IN THEORY, the new Dell S2722DGM
is pretty much the perfect affordable
gaming monitor. It’s fast, cheap, has
plenty of pixels, decent panel spec, and
doesn’t bother with frills and features
that add little to the gaming experience.
It’s built around a 1440p 27-inch VA
panel with decent specifications. VA tech
tends to be cheaper than IPS and with that
come pros and cons. The most obvious
advantage is static contrast. Dell rates
this monitor at 3,000:1, which is almost
three times better than any IPS monitor.
However, despite the strong contrast, this
is a straight-up SDR display with no HDR
support. We’re fine with that, given most
so-called HDR PC monitors are nothing of
the sort. Brightness is pegged at 350nits,
which is fine for an SDR display.
The other major differentiator between
VA and IPS is speed, as VA tends to be
slower. The S2722DGM’s pixel response
is rated at 2ms GtG and 1ms MPRT, just
behind the 1ms and 0.5ms ratings of the
best IPS panels. Dell provides figures for
how response performance relates to
the user-configurable overdrive settings
in the OSD menu. The other metric for
speed is refresh. The S2722DGM is good
for 165Hz, which is plenty. Chasing even
higher rates would bring the extra costs
of securing a GPU capable of keeping up.
The S2722DGM’s 1440p native
resolution equates to 2,560x1,440 pixels.
On a 27-inch screen, that’s a reasonable
pixel density without generating the
debilitating GPU load that comes with
4K. As for the Dell S2722DGM’s broader
feature set, don’t expect too many extras.
USB-C connectivity doesn’t feature, but
the dual HDMI and single DisplayPort
connections are fine, even if the HDMI
ports top out at 144Hz rather than 165Hz.
The chassis and stand are plastic but
robust, with tilt and height adjustment
included. Arguably the only irrelevance
is the panel’s 1500R curvature. It doesn’t
detract from the gaming experience, but
on a 27-inch screen, doesn’t add much
either. If that doesn’t qualify as a caveat,
there’s little else that does when it comes
to image quality. The Dell S2722DGM is a
punchy and vibrant monitor considering
it’s a pure SDR panel. The strong inherent
contrast helps, ensuring you aren’t
shortchanged when running games that
support HDR, such as Cyberpunk 2077, in
SDR mode.An affordable 1440p gaming monitor
Dell S2722DGM
8
VERDICT Dell S2722DGMSIGHT TO BEHOLD Decent
overall image quality; strong
contrast; reasonably quick.
SEEN IT ALL BEFORE Few features
and frills; no HDR support.
$329, http://www.dell.comSPECIFICATIONSPanel size 27-inch
Panel technology VA
Native resolution 2,560 x 1,440
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Refresh rate 165Hz
Response time 1ms MPRT, 2ms GtG
HDR No
Contrast 3,000:1
Color 99 percent sRGB
Brightness 350cd/m2
Video Inputs DisplayPort 1.2 x1,
HDMI 2.0 x2
Other AMD FreeSync PremiumSo, the Dell S2722DGM does eye candy
just fine. It’s also quick enough to deliver
where speed matters most. But we’d
steer clear of MPRT overdrive mode,
which hammers the panel’s brightness
and vibrancy. ‘Extreme’ mode, rated at
2ms, suffers from a whiff of overshoot,
but it’s only just visible in-game, while
‘Super fast’ resolves the overshoot but
allows a little smearing of darker tones.
Meanwhile, the 165Hz refresh ensures
lag is a non-issue and adaptive sync is
catered for via AMD FreeSync Premium
certification. Owners of Nvidia GPUs will
need to run in basic G-Sync compatibility
mode, which in practice is just fine.
All told, the Dell S2722DGM isn’t as
quick as the best IPS monitors, but nor is
it a slouch. For similar money, you could
go with a fast 1080p IPS panel, but we’d
lean towards giving up a bit of speed for
the added pixels and visual detail of this
Dell. That’s especially true if you factor
general computing into the equation.
1440p on a 27-inch panel makes for
adequate pixel density for mundane tasks
like font rendering and desktop space.
1080p is pretty low rent. –JEREMY LAIRDFEB 2022 MAXIMU MPC 81