Dell U3223QE colors washed out

dbmtts · Dec 12, 2022

I’m trying to decide between Studio Display and Dell U3223QE.

Right now I’m testing both and can’t get the colors on Dell (especially around white and grey) anywhere close to Studio Display. It’s almost like there’s a light sepia (washed out colors) - whites look yellowish and grays are getting bluish tint.

I set the color temperature to 6500K and use mac Display P3 profile but it’s still off.

Is this something that can be fixed through calibration/settings or Apple Studio is just much superior to Dell?

Photo attached but not sure if the issue is very visible.

mfram · Dec 12, 2022

Wait, do you have one monitor in landscape mode and one rotated? Because the coating on a rotated monitor isn't going to be optimal most likely. It's tough to tell from the picture. Be sure they are in the same orientation to compare. Even two different monitors of the same model are going to have slightly different white color temperatures. That's expected.

dbmtts · Dec 13, 2022

mfram said:
Wait, do you have one monitor in landscape mode and one rotated? Because the coating on a rotated monitor isn't going to be optimal most likely. It's tough to tell from the picture. Be sure they are in the same orientation to compare. Even two different monitors of the same model are going to have slightly different white color temperatures. That's expected.

Both are in landscape mode. Agree, the picture doesn’t show it well - the Dell monitor on the right isn’t as color rich as ASD (left).

Wondering if the washed put whites are because of the 200 nits brightness difference between ASD and Dell?

Basic75 · Dec 13, 2022

dbmtts said:
I set the color temperature to 6500K and use mac Display P3 profile but it’s still off.

You're using the colour profile of an Apple display for a Dell?

dbmtts · Dec 13, 2022

Basic75 said:
You're using the colour profile of an Apple display for a Dell?

I followed this advice. Also tried Dell’s P3 V2 profiles that come from their support site but that didn’t make much difference.

macrumorsnumpty · Apr 27, 2023

Rtings review suggested to calibrate the dell display. Afterwards, for them at least, the display became more accurate.

macrumorsnumpty · May 7, 2023

I just got a Dell u3223qe.
I have calibrated the display, which oddly did not really need to as the before and after profiles were minimal in difference.

Having a look at the UI on the MacBook Pro M2 Max and the Dell, they seem similar but not indentical. Trying to take a photo of the screen with a phone which automatically decides what colour things should be is not helpful either.

Prior to calibration the whites seemed slightly off and the contrast between the two was also off. The Dell was certainly lacking contrast. Which in itself is not that bad a thing.

After calibration.
When looking at a photo of the screen, the white point is pretty similar, but again not the same. The whole screen has a slight tint, really slight tint, of yellow and lack of contrast.
In person the MacBook Pros screen is way to contrast biased.
The Dell is more like paper.
This maybe due to the Matte screen on the dell?

Blacks are similar
Contrast is similar
Sharpness is similar.
Colour is similar.

I have changed some settings on the Dell to help the match.
Brightness is at 52%
Contrast is at 99%
Sharpness is at 70%
Custom colour - 99% 97% 100%
Yours may differ after calibration.
RGB colour
USB-c prioritisation - High Resolution

Colour profile on Mac - either my calibrated one or the default which has even more contrast.
HDR is off on Mac as it causes flicker when turned on.