The environments looked in-place, with good variety and some good earthy browns and rich green shades. You also get a snap on cover to tidy up the input panel. The screen is displaying reference photographs of this printed sheet, in both the same order as printed (right side) and reverse order (left side). The monitor doesnt weigh a lot, but its almost as hefty as some 27-inch models weve handled in the past. A very slight shadowy trail behind the UFO, but overall rather similar to the Fast setting in appearance. Date published: July 10th 2020. There were some significant differences when Adaptive-Sync was disabled using the Super Fast and Extreme settings these are documented as VRR off (Variable Refresh Rate off). Around 1000:1 even following adjustments to our Test Settings. Screen surface imparts a bit of graininess to lighter content We achieved accurate color with this option for both SDR and HDR content. The camera, processing done and your own screen all affect the output so it doesnt accurately represent what youd see when viewing the monitor in person. This title has a lot of high contrast scenes, with very dingy backgrounds and pulses of energy, explosions and lightsabers offering some illumination here and there. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. The image below shows a printed reference sheet of 24 sRGB shades, included as part of the Datacolor SpyderCHECKR 24 package. Unless youre frequently passing this boundary its not something youre likely to notice or care about, though. You need to make sure FreeSync is set to On in the Game section of the OSD. The setting is found in Manage 3D settings under Vertical sync, where the final option (Fast) is equivalent to AMDs Enhanced Sync setting. Details can be found in this article. And if you can't quite hit 360Hz, G-Sync is there to ensure you don't get any stutter or screen tearing. As the frame rate dropped we noticed an increase in overshoot. There were some significant differences when Adaptive-Sync was disabled using the Super Fast and Extreme settings these are documented as VRR off (Variable Refresh Rate off). 25" Dell Alienware AW2521HF 2020 1920 x 1080 2.9ms 240Hz $ 419. Gamma consistency was good, ensuring detail levels were largely appropriate (IPS glow affected regions aside) throughout the screen. As usual we tested a broad range of game titles using FreeSync and found the experience similar across the board. Connect without compromise. Full HD resolution is quite limiting in some respects, stand reasonably deep which could be an issue if you have a shallow desk (VESA mounting is an option) Compared to at 60Hz, or indeed a 60Hz monitor, youre getting up to 4 times as much visual information pumped out every second. Timestamps: Overall, response is on another level, and motion clarity is superior to any 240 Hz screen weve encountered. 237fps) instead, avoiding any VSync latency penalty at frame rates near the ceiling of operation or tearing from frame rates rising above the refresh rate. The segments are now quite distinct. With respectable graphics settings and more intense action it wasnt uncommon to see dips below 100fps, perhaps closer to 60fps on average. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally. Pixel response behaviour was similar under the Fast setting whether Adaptive-Sync was active or not both in this test and more broadly. Classic and satisfying dish with garlic, lemon, and rosemary. Shade representation using SpyderCHECKR 24 The image below shows how things look with refresh rate bumped up to 144Hz. Although this wont correct uniformity issues, profiling the monitor with your own colorimeter or spectrophotometer is always advised for best results if the strongest colour accuracy is desired. Any issues identified with FreeSync that were isolated to a specific title would indicate an issue with the game or GPU driver rather than the monitor as well. The strong colour consistency ensured shades maintained appropriate richness throughout the screen, without the saturation shifts youd see on VA or TN models. The full HD resolution of the Alienware AW2521HF isnt as impressive nowadays, but it is still the universal format for competitive gaming. Packing in 1. Given the pleasing responsiveness and colour performance, nice overall build and (subjectively speaking) styling we feel this is an excellent 240Hz Full HD model overall. My current Brightness setting on the monitors display settings is 90% and the contrast is set to 96%. In the image above you can see that the monitor is validated as G-SYNC Compatible (or you could, if Nvidia Control Panel displayed the entire text instead of cutting it off). IPS glow also came with the territory. At 144Hz, above, the UFO appears narrower and more sharply focused, with better internal detailing. Even on this title where there are lots of high contrast transitions, with bright objects against much darker backgrounds, there was nothing that really caught the eye as a clear weakness. The monitor didnt put form over function, either, and was solidly built with good ergonomic flexibility and VESA mounting options. When we say obvious, its