Any new ultra-wides on the horizon?

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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My Acer X34P is exhibiting some weirdness. Either the brightness or colour temperate changes on its own accord. This happens when connected to my gaming PC or either of my Macs using DP or HDMI. I've also factory reset it to no avail.

Since it's quite a few years old I'm looking for a replacement. Ideally looking for 140 hz as a minimum and I guess if HDR is available that would be a bonus.

Ideally I'd like USB-C with PD as well as HDMI and DP. I'd also like it to work above 50 hz with my Mac.

I get decent discount with Dell so if it's Alienware then I guess that's the bonus. I see the AW3821DW but I was curious if anything else is on the horizon?
 
In the 38" space, the Alienware and LG ones are the only real options... Personally, I have had an AW3821DW and it's honestly been awesome! I'll be keeping it for many many years!
 
Sean473 said:
In the 38" space, the Alienware and LG ones are the only real options... Personally, I have had an AW3821DW and it's honestly been awesome! I'll be keeping it for many many years!
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Cheers. It does look lovely and a little bit bigger than my X34. The only thing is the lack of (or what I can tell) true HDR and USB-C.
 
ChrisD. said:
I just struggle to part with £1k or whatever without HDR or USB-C support. :(
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USB-C with decent Power Delivery (65-90W) tends only to be a feature of business-class monitors, and they are all 60Hz.

The (few) gaming monitors with USB-C have very little power output, if any - max 5 to 15W or so depending on model.

Also £1k doesn't buy you a lot these days; the replacements for last year's £1k models are now £300 more expensive... with the likes of LG, Asus, etc, now wanting £1.5k for a PC monitor using ancient LCD tech, and mostly they don't even have HDMI 2.1 yet (still).

You typically also won't get good HDR as even at £1.5k you mostly still have to put up with very few dimming zones, edge-lit rather than full-array. Best really to forget HDR because it's mostly a marketing gimmick on monitors.

The PC monitor space is a bad joke, really.
 
ChrisD. said:
For those with the AW3821DW, how easy is it to switch inputs from sleep mode? It's a bit of with my X34P.
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I've just got the AW3821DW and switching inputs is just one click of the joystick behind the screen, flick to the input you want and click again. I actually prefer it to the auto-dect input, they can cause issues when you want to switch inputs but leave them both inputs running.
 
My X34 P is a pain, it takes ages to get to the menu to switch inputs if it's coming out of sleep.

I have the AW3821DW in my basket and with discount I can get it for £1,039.94 direct from Dell.
 
ChrisD. said:
My X34 P is a pain, it takes ages to get to the menu to switch inputs if it's coming out of sleep.

I have the AW3821DW in my basket and with discount I can get it for £1,039.94 direct from Dell.
Click to expand...

The AW3821DW is really nice, I got mine a week ago and it's such an improvement over my old BENQ ex3501r. In terms of size, it doesn't actually look that much bigger, but the increase in resolution is really nice. Also don't forget to go through Quidco/TopCashback for another ~£45 cashback
 
I've managed to convince myself so I've ordered the monitor. Should be here by Tuesday, I'm looking forward to testing it out.
 
The Aw3821dw is really nice, couple of minor (and well known) issues I have with it:
  • No display stream compression, so you have to choose between 144hz or 10 bit colour
  • The global dimming can be a bit distracting in some usage and can't be turned off with HDR enabled
  • The RGB lighting is on the stand rather than the monitor, so you lose it if you have a monitor arm
Nothing major however and IMO it's well worth putting up with those flaws for the rest of the good bits

Edit: didn't actually mention any of the good bits
...
  • Colours are amazing, my son has my old screen on the desk next to mine, and the new one is so vibrant and crisp in comparison.
  • It's ridiculously smooth - coming from a VA panel, I can see why people prefer IPS, I didn't really notice the black smearing before, but I sure as hell notice the lack of it now!
  • The HDR is actually pretty good (despite the weakness in local dimming). It's only HDR600, and I'm sure it doesn't come close to a true HDR panel like an OLED, but playing through Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition atm and it's truly stunning in some places.
  • As @ChrisD. has also mentioned, the extra screen real estate is really nice for productivity, it's essentially like having 2x 1920x1080 screens side by side, but with 50% extra height. While not a huge increase over the 3440x1440 I had before, it definitely does make a difference.
 
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