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May 12th, 2020 01:00

S2719DC, HDR Reference, dimming, flickering, #3

I purchased this monitor from Amazon last week and was impressed with the quality of the monitor. However when I went to take advantage of the HDR feature, the monitor shows an awful issue with spotlighting and flickering. As I have come to understand the Smart HDR mode "Reference" is the only HDR mode that takes advantage of the HDR 600 VESA certification. 

When enabling "Reference" Smart HDR mode, it appears vertical dimming zones are enabled. The entire lower half of the monitor flickers and flashes when there is any horizontal movement of display content. I've tested this with an HDMI 2.0 cable connected to both my Dell Precision 7730 laptop and 4K HDR edition Apple TV.

S2719DC flickering and flashing 

This does not occur on static images and only when there is movement in the video stream. I ran the built in diagnostics and all the solid static colours and text looked perfect. So this seems to only be an issue with the local dimming on the Smart HDR mode "Reference".

Is there any way to disable this local dimming effect? This effect ruins the practicality of usage of this monitor for HDR display. The other Game, Desktop and Movie modes, which do not have this flickering effect, are too dim and do not take advantage of the 600 nit illumination and saturation which gets the image closer to the DCI-P3 colour gamut, which is the sole reason I purchased this more expensive model of monitor.

@DELL-Chris M is there anything anyone can do to assist me here?

Community Manager

 • 

55.8K Posts

May 12th, 2020 10:00

The Windows Desktop and Windows apps like Explorer are not HDR compatible which is why you and others are seeing that issue when choosing Smart HDR- Reference. The only time Smart HDR should be on is when you are actively playing an HDR Game or viewing an HDR Movie. You would not use Reference for either.

When using the Windows desktop or any other non-HDR content like Windows Explorer, HDR should be Off
* Change the monitor OSD -Display -Smart HDR to Off
* Right click on Windows 10 Display Settings
* Switch HDR and advanced colors to Off

When using an HDR Game or HDR Movie, HDR should be On
* Change the monitor OSD -Display -Smart HDR to Game HDR or Movie HDR
* Right click on Windows 10 Display Settings
* Switch HDR and advanced colors to On

May 13th, 2020 15:00

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my query. I totally understand that HDR mode should be disabled for standard desktop apps, it was just that the flickering observed during game and movie content was easier to capture on a constant color desktop with a phone camera than during gameplay.

So where I am confused is the following: watching HDR movie content in HDR Movie mode makes the white point bright portions of the content appear dim and the colors desaturated. The white points and color saturation look incredible when switching to Reference mode while viewing the same HDR content. This is where the S2719DC monitor really shows off to me what it is capable of. The only issue is the local dimming flickering effect.  It feels like the HDR Movie and HDR Game modes are purposefully restricting the monitors full brightness and saturation potential seen in the Reference mode. 

Is there any way to adjust the HDR Movie or Game modes to match the brightness and saturation levels observed in Reference mode?

Thanks again,
Rory

May 16th, 2020 05:00

Hi All,

The forum moderator asked if I could post some photos to clarify what I'm seeing when comparing the Game/Movie HDR modes to the Reference mode.

You can see here that the brightness and saturation of the Reference mode is far superior to the other two, where the bright regions like the sky appear dull and muddy in comparison.

HDRmodes.gif
hdrModes.0001.png
hdrModes.0002.png
hdrModes.0003.png


Please let me know if there is any way to match the brightness and saturation of the Reference mode on either Game/Movie mode; or alternatively disable local dimming in Reference.

Thanks again,
Rory

Community Manager

 • 

55.8K Posts

May 16th, 2020 16:00

We have checked with the Displays Team. There is not a way within the monitor settings/menu to adjust the HDR Movie or HDR Game modes to match the brightness and saturation levels you observed in Reference mode. You should choose HDR Game while in the HDR game and seek to tweak it in the games video settings.

May 16th, 2020 17:00

Hi Chris,

Thanks for reaching out to your Displays Team.

I have tried this in-game HDR calibration approach already. However, in HDR Game mode, the monitor is capping the white point of the display at a significantly lower luminance level than is available with Reference mode. Therefore if I increase the brightness in game, the colors and details begin to clamp. You can see this white point luminance difference in the comparison images I posted, if you look at the white point in the sun.

What is this Reference mode for, and why is it the only mode that does not clamp the monitor's 600 nit luminance white point?

Is there any chance that your Displays Team could create a firmware patch to expose an option in the OSD for disabling the local dimming effect, or alternatively an option to increase the white point luminance in the HDR Game/Movie modes?

Thanks again,
Rory

1 Message

May 30th, 2020 04:00

Hi Rory,

Just picked up this monitor and from some basic tests I've done on this monitor using my colorimeter and also some additional tests other reviewers have made, I don't believe the other HDR modes are necessarily limiting the display.

I measured peak 600 nit luminance (588 in my less than ideal setup) on all three Movie/Game and Reference modes (± 5 nits). I also could not find a significant difference in color gamut coverage between them.

I do agree the Reference mode results in the display overall being brighter and more saturated, but I believe this is purely the result of different tone mapping and reference curves between the modes. The peak brightness and color gamut are not being limited and believe the HDR Game/Movie modes are actually closer to the original contents intent in respect to saturation and brightness.

The suggestion for a software/firmware update to control local dimming would be great to have since many other display manufactures include that option. Also more clarity directly from Dell on the differences between the modes would also help. I hope this information I've found was useful to you and possibly others.

Thanks

May 30th, 2020 06:00

In summary, the Dell S2719DC monitor is a fantastic piece of hardware. I just feel the firmware is letting it down with so little control of the HDR signal being exposed to the end user.

May 30th, 2020 06:00

Hi Mike,

Thank you, I do find your post very helpful.

Do you know if there is anyway to customize the tone mapping being sent to the monitor where in-app tone mapping options are not provided?

Cheers,
Rory

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