Dell S2722QC

Interlace pattern artifacts

On some monitors, particularly but not exclusively those with high refresh rates, interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions. We refer to these as ‘interlace pattern artifacts’ but some users refer to them as ‘inversion artifacts’ and others as ‘scan lines’. They may appear as an interference pattern, mesh or interlaced lines which break up a given shade into a darker and lighter version of what is intended. They often catch the eye due to their dynamic nature, on models where they manifest themselves in this way. Alternatively, static interlace patterns may be seen with some shades appearing as faint horizontal or vertical bands of a slightly lighter and slightly darker version of the intended shade. We did not observe either artifact type on this monitor.

Responsiveness

Input lag

A small utility called SMTT 2.0 was used alongside a sensitive camera to analyse the latency of the S2722QC, with over 30 repeat readings taken to help maximise accuracy. Using this method, we calculated 4.10ms (under 1/4 of a frame at 60Hz) of input lag. A similar value was recorded with a DP signal (DP to USB-C) and using an HDMI signal – plus if ‘SmartHDR’ was selected in the OSD. The input lag measured here is influenced by both the element you ‘see’ (pixel responsiveness) and the main element you ‘feel’ (signal delay). It indicates quite a low signal delay which most users should be happy with. Note that we don’t have the means to accurately measure input lag with Adaptive-Sync active in a VRR environment or HDR active in an HDR environment.

Perceived blur (pursuit photography)

Our article on responsiveness explores various concepts surrounding monitor responsiveness. An important idea explored is ‘perceived blur’, contributed to by both the pixel responses of the monitor and the movement of your eyes as you track motion of the screen. This second factor is generally dominant on modern monitors, although both factors play an important role. We also explore a photography technique called ‘pursuit photography’, which uses a moving rather than stationary camera to capture motion on a monitor in a way that reflects both elements of perceived blur. Rather than just reflecting pixel response behaviour.

The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the test running at its default speed of 960 pixels per second. This is a good practical speed to take such photographs at, highlighting both elements of perceived blur well. The UFOs move across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display, 60fps and 60Hz in this case. All three rows of the test are analysed to show a range of pixel transitions and all ‘Response Time’ settings were tested. Reference shots are included in the final columns for comparison, with those screens set to their optimal pixel overdrive setting. The first reference is the Philips 288E2UAE (288E2E), quite a competent 60Hz IPS-type performer. The second reference is the Philips 328E1CA, a larger and relatively well-tuned ‘4K’ VA model.

Note that some wavy patterns surrounding UFOs in some cases are slight image retention. We observed a fair amount of image retention during this test when using the ‘Fast’ and ‘Extreme’ settings. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally and wasn’t something we observed outside of tests like this.

The UFO appears soft and unfocused without clear internal detailing. This reflects a moderate amount of perceived blur due to eye movement, something also reflected in the reference shots. Varying degrees of trailing can also be seen behind the UFOs, due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness. The ‘Normal’ setting shows ‘powdery’ trailing, mainly for the dark background (top row) and a lesser extent the medium background (middle row). There’s just a small touch of this for the light background (bottom row). Performance here is quite decent overall, with just a touch more of this ‘powdery’ trailing behind the UFO for the dark and medium backgrounds compared to the IPS reference screen (288E2UAE). This isn’t a dramatic difference, however. Performance is clearly superior to the VA reference screen (328E1CA), with that model showing bolder trailing which manifests as ‘smearing’ for the dark background and is quite heavy in appearance for the medium background. The ‘Fast’ and ‘Extreme’ settings eliminate any ‘powdery’ trailing but instead introduce strong and extreme overshoot, respectively. Colourful inverse ghosting that’s very eye-catching in practice. We consider the ‘Normal’ setting optimal here and this provides an experience most will be happy with. Ideally the ‘Fast’ setting would’ve been better tuned, taking the panel a little further than the ‘Normal’ setting rather than being tuned so aggressively that it introduces obvious overshoot.

Note that we will not be including a section on overclocking, as the monitor refused to display an image above 60Hz.

