Picking apart the 27" sweetspot

Hi all,
I'm trying to pick apart the 27" Monitor ranges and options to fine the right sweetspot as it's time to upgrade (my old Dell U2711 no longer runs properly at full 1440p, but only 1080p and looks rubbish!).

In the past picking a monitor has always seemed simple - but with choice and tech explosion in recent years I'm left bewildered with pro's/con's. Even the Dell range is bewildering - let alone adding in other brands! I'm pretty happy at 27" - it seems a good size for a desktop and I like the native icon/text size of the 1440p resolution and dislike 1080p on this screen size. I'm really looking to find the best picture quality I can get - not because I really need it but because it's a really nice thing to have when spending a lot of time on a computer every day! Here is what I have so far considered:

U2715H - standard 1440p 27" IPS - would set me back $475-525. I am hoping it would be a good improvement over my U2711 - the most reecnt dell I have seen is my dad's U2414, which seems somewhat crisper and has more pop than the U2711 - the image seems much less washed out too (probably due to less IPS glow!?).

UP2716d - a wide-gammut premium 1440p panel - I dont do much photo/video editing, I spend an awful lot of time on my pc but mostly for surfing/watching youtube/streaming/playing some games - nothing that requires a wide-gammut - my question here is, would it give me better colour and therefore better every day picture quality? or the opposite by randomly over-saturating colours in places? It would actually come relatively cheaply - at $500 - it seems to be better value, particularly as it also has a relatively faster response time. I'm just really uncertain if the wide-gammut is actually a good or bad idea!

U2717d - replaces the U2715H - I love its slim bezels. Apparently though its a bit slower in response time (not a huge factor admittedly - though I do game, it is more commonly strategy style, as I mostly use the xbox for driving/fps games, except on the odd occasion. The UP2716d theoretically should be a better panel and is cheaper - the U2717d costs $590-630 - on the upper-end for a standard though nice monitor. I rather be "current" though - assuming it actually is better than the U2715H for picture quality, but is the price worth it?

UP2715K - the 5K monster! - I've read rave reviews about the beauty of the pictures on these. Does anyone have any first hand experience? My GPU should work (it has 2 x DP 1.2 outputs) though I realise I wont get a high frame rate for gaming on full res without significantly upgrading it - but it's more about the every day useability and experience for me. You might say that my uses dont need it - and you would be right, but if the picture is that good it will make my time spent on the computer that bit more enjoyable every day, so why not! With 5K I like the fact that its directly scalable from 1440p, so can get the same icon and text size by scaling to 200% in win 7 - and still have the the huge pixel density to make everything else look wonderful! But am I actually just going to just cause myself problems - both with the GPU for gaming, and more importantly will I have random annoying episodes where I simply cant read website text because they appear too small due to scaling not working!? Also, will normal content e.g. youtube or bbc iplayer generally all look terrible due to the massive downscaling to watch it? - at $865-890 the price has come down hugely on this screen since last year and brings it temptingly my way for a long-term investment....

Why is there no 4k Monitor on the list you ask? Simply - without lots of 4k content I dont see the point - its a resolution where I would still definitely have to scale text/icons, but the scaling ratios are wrong for me and therefore would look worse - on 27" I dont like the 1080p native text/icon size (which would be the best one to scale to if using a 4k monitor). Also, I have a 4k TV if I really want to watch 4k content - so the only benefit would be for some games. I tend to use an xbox for fps/driving games and a blu-ray player/amazon fire HD stick for movies, rather than the PC simply as they are both plugged into a good quality 1080p projector which punches out a massive image with surround sound - so I'm not about to start using my computer as a Movie player!

Also, should I be looking at other screens? Something about Samsung Quantum Dots for picture quality or higher refresh rate Asus or Acer screens perhaps? I simply dont know the ranges of other brands, nor what picture qualities I can expect - and most reviews tend to go on for pages about figures and callibration... rather than simply describing how good the pictures are! Picture Quality for me is key.

Many thanks in advance for your comments and discussion

Check out the QNix and Yamakasi. They are both well regarded. The Qnix has lots of good reviews, however I can't comment personally. I have a Yamakasi and love it. Looks great, no pixel issues over the last 6 years or so, and overclocked great. Only issue is minor light bleed (very minor, you really have to look for it)

The U2711 wasn't LED backlit. It'll provide a different colour temp to current monitors which are LED backlit. (Source, I owned a 2711 til the internal PSU died). I replaced it with a very price-oriented - BenQ 2765HT and have no regrets. Thinner, less power hungry. The outer bezel and OSD controls are not as nice, and doesn't have a USB hub, and slightly less inputs, but I only need HDMI, 3.5 jack out and DP myself. I find this monitor to be a great choice for 1440p over the Dells which were a solid 300 dollars above cost wise at the time (Australian). Working at an online retailer also helped in bringing the price below 500 AUD for me, compared to a roughly 800 dollar AUD Dell.

