The Alienware AW3423DW is clearly the very best ultrawide you will get proper now, it is priced nicely for the options it gives, and it’s general among the best displays you will get in the marketplace proper now.
The massive promoting level to this Alienware show is its use of QD-OLED expertise. This signifies that we get correct, true HDR efficiency due to OLED’s self-lit pixel construction and ensuing deep, zero-level blacks. This QD-OLED panel can hit as much as 1000 nits of brightness for small components and simply appears to be like nice displaying HDR content material. Combined with its extraordinarily quick response instances (due to the inherent nature of OLED expertise), and quick 175Hz refresh fee, there isn’t any higher monitor on your entire marketplace for HDR gaming proper now.
It’s a really succesful SDR gaming monitor as nicely, and regardless of that includes OLED, it does not have a number of the drawbacks we have seen from different OLED shows. In specific, full display brightness of 240 nits is usable in most rooms (although not superb), and there is no annoying options like automated brightness limiters enabled when utilizing the SDR mode. Dell additionally mitigates the anxiousness over OLED’s tendency to burn in with a 3-year burn in guarantee.
There are some drawbacks which do limit the capabilities of the AW3423DW to content material consumption. The triangle-RGB pixel construction shouldn’t be nice for textual content readability and might trigger fringing on some content material, which can be noticeable relying on how delicate you’re, I can discover it personally and have heard blended outcomes from others. And regardless of the burn-in guarantee, there’s nonetheless a threat of burn-in, which is exacerbated when utilizing the show for static imagery, like spreadsheets or different productiveness apps. We solely suggest this monitor in case you are primarily going to make use of it for gaming, or different content material consumption like watching films.
Other issues embrace the show’s coating and layer composition, which may replicate a number of ambient mild. To get the total good thing about this show I’d suggest utilizing it in a darkish room. It’s additionally actively cooled and the fan may be heard whereas it is working. Despite these negatives although, you will not discover a higher ultrawide monitor, or higher HDR gaming monitor, for $1300.
What Else Is Out There?
The major alternate to the Alienware is one thing just like the LG 34GN850, if you need an ultrawide that is nicely suited to productiveness along with gaming, however $900 it does not appear value it in comparison with the far superior Alienware. In this form of worth vary, we would undoubtedly wish to spend the additional $400 to get correct HDR assist, even when that meant sacrificing some usability, although it will depend upon the quantity of gaming versus productiveness that you just do.
Another choice value mentioning is the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9, a 49-inch 5120 x 1440 240Hz super-ultrawide show with 2000-zone mini-LED backlighting, giving it true HDR performance. While it is a good product at instances, there are a number of high quality management points that stay unresolved (similar to scanlines) and it is fairly costly at $1,800.
Budget Ultrawide: Gigabyte M34WQ
Not everybody has $1,300 to spend on a monitor, so if HDR is not your factor and also you simply desire a common ultrawide that is reasonably priced, we suggest the Gigabyte M34WQ. It’s a bit uncommon being a flat 34-inch 3440 x 1440 144Hz IPS show, however what it gives at simply $500 is a wonderful stability of efficiency throughout the assorted areas we check and search for. Response instances are good, shade efficiency is nice, and there aren’t any enormous negatives similar to darkish degree smearing that you just do get with most price range VA ultrawides.
That’s to not say there aren’t any cons: the distinction ratio may be very weak compared to its VA opponents, and response instances aren’t as quick as premium IPS gaming ultrawides. But the flexibility of its IPS panel and common stability of efficiency is what swings me in the direction of this product in comparison with others in the marketplace.