Responsiveness in games and movies

On various Battlefield titles a moderate degree of perceived blur was observed, with the game running at a consistent 60fps to get the most from the screen in this respect. This was mainly caused by eye movement and linked with the 60Hz refresh rate. There were some weaknesses on top of this as demonstrated earlier using Test UFO. ‘Powdery’ trailing which was most pronounced (though still not extreme) where dark shades are involved in the transition. And also very light shades – such as white in-game text against a medium to dark background. This wasn’t the same as the ‘smeary’ trailing you’d observe on VA alternatives, even relatively well-tuned ones like the Philips 328E1CA used as a reference earlier. These weaknesses were a bit more apparent and slightly more widespread than on the 288E2UAE (288E2E), but the difference wasn’t dramatic and the monitor still offered decent performance within the confines of the 60Hz refresh rate. In other words, our broader observations in-game mirrored the earlier testing with Test UFO.

We made similar observations on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This title offers up plenty of ‘high contrast’ transitions, the ones where the weaknesses are most readily apparent. Again, these were not extreme weaknesses – just some ‘powdery’ trailing that adds a bit of extra perceived blur in places. The monitor also provided very little overshoot on both of our test titles, which should please anybody sensitive to such things. To round things off we made some observations using video content of a range of frame rates, including ~24 – 30fps Netflix content and 60fps YouTube content. For the high frame rate content the same weaknesses were apparent as when gaming at 60fps, so a bit of ‘powdery’ trailing in places. For the lower frame rate content where pixel response requirements for optimal performance are lower, the monitor performed very well without any noteworthy weaknesses.

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VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) technology

FreeSync – the technology and activating it

AMD FreeSync is a variable refresh rate technology, an AMD-specific alternative to Nvidia G-SYNC. Where possible, the monitor dynamically adjusts its refresh rate so that it matches the frame rate being outputted by the GPU. Both our responsiveness article and the G-SYNC article linked to explore the importance of these two elements being synchronised. At a basic level, a mismatch between the frame rate and refresh rate can cause stuttering (VSync on) or tearing and juddering (VSync off). FreeSync also boasts reduced latency compared to running with VSync enabled, in the variable frame rate environment in which it operates.

FreeSync requires a compatible AMD GPU such as the Radeon RX 580 used in our test system. The monitor itself must support ‘VESA Adaptive-Sync’ for at least one of its display connectors, as this is the protocol that FreeSync uses. The S2722QC supports FreeSync via a DP or HDMI signal on compatible GPUs and systems. Note that HDR can be activated at the same time as FreeSync. There’s no setting related to ‘Adaptive-Sync’ or ‘FreeSync’ in the OSD, it’s handled automatically. On the GPU driver side recent AMD drivers make activation of the technology very simple. You should ensure the GPU driver is setup correctly to use FreeSync, so open ‘AMD Radeon Software’, click ‘Settings’ (cog icon towards top right) and click on ‘Display’. You should then ensure that the first slider is set to ‘Enabled’ as shown below. The top image shows the monitor connected by DP and the bottom image by HDMI. The setting is referred to as ‘Adaptive Sync Compatible’ for DP and ‘VRR’ for HDMI, although the exact wording may depend on the driver version you’re using.

The Dell supports a variable refresh rate range of 40 – 60Hz. That means that if the game is running between 40fps and 60fps, the monitor will adjust its refresh rate to match. When the frame rate rises above 60fps, the monitor will stay at 60Hz and the GPU will respect your selection of ‘VSync on’ or ‘VSync off’ in the graphics driver. With ‘VSync on’ the frame rate will not be allowed to rise above 60fps, at which point VSync activates and imposes the usual associated latency penalty. With ‘VSync off’ the frame rate is free to climb as high as the GPU will output (potentially >60fps). LFC (Low Frame Rate Compensation) is not supported by this monitor, as that requires the upper limit (ceiling) to be at least 2x the lower limit (floor) of FreeSync operation. FreeSync is therefore deactivated if the frame rate falls below 40fps, with the monitor then respecting your choice of VSync and presenting you with either stuttering (VSync on) or tearing (VSync off).

