The Alienware AW2521HF is a FreeSync gaming monitor, but its also compatible with Nvidias G-Sync. Alienware makes a 240 Hz FreeSync version of this monitor, the AW2521HF. And twice as much when compared to 120Hz or 1.67 times as much compared to 144Hz. Article type: Solution. The luminance of each quadrant was measured and compared to the brightest measured quadrant. Using this method, we calculated, 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. LCD technology has spent its entire life working to overcome one major flaw, motion blur. Colour reproduction Note that we have no way to accurately measure input lag with Adaptive-Sync active in a variable refresh rate and frame rate environment. Este artigo apresenta informaes sobre a compatibilidade dos monitores Dell Gaming e Alienware com consoles de jogos. Gamma consistency was good, ensuring detail levels were largely appropriate (IPS glow affected regions aside) throughout the screen. This requires that the frame rate comfortably exceeds the refresh rate, not just peaks slightly above it. When a monitor is used in this way, it is something which Nvidia refers to as G-SYNC Compatible. The overall balance to the image was good and things had a rich and natural appearance. But less of this behind the UFO cockpit for the medium background. When we say obvious, its very subjective sensitive users can certainly notice such things and it can be very nice indeed having them gone. Things arent quite up to the level of the TN reference, but there are no particularly pronounced weaknesses either. I was disappointed to find that it only offered 20 colors, though, none of which were plain white (my preferred bias lighting color). It was free an obvious pink hue or saturation shifts that youd observe on models with weaker colour consistency. Save $980 on an Alienware gaming PC with an RTX 4090 GPU | Digital Trends Click on the Program Settings tab and select the program you want to choose a graphics card for from the drop down list. But at 240 fps, tearing is barely noticeable, so some users might prefer to use ULMB. As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. There is a little light powdery trailing behind the UFOs, particularly for the dark and medium backgrounds. 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. Colour gamut 'Test Settings'. This title offered suitable graphics options to test the full gamut of refresh rates supported by the monitor. Classic and satisfying dish with garlic, lemon, and rosemary. The monitor delivered a very competent 240Hz performance, with only minor weaknesses as described earlier. Reasonable contrast, in-line with expectation, strong gamma consistency and a pleasing luminance adjustment range With the Fast setting, theres just a faint hint of powdery trailing, sticking very close to the UFO and very light in appearance. This more pronounced powdery trailing was still less pronounced than some of the weaknesses weve observed observe for similar transitions on many 240Hz TN models, including the predecessor to this model (AW2518H/HF), ViewSonic XG2530 and AOC AG251FG. FreeSync= On The monitor performed well here, without clear shifts in saturation or colour tone. We prefer stronger RGB LEDs at the rear, producing a strong glow around the monitor that can help enhance perceived contrast. . Some would prefer a wider gamut for extra vibrancy The Dell Alienware AW2521HF (now designated AW2521HFA in UK and EU) aims to find a nice balance between speed and image quality, combining a 240Hz refresh rate with the superior colour quality of an IPS-type panel. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations and he believes that its every citizens right to enjoy one. Brightness 120cd/m 2 - 25. On the panels top edge is an ambient light sensor. . AW2521HF Severe Ghosting Issue : r/Monitors - reddit.com Is the best gaming monitor about resolution, color saturation, contrast or speed? Alienware 25" Full HD 240HZ HDMI DP FreeSync G-Sync LED Gaming Monitor This title offered suitable graphics options to test the full gamut of refresh rates supported by the monitor. The colour reproduction was a relative strength of this monitor and a good step up from competing models with other panel types. As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. Greater flexibility offered in the OSD than the Standard setting. The monitor offers fairly comprehensive sRGB coverage (99%), with a very small amount of under-coverage. We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices. Medium chocolate brown and some neighbouring shades appear a touch more saturated and warmer in tone on the AW2521HF when displayed at the bottom vs. top of the screen. This isnt a strong stuttering and isnt something youll generally notice or find bothersome unless youre frequently passing the boundary. Medium chocolate brown and some neighbouring shades appear a touch more saturated and warmer in tone on the AW2521HF when displayed at the bottom vs. top of the screen. The stand has a robust sculpted appearance, designed to look stylish without sacrificing ergonomics; tilt (5 forwards, 21 backwards), swivel (20 left, 20 right), height (130mm or 5.12 inches) and pivot (90 clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation into portrait) adjustment is included. As with AMD FreeSync this technology worked very well, although there was a momentary stutter when it activated or deactivated. The monitor didnt put form over function, either, and was solidly built with good ergonomic flexibility and VESA mounting options. The Lagom tests for contrast allow specific weaknesses in contrast performance to be identified. The final point to note is that FreeSync only removes stuttering or juddering related to mismatches between frame rate and refresh rate. Around 1000:1 even following adjustments to our Test Settings. Over 30 repeat readings were taken to