I Apologise if you covered it in your first post(I only skimmed), but what are you using this for? Work? Movies? Gaming? The latter will affect my suggestions moreso than the others. For an all-purpose monitor I am very happy with the BenQ I own. I am a casual > semi regular gamer (used to game daily on my 2711), and I use it primarily these days for general purposes, watching anime, tv shows and movies. I play some Mobas, CSGO casually and some Triple AAA titles.

I am NOT a COMPETITIVE gamer. However I have yet to notice ANY noticeable input lag of any sort or any ghosting issues.

My next monitor, however, will most likely be one of the 144/165hz+ IPS G Sync units at 2560x1440 OR a 34" ultrawide with 100hz. I'm waiting another generation or two for the bugs in these (QC control, input lag on the X34s, etc) to be fixed/more refined.

If gaming is a priority on your PC, really give consideration to higher refresh rate monitors. I've tested 60hz and 144hz side by side and holy crap the difference is MASSIVE. If gaming is primarily done via console, this is a moot point.

Thanks for the replies so far.
Firstly Qnix and Yamakasi are not available to me (they seem not to be distributed in Europe), nor am I looking for a budget monitor - I rather have a good looking piece for my living room, and with premium picture quality.

Mjolnar - as in my original post - my usage is mainly general-purpose/casual gaming/tv streaming/youtube. No Movies (I have a projector for that) and an Xbox for the majority of AAA titles. Most PC gaming I will play is therefore in strategy style. For that reason refresh rates, though a bonus, are not a priority for me - I rather spend the money on image quality than for 144Hz IPS with Freesync - and few reviews seem to really mention this other than with lots of numbers....

So really my biggest questions are:
1. Will a wide-gamut monitor improve image quality for general useage (in which case I would probably buy the Dell up2716d)? Or actually detract?
2. Would spending a bit extra on that 5k monitor be worth it? It's meant to give a really special image - but would it be a headache with scaling everything in Win7?

RLCCM said:

Thanks for the replies so far.
Firstly Qnix and Yamakasi are not available to me (they seem not to be distributed in Europe), nor am I looking for a budget monitor - I rather have a good looking piece for my living room, and with premium picture quality.

Click to expand...

Both Qnix and Yamakasi are Asian made, but they offer free and fast shipping worldwide. They are not budget models either, they're around $300-350 (pricing varies due to availabilty).
But if you don't want to consider them, the Dell U2715 is very highly liked by many. You wouldn't be disappointed with it.

Jeff G said:

Both Qnix and Yamakasi are Asian made, but they offer free and fast shipping worldwide. They are not budget models either, they're around $300-350 (pricing varies due to availabilty).
But if you don't want to consider them, the Dell U2715 is very highly liked by many. You wouldn't be disappointed with it.

Click to expand...

I'm afraid to say - as I'm in Switzerland, once one of these things hits the boarder - and you add import duties, as well as border processing fee's - it wouldnt be a great deal cheaper than the dell anyway. I can't instantly find any recent reviews of the Yamakasi (only from about 4 years ago - though apparently the panel is good, the featuers and case are basic) and this 2 year old review of Wnix - which more or less simply says it's a budget monitor:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7931/qnix-qx2710leddport-review/6

Now - less expensive monitors are great things, and am sure it may represent bang for the buck, but as I spend too many hours staring at my screem - and it sitting in my livingroom - I do want a monitor that has a reasonably sleek design, and more importantly, a cracking good image. So I'm giving much consideration to the U2715 - or more likely, the U2717 (as it's newer and should therefore be marginally better - it certainly looks the part at least). The UP2716d and UP2715K add highy tempting complication to the choice if Dell - for reasons above - questions I am still trying to answer.

Otherwise added research brings the Acer XF270HU into the picture, though apparently there are sometimes quality issues, and the finish is not that of Dell (no idea about the image quality)... and the ASUS MG279Q - which also seems to be a bit iffy on QC. Surprising from these two brands. Neither would be cheaper than Dell, though the refresh rates are a nice feature.

I really don't recommend going for anything higher than 1440p at 27" IMO. I think, based on your replies, you seem to be leaning towards Dell as a brand as a whole anyway. So in which case, I'd just go for the Dell U2717 and be done with it.