Dell P2217H vs Planar Helium PCT2785

The Dell P2217H offers good gaming experience for a general purpose display in this price range because of its reasonably low input lag and good motion handling capabilities.

The monitor feels responsive because of its input lag of 9.8 ms. Only gaming monitors in this price range outperform such result.

Motion looks reasonably clear because only tiny traces follow fast-moving objects on the screen. The monitor's pixels need only six milliseconds to change their color, which reduces motion blur.

This monitor doesn't put additional stress on your eyes as its backlight doesn't flicker. This is important as monitor flickering is one of the leading causes of eye fatigue.

You can leave the monitor on for long periods without having to worry about pixel damage because the Dell P2217H does not have any problems related to image retention.

You won't have any trouble setting this monitor according to the needs of your workspace since the Dell P2217H supports all of the necessary ergonomic adjustments. Additionally, you can easily change its orientation from landscape to portrait, and vice versa.

You can charge external USB devices and connect them to a computer using the monitor's USB 3.0 hub.

The hub consists of four downstream ports that are used for connecting peripherals and a single upstream port that connects the hub to a computer.

The monitor's contrast ratio, peak brightness, color accuracy, and gamma are on par with what the majority of competitors in this price range offer.

The monitor's IPS panel displays good-looking picture, with bright and saturated colors, reasonably deep blacks, and lifelike intermediate mid-tones. The colors pop thanks to the monitor's peak brightness of 250 nits. Dark scenes look pretty as the monitor's native contrast ratio of 1147:1 is high enough to make the IPS panel display good-looking blacks. The intermediate tones are well balanced as the monitor's gamma of 2.18 is only 1% away from the ideal value.

Additionally, color inaccuracies are very hard to spot because of its average color error dE of only 3.2.

While it does not excel in any aspect, the Dell P2217H has enough versatility to be a decent general purpose monitor. It features good picture quality and excellent connectivity, combined with an impressive range of ergonomic adjustments.

The monitor is also suitable for occasional, non-competitive gaming since its input lag and pixel response time are low enough to grant reasonably smooth and responsive gaming experience.

The black levels are respectively low at 0.16cd/m², which helps the contrast ratio achieve 1100:1 which is much lower than the advertised 5000:1, but still quite good.

The response time is 12ms, which isn't lightning fast, but it's still quick enough to make the system feel more responsive than cheaper monitors. While not fast enough for high-level gaming, this monitor won't make your system feel slow or unresponsive.

It really does look like a massive tablet with a kickstand - but that's not a bad thing. There's no stand visible, leaving the front looking very clean. The stand can angle anywhere from 15-70 degrees which allows for flexible use, or it can be folded in and used flat on the desk or even mounted using the VESA mounting holes.

This monitor has many peripherals built-in, and unless you use them heavily they will do the job just fine. Unless you feel the need for dedicated hardware, the built-in stereo speakers work well enough, and the webcam and mic are acceptable quality for occasional recreational use (for business calls or other uses where quality is important, you'll want to upgrade to dedicated hardware).