To configure VSync, open ‘AMD Radeon Software’. Click ‘Settings’ (cog icon towards top right) and click ‘Graphics’. The setting is listed as ‘Wait for Vertical Refresh’. This configures it globally, but if you wish to configure it for individual games click ‘Game Graphics’ towards the top right. The default is ‘Off, unless application specifies’ which means that VSync will only be active if you enable it within the game itself, if there is such an option. Such an option does usually exist – it may be called ‘sync every frame’ or something along those lines rather than simply ‘VSync’. Most users will probably wish to enable VSync when using FreeSync to ensure that they don’t get any tearing. You’d therefore select either the third or fourth option in the list, shown in the image below. Above this dropdown list there’s a toggle for ‘Radeon Enhanced Sync’. This is an alternative to VSync which allows the frame rate to rise above the refresh rate (no VSync latency penalty) whilst potentially keeping the experience free from tearing or juddering. This requires that the frame rate comfortably exceeds the refresh rate, not just peaks slightly above it. We won’t be going into this in detail as it’s a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature.



Some users prefer to leave VSync enabled but use a frame rate limiter set a few frames below the maximum supported (e.g. 57fps) instead, avoiding any VSync latency penalty at frame rates near the ceiling of operation or tearing from frame rates rising above the refresh rate. As a useful indicator that the technology is active, the refresh rate displayed in the OSD under ‘Others’ – ‘Display Info’ is updated in real time to reflect the frame rate of the content whilst within the VRR window (40 – 60Hz). Finally, it’s worth noting that FreeSync only removes stuttering or juddering related to mismatches between frame rate and refresh rate. It can’t compensate for other interruptions to smooth game play, for example network latency or insufficient system memory. Some game engines will also show stuttering (or ‘hitching’) for various other reasons which won’t be eliminated by the technology.

FreeSync – the experience

As usual we tested a range of titles using AMD FreeSync and found the technology similar in all cases. Any issues affecting one title but not another suggests a game or GPU driver issues rather than a monitor issue. For that reason we’ll simply focus on our experience on Battlefield titles for this section, which offer good graphical flexibility and allow the full VRR range to be analysed using our Radeon RX 580. This resolution is rather demanding for what is far from a powerhouse of a GPU, so it was common to see dips below 60fps. These dips would result in tearing (VSync off) or stuttering (VSync on) if VRR technologies like FreeSync aren’t used. FreeSync removed these interruptions, which is something sensitive users will appreciate. A decrease in frame rate still negatively impacted ‘connected feel’ and increased perceived blur, however.

The technology worked down to the floor of operation of 40Hz (40fps) and below that point deactivated with the monitor returning to its normal 60Hz operation. A bit of overshoot was introduced in places (or strengthened) compared to at higher refresh rates as the monitor doesn’t employ variable overdrive. Nonetheless, the fairly low level of acceleration under the ‘Normal’ setting meant that none of this was extreme or eye-catching overshoot. Subtle enough to escape most people’s notice, even if they’re quite sensitive to overshoot.

Nvidia Adaptive-Sync (‘G-SYNC Compatible’)

As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. As of driver version 417.71, users with Nvidia GPUs (GTX 10 series and newer) and Windows 10 or 11 can also make use of this Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology. When a monitor is used in this way, it is something which Nvidia refers to as ‘G-SYNC Compatible’. Some models are validated as G-SYNC compatible, which means they have been specifically tested by Nvidia and pass certain quality checks. With the S2722QC, you need to be using a DP signal to leverage ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ technology. There is no setting related to Adaptive-Sync on the monitor, that’s handled automatically. This enables Adaptive-Sync on the monitor and will unlock the appropriate settings in Nvidia Control Panel. When you open up Nvidia Control Panel, you should then see ‘Set up G-SYNC’ listed in the ‘Display’ section. Ensure the ‘Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible’ checkbox and ‘Enable settings for the selected display model’ is checked as shown below and press ‘OK’. If you’ve enabled ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ and it was previously disabled, the monitor should re-establish its connection with the system and the technology should now be active.



You will also see in the image above that it states: “Selected Display is not validated as G-SYNC Compatible.” This means Nvidia hasn’t specifically tested and validated the display, not that it won’t work. On our RTX 3090 the experience was very similar to what we described with FreeSync. With the technology getting rid of tearing and stuttering from what would otherwise be frame and refresh rate mismatches, between 40 – 60Hz (40 – 60fps). Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but you’re using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. The setting is found in ‘Manage 3D settings’ under ‘Vertical sync’, where the final option (‘Fast’) is equivalent to AMD’s ‘Enhanced Sync’ setting. You’ll also notice ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ listed under ‘Monitor Technology’ in this section, as shown below. Make sure this is selected (it should be if you’ve set everything up correctly in ‘Set up G-SYNC’).



