This monitor is absolutely no go.
From what you written, it sounds like some of the unexpected problems you experienced were due to both getting a lemon and missing some key setup items (more specifics on both of these inline below).
Just FYI, I also initially got a lemon, as did
Macdude2010. When I first got my Dell, I noticed that the shipping box was pretty beat up, and I had various problems with the builtin USB peripherals being flaky. I spoke to Dell support, and within two days, I had a replacement monitor, and so far, the replacement seems to be working normally (although to be sure, I am still testing, which is why I haven't yet written any update here). I've been pretty pleased with Dell's support.
I have my old MacBook Pro 2018. When connected directly is shows strange resulutions which does not look like scaled (e.g. 3300x2k something). Ok, that was expected (the macbook does not properly support these resolutions)
When connected through Blackmagic eGPU, resolutions list becomes normal, but it can only do 6144x3456 or scaled 3072x1728 at 30Hz. Ok, this was also expected.
Indeed, this is all expected, as your MacBook is five years old and presumably the Blackmagic eGPU is about that old too. Older hardware simply isn't going to have the newer video connectivity options that are needed to properly drive a 6K monitor at native resolution and 60Hz. One really needs to have a computer with Thunderbolt 4, DP 2.0, or HDMI v2.1 to take full advantage of this Dell 6K monitor.
When connected to Dell Windows laptop it produces the full resolution at 60Hz.
Presumably this is a fairly recent Dell laptop with Thunderbolt 4, DP 2.0, or HDMI v2.1, yes?
Now, the image quality. I compare it to iMac 27 late 2015 retina display... and iMac is sharper and brighter. Any change in settings does not help. It is simply as it is.
Regarding the sharpness issue, did you double check that either macOS or the monitor wasn't rescaling the video? That would definitely lessen the sharpness. There are some pitfalls here; see
this post of mine (as well as others in this thread) on how to properly configure things for the best output.
I had an iMac Pro until recently and I'd describe the glossy iMac screen as more vivid, but I don't find the Dell a downgrade in terms of actual brightness and sharpness. It seems just as sharp to me, and at max brightness, I find the Dell too bright for normal work, unlike my iMac Pro, which I could use at max brightness. Overall, I've been pretty pleased with the matte finish on the Dell. It's not as matte as the LG 38" UltraWide that I've also used. But glossy versus matte is a very personal thing.
HDR is nightmare. For YouTube HDR videos it is okay (iMac screen without HDR still looks better). For my own HDR videos filmed on iPhone they become overexposed (no contrast, too bright). None of HDR settings help to fix it.
Interesting. Thanks for the report. I haven't tested HDR, as it's not something I need with this monitor.
Other minor things: USB ports are not charging when the monitor is off (except the main 140W input).
This can be enabled via
OSD -> Personalize -> Other USB Charging -> On in Standby Mode. When setting up the monitor, the OSD says that this is disabled by default due to energy saving reasons.
There is only one Thinderbolt input with video capacity, so if I have two laptops or a Mac laptop and Mac Studio, I have to use HDMI which loses all attached peripherals.
When using HDMI or DisplayPort, there is an included USB upstream cable that also needs to be connected so that the monitor's builtin peripherals and USB ports will work. This is what I do. My Mac Mini is connected using HDMI and the USB upstream cable, and I leave the Thunderbolt cable available for when I want to connect or charge my MacBook Pro. The Dell OSD even has settings to pick whether or not the peripherals should be switched from Thunderbolt to/from the USB upstream cable when switching video inputs; see
OSD -> USB -> mDP assign to and
OSD -> USB -> HDMI assign to. I think this all works really nicely and is more customizable than I was expecting. I think Dell did this right.
If I mute mic or switch off camera from the front panel, it always shows it is muted in red, there is no way to switch off all the lights.
This
really annoyed me at first too. Presumably Dell did it this way so that it's always clear when the user has muted the mic or closed the camera privacy shutter using the monitor controls. But since they are red LEDs and not screamingly bright like blue LEDs, I've found I can tolerate them (even in a dark room), unlike blue LEDs, which I abhor and often cover with tape. Still, I'd too greatly prefer if there was a way to set the monitor so that the red LEDs would be either significantly dimmed or fully turned off when the proximity sensor doesn't detect that one's hand is near the monitor control panel on the left side of the bottom bezel. Maybe Dell will release a firmware update to allow this. It would be a big improvement.
The edges of the screen are illuminated (visible when it is black).
I think this is one sign that you got a lemon. I don't have this problem at all with my Dell (the first one I got or the replacement). The only other thing I can think of is that you were actually running the Dell at 1:1 resolution with an output that was less than the full 6144x3456 resolution of the display, and so you were seeing some of the actual screen being unused but backlit.
And, finally, it has died after a day of use. It switches on, a computer says there is a monitor attached but nothing is displayed. Just blank screen. When fully disconnected (only power cord) no on-screen menu or no signal popup visible. Really helped me with the decision to return
A courier is picking up it on Friday. At least return are good for it (I hope I get my money back soon).
Sorry to hear that yours completely died on you! It really does sounds like you got a lemon. Good luck with the return and I hope the info above is helpful for any potential further troubleshooting.
