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Alienware 34 AW3423DWF OLED gaming monitor review

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(Image: © Future)

Our Verdict

It may seem like a minor tweak, but the addition of a glossy anti-glare coating makes all the difference. It really lets the OLED panel rip. That this revised “F” model is also cheaper than the OG Alienware OLED and the similarly glossy Philips competition seals the deal. This is our new favourite among the OLED monitor massive.

For

Glossy coating makes all the difference
Ultra-quick response
Good full-screen brightness

Against

Still fairly pricey
Mediocre pixel density

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☆☆☆☆☆

It’s a simple, low-tech tweak. But it makes all the difference. Alienware has a second 34-inch ultrawide OLED gaming monitor out in the Alienware 34 AW3423DWF and, hallelujah, it has a glossy anti-glare coating in place of the OG model’s matte coating. Hold that thought, we’ll come back to the glossy goodness in a moment.

Hallelujah, it has a glossy anti-glare coating.

When Alienware wheeled out what was the world’s first OLED gaming monitor, the Alienware 34 AW3423DW, it went straight to the top of the table. It was simply stunning.

But it wasn’t, you know, actually perfect. Now there’s another 34-inch ultrawide Alienware OLED monitor that looks nearly identical but costs several hundred dollars less. So what, exactly, is going on?

The new Alienware 34 AW3423DWF adds an “F” on the end and loses a few on-paper features in the quest for that lower price point. For starters, the mostly pointless Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate certification and the costly G-Sync chip it requires have been ditched.

Alienware 34 AW3423DWF specs

(Image credit: Future)

Screen size: 34-inch
Resolution: 3440 x 1440
Brightness: 1,000 nits peak HDR 3% APL, 250 nits full screen SDR
Response time: 0.1ms
Refresh rate: 165Hz
Viewing angle: 178° H&V
Contrast ratio: 1M:1
Features: OLED panel, 99.3% DCI-P3, adaptive sync, 2x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.1, USB hub, 1800R curve
Price: $1,099 | £929

In its place you get AMD’s Freesync Premium Pro and therefore perfectly adequate adaptive refresh support. Speaking of refresh rates, this new F model steps down from 175Hz to 165Hz. You’re never going to feel that difference in-game and it seems like the sort of minor spec tweak designed for product differentiation. You know, to help Alienware justify the price of the more expensive model: it’s 10Hz faster!

Whatever, those details aside you’re mostly getting the same 34-inch ultrawide and slightly curved proposition as before. The Samsung QD-OLED panel is carried over, which is a very good thing.

Not only do you get the silly-fast pixel response that’s characteristic of modern OLED tech. Samsung’s take on OLED delivers much more consistent brightness performance than LG’s competing OLED panels, as seen in LG’s own OLED gaming monitors and models like the Corsair Xeneon Flex.

So, you don’t have to deal with distractions like the whole screen dimming dramatically in response to rendering a large bright object, when, say, you open your web browser over a darkk desktop wallpaper and the OLED brightness limiter kicks in. Yuck.

It’s so glossy! (Image credit: Future)

This is simply the best HDR gaming experience you can currently get.

This Alienware does have a brightness limiter, but it’s far less aggressive than on most LG-equipped monitors and you barely notice it happening. More to the point, this monitor always looks punchy, which you absolutely cannot say of monitors with LG OLED tech.

In fact, it’s better than that because the glossy really lets the OLED panel sing. In that regard, it’s just like the Philips Evnia 34M2C8600, which is another member of the Samsung QD-OLED gang and also has a glossy anti-glare coating. It does wonders for black levels and contrast. Along with the Philips, this is simply the best HDR gaming experience you can currently get.

Incidentally, the coating is very well judged. It’s not over reflective and distracting in that regard. It just ups the contrast and removes that slight greying of darker tones that comes with a matte coating.

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(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

Anyway, there are LCD monitors with mini-LED backlights that will go brighter, especially full-screen or near-full-screen. But they lack the per-pixel lighting precision of OLED. Oh, and the speed. Lordy, this thing is quick, there’s just no motion blur, not from the pixels.

Of course, at 165Hz there are faster displays in refresh terms. But for most gamers most of the time, 165Hz is plenty. Anyway, aside from the changes and tweaks discussed, most of what applied to the original Alienware 4 AW3423DW also applies here. It’s just this monitor is cheaper, which makes it an easy pick.

