Dark areas with just a few point sources of light illuminating are common on this title, including dark tombs and passageways. 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. As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. It still provides useful visual demonstrations and explanations which help reinforce some of the key points raised in the written piece. Sorry really hard to explain. At 60Hz we measured a slightly higher but still reasonable 6.47ms. On models with a significantly wider gamut, this shade and candy apple red (14), to name but a few, tend to look significantly more neon than they appear here. We wont be going into this in detail as its a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature. We made various changes to the Custom Color preset for our Test Settings. The AW2521H is not an HDR or wide gamut monitor, instead hitting about 450 nits of maximum brightness and covering 92.8% of the sRGB color space. This reflects a moderate amount of perceived blur due to eye movement and is something shared with the reference screen. The image below is a macro photograph taken on Notepad with ClearType disabled. ULMB is the backlight strobe feature that reduces motion blur. Nonetheless, we wouldnt describe the atmosphere as poor in an appropriately well-lit room either. VA models have black crush centrally which masks some detail, whilst some excessive detail can be observed towards the bottom and side edges from a normal viewing position. And Variable Backlight is an effective dynamic contrast feature. According to user feedback the monitor runs at 120Hz on the PS5, as of the April 2021 update for the console. The ~1000:1 static contrast being somewhat limiting in that respect. Interlace pattern artifacts Rather than simply reflecting the pixel response elements. Paolo is a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since his junior high years. As the frame rate dropped we noticed an increase in overshoot. Alienware's AW2521H not to be confused with Alienware's way-too-similarly-named Alienware AW2521HF, a cheaper 240Hz monitor mostly sets itself apart from Asus' 360Hz model in design. This figure is influenced both by the element of input lag you see (pixel responsiveness) and the element you feel (signal delay). With some more noticeable halo trailing by about 80fps (80Hz). Even the best VA performers show quite pronounced shifts in saturation for such pastel shades when theyre shown towards peripheral sections of the screen rather than centrally. We observed some faint vertical dynamic interlace patterns at ~60Hz and below, but these were not particularly obtrusive in our view. The cable bundle includes two DisplayPorts, one with a mini connector, and a USB 3.0 wire. The AW2521H also includes Nvidias Reflex performance analyzer that shows real time information on screen with input lag and frame rates and is said to help reduce input latency (for more see Nvidia Reflex tested). Ensure the Enable G-SYNC, G-SYNC Compatible checkbox and Enable settings for the selected display model is checked as shown below. Such an option does usually exist it may be called sync every frame or something along those lines rather than simply VSync. New York, Strong colour consistency and slight extension beyond sRGB, giving a rich and natural image without potentially overbearing saturation FreeSync: Yes; G Sync: No; . Medium orange (3), Persian pink (6) and looked slightly undersaturated in person, but they appear much less saturated and overly bright in the image compared to how they actually looked on the monitor. Performance on the white saturation test was good. PDF anzeigen In saturation I lowered Red to 48% and Yellow to 34% and left the others at 50%. Contrast Though priced at the premium level, the Alienware AW2521H delivers something almost no other monitor can: 360 Hz with a 3ms screen draw time. Responsiveness Our RX 580 is far from a powerhouse of a graphics card, so maintaining 240fps was very tricky. The rather thick monitor sits atop a two-legged stand with no adornments other than a few "G-Sync" and "360Hz" stickers that you can pull right off. Including both components, the bezels are ~6mm (0.24 inches) at the top and sides. The technology worked well and offered a very similar experience to AMD FreeSync. This is shown in the image below, but remember that individual units vary when it comes to uniformity issues such as this. Medium chocolate brown (24) is also good for highlighting colour consistency, which like Aquamarine is positioned at the extremities of the screen. With up to 26,000 DPI, 650 IPS, and 50G max acceleration, you can expect speedy, accurate clicking and no angle . 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. We wont be going into this in detail as its a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature. Better known as ULMB (ultra low motion blur), backlight strobing inserts black frames in order to mimic the action of OLED and plasma. Buy from Amazon 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. The blue block appeared consistent royal blue throughout. The optimal setting here depends on your own preferences in this respect. 