16:10 aspect ratios aren't just for laptop screens

The Dell UltraSharp 30 USB-C Hub Monitor (U3023E) is an appealing if expensive productivity monitor with plenty of ports and ergonomic features, plus a 16:10 format that gives extra vertical screen space.

Dell's UltraSharp 30 USB-C Hub Monitor (U3023E) is a $814.99 display for workers who crave something a little different. Its 16:10 aspect ratio gives it a slightly taller stature than the usual 16:9 panel, for a bit more vertical screen space than other widescreen monitors. It has all the ports you'd expect in a USB-C hub or docking-station monitor, as well as numerous ergonomic features and full coverage of the sRGB color space. It's a very capable if rather pricey monitor for general business use.

The Dell U3023E measures 18.6 by 25.8 by 9.1 inches and has a 30-inch-diagonal in-plane switching (IPS) panel. The native resolution is 2,560 by 1,600 pixels. That gives it, like a growing number of laptop screens, a 16:10 aspect ratio versus the ubiquitous 16:9 widescreen format.

Actually, 16:10 monitors were common in the early days of the century, but by 2008 they'd been largely replaced by 16:9 panels, following notebooks' migration to a widescreen format. But while a 16:9 aspect ratio gives laptops a small advantage in compactness and portability, a 16:10 desktop monitor fits additional vertical real estate into a tighter horizontal space.

While 16:9 monitors are ideal for movie watching and video editing, 16:10 monitors are a better fit for photo editing because they're closer to the 3:2 aspect ratio of full-frame and APS-C digital SLRs and the 4:3 aspect ratio of Micro Four Thirds and many point-and-shoot digital cameras. Many of today's 16:10 monitors, such as the Acer ConceptD CM2241W, are geared to the artistically inclined. This aspect ratio is also good for general office use, as a 16:10 monitor lets you see a bit more of a spreadsheet, Word document, or webpage without scrolling. A WQXGA monitor like the U3023E offers 11% more screen area than a QHD (2,560-by-1,440-pixel) panel.

As a 30-inch WQXGA monitor, the Dell has a pixel density of 101 pixels per inch (ppi). This is fine for mainstream business use as well as basic photo and video editing. Most professional photographers and artists working with intricate illustrations will want a monitor with still greater pixel density.

The U3023E's screen supports the very wide viewing angles typical of an IPS panel. It's rated at angles up to 178 degrees for both vertical and horizontal viewing, meaning you can look at it from well off to the side or from above without color distortion or posterization.

The rectangular base has a small footprint but feels very stable. The shaft connecting the base to the cabinet is bifurcated near the bottom, letting you route cables through the hole, and the stand supports a full range of ergonomic features. You can adjust the height by up to 5.9 inches (raising the top edge to 24.5 inches); swivel the display 45 degrees in either direction; tilt the top of the display 5 degrees toward you or 21 degrees away; and pivot between landscape and portrait modes in either direction. Should you want to mount the monitor on a wall or movable arm, a square of four holes placed 100mm apart accommodates a VESA mounting bracket.

With a massive complement of ports and connectors, the U3023E is what's come to be known as a docking-station monitor, offering all the features you'd find in an external laptop docking station. These include one HDMI and two DisplayPort connectors, one of the latter an output for daisy-chaining an additional monitor via DisplayPort's Multi-Stream Transport (MST).

There are also two upstream USB-C ports, one for data only and the other supporting the DisplayPort over USB alternate mode as well as supplying up to 90 watts of power delivery to charge a connected laptop. In addition, there's a downstream USB-C port with 15 watts of power delivery; four downstream USB 3.2 Type-A ports; and a 3.5mm audio jack. The monitor also has an RJ-45 Ethernet port for connection to a local area network. The one thing it lacks that we've seen in some docking-station displays such as the Editors' Choice award-winning HP E27m G4 QHD USB-C Conferencing Monitor is a webcam and other videoconferencing features.

The U3023E eschews multiple tiny buttons for navigating its onscreen display (OSD) in favor of a mini-joystick controller similar to the ones on other recent Dell monitors such as the U2722DE.

Dell backs the U3023E with a three-year warranty, a common duration for productivity monitor support. Other Dell monitors such as the U2421E and U2722DE, as well as the HP E24d G4, also have three-year warranties, while Philips covers its monitors such as the 279P1 and 272P7VUBNB for a generous four years.

