Dell UP2414Q review

We’ve reviewed our fair share of Ultra HD (4K) TVs, but the Dell UP2414Q is the first monitor we’ve seen with a 3,840×2,160 resolution. Many Ultra HD displays are over 32in, but the UP2414Q uses a 23.8in IPS panel, giving it a huge pixel density of 185 pixels-per-inch (PPI). The level of detail it brings to the screen is absolutely stunning, but there are issues.

Everything certainly looked razor sharp in Windows 8, and the extra resolution is great for editing photos and videos, but you’ll need to make a few changes before the Windows desktop is usable. First, you’ll need to change the size in the Control Panel’s Display settings. At 100 per cent, text and icons are rendered miniature, making them so tiny that you’re likely to strain your eyes when trying to read anything. Increasing this setting to the usual maximum of 150 makes it usable for those who don’t mind things being on the small side.

However, you’ll still suffer from issues in many applications, with so many pixels packed into such a small space buttons and toolbars can become tiny. Some applications support such high resolutions (often called HiDPI) but many still don’t and are rendered almost unusable as a result.

You’ll also need to use the monitor’s DisplayPort input if you want to make use of the UP2414Q’s maximum 60Hz refresh rate, as it can only refresh at 30Hz when video is input via HDMI. Thankfully, the UP2414Q has two DisplayPort inputs: one mini and one full size. At 30Hz the Windows Start screen animations became jerky and even simple tasks such as dragging windows across the desktop caused judder.

We’d recommend saving the HDMI input for a secondary device such as a Blu-ray player, though 1,920×1,080-resolution images looked unusually grainy and pixelated.

At 60Hz Windows was great. We reviewed the Dell UP2414Q with an AMD R9 280X and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 graphics card. Both were able to support the resolution at 60Hz instantly, but only once we’d enabled the DisplayPort 1.2 setting in the monitor’s onboard display menu. Strangely, this setting is disabled by default, however the menu is easy to navigate and the responsive touch-control buttons are simple to use.

Apple fans will be disappointed, as we had little success in connecting the UP2414Q to Apple’s 2014 Mac Pro. When we connected the Mac Pro to the UP2414Q, OS X didn’t recognise the display and only produced a mess of colours at a resolution of 1,920×2,160, which is one half of 3,840×2,160. We contacted Dell to ask why this might be, but we didn’t get a response by the time we went to print.

We had better luck with a 2013 Macbook Pro with Retina Display, but this wasn’t perfect either. We could get a full 3,840×2,160 resolution on the UP2414Q when we extended the desktop, but OS X doesn’t offer additional scaling options to make the resolution more user-friendly, and the refresh rate was limited to 30Hz.

If you have the hardware to drive the monitor, then the UP2414Q has everything else we’d expect from a top-of-the-range monitor. Its sturdy, height-adjustable stand can reach a maximum height of 180mm and it can pivot 90 degrees so you can view your desktop in portrait mode. The UP2414Q also has a four-port USB3 hub and a multiformat card reader.