Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP

Digging deeper...

We decided to investigate the issues that many customers have reported further, as many of the problems highlighted in some of the early reviews published in the Far East were not apparent on the screen we have tested.

It appears that the A00 revision screens with the LTM240M2 panel that has major issues with banding, and also reported text fuzziness. The screen that we have here is an A00 revision, but has an LTM240ML2 panel - it also has the latest firmware.

You can find the panel revision in the factory firmware, the screen revision is on a sticker on the back of the monitor next to the power connector.

The LTM240ML2 panel we have here and the LTM240L2 that is used in the A01 and A02 revisions of the 2407WFP are reasonably problem free, based on our own experiences with the screen and a number of customer reports on the popular Widescreen Gaming Forum.

If you decide to purchase the 2407WFP, make sure your monitor isn't an A00 revision with the LTM240M2 panel.

Final Thoughts...

Providing you get a 2407WFP with the updated firmware and panel, it is a great monitor at a competitive price, and is certainly one that you should be considering it you're looking to get drawn into the marvels of widescreen gaming. This monitor was fantastic for gaming - widescreen gaming is the way forwards and monitors like the 2407WFP make widescreen gaming a reality. However, if you're wanting to play games at its native resolution, you're going to need a fast video card to hook up to it. If you don't already have a fast video card, we will have a few that might tempt you early next week.

The only qualms that we have are with banding in synthetic tests and some slight colour compression when looking at high-resolution photographs. We had to say that, given that this price is almost the same as the Samsung 244T, you'd possibly want to consider the Samsung, which has absolutely spot-on colour reproduction - although it only has two side-mounted USB 2.0 ports and no card reader. Also, we'd argue that it doesn't look quite as nice as the 2407WFP on your desk.