Dell U2723QE Review: 4K Monitor With IPS Black Panel

The Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is a premium 27″ 4K monitor with an IPS Black panel, a wide color gamut, excellent factory calibration and extensive connectivity options.

Image Quality

Dell’s UltraSharp U2723QE and U3223QE are the first monitors with LG’s IPS Black panels (LM270WR9-SSA1) that promise a static contrast ratio of 2,000:1, which is a big leap from the typical 1,000:1 contrast ratio of older IPS models.

Indeed, the Dell U2723QE monitor easily reaches a contrast ratio of 2,000:1 and even a bit beyond that (2,300:1, though this can vary between units).

As a result, you get noticeably deeper blacks and brighter whites than that of IPS monitors with a ~1,000:1 contrast ratio. The blacks still aren’t quite as deep as that of OLEDs or VA monitors with a 3,000:1 – 4,000:1 contrast ratio, but it’s definitely a huge improvement – one that IPS displays needed for a long time.

Since it’s an IPS monitor, after all, the Dell U2723QE still has some IPS glow and backlight bleeding that can take away from watching dark content in a dark room. However, the intensity of these visual artifacts varies from unit to unit, and in most cases, it’s completely manageable.

The 4K UHD resolution results in a high pixel density of 163 PPI on the 27″ viewable screen of the Dell U2723QE display. This means you get plenty of screen real estate as well as crystal-clear details and text, but you will need to use some scaling in order to make tiny text readable.

Moving on, the monitor covers 100% sRGB, 100% Rec. 709 and 98% DCI-P3 color gamuts and it’s factory calibrated at Delta E < 2 for all three color spaces. You can easily switch between these modes in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu.

The full sRGB/Rec. 709 coverage with dedicated color presets makes the Dell U2723QE ideal for both photo and video editing, while the wider DCI-P3 gamut coverage is great for MacOS and general content consumption due to the more saturated and vibrant color output.

It also has 178° wide viewing angles that ensure impeccable color consistency regardless of the angle you’re looking at the screen, and dithered 10-bit color depth support for smooth gradients.

Thanks to its peak brightness of 400-nits, the monitor can get more than bright enough even in rooms with strong lighting.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) is supported, but since there are only 4 dimming zones, we recommend leaving it disabled.

Performance

The Dell U2723QE has a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz and no variable refresh rate support, which will disappoint some gamers.

Still, input lag is low at around 10ms, so you will be able to enjoy gaming without any noticeable delay between your actions and the result on the screen.

Further. the monitor has a specified pixel response time speed of 5ms GtG. The actual response time speed is a bit slower than that of regular IPS monitors, but nearly all pixel transitions can be completed within the 60Hz window, so there’s no noticeable smearing behind fast-moving objects.

Due to the monitor’s high resolution, brightness and contrast ratio paired with a wide color gamut, quick response time and low input lag, video games will look great and run smoothly as long as you can maintain a decent frame rate at 4K.

If you’re sensitive to tearing, you’ll have to use V-Sync, which can increase input lag. We recommend using this V-Sync trick to minimize added latency.

The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter (hardware solution), which prevents eye fatigue and headaches caused by prolonged use of the screen.

Features

At the rear of the monitor, there’s a directional joystick for OSD menu navigation. You can also use Dell’s DDM (Dell Display Manager) desktop application for some settings.

Available image adjustment tools include brightness, contrast, sharpness, color temperature, input source selection (including automatic detection) and aspect ratio. There are also several picture presets available, including ‘Game’ and ‘Movie’ with additional hue/saturation adjustments available.

Other useful features include Picture in Picture and Picture by Picture.

Design & Connectivity

The design of the monitor involves ultra-thin bezels on all four sides of the screen with a matte anti-glare coating against reflections. The stand is versatile, with up to 150mm height adjustment, +/- 45° swivel, +/- 90° pivot, -5°/21°­ tilt and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility, however, it’s prone to wobbling.

Display inputs include HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, DisplayPort output for daisy-chaining and USB-C (DP 1.4 Alt Mode, 90W PD).

Other connectivity options include an additional USB-C port with 15W PD, one upstream USB-C port with KVM functionality, five 10Gbps downstream USB-A ports, an audio line-out port and RJ45.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Dell U2723QE price ranges from ~$430 to $580. So, be sure you check for a good deal on it. It’s also available as a 32″ sized variant, the Dell U3223QE.

At $430, it’s reasonably priced for a 27″ 4K 60Hz professional monitor with plenty of premium features. So, if you can put all (or most) of its features to good use, it’s definitely worth the price.

In case it’s not available or overpriced, we recommend the Philips 27E2F7901 as an alternative. It uses the same panel and can be found for $370 – $450.

Keep in mind that, for both gaming and work, you can get the MSI MAG274UPF for around the same price instead. It’s a 27″ 4K 144Hz IPS gaming monitor with KVM and USB-C with 65W PD. It doesn’t have as high contrast ratio (1,000:1) though.

Conclusion

The Dell UltraSharp U2723QE is an excellent 4K monitor for color-critical work. You get professional-grade color accuracy for sRGB, Rec. 709 and DCI-P3 color spaces, crisp details and text, and strong peak brightness and contrast ratio.

On top of that, you get extensive connectivity options with 90W PD, daisy-chaining capability, plenty of USB ports, RJ45 and an integrated KVM functionality.

Specifications

Screen Size	27-inch
Resolution	3840×2160 (Ultra HD)
Panel Type	IPS Black
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	60Hz
Response Time	5ms (GtG)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, DP-Out, HDMI 2.0, USB-C (DP 1.4 Alt Mode, 90W PD)
Other Ports	Audio-Out, 5x USB-A 3.0, RJ45, 2x USB-C
Brightness	400 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	2000:1 (static)
Colors	1.07 billion (8-bit + FRC) 98% DCI-P3
HDR	DisplayHDR 400
Local Dimming	4 zones
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)