Note again that the refresh rate displayed in the OSD under ‘Others’ – ‘Display Info’ is updated in real time to reflect the frame rate of the content whilst within the VRR window (40 – 60Hz). This is a useful indication that the technology is active. And as with AMD FreeSync, HDR can be used at the same time as ‘G-SYNC Compatible Mode’.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

HDR (High Dynamic Range) on an ideal monitor involves the simultaneous display of very deep dark shades and brilliantly bright light shades. With a very broad spectrum of shades between these extremes also distinctly displayed, including vibrant and strongly saturated shades plus much more muted ones. Ideally, per-pixel illumination would be provided as it is with self-emissive displays such as OLED. For LCDs it’s desirable to have a very large number of precisely controlled dimming zones used. A solution such as FALD (Full Array Local Dimming) with a generous number of dimming zones, for example. With this, some areas of the screen can remain very dim whilst others are brilliantly bright. Colour reproduction is also an important part of HDR, with the ultimate goal being support for a huge colour gamut, Rec. 2020. A more achievable near-term goal is support for at least 90% DCI-P3 (Digital Cinema Initiatives standard colour space) coverage. Finally, HDR makes use of at least 10-bit precision per colour channel, so its desirable that the monitor supports at least 10-bits per subpixel. HDR10 is the most widely supported standard used in HDR games and movies and what is supported here.

With the Dell S2722QC, you need to have one of the ‘Smart HDR’ settings selected and then it will switch into its HDR operating mode if an HDR signal is provided. Some game titles will activate HDR correctly when the appropriate in-game setting is selected and the monitor is running with ‘Smart HDR’. Other titles that support HDR will only run in HDR if ‘Use HDR’ is turned on in Windows, too. Related Windows HDR settings are found in the ‘Windows HD Color settings’ (Windows 10) or ‘HDR’ (Windows 11) section of ‘Display settings’ (right click the desktop). If you want to view HDR movie content, ensure ‘Stream HDR Video’ (Windows 10) or ‘Play streaming HDR video’ (Windows 11) is active. These settings are shown below for Windows 10 and covered under ‘Option four’ in this forum post for Windows 11. Also note that there’s an ‘HDR/SDR brightness balance’ (Windows 10) or ‘SDR content brightness’ (Windows 11) slider that allows you to adjust the overall balance of SDR content if HDR is active in Windows. This is really just a digital brightness slider that only makes changes for SDR content, and you lose contrast by adjusting it. Though the image appears better balanced than some models for SDR content under HDR, the settings in the OSD are greatly restricted including brightness being inaccessible. So we’d recommend only activating HDR in Windows if you’re about to use an HDR application that specifically requires it.

Though we viewed a broad range of HDR content on this monitor, we’ll just focus on Shadow of the Tomb Raider for simplicity. This is a title we’ve tested extensively on a wide range of monitors under HDR and we know it’s an excellent test for HDR capability. The experience we explore here is very much dictated and indeed limited by the screen itself. Although our testing here focuses on HDR PC gaming using DisplayPort (USB-C port of monitor) on an Nvidia RTX 3090, we made similar observations when viewing HDR video content on the Netflix app. There are some additional points to bear in mind if you wish to view such content. We made similar observations using HDMI, which would be used when viewing HDR content on an HDR compatible games console for example. Testing on both our Nvidia and AMD GPUs showed that the HDR implementation was similar in both cases, too. Provided the signal was corrected to ‘Full Range RGB’ in the graphics driver as advised in the calibration section.

The monitor includes three ‘Smart HDR’ settings; ‘Desktop’, ‘Movie HDR’ and ‘Game HDR’. When an HDR signal is detected, they act as different HDR presets. The ‘Movie HDR’ setting applies a sharpness filter and causes some whacky gamma changes and moderate oversaturation with shade crushing. The ‘Game HDR’ setting provides a gentler saturation boost (via gamma changes) and also applies a sharpness filter. The ‘Desktop’ setting is more neutral without the additional sharpness filter or artificial saturation and gamma tweaks – this is the mode we settled in for further testing, though a lot of what we cover will apply regardless of the mode used. You can adjust ‘Sharpness’ with any of these modes in the OSD, but the sharpness filter applied to ‘Movie HDR’ and ‘Game HDR’ is separate to this. You can’t attain the same sort of neutral sharpness with these modes as with the ‘Desktop’ setting. Regardless of the ‘Smart HDR’ mode used and as usual for a monitor under HDR some settings are inaccessible including brightness and colour channels (you can’t change the ‘Preset Mode’).