Buy if…

✅ You want the best gaming monitor on the market: With the combination of Samsung’s punchy OLED panel, great HDR performance, glossy finish, a broad ultrawide resolution, and lightning pixel response, this is as good as it gets right now.

Don’t buy if…

❌ You crave 4K: The ultrawide res is as good as it gets in proper PC monitor sizes, with 4K OLEDs only starting at TV panel sizes. Actual 4K 27- or 32-inch 4K OLED screens are likely to arrive within a year.

It’s also cheaper than the Philips Evnia and compared to that monitor is only missing a USB Type-C connection, which in a gaming context isn’t a huge loss. Current USB Type-C power delivery is limited to 100W, which isn’t enough to keep a gaming laptop juiced.

As for reservations, well, once again it’s the same story as the OG Alienware OLED. For general computing the pixel density ain’t great. That doesn’t make for terribly crisp fonts in Windows or super sharp image detail. The triangular rather than vertically striped RGB subpixel substructure doesn’t help with text clarity, either.

Then there’s the whole OLED burn-in thing. There’s some early evidence that Samsung’s QD-OLED tech may be slightly more susceptible to image retention than the LG alternative. But it’s not definitive. Whatever, you get a three-year warranty with burn-in cover, so the simple answer is don’t buy if you can’t accept any burn-in after that time period, because you won’t be covered.

And of course, this is still a very expensive monitor, even at the relative discount. But you can still ink the new Alienware 34 AW3423DWF in as our new favourite gaming panel. Because it’s absolutely farking fabulous.

Alienware 34 AW3423DWF: Price Comparison

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Alienware 34 AW3423DWF

Jeremy has been writing about technology and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and enjoys nothing more than a serious dissertation on the finer points of monitor input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of advanced lithography. Or maybe he just likes machines that go “ping!” He also has a thing for tennis and cars.

Alienware 34 QD-OLED (AW3423DW) gaming monitor review

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(Image: © Future)

Our Verdict

It’s been an incredibly long time coming. But OLED awesomeness has finally come to the PC. LCD technology still has the edge for latency, but this quantum dot-enhanced OLED screen is incredible when it comes to contrast, HDR performance, and response. Net result? Simply one of, if not the, best gaming monitors ever.

For

Fabulous contrast and colours
Stupendous pixel response
Genuine HDR capability

Against

Not a great all-purpose panel
Latency isn’t a strong point
No HDMI 2.1

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12 Amazon customer reviews

☆☆☆☆☆

£1,095.99

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Is this where it all begins? Is the new Alienware 34 AW3423DW QD-OLED the gaming monitor that sparks an OLED revolution on the PC? The one we’ve been waiting years for? Please, please, let it be so.

As you’ll see, this monitor isn’t perfect. But it is dramatically better than any LCD-based monitor by several gaming-critical metrics. And it’s a genuine thrill to use. Of course, that’s getting ahead of ourselves. First, we need to cover off the basics.

By many measures, this isn’t really a radical display. The 34-inch 21:9 proportions, the gentle 1800R curve and the 3,440 by 1,440 native resolution are all relatively routine in the current gaming monitor market. Ditto the 175Hz refresh rate. It’s no slouch, this new OLED panel, but there are LCD screens with much higher refresh rates available for far less cash.

Ah yes, the sordid matter of money. The AW3423DW weighs in at $1,299 in the US (UK pricing hasn’t landed yet). Depending on how you slice it, that’s either a tonne of cash for a gaming monitor or surprisingly reasonable for something at the vanguard of new technology. After all, this is the first true PC gaming panel based on OLED technology.

And not just any old OLED kit. Many OLED TVs, including the LG sets that have become so popular among gamers, use WRGB subpixel substructure to boost brightness at the cost of diluting colour saturation. WRGB can also be problematic for PC applications that assume an RGB subpixel structure for fine control of rendering, including for fonts. That problem isn’t really relevant for gaming. But the bottom line is that WRGB OLED panels come with downsides.

That’s why this new Alienware is doubly exciting. Not only is it OLED, it’s also Samsung’s hot new QD-LED tech, which combines the ideal RGB subpixel structure with quantum dot technology to produce both excellent colour saturation and an even brighter panel. Net result? Alienware is claiming both an impressive 99.3 percent coverage of the demanding DCI-P3 colour space and fully 1,000 nits brightness, albeit that brightness level can only be achieved on a small portion of the panel, not across the entire screen.

