New Alienware Q3 2020

Out of interest I downloaded the icc profile from the rtings review to see what it would look like, but there was no perceptible change? Is there something I need to do to enact it? I selected it against the monitor and made it as default for the system
 
AsheAshe said:
Out of interest I downloaded the icc profile from the rtings review to see what it would look like, but there was no perceptible change? Is there something I need to do to enact it? I selected it against the monitor and made it as default for the system
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I can't make out much of a discernable difference either (AW2721D).
 
pc.1 said:
I can't make out much of a discernable difference either (AW2721D).
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Interesting, I assume that means it’s not fully being applied as the reviews on rtings and TFT review seem to suggest that lost calibration there was a large improvement but I literally can’t see any difference?
 
AsheAshe said:
Interesting, I assume that means it’s not fully being applied as the reviews on rtings and TFT review seem to suggest that lost calibration there was a large improvement but I literally can’t see any difference?
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And that is the problem is using somebody else's calibration ICM. That was for the monitor which Baddass calibrated. His profile might even make your monitor look worse!
 
The minor changes to the OSD settings recommended in the review will get you most of the way there to visual improvements anyway. Although as said above, results may vary from one sample to another. Although a lot of the time they translate well

The ICC profile can correct the gamma curve and make more finite corrections (and is also useful within colour managed workflows), but this screen already has a decent gamma setup anyway so visually in Windows and for an average user it won’t make a major difference.
 
@baddass Thank you for a brilliant review, I saw that this was coming last week so wanted to wait before I made a decision - I think you've just helped make my mind up. It seems to be the best option for me at 3840 x 1600, as I simply prefer this as an option to the LG due to warranty, everything else seems relatively even as far as I'm concerned. Can't see any other real competitors at this price and feature range.

One question is with regards to calibration, do you require specialist equipment, or are there steps you can take without it? I have very little knowledge when it comes to monitor setup, but feel I should look at this if I'm even considering making this purchase.
 
Bill Turnip said:
@baddass Thank you for a brilliant review, I saw that this was coming last week so wanted to wait before I made a decision - I think you've just helped make my mind up. It seems to be the best option for me at 3840 x 1600, as I simply prefer this as an option to the LG due to warranty, everything else seems relatively even as far as I'm concerned. Can't see any other real competitors at this price and feature range.

One question is with regards to calibration, do you require specialist equipment, or are there steps you can take without it? I have very little knowledge when it comes to monitor setup, but feel I should look at this if I'm even considering making this purchase.
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I use spyderx (just buy the cheapest one as the difference between pro and elite is just the software which I dont use anyway as there is better free software available)

There is also I-rite.

I bought my first once second hand from ebay, calibrated all my screens and then sold it back on ebay for a small loss. Nowadays I keep them and recalibrate monthly but I edit a lot of photos so worth it for me,

Speaking of which for any photographers out there, there is a brilliant deal of half price for the spyderx photo kit at 199 euros atm

https://spyderx.datacolor.com/shop/
 
Thanks, I'll have a look into that - Also just saw your point about a website for setting up a new monitor, not sure how I missed that at first. I see you already have one from your sign, how have you found it so far?
 
Bill Turnip said:
@baddass One question is with regards to calibration, do you require specialist equipment, or are there steps you can take without it? I have very little knowledge when it comes to monitor setup, but feel I should look at this if I'm even considering making this purchase.
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for an average user you will probably find that making some simple changes to the OSD settings as described in the calibration section of the review will be sufficient, and will help reduce brightness to a better level and correct the slightly too cool colour temp. apart from that you could also try our calibrated ICC profile which should tweak and correct the gamma curve a little. that's normally sufficient for an average user. getting your own calibration tool would be useful if you want better control, need to reach other random setup options, are calibrating and matching different displays or devices etc
 
Thanks for the response, I guess once it arrives I'll have a proper play round with all the settings and see if it looks as good as my current monitor (Dell S2716dg). It's a cracking monitor and I really like it, I just have room on my desk which is perfect for a 38" ultrawide. As long as the quality is line with that but with the extra screen size (which working from home is making extremely desirable), I'll be delighted.
 
Bill Turnip said:
Thanks, I'll have a look into that - Also just saw your point about a website for setting up a new monitor, not sure how I missed that at first. I see you already have one from your sign, how have you found it so far?
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Loving it, made the right decision in getting it.