help maximise accuracy. This was only observed during this test and is something weve seen on various monitors before. Gamma consistency was good, ensuring detail levels were largely appropriate (IPS glow affected regions aside) throughout the screen. Strong glare-handling is provided due to significant diffusion of ambient light. The greatest deviation from this occurred at quadrant 6, to the right of this (151.5 cd/m, which is 10% dimmer). You should ensure the GPU driver is setup correctly to use FreeSync, so open AMD Radeon Software, click Settings (cog icon towards top right) and click on Display. For users who wish to disable Adaptive-Sync they can just stick with Fast without worrying about strong overshoot, too. The design of the monitor is in keeping with the Alienware aesthetics of other recent additions to the series and indeed their other peripherals and systems. We again consider Fast or Super Fast to be optimal Fast becomes the clear winner with VRR off, though. This model uses a regular (medium) matte anti-glare surface. As such shades appear much as the developers intend, with a bit of extra saturation in places and a bit of extra vibrancy for some shades. Theres a customisable power indicator LED towards the bottom right, part of the AlienFX RGB lighting system. The setting is found in Manage 3D settings under Vertical sync, where the final option (Fast) is equivalent to AMDs Enhanced Sync setting. This reflects a significant reduction in perceived blur due to eye movement. Our article on responsiveness analyses the key factors affecting monitor responsiveness. The luminance uniformity was quite good. If you picked speed, then a 360 Hz monitor is for you. Its again important to note that individual unit vary when it comes to uniformity and that deviation beyond the measured points can be expected. I have also went into Nvidia control panel and set the following. This was used for our own viewing comfort in the evenings but not for specific testing of the monitor we therefore refer to these as our Relaxing evening viewing settings. This title offered suitable graphics options to test the full gamut of refresh rates supported by the monitor. Details can be found in. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made using the below link. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. There is some central sagging with an average 2.1 gamma a bit below the 2.2 target, slightly brightening up some shades but nothing dramatic by any means. Depending on angle, the glow may take on a subtle cool-silver appearance or slightly warm green hue. Some models are specifically validated as G-SYNC compatible, which means they have been specifically tested by Nvidia and pass specific quality checks. The full HD resolution of the Alienware AW2521HF isnt as impressive nowadays, but it is still the universal format for competitive gaming. And that was its excellent gamma consistency. It indicates a very low signal delay at 240Hz which even sensitive users shouldnt find bothersome. The OSD control layout for the Alienware AW2521HF includes a joystick with four hotkeys, so it shouldnt be too difficult to manipulate its features. The monitor provided a rich and natural appearance to Battlefield V. The monitor provides comprehensive sRGB colour gamut coverage and a bit of extension beyond, but stays well short of extended colour spaces such as DCI-P3. Where possible, the monitor dynamically adjusts its refresh rate so that it matches the frame rate being outputted by the GPU. Towards the bottom right it has a slightly warm greenish tint to it, which is somewhat more subdued compared to the right side. With VRR off the Super Fast and moreover Extreme settings show strong overshoot in the form of bright halo trailing. Features & Aesthetics Viewing angles 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. The full capabilities of the monitor including 1920 x 1080 @240Hz and Adaptive-Sync for AMD FreeSync can be leveraged via DP 1.2 or HDMI 2.0. Best Settings for Apex Legends - Performance Optimization Guide Nvidias website lists a 48 240Hz VRR, which would match AMD FreeSync. Performance on the black level test was good overall. Above this dropdown list theres a toggle for Radeon Enhanced Sync. The monitor also includes a Low Blue Light (LBL) setting called ComfortView. The optimal setting here depends on your own preferences in this respect. Make sure this is selected (it should be if youve set everything up correctly in Set up G-SYNC). Some of the deep greens werent as lush as they could be, nor were things like bright purple flowers, red painted artifacts and some of Laras ornate dresses as eye-catching as weve seen. Medium chocolate brown and some neighbouring shades appear a touch more saturated and warmer in tone on the AW2521HF when displayed at the bottom vs. top of the screen. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally. Its again important to note that individual unit vary when it comes to uniformity and that deviation beyond the measured points can be expected. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. The monitor performed well here, without clear shifts in saturation or colour tone. It requires huge visual sacrifices and very specific content to be shown on the screen. How we display prices and shops. 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. This feature is used regardless of VSync setting, so its only above the ceiling of operation where the VSync setting makes a difference. The device stands stable even if you pound on your desk, plus it doesnt creak or choke when you try to adjust the screen. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. This reflects a moderate amount of perceived blur due to eye movement and is something shared with the reference screen. