HDR Wide Gamut Affordable panels - What you think?

I have a Dell wide gamut display and it never let me down. Ever. I mostly work for TV Commercials and many times even convert for DCP and not a single complaint (curiously, my last conversion was for Dell for the Spider-man premiere here in Brazil showcasing their new notebook. But I have no direct relation to Dell, it was all through an agency). Also, I get so close colors from different TVs, Phones, etc, that even I (who made it) can't spot an obvious color difference between various display sources for the same material.

So, as HDR is at the door, I was curious to know what you guys think about it. Here's the product page:

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-ult ... ccessories

I would not rely on an HDR10 grade on anything but an OLED panel as the difference between black and dark grey just isn't there. Presumably the PVM-X550 is out of budget, I'd imagine the LG OLED C7 TV would be more accurate at monitoring HDR10 than the DELL. Available for $2500 now.

The average brightness of this monitor is 400 nits and a peak of 1000 nits, which probably roughly correlates with the MaxFALL and MaxCLL values of the panel. I also do not see the MaxFALL and MaxCLL values anywhere in the spec sheet which could be a red flag.

Don't take my word for it, as the guys over at MysteryBox share my opinion and they're about the only ones well known for 4K HDR content on YouTube at the moment.

But hell, on the same token it's only $1500 and could be a great introduction to HDR editing with the Decklink Mini Monitor 4K!

Ulysses - out of curiosity - which Dell wide gamut monitor do you work on currently which has served you well?

Yes, Christopher. I came by this model because I saw some consumer HDR TVs and they are kind of easy to buy so I wondered if these new panels were somehow close enough to use for work as some are REC2020 capable. Did a brief Google search and didnt find any expressive topic about so decided to ask for the more experienced.

Paul, currently I'm using a Dell UP2716D. Dell doesnt make ******* products but I'm really not experienced with high end models so is always good to ask.

In fact, I know some major production companies here in my city that relies on the Mac Cinema Display for a display reference so I guess I'm kind of ahead of them. At least a bit. And they do pretty well.

I know you gotta have a minimum setup to do anything reliable and professional but sometimes I get myself wondering if the 30, 40 times more expensive monitors give 10%, 5%, 2% more accuracy? Well, thats not for me to say. I'm just a little leaf in the wind.

I changed the topic title so hopefully we can talk about other affordable panels that might do the trick.

I have not seen the DELL in person but I did use the Samsung JS9000 for an HDR monitor and I walked away wanting an OLED. Testing HDR TV shows and Movies from Netflix and Amazon (Grand Tour of course) as well. Even with all the new local dimming, the black levels just aren't there (I mean physically they can't be) to complement to 1000nit highlights, negating the entire feel of HDR in the first place. The argument usually heard against using a TV as a monitor is that not all image settings can be turned off, not giving the user a direct 'pipe' to image.

I would imagine the ~0-40 shadow levels (10-bit) would be very tricky to monitor accurately on an LED backlit LCD screen like the DELL.

With all of this said, in no way is this reasonably priced monitor going to prohibit you from creating fantastic HDR content. I'd be more worried about the content source. I tried creating HDR on a shoe string with a Sony A6500 out to an Atomos Ninja flame and the 8-bit source 422 ProRes HQ just broke apart with stepping when trying to grade for 10-bit HDR10 (no surprises there). But of course mileage will very.

I just saw the car video on your Facebook page, looks good! I like the grade. I don't speak Portuguese so who knows what she's saying

If the display isn't calibrated, all bets are off. If you can calibrate the display (any display) to a known standard like Rec709, and there's nothing intrinsic in the design of the display that will cause it to yield unexpected results, then it can work. But I wouldn't use a Dell. The higher-end Eizo CG-series displays are not bad, provided you use 3rd-party calibration tools like Lightspace or Calman.

I just saw the car video on your Facebook page, looks good! I like the grade. I don't speak Portuguese so who knows what she's saying

Ahahahaha!
I shot that on a BMCC. It's a TV promo. I dont exactly remember what she said but surely was something about easy paying, low prices and great car deals. If you want, I can go back and translate.

Yeah, Marc. Calibration is key. I saw the immense leap when I first calibrated a monitor. OLEDs were kind of expensive but I see the prices coming down for consumer TVs. Maybe one of that with HDR should be good? I read somewhere sometime ago manufacturers were starting to account tight color variations and some other stuff that plagued LED HDTVs and newer panels should come closer to the standards as its needed for REC2020. Wouldnt that push technology for a more usable products for reliable work? I dont really have a demand for that kind of job but I'm starting to flert with it. Would be great to offer that ahead as a differential.

I also saw a discussion some time ago, I think it was for some Flanders monitors (or Eizo. Cant remember precisely) about them being 8bit and emulating 10bit, like many 10bit cheapper panels. Someone from the company even said it cant be seem whether it is a true 10bit panel or emulated 'cause the diffference is so marginal... and then we get back to that topic of us sometimes getting too attatched to specs and forgetting the real world experience for the matter. So... discussion is always a great point in my unexperienced opinion

10bit is not the biggest issue with cheaper monitors (you can be fine with 8bit+FRC). Much bigger issue is actually uniformity, black levels, bleeding and of course accuracy.