Also as Baddass suggests, just making osd changes can make a good enough difference, using the website i linked to earlier.

Although you cant copy reviews as my screen is totally different to Baddass review screen. He had to use 100,100,94 on the RGB OSD setting on his. Mine ended up being 96,98,98 to get my screen spot on. So you really have to do your own screen and make your own adjustments.
 
So, I ordered the AW3821DW yesterday, and Dell gave me an estimated delivery of 1st March. This morning, I was told it would arrive tomorrow, and it was eventually delivered earlier this afternoon! Amazing service from them.

I've got it setup now, and am an absolute convert (after 4 hours admittedly). The extra space is wonderful, the only point is the depth of the stand - this will be wall mounted before very long. I'll have a look at the website previously mentioned to see if the setup can be improved, but out of the box I am extremely pleased.
 
AsheAshe said:
Out of interest I downloaded the icc profile from the rtings review to see what it would look like, but there was no perceptible change? Is there something I need to do to enact it? I selected it against the monitor and made it as default for the system
Click to expand...

Same with me. There was no difference except possibly a small change to the gamma so I am not using it. I guess it's the luck of the draw but it seems that some of the monitors are pretty well calibrated. I am actually running the monitor at standard settings for everything except brightness which I had to severely reduce before my retinas were ruined for life.
 
Ash Raines said:
RTINGS.Com review dropped today for the AW3821DW
- https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/dell/alienware-aw3821dw
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I am pleased with that review. I mean I have been perfectly happy with the monitor, so it was just reassuring that the experts seem to agree. I had noticed the relatively weak contrast ratio, but I was expecting that. It's a complaint with the LG monitor that shares the same panel and I have noticed over the last few years it has been a common complaint with LG panels that as the speed of them increased so the contrast decreased. To me that is an acceptable tradeoff. Luckily I am not interested in HDR at the moment. I am sure this will be a thing one day but right now in my humble opinion only OLED does HDR well, so I for me it will always be off. The monitor offers enough benefits without me crying because it doesn't do HDR well. I have no regrets buying the monitor at all. It's fantastic. Also, once and for all -

FreeSync Compatible (Tested)
 
About 10 days in on the AW2521H. Main comments so far:
  • The difference compared to my old 144hz screen isn't that noticeable, I've not fallen off my chair in awe at the smoothness when playing at high framerate. That said, in my experience with framerate/refreshrate it is MUCH more noticeable when you get used to high rate and have to go back to low rate, than the other way round.
  • Blurring during fast movement seems slightly better than my old screen. It feels solid without noticeable input lag.
  • It's surprisingly dark (have to have brightness cranked up etc), but it's the first IPS screen I've had - it's not worse, just different gamma
  • Lack of built in speakers was a bit of a surprise, for years I never used speakers (favouring headphones) but past year or two have started to when playing games with my son. Definitely not a deal breaker, I can plug some others speakers in.
  • Haven't tried HDR yet.
  • So far I'd say it's good, but not really worth the money considering its relatively small size and 1080p resolution
 
I've had the AW3821DW now for a couple of weeks now. Really pleased with it, came from a pair of U2412M monitors so it's quite a jump to ultrawide with G-Sync and HDR. Paired with a 2080 which seems able to drive most games reasonably well, sometimes need to drop some of the settings down.

I've calibrated mine using an i1 Display Pro + DisplayCAL (D6500 white point, 120cd/m2), these are the custom colour settings for comparison:
Red: 100%
Green: 97%
Blue: 88%

Brightness: 22%, Contrast: 75%

You can see that I had to dial out quite a lot more blue than others to get to D6500, using defaults it was reading just under D6900, but I appreciate most folks probably prefer the more blue white which is probably why Dell default to that.
I actually found the default icc profile provided from Dell's website was pretty accurate, with a maximum delta errors of 1.3%/average 0.4% when using the above settings. Using the profile generated by DisplayCAL maximum delta error is 0.93%/average 0.35% which is excellent. These measurements are using the Display Pro, so in truth differences will be below the error tolerances of the device anyway, unfortunately I don't have a spectrometer to get more accurate readings.

Haven't used the HDR mode much yet, I did play a few YouTube videos which look pretty impressive but the non-defeatable backlight dimming and lack of brightness control is annoying, so I can't see myself using it very much.
 
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