The Dell S2722QC falls short of even the lowest level of VESA DisplayHDR certification, so only a very basic HDR experience is offered. For colour gamut, we measured just 86% DCI-P3 as shown in the representation below. Remember that the red triangle shows the monitor’s colour gamut, the blue triangle DCI-P3 and green triangle sRGB. This falls some way shy of the near-term DCI-P3 gamut target for HDR and a long way off the ideal Rec. 2020 gamut – it’s really more of an ‘sRGB+’ gamut than anything. As a result, the saturation levels are rather limited and some elements such as brightly painted objects, some lush areas of vegetation and colourful flowers and berries don’t have the vividness or intensity they could have. That isn’t to say things look ‘washed out’, but the shade range and saturation peaks were rather limited by HDR standards. The overall saturation levels weren’t dramatically different to SDR, though some of the extra richness and saturation was curtailed slightly. A bit of toning down to some green shades so they appeared more natural in places, with less of a yellow push. A good neutral if slightly warm and rich look was provided for earthy brown shades and skin tones, too, with a bit of a reduced red push compared to SDR. There’s also a tight link between luminance levels and shade output under HDR. So it’s not just a broader gamut but also more precise luminance control (e.g. effective local dimming) that would help add some extra depth to some shades and extra ‘pop’ to others.

Colour gamut 'Test Settings'

The HDR10 pipeline makes use of 10-bits per colour channel, which is supported on the monitor via 8-bit + FRC for DP with the monitor handling the dithering. 8-bit + GPU dithering is used via HDMI at 60Hz, for bandwidth reasons. We’ve carefully observed a range of content (including fine gradients) on a broad range of monitors where 10-bit is supported monitor side (usually 8-bit + FRC) and where the GPU handles the dithering under HDR. Including comparisons with a given model where the monitor handles the dithering at some refresh rates and the GPU handles it at others. Regardless of the method used to achieve the ’10-bit’ colour signal, the visual output at the end of it all is very similar. It’s possible some subtle differences might be picked up during a careful side by side comparison of very specific content, but the difference really isn’t clear. The enhanced precision aids the nuanced shade variety and provides some benefits for predominantly dark content as well as brighter content. A superior variety of closely matching dark shades gives a natural uplift to detail – very different to the artificially brightened look a gamma enhancement under SDR could provide. For brighter shades, gradients are smoothed out with more natural shade progressions. This gives a more natural appearance to weather and particle effects, for example. Tighter luminance control would’ve helped accentuate this advantage at both the low and high end. The image below is taken from one of our favourite scenes to test HDR on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Remember that the photo is purely for illustrative purposes and in no way represents how the monitor appeared running HDR in person.

Whilst the scene highlighted the 10-bit advantages nicely, the monitor doesn’t include local dimming for the backlight. The peak luminance of 406 cd/m² is also rather limited by HDR standards. This means that bright elements such as light streaming up from above and the glint of light on the water surface were not eye-catching like they should be. And surrounding darker shades (including medium shades) didn’t have the depth they should have. The monitor doesn’t employ Dynamic Contrast, so the backlight just stays at a very high level, which saps depth and brings out ‘IPS glow’ even for predominantly dark scenes. So in summary, it certainly doesn’t give the sort of look HDR is supposed to give on the contrast side. And on the colour reproduction side it’s also rather limited, though not the worst we’ve seen from a monitor ‘supporting’ HDR. The section of video review below runs through the HDR experience using various scenes in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The ‘4K’ UHD experience

