Dell UP3214Q Review

Changing the color gamut to AdobeRGB instead of sRGB produces similar pre-calibration results. The grayscale is pushing red and this leads to dE2000 errors that are visible. A larger issue is the color gamut, as it is over-saturated at the points below 100% and has a serious tint shift in magenta. The color errors are very visible and it happens at all saturations for almost all colors.

Post-calibration the grayscale and gamma are spot-on with no visible error to them. The gamut is much improved with the exception of green and cyan. The behavior here is very strange, as we can see the gamut is capable of hitting 100% saturations for them, but after calibration it does not. I’m willing to lay the blame for this on CalMAN and an issue with the calibration here. Since every point except for these 5 are virtually perfect, and the pre-calibration data shows those points should be possible, I imagine it’s a bug. Multiple attempts to calibrate gave the same results, so it isn’t something I can correct myself.

If we believe that is a bug, then post-calibration the Dell UP3214Q is almost perfect in AdobeRGB mode as well. It encompasses the entire gamut and has very accurate results. The results for 80 cd/m2 are identical to the ones for 200 cd/m2 but some of the data was lost and those charts are missing. The pre-calibration numbers are not great for the Dell UP3214Q in the grayscale, but the color gamut is good. It manages to use the full AdobeRGB gamut with its backlighting system unlike other UltraHD displays.

Note: Dell provides their Dell Calibration software with the UP3214Q. Using this and a meter like the XRite i1Pro you can save two modes with your own light output, gamma, and color space settings. Unfortunately I could never get it to work properly with the UP3214Q. The software would detect the i1Pro which is connected directly to the UP3214Q USB ports, but didn’t detect the UP3214Q itself. Updating the monitor firmware and the Dell Calibration software didn’t resolve this issue either. Talking to others with the display they had similar issues as well so hopefully Dell can resolve this as this software has worked well in the past.