Displays review
Dell U2724D Review: IPS Black at 120Hz, Minus the Power Delivery
Three labs measured its contrast at 1682:1, 1955:1 and 2370:1. All of them noticed the USB-C port cannot charge your laptop, which is the thing its own sibling is famous for.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Dell
Dell UltraSharp U2724D
Good · researched from 4 sources
The monitor to buy if you want IPS Black contrast with a refresh rate above 60Hz and you already have a dock. If you wanted the one cable that charges your laptop, that is the U2723QE, and this is not it.
- Buy if
- Desktop users who do not need the monitor to power a laptop · Mixed work and casual gaming, where 120Hz earns its place · Colour work in sRGB, where two labs measured accuracy under 0.8
- Skip if
- Laptop users wanting one-cable docking · Competitive gaming, on the measured response times · Anyone buying for HDR
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
The letter at the end of the model number
Dell sells the U2724D and the U2724DE. They look identical, they share a panel, and one of them charges your laptop over a single cable while the other does not.
This is the one that does not. PCWorld states plainly that the USB-C port lacks DisplayPort or Power Delivery support. Monitor Nerds lists it as a criticism. Tech2Geek names it as one of three shortcomings.
If you read our U2723QE review and were sold on the idea that one cable replaces a dock, you want a different model number. That capability is the whole reason the QE costs what it does, and it is absent here.
What you get instead
A 120Hz IPS Black panel, which PCWorld notes was among the first of its kind to go above 60Hz. IPS Black roughly doubles the contrast of ordinary IPS while keeping IPS viewing angles and colour, and until recently it came locked to 60Hz.
Whether it doubles it depends who you ask. Tech2Geek measured 1682:1 at default settings and 1966:1 pushed to maximum. Monitor Nerds measured 1955:1. PCWorld measured 2370:1 and called it the best IPS Black result they had recorded.
That is a wide spread, and settings explain some of it. What all three agree on is that this is comfortably ahead of the roughly 1000:1 an ordinary IPS panel manages, and ahead of the 1649:1 that ITPro measured on the U2723QE.
Check which preset you are in
Tech2Geek found Standard mode measuring deltaE 4.54, which is visibly inaccurate, and sRGB mode measuring 0.74, which is excellent.
Monitor Nerds, presumably testing in a different preset, measured 1.61 by default falling to 0.77 after calibration.
The practical instruction is the same either way: change the preset before you judge the colour. Out of the box in the wrong mode this panel looks mediocre, and the fix takes one trip through the menu.
Where it is not a gaming monitor
120Hz is real and the input lag is low, at 5 ms per Monitor Nerds and 4.2 ms per Tech2Geek.
Pixel response is the limit. PCWorld measured 5 to 8 ms and Tech2Geek 10 ms grey-to-grey, and Monitor Nerds found that maxing the overdrive helped but added overshoot. Tech2Geek's conclusion is casual gaming rather than competitive, which is the right framing.
The uniformity complaint travels with the panel
Monitor Nerds found backlight leaks on the top and side edges causing clouding and light blooms in dark scenes. Tech2Geek reports light leaks at the edges and lists uniformity as needing work.
We recorded the same complaint on the U2723QE, where ITPro measured brightness varying 9.4 percent at one corner. Two different models in the same family, the same edge-leak finding from different reviewers, which points at the panel design rather than a bad unit.
In a lit room doing office work you will never see it. Watching something dark at night, you will.
How it scored
The overall 8.0 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Panel performance
Monitor Nerds measured deltaE 1.61 by default and 0.77 calibrated. Tech2Geek found sRGB mode reaching 0.74 against 4.54 in Standard mode.
Value
Tech2Geek scored it 9 out of 10 and called it the best compromise between productivity and creative work in its bracket.
Build quality
Monitor Nerds calls the stand stable and firm with tilt, swivel, pivot and height. PCWorld measures 150 mm of height travel and 90 degrees of swivel.
Ease of use
The USB-C port carries data or video but no power, which PCWorld, Monitor Nerds and Tech2Geek all list as a shortcoming. No speakers either.
Contrast and uniformity
Contrast measurements range from 1682:1 to 2370:1 across three labs. Monitor Nerds and Tech2Geek both found backlight leaks causing clouding at the edges.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- PCWorld measured 2370:1 contrast and called it the best IPS Black result they had recorded
- 120Hz on an IPS Black panel, which PCWorld notes was among the first of its kind
- Monitor Nerds measured deltaE 0.77 after calibration and Tech2Geek 0.74 in sRGB mode
- 150 mm of height adjustment, 90 degrees of swivel and full pivot per PCWorld
- A DisplayPort output for daisy-chaining a second monitor
What we didn’t
- The USB-C port has no Power Delivery, so it will not charge a laptop
- Contrast measurements vary from 1682:1 to 2370:1 depending on who tested it
- Monitor Nerds and Tech2Geek both found backlight leaks and clouding at the edges
- Response times of 5 to 8 ms per PCWorld and 10 ms grey-to-grey per Tech2Geek
- No HDR worth the name and no built-in speakers
- Tech2Geek measured Standard mode accuracy at deltaE 4.54, so you must switch to sRGB
Specifications
| Panel | 27in IPS Black |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 2560 x 1440 |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| Contrast | 1682:1 default and 1966:1 maximum per Tech2Geek; 1955:1 per Monitor Nerds; 2370:1 per PCWorld |
| Brightness | 328 nits per PCWorld; 331 cd/m2 per Monitor Nerds; 349 cd/m2 maximum per Tech2Geek |
| Colour gamut | 96 percent DCI-P3 and 87 percent Adobe RGB per PCWorld |
| Colour accuracy | deltaE 1.61 default, 0.77 calibrated per Monitor Nerds |
| Response time | 5 to 8 ms per PCWorld; 10 ms grey-to-grey per Tech2Geek |
| Input lag | 5 ms at 120Hz per Monitor Nerds; 4.2 ms per Tech2Geek |
| USB-C | Data and video only, no Power Delivery |
| Stand | 150 mm height, 90 degrees swivel, 26 degrees tilt, 90 degrees rotation per PCWorld |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
4
sources reviewed
Three labs each published their own measurements and none of them agree on contrast, so the specification table lists all three figures with the conditions each states rather than averaging them. PCWorld supplies the port list, the stand travel and the gamut coverage. Monitor Nerds supplies the calibrated accuracy and the input lag. Tech2Geek supplies the mode-dependent accuracy split that explains why the default preset measures poorly. All three independently flag the missing Power Delivery, which is why it leads the review.
What we read
Common questions
Can the Dell U2724D charge my laptop over USB-C?
Why do three labs report different contrast?
Is it accurate enough for colour work?
Is 120Hz useful on a work monitor?
How bad is the backlight uniformity?
The bottom line on the Dell UltraSharp U2724D
The monitor to buy if you want IPS Black contrast with a refresh rate above 60Hz and you already have a dock. If you wanted the one cable that charges your laptop, that is the U2723QE, and this is not it.
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