Round 4: Video

Apple

DVD playback:  We looked at scenes from Kill Bill Vol. 1 using our test bed's built-in DVD drive. Both monitors displayed a fair amount of digital noise, seen as static in blocks of color, during full-screen playback, which is typical for large LCD screens. From a few feet back, the digital noise was hardly noticeable, but at close range, the Apple Cinema Display showed slightly less noise. The Cinema Display's image also looked sharper and showed more accurate colors. The UltraSharp 3007WFP's image suffered from an oversaturation of the reds and the oranges, especially apparent in distorted skin tones and pinkish-looking overhead lights. On the Apple Cinema Display, skin looked more true to life and lights were a more accurate yellow.

Windows Media 9 HD video: In the vivid underwater video entitled The Living Sea, both monitors displayed the swimming fish and the underwater vegetation with bright vivid color and no apparent digital noise. In the blue-and-green-dominated video, however, the Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP's colors looked oversaturated compared to the still vibrant but more natural appearance of the Apple Cinema Display. Some viewers would interpret the UltraSharp 3007WFP's oversaturation as a more vivid picture, but we think the Cinema Display's rendering was more realistic.

Winner: With less digital noise, a slightly sharper image, and more-realistic colors, the Apple wins this round.