Alienware QD-OLED monitor picks open standards over G-Sync, is $200 cheaper

Alienware introduced at the moment a brand new QD-OLED monitor SKU that appears awfully just like the Alienware AW3423DW launched for $1,300 this spring. The AW3423DWF has most of the identical specs however skips Nvidia G-Sync certification and {hardware} in favor of AMD’s and VESA’s open requirements for preventing display tears, whereas costing $200 lower than its predecessor.

Just like the AW3423DW, the AW3423DWF makes use of QD-OLED expertise from Samsung. This can be a type of OLED that makes use of a blue self-emitting layer as its gentle supply, which fits by means of a layer of quantum dots. The first aim is best colour protection, together with extra constant colours throughout brightness ranges, mixed with the deep blacks and unimaginable distinction for which OLED shows are identified.

The 34.18-inch AW3423DWF and AW3423DW’s specs sheets match intently, together with 3440×1440 decision, an 1800R curve, 99.3 % DCI-P3 and 149 % sRGB colour protection, as much as a 165 Hz refresh charge by way of DisplayPort and 100 Hz by way of HDMI 2.0, and 0.1ms gray-to-gray (GtG) response time.

However whereas the AW3423DW makes use of G-Sync Final, which confirms 1,000 nits’ brightness with HDR along with preventing display tears when paired with an Nvidia GPU, the brand new AW3423DWF makes use of AMD’s FreeSync Premium Professional and VESA’s AdaptiveSync requirements.

AMD’s FreeSync Premium Professional works with AMD GPUs, together with these throughout the newest Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The Premium Professional qualifier confirms the characteristic works with HDR (the monitor is VESA DisplayHDR TrueBlack400-certified) and provides low body charge compensation, which shows frames a number of instances to make up for when body charges fall beneath the monitor’s lowest supported refresh charge.

VESA introduced its AdaptiveSync certification program in Might. It contains testing for judder, dropped frames, and extra strenuous GtG response time testing that appears at 20 GtG mixtures.

VESA’s AdaptiveSync requires performance with refresh charges from at the very least 60–144 Hz and a 5 ms GtG response time as per VESA’s testing. Help with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel graphics playing cards, in the meantime, simplifies the compatibility query.

Even earlier than VESA introduced its AdaptiveSync program, the traces between G-Sync and FreeSync had been already diminishing considerably, with many FreeSync displays additionally having the ability to run G-Sync with out Nvidia {hardware} and, thus, keep decrease costs.

By skipping Nvidia certification or utilizing the G-Sync module, Alienware has a $200 cheaper QD-OLED monitor with largely the identical efficiency expectations. When VESA introduced the AdaptiveSync efficiency tier (there’s additionally a MediaSync one), the trade group acknowledged to Ars Technica that whereas this is not its aim, the tiers may result in the tip of GPU-specific flavors of variable refresh charges (VRR).

Alienware additionally threw in a few further options with the brand new AW3423DWF, together with purportedly improved cable administration and a five-way joystick that may convey up completely different picture modes, together with a brand new Creator Mode that switches the colour gamut to sRGB and allows you to alter gamma. Nonetheless, at 149 % sRGB colour protection, you will must do vital calibration for color-critical work on this area.

Alienware additionally claims the brand new monitor shall be simpler to mount than the prior one, because of a slimmer profile. The AW3423DWF is 5 inches deep with out the stand versus the AW3423DW’s 5.4 inches.

With a 21:9 side ratio that lends to black bars when console gaming at 16:9 and HDMI 2.0 connectivity maxing out at 100 Hz on the displays’ max resolutions, neither QD-OLED show is the right match for contemporary console gaming. Nonetheless, the show ought to assist VRR at as much as 120 Hz on the Xbox Collection X/S and PlayStation 5 at 2560×1440 resolutions.

Alienware will begin accepting orders for the AW3423DWF on November 8.

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