The display output used for the internal connector would certainly have the bandwidth to support 1080p, so my only guess for the behavior you're seeing is that there's something in the firmware that's hard-coding that output for the resolution of the display it shipped with, which might have been done to ensure that things like the Dell logo and the BIOS setup render appropriately. I would have predicted that if the display worked at all, it would do so at its maximum resolution. The specs you're quoting are for the E5 440, although even there I would personally bet that was due to a market positioning decision and not a technical limitation.
But it's a good choice for people seeking an affordable 20-inch widescreen display to handle their everyday viewing requirements.L, a quick look at the Specifications section of the Service Manual on (not to mention perusal of eBay) reveals that the E5 540 was absolutely available with a WUXGA/FHD/1080p display. The Dell E207WFP is not designed for those who require a high-end LCD monitor with all the bells and whistles, and it is not marketed as such. Unlike manufacturers that give only a one-year warranty trend, Dell provides a three-year plan for the E207WFP that covers parts, labor, and backlighting, and you can up it to four years for $29 or five years for $49, both of which are incredible bargains. DVD movies looked great on the widescreen, with no noticeable smearing or ghosting, and playing a round of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was smooth and enjoyable, revealing only a few motion artifacts here and there. With a rated pixel-response time of 5 milliseconds (black-to-white), the E207WFP had no trouble displaying moving images.
I was able to read small text (5.3 points), but it was not quite as crisp as I would have liked. Still, I was pleased with the monitor's overall color quality, despite a touch of red tint that showed up in my color tracking tests. If working with detailed images is important to you, consider a better-performing (and slightly more expensive) monitor such as the ViewSonic VX2025wm.ĭell claims a 160-degree viewing angle for the E207WFP, but I noticed color shifting at around 145 degrees, well short of the advertised rating. But shadow detail was still acceptable, although not ideal. The most extreme shades of dark gray appeared black, indicating weakness at the low end of the scale. The monitor had trouble reproducing light shades of gray, which affected its ability to display highlight details on my test photos.
On the DisplayMate ( tests, the E207WFP experienced a few performance hiccups. One of the buttons is a hotkey for adjusting the brightness and contrast settings without having to enter the OSD, and another invokes the auto-adjust function (available only with an analog signal).
Through the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu system, you can tweak a number of typical settings, including color temperature and saturation adjustments, screen positioning, auto-adjust, and pixel clock and phase adjustments. Dell could have done a better job of marking the buttons, as they are difficult to identify in all but the brightest lighting environments.