When comparing Dell P2217H vs BenQ PD3200U, the Slant community recommends Dell P2217H for most people. In the question“What are the best monitors?” Dell P2217H is ranked 32nd while BenQ PD3200U is ranked 46th. The most important reason people chose Dell P2217H is:
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.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Suitable for occasional gaming
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.
Pro Flicker-free
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.
Pro Doesn’t suffer from image retention
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.
Pro Excellent ergonomics
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.
Pro Has a USB hub
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.
Pro Good picture quality
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.
Pro Good for general use
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.
Pro Excellent general purpose monitor
The BenQ PD3200U has excellent picture quality, exceptional color accuracy, great adjustability, and good connectivity, which combined with the monitor's generous amount of display real estate, makes the PD3200U one of the most versatile panels on the market.
Pro Has speakers
The BenQ PD3200U features a pair of inbuilt 10 W speakers.
Pro Excellent connectivity
Connectivity-wise, the BenQ PD3200U, is among the best monitors on the market, as its USB 3.0 hub offers four upstream USB ports that can be used for connecting or charging peripherals. The two downstream ports are used for connecting the hub to a computer.
The PD3200U's stand-out feature is the builtin KVM switch, which allows sharing a mouse, a keyboard, and the monitor itself between two computers that are connected to the monitor through the downstream USB ports.
Additionally, this monitor has an SD/MMC card reader, and it features fairly fast transfer rates since it works over the USB 3.0 interface.
Pro Suitable for media artists
The BenQ PD3200U makes an excellent tool for color-critical applications like video editing and web design as it can display the full sRGB and Rec. 709 color spaces accurately.
Pro Has a puck switch
The puck has four buttons that grant you fast access to display's settings and multiple preset modes.
Pro Excellent range of ergonomic adjustments
Setting up the perfect workspace is no hassle since the BenQ PD3200U supports tilt angle, swivel angle, and even height adjustments.
Furthermore, you can use the monitor in either landscape or a portrait mode.
Pro Large on-screen real estate
This 32-inch 4K monitor is an excellent for multitaskers because it has enough on-screen workspace to allow you to work with multiple windows stacked side by side. The monitor feels best when used in a two by one vertical alignment.
Pro Excellent picture quality
The monitor's native contrast ratio, peak brightness, color accuracy, and gamma are superior to what the majority of competitors in this price range offer. Furthermore, the BenQ PD3200U is among a handful of monitors that offer a true 10-bit panel in the sub $1000 price range.
The BenQ PD3200U reproduces eye-catching images with colors that are vivid and accurate, dark scenes that are truly deep and rich, and intermediate tones that look realistic and beautiful. Colors pop and look vibrant thanks to the monitor's peak brightness of 317 nits. Dark scenes look beautiful because the monitor's AHVA panel has a native contrast ratio of 1040:1, which allows it to reproduce blacks realistically. The mid-tones look life-like as the monitor's gamma value is only 1% off from being ideal.
Additionally, the colors look realistic as the monitor's color inaccuracies can be spotted only by specifically-designed equipment.
Cons
Con Limited color space
The Dell P2217H is not the right tool for color-critical applications because it supports only 92.7% of the sRBG color space.
The sRBG is the default color space for web applications, SDR media, and the standard Windows environment.
Con Default picture settings aren't the best
You need to calibrate this monitor to achieve the best color accuracy. Fortunately, the calibration procedure of the Dell P2217H is straightforward, and all the ICC color profiles are available on the Internet. Fortunately, you won't need any specialized equipment to calibrate this monitor.
Con Lacks speakers
This monitor does not have onboard speakers.
Con Needs ambient lighting
The monitor doesn't look good in a dark room because its panel cannot fully absorb the monitor's backlight, which makes some areas on the screen look non-uniform.
This problem is common among most monitors in this price range.
Con Lacks 3.5 mm audio jack
The Dell P2217H does not have a 3.5 mm analog audio output.
Con Bad for bright rooms
The Dell P2217H can't fight glare in bright rooms because its peak brightness is not high enough.
Con Lacks hardware calibration
Hardware color calibration is an essential feature of a professional grade monitor. Without it, you can only perform software calibration which is not as efficient because it affects the computer’s video card output instead of the monitor itself.
Con Lacks USB-C
At this price point, many users expect to have at least one USB-C port in 2018.
