SOLVED: VIDEO: What Dell Monitor Names Decoded

Have you thought that different Dell monitor that start with the same numbers are likely the same panels but with different add on features, like height adjustable base or USB ports? If so, you would be wrong.

Dell has a pretty good naming convention that anyone buying a Dell monitor should understand before they complete their purchase.

Since the late 2000’s Dell has named all of it monitors using this standard:

<Series>  <Diagonal>  <Year>  <Ratio or Resolution>  <Features>

So lets go through each of of these and explain that each of the letters in a Dell monitor name are telling you:

Series

The first letter (or two) in a Dell Monitor name tell you the market it is targeted at and that usually relates to price, warranty and overall quality

• AW – Alienware. High-end gaming.
• C – Commercial displays. Large format (>50″) for conference rooms and classrooms.
• E – Essential. Usually TN anti-glare panel, internal power, simple base, 3-year warranty.
• P – Professional. Usually IPS anti-glare panel, internal power, height/rotate base, 3-year warranty.
• S – Home & Small Office. TN, VA, or IPS panel, usually external power, slim base, 1-year warranty.
• U – UltraSharp. IPS anti-glare panel, internal power, height/rotate base, 3-year warranty.
• UP – UltraSharp with PremierColor. Additional color gamut.

Diagonal

The first two digits in a Dell monitor name are telling your diagonal viewable size rounded to the nearest inch.

Year

The second two digits in a Dell monitor name are the year it was released.

Ratio or Resolution

The first letter after the digits are aspect ratio or QHD/UHD resolution

• No letter(s) MAY indicate widescreen (16:10)
• D – QHD (1440p)
• H – HD widescreen (16:9)
• K – 8K UHD (4320p)
• L – With HDMI (only used when the same model without HDMI exists)
• M – No HDMI (S/U-series only)
• N – With VGA (only used when the same model without VGA exists)
• Q – 4K UHD (2160p)
• S – Standard ratio (4:3 or 5:4),
• W – Ultrawide (21:9)

Features 

The second letter after the digits mostly relate to the stand but can represent a large variety of features:

• A – Arm included (no stand)
• C – USB-C input (DisplayPort alternate mode)
• E – Ethernet connection via the RJ45 port
• F – AMD FreeSync
• G – NVIDIA G-Sync / Graphic
• J – Wireless charging stand
• T – Touch
• X – HDMI cable included (instead of standard DisplayPort)
• Z – Video conferencing camera