Dell UltraSharp 1907FP

Pros: Fast, no ghosting, decent picture, great design and convenient USB hub

Cons: Supposed 6 bit color, unsure of contrast 500:1 or 700:1

Summary: My screen had no dead pixels, which is great.

Played a few high fps games and didn't notice any ghosting, so the 8ms seems pretty good for my gaming needs. I also watched an action movie from DVD and it was great. No ghosting, and I did not notice any color blocks.

The screen is quite bright, so when reading text with white background, I've got it set to 60% brightness. My old Viewsonic CRT 19" was set to almost 100% brightness but the 1907FP at 70% was burning my eyes.

Too bad it does not have any preset modes, or easy access to brightness. You've got to fumble to the menu to get to the brightness which is a pain if you want to do that frequently.

I'm using the DVI connector on an NVIDIA 6600GT. Nice that there are both DVI and Analog VGA ports.

I thought text was pretty readable before, but after setting XP to use ClearType effects for the fonts (and lowering brightness to 60%) made text much better.

With the NVIDIA drivers, after going through the Display Optimization, colors seem pretty decent. I think the default settings are quite a bit off, so do try to adjust colors/gamma.

I've read people complain about the whole 6 bit vs. 8 bit colors. I'll take the 6 bit, fast response rate over the 8 bit, slower response rate. I can't really tell the difference, and if the only way to tell any color discrepancy is to put it next to another screen to compare, then it's not an issue, because my desk isn't a show room with several screens.
Of course since I'm not a graphic artist or the likes I don't need the high end color accuracy, but this may be a factor for some people.

The built in 4 port USB hub is a nice bonus. The stand is visually attractive, better than most screens in this price range. The vertical rails slide up and down very smoothly. Contrary to the review, I did not have to hold the base for either height adjustment, horizontal rotating or angle changes, unless you do it vigorously. As for the screen being wobbly, well it is wobbly compared to a 19" CRT, but I think it's pretty good for a 10 lbs LCD. I have a 17" Samsung LCD and a 17" NEC that are both just as "wobbly", if you want to call it that.

I was worried about the viewing angle, but since I mostly use it strait on, it was not a problem.
At fairly steep angle, the only thing I notice is that it's not as bright. I can still read the text perfectly, so it's fine for working with a colleague. I doubt I (or anyone else) would play games, watch movies or work with it on a regular bases at steep angles.

As for the actual panel inside the screen, there's the rub!

Pressing the Menu and the + key while powering on shows you the panel model under menu's Factory Reset - Factory.
Mine was a:
Model: 1907FPt
Panel: AUOM190EN04 V4T04

I wonder what the t is for? Dell's support site lists a 1907FPt and 1907FPc

It seems some people got a Samsung SMG LTM190EX panel some AUO M190EN04 panel.
http://www.samsung.com/Products/TFTLCD/Monitors_n_Industrial/LTM190EX/LTM190EX.htm
http://www.auo.com/auoDEV/products.php?sec=monitor&func=info&product_id=62&items_id=1

The AUO site lists the panel as 500:1 contrast, 270 brightness. Samsung lists theirs at 1000:1 contrast 300 brightness. Dell site lists the 1907fp as "up to" 700:1, 300 brightness.

The specs on the Dell CD that came with the screen say 500:1 contrast.
Oddly Dell and CNET's site use to list the 1907fp as a 500:1 and in the last little while Dell updated it to 700:1. When I bought mine, it was listed as 700:1.

Makes you think they have 2 versions with 2 specs, depending on the panel you get.

I'm still undecided if I want to give them a call for an exchange due to the 500:1 to 700:1 issue.

I'm not sure I'd notice it, nor do I want the risk of getting some dead pixels, but I'm definitely not happy about the confusion of not being sure if I got 500:1 or 700:1.

This is my first Dell purchase and I was considering migrating my company's standard from IBM to Dell, but this makes me worry that I'll get inconsistent products. With 200+ workstations and 20+ servers I'd hate to have to guess at what I'm going to get.

Otherwise, for the price (bought it on a Dell Day sale) it's a good buy. Nice picture quality, good performance, bonus built in USB hub and looks good makes this a good choice.

I'd rate this a 9, but I'm docking 1 point for the contrast ratio confusion.

If you're prepared to get either 500:1 or 700:1 contrast buy this screen. If the contrast ratio is the main reason for getting this, you might want to think twice.