Contrast, black point and coating - Dell UltraSharp 2209WA

Brightness and black point

The first unpleasant surprise came when we tried to decrease the backlight intensity using the brightness control. The lowest intensity that we could achieve was 120 cd/m². The black point was at 0.15 cd/m², which is too high.

Let me explain why the brightness control is important, if, by some coincidence, you are still unaware of this important fact. Our eyes adjust to the overall brightness level of our environment. The monitor has to be adjusted appropriately to have approximately the same level of brightness as our surroundings, otherwise it can hurt the eyes. Some high quality monitors even feature a light-sensitive sensor that can automatically adjust the monitor's brightness depending on the detected brightness of the environment. For the well-lit office, 120 cd/m² is the norm. For brighter conditions, like summer, or when sunlight is coming through windows, the brightness might have to be increased. But anything above 200 cd/m² is probably excessive and useless.

On the other hand, you might need to use your monitor in darker environments. For movies, when viewed in pitch-black room, 50-72 cd/m² is the norm. Working during the night with incandescent light bulbs will probably require monitor's brightness level to be set up to much less than 120 cd/m².

This monitor simply can not do that. 120 cd/m² is the lowest brightness setting. The only way to reduce the brightness further is to reduce the contrast, which has a consequence of degrading the picture quality. When contrast falls below 200:1, the picture becomes too annoying to view.

This is why, in the following table, we have to report low levels of contrast for low target brightness. This makes the monitor unsuitable for work in low-light conditions, which will detract lot of people who like to work, surf or play games at night.

Even more annoying is the fact that, actually, it is much easier to produce a monitor with lower brightness. The panel manufacturers usually make very strong backlights only for marketing purposes, because bright monitors sell better in shops.

We recommend setting the brightness control of this monitor to 0%, which will result in brightness level of about 120 cd/m².

Black point on Dell UltraSharp 2209WA. Left image shows almost no backlight leaking. On right image, the blue hue is exaggerated. Apparent leaking is due to imperfect viewing angles, as left image demonstrates.

Contrast

Contrast was measured at 800:1 with black point at 0.15 cd/m². We consider this very good, and sufficient for office use, surfing, playing games and even for movies. The manufacturer claims 1000:1, which is simply exaggerated. I'm wondering, how did they arrive at those figures?

The contrast control of this monitor is set to 75% by default. Increasing it results in clipping the white color, which (of course) doesn't increase the contrast, just degrades the picure quality, and if brighter picture is required we recommend increasing the brightness control instead.

Reducing the contrast control below 74% does actually decrease the contrast, all the way down to zero contrast (dark grey picture). On this monitor, this is mostly useful to reduce the overall brightness level, at the expense of picture quality. While reducing the contrast, the color temperature is not particularly stable.

At 74%, the monitor almost retains the maximum contrast, but the white colors still remain accurate. At 75% contrast, the white is still slightly clipped, so 74% is the most accurate setting which retains the full contrast.

Anti-glare coating layer

Screen surface treatment could be better. It is a matt coating layer, and does blur the reflections good, but it reflects too much light.

Anti-glare coating is mediocre