Alienware 34 AW3423DW specs

Screen size: 34-inch
Resolution: 3,440 x 1,440
Brightness: 1,000 nits peak HDR
Response time: 0. 1ms
Refresh rate: 175Hz
Viewing angle: 178° H&V
Contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1
Features: QD OLED panel, 99.3% DCI-P3, Nvidia G-Sync Ultimate, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 2x HDMI 2.0, USB hub, AlienFX lighting
Price: $1,299 | £TBA

Common to all OLED tech are two critical advantages over any LCD panel, namely contrast and response. Put simply, every pixel in an OLED panel is its own light source, which can be turned completely off, essentially delivering ‘true’ black levels and more or less infinite contrast. There’s no need for any of that complicated, problematic local dimming to stop the light from leaking through an LCD panel. OLED is the real HDR deal.

OLED is also far faster than LCD. By how much depends on how you measure things. The fastest current IPS monitors are quoted at around 1ms for grey-to-grey response. But that only measures part of the transition between colours. The full change takes much longer. By comparison, Alienware is quoting this OLED panel at 0.1ms. And that’s likely for the full transition. It’s at least an order of magnitude faster.

(Image credit: Future)

Anyway, if that’s a quick refresher as to why this thing promises to be so good, what is it actually like? First impressions are actually disappointing. Fired up in SDR mode, the Alienware 34 AW3423DW QD-OLED looks a little dull and dingy. What happened to that 1,000 nits claim? Then there’s the mediocre pixel density that comes as a consequence of the combination of 34-inch diagonal and 3,440 by 1,440 native resolution. Oh the horror, is this thing a dud?

Don’t panic. Unlike LCD monitors with claimed HDR capability, this OLED screen needs to be in HDR mode to do its thing. And that applies to SDR content, too. Alienware has provided two HDR modes, HDR 400 True Black and HDR Peak 1000. The latter enables that maximum 1,000 nit performance in small areas of the panel but actually looks less vibrant and punchy most of the time.

Instead, it’s the HDR 400 True Black mode that generally gives the best results. That includes SDR content. For SDR content to look its best, you have to jump into the Windows Display Settings menu and crank the SDR brightness up, after which it’s much more zingy all around. That’s actually handy because it means that once you have the AW3423DW set up properly, you’re all done. There’s no need to switch modes for SDR and HDR content.

But let’s get back to gaming. Boy, this is a special display. In response terms, it’s incredible. No matter how violently you tear your mouse across the mat, everything on-screen stays so crisp and clear and sharp. That incredible in-game response is backed up by test animations like TestUFO. We’ve never seen the little alien spacecraft look so blur-free.

Image 1 of 2

(Image credit: Future)

Comparison of the blur-free UFO on the Alienware AW3423DW versus a standard IPS panel.

(Image credit: Future)

As for the colours and contrast, this panel is the absolute bomb. There’s so much depth, saturation and clarity to the in-game image thanks to that per-pixel lighting. All of a sudden, every LCD monitor ever seems like you’re looking through a filter, like they’re all just a tiny bit watery and translucent.

Want examples? With many supposedly HDR-capable panels, Cyberpunk 2077 actually looks best in SDR mode. Not with this Alienware. In HDR mode, shafts of sunlight positively pop in outdoor scenes, while the deep, inky blacks contrast dramatically with neon light sources indoors. It really is something special.

Heck, even typically underwhelming titles—in visual terms—like Call of Duty: Warzone look great thanks to the quantum dot-enhanced saturation and speedy response. The slight softening of the image that you have to put up with pretty much any LCD panel when flying around maps in online shooters and other fast-paced games simply isn’t there.

If all this sounds a little hyperbolic, it doesn’t actually mean that all LCD monitors are now awful. In fact, when it comes to refresh rates and therefore latency, LCD monitors with 360Hz-plus refresh are clearly quicker. Latency is traditionally a weak point for OLED, and while we didn’t sense any subjective issue with this 175Hz monitor, there’s little doubt that if your gaming fun and success hinges on having the lowest possible latency, there are faster screens available.

Latency isn’t the only OLED-related issue, of course. Burn-in is the great fear and that leads to a few quirks. For starters, you’ll occasionally notice the entire image shifting by a pixel or two. The panel is actually overprovisioned with pixels by about 20 in both axes, providing plenty of leeway. It’s a little like the overprovisioning of memory cells in an SSD and it allows Alienware to prevent static elements from “burning” into the display over time.