I tested the Dell monitor's luminance (brightness per unit area), contrast ratio, and color accuracy using our standard test gear: a Klein K-10A(Opens in a new window)  colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G(Opens in a new window)  signal generator, and the Portrait Displays CalMAN 5(Opens in a new window)  calibration software.

Dell rates the U3023E's luminance at 400 nits (candelas per square meter), but it came in at a noticeably dimmer 303 nits in my testing. That's still bright enough for any business purpose, as well as photo and video work. The display slightly exceeded its rated 1,000:1 contrast ratio, tallying a 1,073:1 score. That's not the stellar 2,000:1 contrast ratio seen in Dell's new IPS Black monitors such as the U2723QE, but it's fine for a standard IPS panel. (See how we test monitors.)

Dell rates the U3023E as covering the full sRGB color space, and it made good on that in our tests, spanning 132.5% of the gamut. The company also rates the monitor as covering 95% of DCI-P3, a color space commonly used in digital video, and it came close at 93.9%. We also measured it as covering 87.7% of the Adobe RGB space frequently used by professional photographers.

I measured the U3023's Delta E, a measure of color accuracy, at 3.1 in standard mode. That's suitable for business use, though we look for a Delta E of less than 2 for professional monitors geared to photo work such as the abovementioned Acer CM2241W (which delivered a Delta E of 1.3 in the sRGB color space).

A decade ago, tallish 16:10 monitors followed laptops with that aspect ratio into near-obscurity, but they still have their place in the business world. The 16:9 widescreen format may be great for video viewing, gaming, and working with wide spreadsheets, but for many office tasks a taller screen offers its own advantages. A 16:10 display like the Dell lets you see a bit more of a document without having to scroll and is closer to the native aspect ratio of photos.

The Dell UltraSharp 30 USB-C Hub Monitor (U3023E) offers a full complement of ports (as you'd expect from a docking-station monitor), all the standard ergonomic features, and full sRGB color coverage. Its color accuracy and pixel density fall short of satisfying photographic professionals, but are fine for casual image or video editing as well as office apps. All in all, the U3023E is a capable if slightly costly productivity monitor for general business use. It's a solid buy if you'll leverage the panel's sRGB color coverage and make use of much of its generous connectivity. All those ports and connection options boost its price, after all.

The Dell UltraSharp 30 USB-C Hub Monitor (U3023E) is an appealing if expensive productivity monitor with plenty of ports and ergonomic features, plus a 16:10 format that gives extra vertical screen space.

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Since 2004, I have worked on PCMag’s hardware team, covering at various times printers, scanners, projectors, storage, and monitors. I currently focus my testing efforts on 3D printers, pro and productivity displays, and drives and SSDs of all sorts.

Over the years, I have reviewed iPad and iPhone science apps, plus the occasional camera, laptop, keyboard, and mouse. I've also written a host of articles about astronomy, space science, travel photography, and astrophotography for PCMag and its past and present sibling publications (among them, Mashable and ExtremeTech), as well as for the PCMag Digital Edition.

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I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T490 laptop that's my work daily driver, and an HP Pavilion Aero 13 as my primary personal laptop. (I also have an older Dell XPS 13, which now stays at home full-time.) I pair these variously with a Lenovo ThinkVision portable monitor that I rely on as a handy second screen. For storage testing, I rely on our two custom-built Windows testbeds in PC Labs, as well as a 2016 MacBook Pro.

My primary home monitor is a BenQ EX2780Q, a gaming monitor with a great sound system and excellent image quality. I use that panel for writing, watching videos, and working with photos. I also have an HP 27 Curved Display—one of the first general-purpose curved monitors—which I have paired with an Acer Aspire desktop computer. My multifunction printer is an Epson Expression Premium XP-7100 Small-in-One. I also own a Canon CanoScan LiDE 220 scanner, a classic flatbed I use for photos and short documents, and a Canon Selphy CP1300 small-format photo printer for turning out snapshots.

My first cell phone, in 2006, was a Motorola RAZR; since then, it’s been all iPhones—I currently have an iPhone 11 Pro. I use my iPhone a lot for casual photography, though I also use a Canon G5 X Mark II for everyday shooting. For much of my travel photography and astrophotography, I use a Sony A7r, often with a Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS zoom lens. I also pair the A7r with a RedCat 51 for deep-sky star shooting.

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