Our article on the ‘4K’ UHD experience looks at the benefits and potential drawbacks of the resolution across a range of applications – including general desktop usage, movies and games. A 28” ‘4K’ UHD model is used as an example in the article, offering a very similar pixel density and resolution experience to the Dell. The pixel density provided by the 27” ‘4K’ screen is 163.18 PPI (Pixels Per Inch), which will mean many users will want to use some degree of scaling. We found the monitor usable without any scaling and enjoyed this experience from our preferred viewing distance of ~70cm or a bit further back. It took some getting used to, particularly given the small size of a lot of text and other elements, but after an adaptation period we enjoyed it and the excellent ‘desktop real estate’ provided. We also found a relatively low scaling level of 125% to be a well-balanced alternative, still providing an excellent level of ‘desktop real estate’. There’s a certain crispness to text and UI elements which is lacking on models with a lower pixel density. This edge in clarity is maintained even if you use a higher scaling level or opt to increase the zoom in your applications, provided the elements scale cleanly – and in most cases they do. The following images show the screen on the desktop natively (100%, no scaling) and a small amount of scaling applied (125%). The article linked to earlier includes further analysis over a broader range of scaling settings, but everyone will have their own preferences for scaling levels.

Note that these images are just for illustrative purposes and don’t accurately reflect how the monitor appears in person. Any banding and patchiness on solid backgrounds are artifacts in the image, not observed in person.

The tight pixel density provides benefits to suitably high resolution image and video content as well as games running at 3840 x 2160. Some games make better use of the high resolution than others, particularly if they include high resolution textures and detailed particle effects. Even if you play graphically simpler titles or lower your graphics settings (aside from resolution), there’s a certain definition afforded by the high pixel density. Particularly noticeable if you view distant parts of the game world, where objects and characters in the game have a certain distinctness from their surroundings and a clarity that isn’t found at significantly lower pixel densities. The images below show the monitor in action in a selection of game titles. They’re again just for illustrative purposes and don’t accurately reflect how the monitor appears in person.

Interpolation and upscaling

The 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution is graphically taxing, so it might be desirable to run at a lower resolution for gaming performance or other graphically intensive applications. This may also be required due to the use of a system such as games console that might not support the ‘4K’ UHD resolution. The monitor can use an interpolation (scaling) process to map lower resolutions such as 1920 x 1080 (‘1080p’ Full HD) onto all 3840 x 2160 pixels. To ensure the monitor rather than GPU is handling the scaling process, as a PC user, you need to ensure the GPU driver is correctly configured so that the GPU doesn’t take over the scaling process. For AMD GPU users the monitor will handle the scaling by default, when gaming at non-native resolutions. Nvidia users should open the Nvidia Control Panel and navigate to ‘Display – Adjust desktop size and position’. They should ensure that ‘No Scaling’ is selected and ‘Perform scaling on:’ is set to ‘Display’ as shown below.



The monitor features a range of scaling options listed under ‘Aspect Ratio’ in the ‘Display’ section of the OSD; ’16:9’, ‘Auto Resize’, ‘4:3’ and ‘1:1’. The default ’16:9’ setting will use all 3840 x 2160 pixels of the screen when displaying an image. The ‘Auto Resize’ option uses as many pixels as possible but respects the aspect ratio of the source resolution. ‘4:3’ enforces a 4:3 aspect ratio regardless of the resolution and ‘1:1’ is a pixel mapping feature that only uses the pixels called for in the source resolution, without distorting the image or using interpolation and instead displaying a black border for unused pixels. These settings are demonstrated in this section of the OSD video.

When running the monitor at the 1920 x 1080 (Full HD or 1080p) resolution, the image was presented in a somewhat softer way than it would be on a native Full HD screen of the size. This could be offset somewhat by increasing ‘Sharpness’ in the OSD. It was never possible to get it looking like native Full HD, although we found the balance with the amount of softening and oversharpening quite good with ‘Sharpness’ set to ‘70%’ (preferences will vary). The 2560 x 1440 (WQHD or 1440p) resolution was handled well with the monitor’s interpolation process. Whilst things were a touch softer than a native 1440p resolution and you don’t get quite the same detail and clarity, the difference wasn’t as stark is it sometimes is. Some may like to increase the ‘Sharpness’ level a bit, which gives a fairly gentle sharpness increase with each level. But we found the default level of ‘50%’ fine for WQHD without a clearly oversharpened or overly soft look. Overall quite a good interpolation performance from this monitor with the adjustable sharpness coming in handy to adjust a bit according to preferences.

