Hands-on: Alienware’s 34-inch curved QD-OLED gaming monitor

QD-OLED screen technology is one of the major new innovations that debuted at CES 2022, demonstrating Samsung Display’s long-awaited breakthrough in the production of large screen OLEDs. LG Display has finally had some competition, and so far we know it Sony will soon release the first QD-OLED TV model.. However, the first product in which one of these QD-OLED screens actually shipped was not the TV. Alienware game monitor..

Alienware’s 34-inch QD-OLEDAW3423DW Curved Gaming Monitor is currently the showcase for the high-tech industry. Available today for $ 1,299.99.. I’ve used it for a few hours and tested it in several games and apps.

You have no verdict today. Instead, there are some first impressions that will be extended later in a full review, and some answers to the first question about this exciting monitor.

The first thing I did with the AW3423DW was to admire its punchy, rich colors and pitch black. This Alienware monitor has the features of OLED, as I expected. But of course, the behavior of QD-OLED technology is a little different. While OLEDs control exactly which part of the panel is illuminated and black is truly black, Samsung’s new technology pushes blue light through the quantum dot layer to increase brightness and color reproducibility, while We aim to do all this.

I haven’t compared the AW3423DW side by side with other monitors in the office yet, but I would like to know if it will be brighter than the LED panel. It may be straightforward as LED screens can be brighter than OLEDs and are known for retaining their bright images in HDR mode. QD-OLED aims to fill that brightness gap.

Alienware’s AW3423DW supports up to 1,000 nits at peak brightness and is certified with the VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400. Another great feature of this monitor is Nvidia’s G-Sync Ultimate, which has G-Sync benefits such as synchronizing the display with the rendering rate of the Nvidia graphics card for other best visual performance.

The next thing I did was to play some games.I connected to the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 gaming laptop via HDMI 2.0, so the monitor was limited to a refresh rate of 100Hz, but I tested it Death loop, And it picked up at a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440 on the monitor without missing a beat. It looks smooth and has much more accurate color and contrast than the display I use at home, so I noticed the details I first noticed when playing games on this display.

In addition, the 1800R curve on this model isn’t that winding, so I noticed a distorted zoom-in effect around the edge of the in-game display. This was a big problem with Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G9. My colleague Sean Hollister reviewed this in a direct review with the LG C1 OLED.. Again, this more subtle curve may not be immersive enough for some people.

In addition to the two HDMI 2.0 ports, Alienware’s AW3423DW also includes a DisplayPort that supports refresh rates up to 175Hz. It also has a headphone jack, a line output for connecting speakers, and several USB-A downstream ports for connecting accessories.

Alienware’s debut OLED was intended for use on PCs for compatibility with all types of resolutions and aspect ratios, but it’s also technically compatible with the latest consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. ..

Neither console supports a 21: 9 aspect ratio, only 16: 9, so the output resolution of the AW3423DW reaches 2,560 x 1,440 in Series X. That is, you will see a black vertical bar on the side of the image. Another problem with the Xbox is that Dell says these new consoles can’t output HDR at QHD resolution, so the images may not be as vibrant as you’d like. Also, PS5 does not support QHD resolution, so 1080p images with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 may be displayed. Needless to say, console gamers will probably need to get a 4K OLED TV if they really want to evaluate these consoles. They were actually built for that kind of display.

However, if you’re using a PC, the AW3423DW has a lot of things that seem pretty great. It features the speed, beauty and accuracy of OLED screens in a package customized for PC users. Instead of a TV interface, there is a standard on-screen display interface with all the adjustable settings you expect. In addition, there are some OLED-specific things, such as the ability to update pixels and panels. From these settings, you can also adjust the backlight around the monitor’s sturdy stand. It supports a variety of height adjustments such as tilt, rotation and tilt.

Determining if you need this or an OLED TV to set up your game can be difficult. One of the most attractive aspects of this $ 1,299 purchase is the great warranty of the Alienware AW3423DW. Alienware’s warranty includes a 3-year warranty for OLED burn-in. This can be a concern for anyone considering buying an OLED. Burn-in is less of an issue on TVs, but computer monitor concerns are valid because the OS interface has many static elements.

I barely scratched the surface here, and I look forward to spending more time on this monitor. We hope to have a full review on the site within the next few weeks.