Dell UltraSharp U2419H review – are 24 inches still good for office work?

While 27-inches are great for large desks and a decent gaming setup, the 24-inch monitors are still very good for home use, or even at your office. Here we have the Dell UltraSharp U2419H – аn (almost) 24″ monitor with Full HD resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. At first glance at the specs, you see nothing too impressive about it.

However, Dell is trying to win you with its supposed 99% of sRGB coverage and accurate colors, resulting in an average dE of below 2.0. Indeed, this sounds impressive but we can’t be really sure if we don’t put it through our series of tests (which we surely will).

Additionally, this device comes with a very comfortable stand, which enables you to set up your monitor just as you want it. Moreover, there is the 90-degree pivot rotation, enabling you to use it in vertical mode. Want a second or third monitor? You can do it natively with a couple of these. Now let’s put aside the marketing tricks used by the manufacturer and dig deeper to understand what this guy is made of.

You can check the current price of Dell UltraSharp U2419H here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Contents


Unboxing and setup

The packaging of this thing looks very appealing – a black box with a picture of the monitor on the front, as well on the back. Inside, you’ll find the power cable, a DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable and a USB Type-A to Type-B cable for expanding your device’s USBs. Additionally, there is a certified calibration sheet, where you can see the data from Dell’s lab results before the monitor left the factory.

Here, you can see the quick setup guide (that also comes inside the box), which shows you how to assemble the stand with the monitor, and how to properly connect it to your PC.


Design and construction

Now that you have an assembled monitor in front of your, you can notice exactly how thin its bezels are. The top and the side ones measure at 5mm, while the bottom is slightly thicker – 8mm. Anyways, this is an extremely compact setup, which should help when using multiple monitors – plus, it looks sleek. Speaking of measurements now is the time to say that, the panel, itself, weighs 3.14kg and when you add the stand to it, the weight goes up to 5.09kg – pretty reasonable.

Now, the stand is something we really like. Indeed, it is pretty much the same assembly, as we saw on the U2719DC – all of the rotation is happening on the top side. This includes the swivel, tilt and pivot motions.

We shouldn’t neglect the vertical adjustment, as well. It offers 130mm of total movement. In its bottommost point, the bottom side of the display sits 24.6mm above the foot. With the amount of movement you have in the topmost position, you can turn the display in its side, however, Dell advises against doing so. Instead, you want to tilt the panel upwards and only the pivot.

So, it is pretty important to have a highly adjustable stand, especially if you need all of the vertical real estate. Additionally, you can route the cables through the hole, found in the middle of the stand.

In terms of angles, you can go from 40 to 40-degrees in swivel mode, 90 to 90-degrees while pivoting and -5 to 21-degrees while tilting. If you want to mount the monitor on a wall, via a VESA mount, you can do so through the regular spot, exactly where you attach the included stand.

Ports

In terms of I/O, you get one HDMI connector, two DisplayPort connectors (one in and one out), as well as a 3.5mm audio output, a USB Type-B upstream port and four USB Type-A 3.0 downstream ports – two on the back and two on the left side of the panel.


OSD menu

Similarly to the Dell UltraSharp U2719DC all of the navigation buttons just beneath the bottom bezel. They are easily distinguishable and have good tactile feedback. Obviously, the big button on the right is used to power on and off the U2419H, while the other is the quick selection keys. From left to right, you have the Quick Preset button, Brightness/Contrast adjustment, and detailed menu.




Display quality

Dell UltraSharp U2419H is equipped with a 60Hz Full HD panel. Its diagonal is 23.8″ (60.5 cm), and the resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels. The screen ratio is 16:9, and we are looking at a pixel density of – 93 ppi, and a pitch of 0.27 х 0.27 mm. The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 94 cm (31.5″) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels).

It has comfortable viewing angles. We offer images at 45° to evaluate image quality.

As we mentioned the OSD menu gives you a choice from “Standard”, “ComfortView”, “Multiscreen Match”, “Movie”, “Game”, “Color Temperature” and “Custom Color”.

The following evaluations are made for the Standard mode.

We measured a maximum brightness of 225 nits in the middle of the screen and 210 nits as an average for the whole area, with a maximum deviation of 11%.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 55% Brightness (White level = 139 cd/m2, Black level = 0.12 cd/m2).

Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the monitor for color-sensitive work. The contrast ratio is good – 1150:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream display.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows Dell UltraSharp U2419H’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 99% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976 (it is able to represent almost all of the colors found on the Web).

As we mentioned the monitor comes with the results from Dell’s factory calibration.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode. We’ve used the “Standard” preset after factory reset and brightness set to 55%.


We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results in factory conditions (which are great, by the way) and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of Dell UltraSharp U2419H with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

The response time of the pixels shouldn’t be slower than the refresh cycle of the screen (16.67 ms for 60Hz, 6.94 ms for 144Hz and so on). Ultimately, this results in ghosting, caused by the pixel’s inability to change in that amount of time, thus continuing in the next frame. In order to battle with that issue, manufacturers use Overdrive. Essentially, this is a technique for RTC (Response Time Compensation). What does it do? Well, it supplies higher voltage to the crystals (in LCD monitors), which makes them switch their position faster. However, excessive levels of Overdrive can result in Overshooting, which transforms into inverse ghosting, coronas and artifacts, obviously affecting the image quality in a negative way. This is why many manufacturers provide several levels of Overdrive, so you can choose which suits you best.

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.

We observed a significant overshooting in the “Fast” mode. This will result in inverse ghosting and you would probably prefer the “Normal” mode.



PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Dell UltraSharp U2419H’s backlight is not PW-modulated at any brightness level. This makes it comfortable for your eyes in this aspect even during long working periods.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Dell UltraSharp U2419H.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Verdict

This time, we are going to start with the downsides. First, let’s mention the lack of vintage ports, like the VGA and DVI connectors, which are still used in some professional studios. Then, there is a maximum brightness of just 225 nits. While it may be enough in most of the offices and home scenarios, it would appear to be just a tad dimmer, if you have direct sunlight shining over it.

Nevertheless, the UltraSharp U2419H has a decent amount of ports (despite the lack of obsolete ones), which enables you to connect more than one monitor, extending the signal from the display. Additionally, we measured a good contrast ratio, saw comfortable viewing angles, and adequate default settings.

Not in the last place, there is 99% of sRGB coverage, which will provide a punchy image. Pair this with decently accurate colors in “Standard” mode (Average dE<2.0) and you get a reasonable offering for design work. If you need even more color accuracy, you can get our Gaming and Web design profile. Then even the maximum dE becomes less than 2.0.

By the way, it is great to see that Dell doesn’t use PWM to adjust the brightness of its display. Another great feature is the ergonomic stand. It offers swivel, tilt and pivot movement, as well as height adjustment. Not only this is good in terms of comfortability, but it is extremely useful for programmers and data specialists, that can utilize the vertical real estate.

On the other side, if you don’t need a stand, but want to mount it to a VESA adapter, you can do so, easily from the same mounting spot as the regular stand. So, all of this is good, but really, the Full HD resolution is not that sharp anymore. Not when we have 1440p panels becoming the standard and 4K monitors flooding the market. Additionally, gaming on this screen is possible, but the experience is not great – there is some ghosting and when you try to counter that with the “Overdrive” option from inside the OSD menu, you can experience severe overshooting and inverse ghosting – even more unpleasant than the blurry image.

At the end of the day, this is a monitor meant for work. Whether it is going to be from home or in the office, you won’t be disappointed – just avoid places with direct sunlight and you’ll be fine.

Pros

  • Extremely thin bezels and easy to configure multiple monitor setup
  • Well populated OSD menu
  • Adjustable height, tilt, swivel, and pivot
  • Complete sRGB color gamut coverage and standard-matching dE values (especially with our Gaming and Web design profile)
  • Expands your PC’s USB selection with 4 more USB Type-A 3.0 ports


Cons

  • Lacks some I/O that connects to an older machinery
  • Slightly low maximum brightness (225 nits)
  • Avoid “Fast” mode in the response time menu

You can check the current price of Dell UltraSharp U2419H here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Guillermo De Leon
Guillermo De Leon
3 years ago

Hi,

I bought the 3 ICC profiles as a pack. Are there any Brightness and Contrast recommended settings for the “Office Work” profile?

Thank you.

Macaraena
Macaraena
3 years ago

You just got scammed by them idiot xD