very subjective sensitive users can certainly notice such things and it can be very nice indeed having them gone. The Alienware AW2521HF is extremely fast when it comes to pixel response times, so blur-free gaming is entirely possible. . On some monitors, particularly but not exclusively those with high refresh rates, interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions. This reflects a significant reduction in perceived blur due to eye movement. The competitive advantage of the 240Hz refresh rate was irrelevant on this title, although we still noticed an edge in connected feel and perceived blur on the rare occasions frame rate got up high enough. The responsiveness of the monitor was also quite impressive which is a good thing given that its a key focus of 240Hz models like this. The contrast performance was much as we were expecting. This is a good practical speed to take such photographs at, highlighting both elements of perceived blur nicely. It indicates a very low signal delay at 240Hz which even sensitive users shouldnt find bothersome. Considering video content more broadly, including streamed and heavily compressed content, there was suitable masking of compression artifacts. Quite gamery, but in in a less aggressive and sharp-lined or flashy colourful way than usual. Such an option does usually exist it may be called sync every frame or something along those lines rather than simply VSync. To maximise colour accuracy within the sRGB colour space, for colour-managed workflows, full calibration and profiling with a colorimeter or similar device is recommended. As things dipped even further, below the 48fps (48Hz) floor of operation for FreeSync, the monitor employed LFC (Low Framerate Compensation). The UFOs move across the screen from left to right at a frame rate matching the refresh rate of the display. This is exactly what the Dell Alienware AW2521HF delivered. They also come surprisingly close to the reference screen, with just a hint of powdery trailing for the dark background (top row) that isnt there on the reference. It is satin black plastic with a blended light grey Alienware logo in the centre, the same width as the stand neck. But less of this behind the UFO cockpit for the medium background. The average contrast ratio with only brightness adjusted was 1054:1, a hair above the specified 1000:1 and as expected for the panel. Hello Reddit, I recently bought the Alienware AW2521HF monitor, and I'm having some severe ghosting while playing games. Donations are also greatly appreciated. The Dell Alienware supports a variable refresh rate range of 48 240Hz. Every player has a different notion about the ideal setting for PC . Also note that the listed refresh rates are the same via suitable versions of HDMI and DP and that a 4k x 2k, 3840 x 2160 downsampling mode is not included. Either way, where the frame rate drops below the floor of operation a frame to refresh multiplication technology (what AMD refers to as LFC) kicked in to keep tearing and stuttering at bay. The video below shows the Lagom text test, a mixed desktop background, game scene and dark desktop background from a variety of viewing angles. It cant compensate for other interruptions to smooth game play, for example network latency or insufficient system memory. The top and side bezels are slender with a dual-stage design, including a panel border thats flush with the rest of the screen and a slim hard plastic outer component. Dell AW2521HF Monitor Simplified Service Manual. Negatives When you open up Nvidia Control Panel, you should then see Set up G-SYNC listed in the Display section. The input panel is recessed deeply underneath, so much so that cables with large connectors will be difficult to use. Finally, note again that you can go to Game Enhance Mode in the Game section of the OSD to activate the Frame Rate feature. If you activate the Frame Rate feature under Game Game Enhance Mode in the OSD, this will display the refresh rate of the display and therefore indicate the frame rate if FreeSync is active and the frame rate is within the variable refresh rate range of the display. There are again varying degrees of trailing behind the object due to pixel response weaknesses. Nonetheless, we wouldnt describe the atmosphere as poor in an appropriately well-lit room either. Including at some regions of TN and to a lesser extent VA screens due to the perceived gamma shifts as we described earlier using Battlefield V as an example. But far from poor. Our test system uses an Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti connected using the supplied DP cable and runs Windows 10. There is a bit of backlight bleeding on the edges of the Alienware AW2521HFs screen which adds some light clouding in an all-black image. Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but youre using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. Home of the computer component that you see most, your Monitor. It was free from the sort of shifts in perceived gamma that can significantly mask dark detail in some regions of the screen whilst revealing too much detail elsewhere. Its something were sensitive to, as long-time readers of our website will be well aware. This is quite common on LBL settings as reducing the green channel negatively impacts contrast, but in this case it was rather noticeable and you were left with a warmish but very green image. Or obvious flashes of pink that shift along with slight head movement. So things didnt have a banded or blocky appearance as youd see if gamma was far too low. At 60Hz we measured a slightly higher but still reasonable 6.47ms. Click Settings (cog icon towards top right) and click Graphics. You can see relatively minor shifts in contrast and colour for the mixed desktop background and game scene. Even if such dips were very slight, without FreeSync active and VSync enabled theyd cause obvious stuttering. We also observed the contrast performance of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The colour reproduction was a relative strength of this monitor and a good step up from competing models with other panel types. AMD LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) is also supported by this model, which means that the refresh rate will stick to multiples of the frame rate where it falls below the 48Hz (48fps) floor of operation for FreeSync. I recently bought the Alienware AW2521HF monitor, and I'm having some severe ghosting while playing games. Below you can see how things appear with refresh rate ramped up to 240Hz. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The video below shows the Lagom text test, a mixed desktop background, game scene and dark desktop background from a variety of viewing angles. In the example of white text against a shaded backdrop, this only occurred at certain grey levels for the background, so not all dark shades would trigger it. We wont be going into this in detail as its a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature. We also observed various episodes of the animated TV series Futurama. Note that there is always some disparity between how emissive objects (monitor) and non-emissive objects (printed sheet) appear. Response time is the time it takes a display to change from one color to another. 1 comment. We put it through a battery of tests to see how it stacks up. The monitor can also be set to 120Hz although not documented in this testing, results were very much comparable to 144Hz. The images below are pursuit photographs taken using the UFO Motion Test for ghosting, with the test running at its default speed of 960 pixels per second. On Battlefield V the monitor provided a very fluid experience, where the frame rate kept pace with the 240Hz refresh rate. Using VRR improved pixel response behaviour for very high refresh rates, too, allowing the Extreme overdrive setting to be used without strong overshoot. At lowest stand height, the bottom of the screen sits ~70mm (2.76 inches) above the desk and the top of the screen ~396mm (15.59 inches). FreeSync the experience Individual targets depend on individual uses, tastes and the lighting environment, however. Find out which Alienware gaming gear is used by professional esports players. This is the default expected by modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Apples MacOS. The better option is to raise the refresh rate and thats exactly what the Alienware AW2521H does. There was borderline significant deviation above the central region (DeltaE 3.0), with no significant deviation recorded elsewhere. Strong pixel responsiveness overall, low input lag and Adaptive-Sync working well with both our AMD and Nvidia GPU At a basic level, a mismatch between the frame rate and refresh rate can cause stuttering (VSync on) or tearing and juddering (VSync off). Conclusion Panel: IPS. Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but youre using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. The numbered Game presets and Custom Color are most flexible as they allow you to adjust the colour channels and saturation levels. Luminance uniformity map The article also covers a technique called pursuit photography, using a moving rather than stationary camera to capture motion in a way that reflects both elements of perceived blur. Responsiveness (Adaptive-Sync). This further reinforces the idea of strong colour consistency, with large areas of individual shade. 80 240fps). The optimal setting here depends on your own preferences in this respect. AMD FreeSync is a variable refresh rate technology, an AMD-specific alternative to Nvidia G-SYNC. Assume any setting not mentioned, including Contrast, was left at default. One of the most important concepts raised in that article is perceived blur, contributed to by the movement of your eyes as you track motion on the screen as well as pixel responsiveness. AlienWare AW2518HF. It cant compensate for other interruptions to smooth game play, for example network latency or insufficient system memory. The darkest blue block blended into the background a bit too readily. All three rows of the test are analysed (dark, medium and light background) to show a range of pixel transitions. So its a relatively deep design for a screen of this size, a bit of a desk depth hog although not as bad as some models. On Shadow of the Tomb Raider things were also presented in a rich and natural way. Video review This ate away at detail and lightened dark shades up in this region, but wasnt extreme. Heres how it works. It automatically sets the brightness to 100% to compensate for the loss in light output. The dark desktop background highlights IPS glow, which creates an obvious bloom as viewing angles become steeper. Colour reproduction Colour in games and movies Should I just give up and buy my second option Benq Zowie XL2546K? Buying a colorimeter isnt worth it for gaming, but editors and content creators will likely need it for this model. The red block appeared a fairly rich red throughout. Dips below this were common. Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS), Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2 x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 2, USB 3.0 x 4, 3.5mm Jack x 1, Dimensions with Stand(WxHxD): 21.90 x 16.58 x 9.92. There were slight weaknesses for some transitions, though these were fairly minor and arent something everyone would find bothersome. At 60Hz, above, the UFO appears soft without sharp focus or clear internal detailing. On the panels top edge is an ambient light sensor. Both our responsiveness article and the G-SYNC article linked to explore the importance of these two elements being synchronised. These are our suggested calibration settings for your Alienware 240Hz Monitor: Picture Mode - Custom Color. Slight pixel responsiveness weaknesses for some transitions, a bit of overshoot creeps in at reduced refresh rates and no strobe backlight setting Our recommended settings are below. The colour gamut provided just a bit of extension beyond sRGB, injecting some extra vibrancy without the strong saturation of a much more generous colour gamut. The AlienFX lighting system allowed some degree of customisation and some elements are visible from the front, but it was our wall who got the most enjoyment out of the light show. TN models show obvious saturation shifts vertically. Alienware are touting . Some users prefer to leave VSync enabled but use a frame rate limiter set a few frames below the maximum supported (e.g. Change the settings to select which offers you see. In this case appropriate richness and saturation was maintained throughout. Subtle details such as dark-coloured irises would be more distinct with stronger static contrast and appropriate perceived gamma, but they were still as visible as wed expect for most of the screen given the static contrast. The following observations were made. FreeSync also boasts reduced latency compared to running with VSync enabled, in the variable frame rate environment in which it operates. Our suggestions regarding use of VSync also apply, but youre using Nvidia Control Panel rather than AMD Radeon Software to control this. Today's best Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor AW2521H deals, We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices, Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor AW2521H: Price Comparison. We made various changes to the Custom Color preset for our Test Settings. I'm hardly a pro gamer, and I can't provide any stats to prove that 360Hz truly made me any better but racing around the field in Overwatch and spraying bullets at the competition just feels more fluid and precise compared to your average display. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally. The driver setting change noted in the article setting Output dynamic range to Full is the simplest method. At 240Hz, above, the UFOs again appear more sharply focused again with clearer internal detailing. This figure is influenced both by the element of input lag you see (pixel responsiveness) and the element you feel (signal delay). Considering a broader range of pixel transitions, all Response Time settings were fairly similar at 240Hz with Adaptive-Sync in use (VRR on). These are just a suggestion, anything not mentioned was left at its default value for Game 1. We refer to these as interlace pattern artifacts but some users refer to them as inversion artifacts and others as scan lines. Candy apple red appeared with a bit of an orange-red tone due to extension in the red to green edge of the gamut. Although not nearly as pronounced or obvious as stepping up from 60Hz to 144Hz (or even 120Hz). Slight deviation from preferred 2.2 gamma, without gamma settings in OSD. There is a list of GPUs which support the technology here, with the expectation that future AMD GPUs will support the feature too. Buy from Amazon The AW2521HF does not use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) to regulate the backlight at any brightness level. Compared to at 60Hz, or indeed a 60Hz monitor, youre getting up to 4 times as much visual information pumped out every second. For the lowest levels of perceived blur its also important that the monitor performs its pixel responses rapidly. Not smeary in appearance, but it extended out a bit more and had a greater effect on perceived blur compared to the light powdery trailing described earlier.