As usual, if you’re running the monitor at 3840 x 2160 and viewing 1920 x 1080 content (for example a video over the internet or a Blu-ray, using movie software) then it is the GPU and software that handles the upscaling. That’s got nothing to do with the monitor itself – there is a very small amount of softening to the image compared to viewing such content on a native Full HD monitor, but it’s slight and shouldn’t bother most users.

Video review

The video below shows the monitor in action. The camera, processing done and your own screen all affect the output – so it doesn’t accurately represent what you’d see when viewing the monitor in person. It still provides useful visual demonstrations and explanations which help reinforce some of the key points raised in the written piece.

Timestamps:
Features & Aesthetics
Contrast
Colour reproduction
HDR (High Dynamic Range)
Responsiveness (General)
Responsiveness (VRR)

Conclusion

The Dell S2722QC combines a 3840 x 2160 (‘4K’ UHD) resolution with 27” screen size. This provides excellent ‘desktop real estate’ potential and a strong pixel density that can be enjoyed for both work and play. The monitor offers a modern home-office design with surprisingly weighty stand and good ergonomics. The minimalism also extends to the port selection, without a conventional DisplayPort included. USB-C functionality is included with support for a DP 1.4 signal, regardless of whether you wish to (or indeed can) make use of the other aspects of USB-C. Our unit was quite well tuned when it came to white point though missed the ‘2.2’ target for gamma. There were no alternative gamma settings included, though the gamma tracking worked well for general consumption and just added a touch of extra richness in places. It was also closer to ‘2.2’ for darker shades, avoiding unwanted masking of detail.

When it came to contrast things were in-line with our expectations, whilst being just a touch better than some IPS models by sustaining >1150:1 even after colour channel rebalancing. A moderate level of ‘IPS glow’ was present as well, again in-line with expectation and eating away at depth and atmosphere in affected regions of the screen. Colour consistency from the IPS panel was strong, whilst the colour gamut extended some way beyond sRGB. Though fell some way short of full DCI-P3 and far shy of full Adobe RGB coverage. No sRGB emulation was included – arguably less important than on ‘true wide gamut’ models, but still something that would’ve been nice to see. Coupled with the gamma tracking, profiling is strongly advised for colour-critical content creation within the sRGB colour space. The monitor also offered basic HDR support, which was enough to give a different look to things and certainly not the worse HDR implementation we’ve seen. But very far from a true HDR experience in terms of both contrast and colour reproduction.

The 60Hz refresh rate was the main limiting factor when it came to responsiveness. Whilst pixel response tuning wasn’t perfect, the ‘Normal’ mode still provided a decent experience within the confines of the refresh rate with very little overshoot to worry about. Input lag was also low, whilst Adaptive-Sync worked as you’d hope with both AMD and Nvidia graphics hardware. Overall this monitor offered a well-rounded experience, coupled with (subjectively) attractive styling and a solid-feeling package. We can’t help but compare it to the Philips 288E2UAE (288E2E/288E2A) which is another model in the segment we recommend. The Dell offers USB-C support, superior ergonomics, a better brightness adjustment range and basic HDR support. It has the more solid stand of the two and some may prefer the styling – though that is always going to remain subjective. The Philips we tested offered better gamma calibration with adjustable gamma settings, better pixel response time tuning (though not a huge difference there) and is the cheaper offering. Ultimately, most people in the market for this sort of model would be perfectly happy with either offering.

Positives	Negatives
Strong colour and gamma consistency with a fairly generous colour gamut providing quite a rich and vibrant image	DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB coverage insufficient for work within those colour spaces, no sRGB emulation and gamma a touch high for some shades on our unit
Decent contrast and a light to very light screen surface providing fairly direct emission of light without an obvious layered appearance	Moderate ‘IPS glow’ ate away at detail and atmosphere, with a bit of graininess to the screen surface when observing brighter content
A decent low-overshoot 60Hz experience, low input lag and Adaptive-Sync working properly on both AMD and Nvidia side	Some weaknesses in pixel responsiveness and a ‘Fast’ and ‘Extreme’ setting essentially unusable due to overshoot
Modern styling with a weighty feel and good ergonomics. An excellent pixel density and strong ‘desktop real estate’ potential	DP signal via USB-C rather than conventional DP port, requires bidirectional cable (not included) to connect to DP port of GPU

The bottom line; a modern and sturdily designed monitor with good feature set and good all-round performance for content consumption.PC Monitors

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