Dell Precision M6700 Owner's Review

Yes I totally agree.

Thanks again for all your help on this one.
Jason

 

Please excuse any profound or small ignorance revealed by my quick comments below. I am in a rush and only trying to help.

I experienced what I think were similar problems with banding. I recall they seemed most pronounced if I had an Internet Explorer window open somewhere, though the problem appeared in many contexts. I recall that setting the OS (I am using Windows 7 64) to "Aero" mode/theme totally eliminated the problem. I do not have time to check now, though I believe at least one or two others here have pointed out the connection with "Aero" and non-Aero modes/themes - where the "Aero" setting somehow totally eliminated the problem. Perhaps cannot hurt quickly to try and might work/help.

Separate set of questions 1 and 2: First, I have some credit with Dell and am looking for an external monitor. The Dell U2713H is the first one that comes to mind. Could resolutions with a monitor of this size really tax and lessen the life/performance of the graphics card (K5000M)?

I really am interested in the U2713H for a number of reasons, though I also see that the 2413 is now available from the U.S. website. Would the different native resolution on the 2413 compromise the available screen real estate? For a couple of reasons, I can now get the 2713H for less money than the 2413. Any reason not to go for it (given my worries about compromised heat/performance/life of the graphics card - K5000M?; I do not mind the fans - if I could control the fans the way I can on my XP older precisions (M90, M6300), I would always keep the fans forced to high speed - I do not mind the sound and with these fans always forced to high speed, I have never once needed a single service call on my older Precisions, even on an M6300 with one of the faulty Nvidia 3600M cards (which was the best card available at the time of purchase).

Second question: What is the best port replicator for me to use with my M6700 and, for instance, the 2713H (not to mention other peripherals/connections)? I always keep my Precisions on a back-end-elevated/raised platform for extra air intake/cooling. Does the best port replicator similarly raise the back-end of the M6700 (or, worse, does the best port replicator for the M6700 in anyway block the air-intake vents/spaces?

Many thanks to any regulars here who share their opinions (based on mere speculation and/or good experience) on my two questions above on the 2713H/2413, and on the best port replicator for my M6700... Please help/share thoughts... Thanks.

 

Hi

Thanks for you help much appreciated. I get the banding when internet explorer is not running and I am running the windows 7 Aero theme and still their is banding.

Here is a captur from my machine. Can anyone of you guys tell me if you guys see banding in the image or not. I see extreme banding



This is how it looks on my screen




Thanks,
Jason

 

HI. Although I have an HP 8570w with the DreamColor screen and not the Dell m6700, I found that Nvidia says you have to disable Aero to get 30 bit color. If you don't disable Aero you will get only 24 bit color and there will be banding.

Here is the link: How to enable 30-bit color on Windows platforms

 

Hi

I tried disabling and enabling Aero and disabling/Enabling Deep Color for 3D applications under the Manage 3D settings of the Nvidia Card. nothing seems to work I still have extreme banding
I'm not using an external monitor if that helps any. I see the banding on the laptop display which is a IPS RGB Screen

Thanks,
Jason

 

Ouch, that's some extreme rasterizing, not just banding

The first image looks OK on my M6400 TN RGB LED.. maybe from some angles a slight trace of circular banding might seem to be showing..

 

As I believe I have found a buyer for my M4600 this weekend, I will be looking to finally replace it with a M6600 or M6700. I do not need much in the way of CAD horsepower, but would like to piece together a business appearing gaming laptop. Something that will run most things on high via a 6xx card, but not so garish with lights, paint, and curves that I am embarrassed to take it to a board meeting or coffee shop.

Since I am looking to purchase something and replace the video card immediately, can anyone advise for channels to purchase either as a barebones kit, or with a low end Quadro? I am hesitant to go the Dell direct route due to the upcharge for a card/warranty I will likely not be using.

 

See: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...ce-680m-m6700-some-useful-info-upgraders.html
You can plop in a GeForce 680M (or other GeForce card). You should get a low-end Quadro for best results, as the heatsink is different between NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. I'm not aware of any "bare bones kit" that you can get (unless someone else has a used machine that has been gutted).

 

Hi Guys

I spoke to the tech guys over at portrait display who spoke directly to their engineers about premiereColor and nvidia drivers

Here is what they had to say:

Hi Jason,

I spoke to the engineers to see if I can find a solution to this problem.
The issue is that when PremierColor is active and when a color gamut is set, there is a set of equations that the color values need to go through. The original color values are set in the lookup tables of the NVIDIA driver, then they run through our conversion equations. The problem is that the color values in the video card lookup tables are set in an 8-bit format, but the LCD panel is a 10-bit panel. The conversion of 8-bit values to 10-bit values is what is causing this banding issue. The red, green, blue, black, and whites that are displayed on the screen are going to be accurate when compared to the color gamut standard, but there can be some inaccuracies in the gradients. When you set the color gamut to default, then there are no conversions, so you don’t see the problem.

The latest video card drivers from NVIDIA will alleviate this problem, but there really isn’t a way to make the problem go away completely.

Hi Jason,

The latest drivers available from NVIDIA are the 310.90.
The only way to stop the conversion is to set the color gamut to default. There is no solution that will have the video card use 10-bits instead of 8-bits. NVIDIA has to develop that solution themselves. I would say that there isn’t really any advantage to using Full over Default, because Full doesn’t really adhere to any specific color standard, so you’re not guaranteed to have accurate colors. Full just uses the widest range of colors available on the monitor. You will still have a slight banding problem on the other color gamuts, but you are guaranteed to have accurate reds, greens, and blues.

This banding problem is more noticeable on darker colors than it is on brighter colors.

Regards,
Bryan Paulsen
Technical Support
Portrait Displays, Inc.
Support Knowledge Base

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please let me know if you guys can expand on what they told me if its true or not and if there is a solution to this problem.

Thanks
Jason

 

There could be a lot of things going on there. Taking a picture of a screen with a camera is not easy. The mask that separates the RGBLED backlighting on the IPS panel and the mask that separates the photo receptors on your camera will cause distortions. Kinda like on older TVs where someone with a fine striped shirt or tweed jacket would get artificial zig zags on the screen. Just looking at the pic it seems that you are getting more of the Red backlighting in the middle of the screen from the interaction of the hardware masks in the camera and screen.

I need to read back through your posts to see if you are changing any of the Application Color settings. You might try going into Preferences, unchecking the Application Color box, and setting it to use Default all the time.

Also, are you using a hardware calibration system? I have seen older models that were fine with normal screens have issues with Wide Gamut panels. The calibration would actually introduce the banding.

Are you changing any of the colors within the PremierColor software? Like sliding any of the RGB values around? What about in the Driver - Do you have Digital Vibrance cranked up?

I will defer to Chris on advanced color management. He knows a hell of a lot. I went into Photoshop and did a full screen white to black gradient and could see very - and I mean VERY slight banding with the Full preset. With the Default Preset I saw NO banding at all.

That leads me to believe that the Default setting may bypass the PremierColor software. It also leads me to believe that the Default mode is the only way to allow the graphics card to have a full 10 bit path. I could be wrong on this, but it makes sense to leave it in Default mode unless you need a reduced color space.

I have been told by several people at Dell that the IPS solution on the Precisions is fully 10 bit and that the alternate color spaces are handled within the software and drivers. I will ask a couple of people for clarification.