Last month, Dell announced several new "4K" displays for its lineup, including a teaser for an upcoming 28-inch model to be priced at "under $1000". While the pricing range was considered a breakthrough at the time, several other display manufacturers announced their own offerings at CES this week with pricing in the $800 range.
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But as highlighted by Forbes, Dell has now revealed that its display will be launching on January 23 with an even lower price of $699.
The P2815Q will have a full 3840 x 2160 4K resolution and launch globally on January 23. Dell hasn’t yet discussed things like refresh rate or range of inputs (I’m sure DisplayPort is a given), but they do promise the same “screen performance” as the new UltraSharp 32 and UltraSharp 24 Ultra HD monitors. That’s certainly encouraging since their UltraSharp line is normally a cut above when it comes to professional displays.
The monitor will even include the ability to pivot to portrait mode as well as a range of adjustable viewing heights and angles. They’ll be selling accessories too, like a stereo sound bar and monitor arm.
Plunging prices for 4K/Ultra HD displays come just as Apple has launched its new Mac Pro, with its dual graphics cards capable of supporting up to three such displays simultaneously. The latest version of Apple's Retina MacBook Pro is also capable of driving a 4K display, taking advantage of the new Thunderbolt 2 standard to handle the throughput.
Many had hoped that Apple would release its own 4K/Ultra HD display alongside the Mac Pro, but the company did not do so, instead offering Mac Pro and MacBook Pro customers the option of adding on a $3600 32-inch Sharp Ultra HD display.
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(View all)If your Mac has Thunderbolt 1/mDP: Yes, but only at 30 Hz, which is fine for videos but a little choppy for computer use or gaming. I don't recommend dropping that amount of money on a monitor you'll only use at 30 Hz, unless you plan to upgrade your Mac in the not-so-distant future.
If your Mac has Thunderbolt 2: Yes, up to 60 Hz as long as OS X "whitelists" this monitor for use with Multi-Stream Transport (MST). Anandtech found the 24" version of this monitor does not work with MST under OS X (limiting the refresh rate to 30 Hz), but it's just a matter of time before Apple updates OS X with better 4K support and an updated MST whitelist. Meanwhile, it should work fine at 60 Hz under Windows 8.1.
If you own another device with DisplayPort: Make sure it has DisplayPort 1.2 in order to use this monitor's MST feature and reach 60 Hz, otherwise you're stuck at 30 Hz. DisplayPort 1.2 could theoretically do 4K at 60Hz without MST, but the current batch of 4K monitors don't support it. DisplayPort 1.3 should allow 4K at 60 Hz without the need for MST, thus making software support less complicated than it is right now. It's expected to come out in Q2 2014.
If you own another device with HDMI: If you have HDMI 1.3 or earlier, 4K won't work at all. If you have HDMI 1.4, it'll work, but you're stuck at 30Hz. Only HDMI 2.0 will allow 60 Hz UHD 4K and this monitor doesn't appear to include it (other Dell UHD 4K monitors in the same series don't). HDMI 2.0 is technically already released and has been available for license for a while, but computer monitors are only expected to include it starting in Q2 2014.
My advice is to get this if you need a new monitor and your device(s) already support 4K at 60 Hz using MST (if you have a Thunderbolt 2 Mac for instance). If you don't really need a new monitor right now and/or won't have a device that supports 4K at 60 Hz for a little while, I suggest waiting a few months for other UHD 4K monitors to come out with DisplayPort 1.3 (or DP 1.2 w/o MST requirement) and HDMI 2.0, which will allow greater compatibility at 60 Hz.
Update: Dell has apparently confirmed to Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2014/01/07/dell-wasnt-joking-about-that-28-inch-sub-1000-4k-monitor-its-only-699/) that the monitor will only do 4K at 30 Hz, no matter the connector. You can dismiss all my previous post. Major deal breaker!