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. There is no FreeSync support, which is a bit unusual in todays market. There was no noticeable dithering. VRR off did not significantly affect the pixel response behaviour at this refresh rate. 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. Even if such dips were very slight, without FreeSync active and VSync enabled theyd cause obvious stuttering. The Lagom text appeared a blended grey throughout, with a slight red hue to the striping of the text. When you go to custom color you have 4 options that you can modify: Gain, Offset, Hue, Saturation. The monitor was tested at 60Hz (directly below), 144Hz and 240Hz using all available Response Time settings; Fast, Super Fast and Extreme. With respectable graphics settings and more intense action it wasnt uncommon to see dips below 100fps, perhaps closer to 60fps on average. Its something were sensitive to, as long-time readers of our website will be well aware. However, we saw no advantage to the AW2521H over the Asus ROG Swift PG259QN 360Hz monitor. The pixel response requirements are slacker at such frame rates and the visual fluidity is greatly limited by the frame rate itself. The red block appeared a fairly rich red throughout. When you open up Nvidia Control Panel, you should then see Set up G-SYNC listed in the Display section. Although not nearly as pronounced or obvious as stepping up from 60Hz to 144Hz (or even 120Hz). It must be remembered that uniformity varies between individual units and you can also expect variation beyond the points measured. The perceived blur was therefore dominated by eye movement and the monitor put its 240Hz refresh rate to good use. There are again varying levels of trailing behind the UFOs due to weaknesses in pixel responsiveness, but this takes a different form to at 60Hz. On some monitors, particularly but not exclusively those with high refresh rates, interlace patterns can be seen during certain transitions. In our view the price is also very reasonable and highly competitive given whats on offer. The final column includes a reference screen, the Acer XN253Q X which is a very fast 240Hz TN model with well-tuned pixel overdrive. Around 1000:1 even following adjustments to our Test Settings. We also tested movie content, which was much more limited in frame rate (generally 24fps, 30fps or 60fps). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made using the below link. Today's daily deals includes the best SteelSeries wireless gaming headset, a powerful Alienware RTX 3080 gaming PC, a massive 85" Hisense 4K TV, an excellent deal on a Nintendo eShop gift card in . Donations are also greatly appreciated. Now, we have fast IPS, which brings back good viewing angles and better color saturation. This is exactly what the Dell Alienware AW2521HF delivered. As things dipped even further, below the 48fps (48Hz) floor of operation for FreeSync, the monitor employed LFC (Low Framerate Compensation). The ~1000:1 static contrast being somewhat limiting in that respect. Compared to at 60Hz, or indeed a 60Hz monitor, youre getting up to 4 times as much visual information pumped out every second. A 1440p monitor at 144Hz with a good response time like the ViewSonic Elite XG270QG is going to be a better pick for most people, and at a much lower price. You could assign such settings to Game 2 or Game 3 as well as theyre identical its easy to flick between these presets and another one by assigning them to a Shortcut Key in the OSD. Strong pixel responsiveness overall, low input lag and Adaptive-Sync working well with both our AMD and Nvidia GPU Some game engines will also show stuttering (or hitching) for various other reasons which wont be eliminated by the technology. The contrast gradients were displayed well, with distinct brightness steps in most cases. We wont be going into this in detail as its a GPU feature rather than a monitor feature. Hello Reddit, I recently bought the Alienware AW2521HF monitor, and I'm having some severe ghosting while playing games. Gamboge (23) verged too much on a mustard yellow without a suitably warm golden hue, too. Equalizing the brightness setting showed us a 12% reduction when starting at 200 nits. We refer to these as interlace pattern artifacts but some users refer to them as inversion artifacts and others as scan lines. 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. Uh yeah. IPS glow also came with the territory. Disabling VRR now has a more pronounced effect on pixel response behaviour, with both the Super Fast and Extreme settings introducing very obvious bright and colourful overshoot. There was more pop and sharper detail in both highlight and shadow areas of the image. To fix that, just enter the service menu and lower the OD Gain setting to . Colour in games and movies Warm 2.1 7053K Warmer than factory defaults, but far from Warm on our unit with a high colour temperature and cool tint to the image. We put it through a battery of tests to see how it stacks up. The backlight is therefore considered flicker-free, which will come as welcome news to those sensitive to flickering or worried about side-effects from PWM usage. ULMB reduces brightness by around 12% if you start at 200 nits. 