for that use. Unfortunately, this isn't the monitor for video. There was clearly too much noise, and what's more the viewing angles weren't as wide as Dell claims. And gaming is clearly not this monitor's strong point either. It's too slow, displaying annoying smearing and above all losses in precision on textures during tracking shots.

Conclusion

The Dell 2405FPW has incredible resolution, but lacks other qualities. If you want optimum sharpness, the 2405FPW is a good choice, but its performance falls short for playing movies and for gaming.