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(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

The other anti-burn-in measure is an ABL (Automatic Brightness Limiter) system. Look carefully, and you’ll see the overall panel brightness varying a little in response to what’s on the screen. A large bright object, for instance, will cause the panel to dim slightly in order to control overall power consumption and protect the panel. It’s not terribly intrusive, but it is something to be aware of. Alienware reassuringly provides three-year cover for the risk of OLED burn-in.

If time will tell if that ever proves a significant problem, what we can say for sure, at this price point, is that there are better general-purpose panels with superior pixel density, higher resolution, and more desktop screen real-estate. The lack of USB-C connectivity is also a limitation for broader usability. If you want a really large display, a 120Hz OLED TV for similar money is likewise clearly better value.

What’s more, it’s worth noting you can only achieve the full 175Hz with the single DisplayPort input. The two HDMI sockets are limited to 100Hz. It’s just one of the reasons why this thing ain’t a great choice for pairing with the latest games consoles. It’s really only optimised for use with a PC. But for most types of gaming on that very platform, this is as good as it currently gets. Put simply, the Alienware 34 AW3423DW sets new standards for contrast, HDR performance and response.

Alienware AW3423DW: Price Comparison

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Alienware AW3423DW

Computer monitor 27″ LED FULL HD Lenovo D27-30- www.gamby.co.il 03-9341686

Specifications
Description
Tags

Manufacturer:

Lenovo

Lenovo D27-30 – a monitor for work, study or full-fledged games. Its 27″ vertical alignment panel displays fine print in documents or details in busy home art projects in Full HD 19 resolution.20 x 1080. And to remove distractions when editing long reports or writing a class assignment, it’s inside a NearEdgeless box, which makes the image appear to float.

Outside of work and school, he works just as well as with entertainment. You won’t worry about tearing or stuttering because the D27-30 comes with AMD FreeSync™* on board. And the response time in extreme mode is only 4ms, even at a fast pace, games do not lag. But whether it’s a marathon gaming session, a long video lecture, or a night of computing, this monitor’s wearers can continue to work in comfort with TÜV Rheinland-certified eye protection technology that reduces eye strain from blue waves and eliminates screen flicker. .

* AMD FreeSync™ enabled for AMD Radeon™ Series graphics cards.

Connecting to a PC, laptop or game console is easy as the D27-30 connects easily via HDMI or VGA. Audio adds surround through the audio port, allowing users to listen through headphones or a speaker system. Whatever the task, it can be done without clutter as all those cables are neatly tucked away thanks to the stand’s built-in cable management system that tilts the screen to always have the most comfortable viewing angle. And for those who want to completely free up their desktop, the D27-30 can be easily wall-mounted with a 100 x 100mm VESA backplate ready for wall mounting.

Features and benefits

Built for work: Increased space for home productivity, learning and entertainment with this vertically aligned 27″ display that offers a wider viewing angle of up to 178°. It shows every little detail in full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution, so long documents are easier to read and edit. Tables are easier to navigate. Every important detail in the homework is displayed in high resolution. Game graphics are displayed as intended. And all this in a three-sided NearEdgeless frame, which increases the size of the screen and allows the image to “float”.

The ultimate viewing experience: The D27-30 makes the most of your home work environment with a viewing experience that aids productivity and productivity and maximizes comfort. AMD FreeSync™ technology eliminates stuttering for better entertainment. With TÜV Rheinland certification for eye comfort, the monitor allows users to work, study or play for extended periods of time while protecting eyes from strain and eliminating screen flicker right on the image.

D27-30 connects and works with PCs, laptops, phones and game consoles via HDMI and VGA. And the audio output provides high-quality sound output to headphones or speakers for video calls, online course videos, and gaming experience. Optimum viewing angle is ensured by the tilt stand, which also stows away cables. And for added convenience and comfort, the monitor has a 100mm x 100mm VESA mount option.