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. The following observations were made. As with AMD FreeSync this technology worked very well, although there was a momentary stutter when it activated or deactivated. The monitor has distinctive Alienware styling. Somewhat yellow compared to on models with a much more generous colour gamut, but less so than models that very strictly follow the sRGB gamut. and how to change the display settings. Youll also notice G-SYNC Compatible listed under Monitor Technology in this section, as shown below. Colour gamut 'Test Settings'. Less pronounced than youd see on TN or VA models. When an HDR10 signal is detected, the AW2521H switches over automatically. Free shipping for many products! Around 1000:1 even following adjustments to our Test Settings. But less of this behind the UFO cockpit for the medium background. Shop the Dell Alienware m17 Gaming Laptop featuring Ryzen 6000 series processors, . IPS glow also came with the territory. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Screen surface imparts a bit of graininess to lighter content Press OK, then turn the monitor off then on again so that it re-establishes connection the technology should now be active. The improvement in connected feel and reduction in perceived blur was still noticeable to us and would be to sensitive users going up from 144Hz to 240Hz. In contrast to models with G-SYNC modules, which feature variable overdrive that re-tunes things dynamically to a wide range of different refresh rates. Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor AW2521H: Specs. Overall it put in a respectable performance for the panel type and will keep a broad spectrum of gamers happy, from casual to competitive. Article type: Solution. Response time is the time it takes a display to change from one color to another. There are nine picture presets, mostly game-type specific, three gaming modes and Custom Color if you want to calibrate grayscale. 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. Slight pixel responsiveness weaknesses for some transitions, a bit of overshoot creeps in at reduced refresh rates and no strobe backlight setting You also get a snap on cover to tidy up the input panel. 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. For those who play a variety of games, some competitive and some casual, having a screen that offers a 240Hz refresh rate and good colour quality can be very attractive. Its again important to note that individual unit vary when it comes to uniformity and that deviation beyond the measured points can be expected. This yielded a 394 cd/m luminance adjustment range with a good bright maximum and dim minimum. As noted earlier, AMD FreeSync makes use of Adaptive-Sync technology on a compatible monitor. G Gain= 88% Out of the box the monitor produced an image with a clear cool tint, but with strong consistency and pleasing shade variety. Strong colour consistency and slight extension beyond sRGB, giving a rich and natural image without potentially overbearing saturation The bottom line; strong responsiveness and colour performance from a stylish and well-priced monitor. It includes blended grey height markers on the inside of the stand neck, from 1 to 8 with each number approximately 2cm apart. We observed some faint vertical dynamic interlace patterns at ~60Hz and below, but these were not particularly obtrusive in our view. This reflects another significant reduction in perceived blur due to eye movement. When you open up Nvidia Control Panel, you should then see Set up G-SYNC listed in the Display section. It cant compensate for other interruptions to smooth game play, for example network latency or insufficient system memory. 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 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. 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. You need to make sure FreeSync is set to On in the Game section of the OSD. There is a list of GPUs which support the technology, The Dell Alienware supports a variable refresh rate range of. FreeSync the experience The darkest blue block blended into the background a bit too readily. Buy from Amazon Further information on supporting our work. Using this method, we calculated 2.63ms (under 2/3rds of a frame at 240Hz) of input lag. Following some tweaking in the OSD, things were brought more in-line with our target white point. ), but you do get alot of artifacts from the increased overdrive. Candy apple red appeared with a bit of an orange-red tone due to extension in the red to green edge of the gamut. The AW2521H's overdrive feature (labeled Response Time in the menu) can improve motion even further, though it does introduce slight haloing artifacts. This gives an excellent connected feel, which describes the precision and fluidity felt when interacting with your character and the game world. Brighter elements stood out well against darker surroundings, complete with a bit of graininess from the screen surface but nothing extreme. Rainbow Six is designed to make the most out of multi-core CPUs. . Video Settings, VALORANT . The new generation TN panels such as the Acer XN253Q X dont show any noticeable weaknesses in terms of powdery trailing and offer impressively rapid pixel responses across the board. IPS glow eats away at detail, particularly near bottom corners. The AW2521H also includes ULMB up to 240 Hz. