Yeah a few hundred more than a cheap TN, but since a cheap TN is only like $200 that's over double the price.
Can you notice some strange "spots" on your monitor. Drag a white window around your screen and see it change darker in certain spots? All 3 of mine do that and I have never had that on any monitor before.
True, it's double, but there's nothing really after that...you have TNs at $300-ish, this panel and maybe the HP for about $500-600 and then you have to jump up to $1000+ for the truly pro monitors (LaCie, Eizo, Some NECs, etc.).
So...while it shares a high quality IPS panel with the aforementioned pro monitors, perhaps the cost-cutting is in the processing. Something has to give in order for Dell to make that price point. Thus expectations need to be measured accordingly. I think the dithering 'issue' is part of that.
I don't really notice any dark spots? I tried dragging the white screen around, but didn't really notice anything? Lol...I think I started to see things that weren't there...sometimes you have to just stop looking for defects as you'll eventually find something wrong with it... :wink:
I think all LCDs that are backlit with CCFL will have some banding - you can't run a tube behind a screen without some inherent uniformity issues. An LED lit panel will have a much more even distribution.