Dell Launches New UltraSharp 3008WFP 30-Inch LCD

MojoKid writes "Dell has taken the wraps off their new 30" LCD monitor today and launched the UltraSharp 3008WFP. You'll note that there are more than a few upgrades provided with this newer 3008 version. Specifically, the panel now has a 117% color gamut, in addition to having a 3000:1 contrast ratio, versus the 1000:1 performance of its predecessor, the 3007WFP. The panel also comes with the same pixel response time of 8ms but now has enhanced brightness capability at 370 nits. Also, Dell finally saw fit to add significantly more connectivity options to the panel, with not only two DVI-D inputs, but also HDMI, Composite, Component, S-Video and the new DisplayPort interface. In short, anything you could want to hook up now or in the future, can be hooked up to this new Dell 30" panel."

Comments

Anything?

[darkhitman]

In short, anything you could want to hook up now or in the future, can be hooked up to this new Dell 30" panel.

So how many Slashvertisements can it be hooked up to?

Synesthesia?

[Sponge Bath]

"... audio signals with 16-bit color per channel"

Man, give me some of what they are smoking.

Re:Does it hdcp?

[The Ultimate Fartkno]

YA RLY!

FTA:

Ports: Analog, DVI-D (dual link) with HDCP x2, S-Video, Composite, Component, HDMI, DisplayPort
USB 2.0 (4), 9-in-2 Media Card Reader, Kensington security port

I love the Dell WFP Series

[gsmalleus]

I've got two 2007WFP (20") monitors and they are awesome. If I had the money I would probably upgrade to the 3007WFP. The only complaint I have with the 2007WFP is that when the monitor goes to sleep, the USB ports lose power. The USB ports on the side of the monitor are very convenient. Last night I was copying some large files to my thumb drive and turned off the monitor so I could go to bed. I forgot that the files wouldn't copy if the monitor was off.

I'll wait for the behardware review.

[eddy]

Happened across these guys a few days ago while hunting for a clue on what LCD to get in the 22-24" range. I was very impressed by their deep analysis of different monitors; actual measurements of color gamut, response times (ghosting), etc. Good shit. Yes, you'll have to 'suffer' their english. Big deal.

The first thing I learned was that it's like that old saying of "Fast, Good, Cheap -- Pick two", only with "colors, response, ergonomics". Secondly: It's hell to actually be able to know what the hell monitor you're getting since producers swap in different quality panels under the exact same model. Typically the good panels go out in the first batch (which reviewers will get), and then if there's high demand, or in other territories, they'll put in the cheaper panels instead. Their flippant attitude about it makes me not want to buy a monitor at all. Maybe with Dell this isn't a problem, but on the other hand, they're not cheap, as measured globally.

Re:I'll wait for the behardware review.

[Orphaze]

Unfortunately, Dell is well known for swapping panels. It's referred to as the Dell Panel Lottery on forums across the internet.

In short, Dell has been known to swap S-IPS panels (a kind of TFT technology known for particularly accurate color representation) with various other kinds of cheaper panel technologies, all within the same model number. This is why many manufacturers, including Dell, refuse to list what technology they're using in the monitor specs, in order to reserve the right to use whatever cheapest panel they can find as they become available.

I purchased a Dell 2001FP a few years back that had a genuine S-IPS panel. When it started to have problems (specifically, a piece of tape or insulation began migrating onto the screen underneath the plastic of the panel) they sent me the newer model of the same line. It looked awful in comparison, despite having virtually the same specs. (It was a PVA panel, from what I found out later.) Luckily, after spending 2.5 hours (persistence is key in these situations; eventually it's cheaper to give in than to continue dealing with you) in a chat with a Dell support tech, and her manager, I eventually convinced them to refund my money in its entirety, despite the fact I had purchased the monitor about 5 months ago.

In any case, it pays to do a fair amount of research on a monitor before making a purchase. In the end, I ended up going with an HP LP2065, another S-IPS based monitor, which I have been very happy with. Things may have improved more recently though, so it may not be such a big deal these days.

Re:so, how high?

[Anonymous Coward]

With this new monitor, your computer can correctly display many new, previously unaccessible colors, such as bleenish-grue, hooloovoo, ultrabrown, octarine, light black, dark white, and none more black.

Re:OK, now 120Hz?

[sexconker]

120 HZ is good because of the whole video vs film thing.

Film (movies) is usually done at 24 fps (23.976).
Video (tv, some movies) is usually done at 30 fps (29.97).

So if you've got a 60 Hz display, you're getting 2 frames of display per frame of video.
With film, half of the frames of film will be displayed for 2 frames, and half will bd displayed for 3 frames.

This causes a jerky display.

With a 120 Hz display, each frame of video can be displayed for 4 frames (4 * 30 = 120).
Each frame of film can be displayed for 5 frames (5 * 24 = 120).

It also allows us to drive our computers at 120 Hz, which is good if you want to play Quake II.

DisplayPort

[HTH NE1]

Do we really need another video interface? How many does that make now?

There's wireless NTSC, PAL, SECAM, and ATSC.
There's RF cabling to carry those as well.
There's RCA-composite and S-Video. (Let's not get into all the audio options.)
You can get composite and audio on a 4-conductor headphone jack too on portable DVD players and some SlingBoxes.
IIRC Betamax had a monaural 3-conductor version too.
There's SCART.
There's component video.
There's VGA as well as 5-BNC (R,G,B,H,V).
There's ADC for Apple users, and that DB15F connector Apple used to use.
There's Sun's 13W3.
There's DVI-A (also carries VGA), DVI-D (digital-only), and Dual-link DVI.
There's HDMI, latest version being 1.3b (follows 1.3 and 1.3a, not "beta").
There's Firewire 400, and even USB 2.0 gets used for video. Multiple sizes too.
There's Unified Display Interface (UDI).
And now there's DisplayPort.

Did I miss anything? I'm sure there's lots more in just the streaming video area.

Makes HD DVD vs. Blu-ray seem like nothing, doesn't it?

Oh yeah, there's the TVs with players built into them too, so you could add VHS and DVD to the list so far. (UMD is opening that window too far.)

Re:DisplayPort

[Facegarden]

Yeah, but most of those are terrible for displaying computer output - most of what you listed are analog, which we obviously used for a long time, but analog video is obsolete now, so when you ask "do we need another interface?", if you're suggesting the analog methods are suffient, i'd say you're on crack. As for the new digital methods, i really only see DVI-D, HDMI, UDI, and DisplayPort for the dedicated display connections (sure there's USB and firewire, but until we get a universal connection method that is truly fast enough, and create video cards that can crunch high quality video while relaying it to said universal ports, i don't count those as viable formats for mainstream display connections). There's also wireless methods, but they're not there yet either.
My point is this: Do we need another format? Well, unless there is a current method that is sufficient for every possible current and forseeable future use, then the answer is yes, yes we do need another format. Since the analog ones are all terrible for today's digital displays and pixel-perfect (compared to analog) world, they're useless. Since the dell 30 incher's at least used to require TWO dvi connections, it seems like that's not good enough. I don't know enough about HDMI, UDI, or DisplayPort to judge between them, but if we've only got 3 possible connection methods that MIGHT even be ideal for today's technology, do we really have too many connection possibilities as you implied?
-Taylor