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Lagom's response time test consists of a number of squares quickly alternating between two shades if the squares flicker, then the response time is slow for that transition, meaning you may see a trail behind moving objects. The monitor offers fairly comprehensive sRGB coverage (99%), with a very small amount of under-coverage. The strong consistency was also very evident when considering Laras glowing and all-too-perfect complexion. 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. A futuristic sci-fi prop look which some will find quite endearing. Still there are some weaker IPS performers out there in that respect. The AW2521HF supports FreeSync Premium via DP 1.2a and HDMI 2.0 on compatible GPUs and systems. For more, Xbox Game Pass Is Having its Best Stretch Ever, Ranking the Rocky and Creed Movies From Worst to Best, Attack on Titan Fans Are Desperately Searching for The Final Season Part 3's First Episode Online, $30 Million Worth of Funko Products are Being Sent to a Landfill, The Simpsons Hit and Run Designer Wants to See a Remake - IGN Daily Fix. We therefore consider Fast the optimal setting at 60Hz. As with AMD FreeSync this technology worked very well, although there was a momentary stutter when it activated or deactivated. 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. It was masked by a bit of graininess from the screen surface as well. Wed describe the image as rich and natural, with a richness maintained throughout the screen thanks to the strong colour-consistency. The depth of the dark shades and overall atmosphere created was certainly not as impressive as on models with much stronger static contrast. Note that if the monitor is running at a refresh rate from the first list, including 60Hz, steps must be taken to, Note that 120Hz is listed as a PC resolution, rather than in the Ultra HD, HD, SD list. Extreme in particular showed very strong and eye-catching overshoot. There is a little light powdery trailing behind the UFOs, particularly for the dark and medium backgrounds. 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. These were briefly explored in the OSD video, but for the purposes of this table well be looking at manual adjustments and settings we feel have more utility. My god, some people are dumb if you have to ask who this is for, it's not for you. A slight difference was that the floor of operation was 80Hz (80fps) on our Nvidia GPU. 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. The refresh rate was put to very good use overall; fairly strong pixel responsiveness, low input lag and no noticeable overshoot. You can still use an aftermarket arm with the included 100mm VESA mount if you wish. The Dell Alienware supports a variable refresh rate range of 48 240Hz. This worked exactly as its designed to, removing tearing and stuttering by ensuring the refresh rate stuck to a multiple of the frame rate. 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. A DeltaE >3 represents significant deviation that most users could readily notice by eye. Our article on responsiveness analyses the key factors affecting monitor responsiveness. There is a list of GPUs which support the technology here, with the expectation that future AMD GPUs will support the feature too. If a game ran at 34fps, for example, the refresh rate would be 68Hz to help keep tearing and stuttering at bay. 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. With VRR off the Super Fast and moreover Extreme settings show strong overshoot in the form of bright halo trailing. This indicates that the monitor has been specifically tested by Nvidia and passes specific quality checks. 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. With FreeSync disabled, the 'Fast' mode delivers the best results. Colour reproduction That means theres no motion blur, period. 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. It's actually rather understated for an Alienware product, at least from the front. Home of the computer component that you see most, your Monitor. We stuck with the Fast setting for the subjective testing below. Such an option does usually exist it may be called sync every frame or something along those lines rather than simply VSync. Brightness 200cd/m 2 - 56. The colour gamut of the AW2521HF (red triangle) was compared with the sRGB reference colour space (green triangle), as shown in the image below. In this case, overshoot (inverse ghosting) including some colourful bright halo trailing due to aggressive pixel overdrive. Disabling VRR now has a more pronounced effect on pixel response behaviour, with both the Super Fast and Extreme settings introducing very obvious bright and colourful overshoot. This worked exactly as its designed to, removing tearing and stuttering by ensuring the refresh rate stuck to a multiple of the frame rate. 