Panel size 27″

Resolution 1920 x 1080

Panel type 3-sided frameless VA

WLED backlight

Brightness (typical) 250 cd/m²

16:9 aspect ratio

Refresh rate 75 Hz (HDMI input only)

Response time 4 ms (extreme mode)

6 ms (normal mode)

Contrast ratio (typical) 3000:1

Dynamic contrast ratio (typical) 3M: 1

Viewing Angle (H x V) 178° / 178°

Color gamut 72% NTSC (CIE 1931)

Color support 16.7M

Anti-reflective Yes

Connectivity 1 x HDMI 1. 4

1 VGA connector

1 audio output (3.5 mm)

Special features

AMD FreeSync™ synchronization technology

Mechanical

Stand angle (forward / backward) -5° / 22°

VESA mountable Yes, 100 x 100 mm

ThinkCentre M Series Tiny support Yes (sold separately)

Kensington lock slot

CCC certified

RoHS (EU 2002/95/EC) Yes

Energy Efficiency Level 1

Windows certification

Eye Comfort TÜV Rheinland

Power consumption, standard / maximum: 22 W / 33 W

Off mode: <0.3W

Sleep/Off: <0.5W

Monitors 27.5 – 30 inches

Monitor is an important part of the system in any computer. Choosing a monitor is very important, because the quality of the image, and therefore the comfort of the tasks performed, will depend on it. Whether it’s a gaming monitor, or a monitor for office work.
More recently, the choice of monitors was small.
The monitors differed little in appearance and had almost the same characteristics without giving a choice.
Now, due to the constant development of technology, everything has changed.
Monitors have become not only the usual means of transmitting information, but also convenient gadgets, with the help of which the performance of work tasks and the gaming process have become more comfortable.

A wide range of technical specifications allows you to choose the right monitor to solve any problem. Many manufacturers offer monitors that differ in appearance and feature set, which we will write in more detail below.

1. Monitor diagonal.

The first thing you should pay attention to when choosing a monitor is the diagonal.
To work in an office or in a store where there is no need to have a large monitor and work is not associated with complex tables or graphic editors,
suitable for monitors with a diagonal of 19″up to 24″. These are standard monitor sizes that are comfortable to work with for a long time.
If your tasks are related to working in graphic editors, working with large tables and other tasks that involve a large image coverage,
then monitors with a diagonal of 24 “and above are suitable for this, depending on your needs.
For gamers, monitors 24” or larger are suitable.
27″ monitors are often chosen by web designers, photo and video editors, animators and other graphics professionals.

2. Screen matrix type.

There are several popular types of screen matrices: TN, PLS, IPS (SFT), VA (MVA, PVA).
Matrix TN – Twisted Nematic. The advantage of the matrix is that it has a fast response time and the price of monitors with such a matrix is not high.
The disadvantages of the matrix in small viewing angles, poor color reproduction and low contrast.
The PLS matrix is a modified version of the IPS matrix. This matrix was made in order to optimize the response time of the monitor.
Also, monitors with this matrix are cheaper than those with its predecessor, the IPS matrix.
IPS matrix (SFT) – created on the basis of the TN matrix, but radically has better characteristics.
It has fairly large viewing angles, and color reproduction is almost equal to natural colors.
Among the shortcomings, we can note the response time, which has increased significantly in relation to the TN matrix.
Matrix VA (MVA, PVA) – these matrices have low power consumption, large viewing angles and very fast response time.
Matrices of this type have the best contrast.

3. Monitor response time.

An important feature is the monitor’s response time.
The unit of this parameter is milliseconds (ms). The shorter the response time of the monitor, the faster the image on the monitor will change.
To be more precise, this is the time during which 1 pixel of the monitor can change.

4. Frame rate.

Each monitor has its own frame rate. unit
frequency measurements are hertz (Hz).
This indicator allows you to understand how many frames the monitor can
show for 1 second of time.
The higher this value, the clearer the monitor image will be.
For normal office everyday tasks, monitors with a frequency of
updates from 60 to 100 Hz.
If you plan to do graphic processing and other things, then
It is better to choose a monitor with a refresh rate of 100 Hz.
Choosing a gaming monitor – you should pay attention to the frequency
frame updates. As practice shows, monitors for games are
monitors with a refresh rate of 144 Hz.

5. Video outputs.

In addition to the basic parameters, monitors differ in video outputs. The main ones are VGA, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.
If your computer has a discrete Nvidia GTX and RTX graphics card, then a monitor with an analog VGA connector will not work for you.
All modern video cards have digital video outputs – HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort.
Be sure to pay attention to this important parameter.

Let’s finish, perhaps, with the fact that the appearance of the monitor is also of great importance.