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the monitor provided an excellent performance in all cases, with no noticeable weaknesses. You should then ensure that the first slider, Radeon FreeSync is set to Enabled as shown below. At 240Hz, above, the UFOs again appear more sharply focused again with clearer internal detailing. The display itself sports a nearly-frameless bezel apart from the bottom, with a text-only Alienware logo in the middle. Responsiveness (General) 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. Here's the trick for this one: Dell already cut $630 off the retail price. The red block appeared a fairly rich red throughout. It requires huge visual sacrifices and very specific content to be shown on the screen. Around 1000:1 even following adjustments to our Test Settings. According to user feedback the monitor runs at 120Hz on the PS5, as of the April 2021 update for the console. In this case, overshoot (inverse ghosting) including some colourful bright halo trailing due to aggressive pixel overdrive. The first couple of blocks blended into the background well, which is usual for a monitor tracking the 2.2 gamma curve correctly. Extreme in particular showed very strong and eye-catching overshoot. Wed describe the image as rich and natural, with a richness maintained throughout the screen thanks to the strong colour-consistency. The Fast setting only showed a relatively small amount of this, whilst the Super Fast and Extreme settings ramped this up. Whilst its 24.5 screen with Full HD resolution doesnt deliver a staggering pixel density or the same useful desktop real-estate as some models, its a relatively easy resolution to drive at high frame rates. Additional testing was performed using an AMD Radeon 580 and using HDMI, although observations for this table didnt significantly vary between GPUs or inputs. Buy from Amazon On TN models you have things looking far too masked higher up the screen due to high perceived gamma. Youll have to turn off G-Sync and reduce the refresh rate to 240 Hz to use it. All but the final pattern was distinct from the background, with the final pattern faintly visible although a bit fainter than it could be. Its something that will be more pronounced if youre sitting closer to the screen, are using a high brightness setting or have strong backlight bleed or clouding which can bring it out more noticeably. This could be reduced by turning up the Response Time setting, but as explored earlier with Test UFO youd need Adaptive-Sync enabled and suitably high frame rates to avoid strong overshoot if doing that. It was free an obvious pink hue or saturation shifts that youd observe on models with weaker colour consistency. Following some tweaking in the OSD, things were brought more in-line with our target white point. The brightest point recorded was quadrant 5 in the centre of the screen (168.2 cd/m). The colour gamut of the AW2521HF (red triangle) was compared with the sRGB reference colour space (green triangle), as shown in the image below. Brighter elements stood out well against darker surroundings, complete with a bit of graininess from the screen surface but nothing extreme. 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. At 60Hz we measured a slightly higher but still reasonable 6.47ms. Considering a broader range of pixel transitions, all Response Time settings were fairly similar at 240Hz with Adaptive-Sync in use (VRR on). Refresh rate: 240Hz. This PC is equipped with a liquid-cooled AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core processor, RTX 3080 GPU, 16GB of DDR4-3200MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. A slight reduction in powdery trailing at the expense of a bit of overshoot being introduced was the trade-off when stepping up the level, but the differences were not too profound. Learn how your comment data is processed. Most users will probably wish to enable VSync when using FreeSync to ensure that they dont get any tearing. 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. Bracketed numbers in our analysis refer to shades on the printed sheet or right side of the screen if theyre ordered consecutively from top left to bottom right. With the AW2521HF, you need to connect the monitor up via DisplayPort and enable FreeSync in the Game section of the OSD. Resolutions and refresh rates from the Ultra HD, HD, SD list are referenced internally by monitors (in their EDID) as TV resolutions. We also tested movie content, which was much more limited in frame rate (generally 24fps, 30fps or 60fps). 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 very low signal delay of this model also aided the connected feel, but the very high frame and refresh rate combination also helped. Nonetheless, we wouldnt describe the atmosphere as poor in an appropriately well-lit room either. The design of the monitor is in keeping with the Alienware aesthetics of other recent additions to the series and indeed their other peripherals and systems. The pixel response requirements are slacker at such frame rates and the visual fluidity is greatly limited by the frame rate itself. They may appear as an interference pattern, mesh or interlaced lines which break up a given shade into a darker and lighter version of what is intended. 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). Brighter elements stood out well against darker surroundings and the detail levels for most of the screen were appropriate. Not to the extent seen on models with a more generous colour gamut, but enough to stand out and have the intended look overall. The red block appeared a fairly rich red throughout. This gives an excellent connected feel, which describes the precision and fluidity felt when interacting with your character and the game world. Nonetheless it is still there as the overdrive is tuned for strong 240Hz performance rather than strong <100Hz performance. It was masked by a bit of graininess from the screen surface as well.