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. 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. More pronounced at the left side due to the glow taking on a cool tint rather than the subtler warmer tint towards the right side. On the GPU driver side recent AMD drivers make activation of the technology very simple and something that usually occurs automatically. Over 30 repeat readings were taken to help maximise accuracy. Some would prefer a wider gamut for extra vibrancy Adaptive-Sync support is included, allowing AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia's 'G-SYNC Compatible Mode' to be used. The greyscale gradient appeared smooth without obvious banding or dithering. Theres no strobe backlight mode on this model, but they come with their own compromises that not everyone is willing to make. There is various degrees of trailing behind the UFOs due to pixel response time weaknesses. A futuristic sci-fi prop look which some will find quite endearing. FreeSync also boasts reduced latency compared to running with VSync enabled, in the variable frame rate environment in which it operates. There were some slightly more pronounced weaknesses for a minority of pixel transitions, for example when observing white or very light objects such as in-game text against a dark and shadowy background. The strong consistency was also very evident when considering Laras glowing and all-too-perfect complexion. It soon disappeared when using monitor normally. The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by a joystick and pressable buttons running down the right side of the monitor, as viewed from the rear. The third and fourth blocks were slightly fainter than they should be, although still distinguishable. Screen surface imparts a bit of graininess to lighter content All but the final pattern was distinct from the background, with the final pattern faintly visible although a bit fainter than it could be. The bottom line; strong responsiveness and colour performance from a stylish and well-priced monitor. The Response Time setting or Adaptive-Sync status didnt affect these observations. This title offered suitable graphics options to test the full gamut of refresh rates supported by the monitor. Adaptive-Sync also worked well on both our AMD and Nvidia GPU to get rid of tearing and stuttering. And not blended enough (blocky or banded) lower down due to low perceived gamma. You can also create custom scenarios linked to specific games in the Alienware Command Center app. At a basic level, a mismatch between the frame rate and refresh rate can cause stuttering (VSync on) or tearing and juddering (VSync off). Every player has a different notion about the ideal . The connected feel and perceived blur took a real hit here, but the technology did its thing to get rid of tearing and stuttering all the same. 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. Earthy browns appeared with good neutrality a little extra richness and a slight orange-red push in places but not the sort of stronger red hue that a wider gamut would provide. Our article on responsiveness analyses the key factors affecting monitor responsiveness. Buy from Amazon Full profiling and appropriate colour management on the application would provide a tighter match, our intention here is to show what can be expected in a non colour-managed environment. FreeSync also boasts reduced latency compared to running with VSync enabled, in the variable frame rate environment in which it operates. Some appreciate the extra saturation and strong vibrancy of a more generous gamut, but we feel a decent balance is struck here with a bit of extra saturation and good richness throughout the screen. Using VRR improved pixel response behaviour for very high refresh rates, too, allowing the Extreme overdrive setting to be used without strong overshoot. And the lack of tearing and stuttering was very nice indeed, if youre sensitive to such things. The colour reproduction was a relative strength of this monitor and a good step up from competing models with other panel types. Some shades, such as cerulean (2) and lilac (8), appear somewhat undersaturated. 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. Some isolated weaknesses such as bright markers or strongly illuminated objects against some shaded backgrounds leaving a powdery trail but as with our observations in BFV this wasnt really a major weakness. This is the default expected by modern operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Apples MacOS. If youre intending to use the monitor at 120Hz with the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, be aware that a small settings tweak may be required to ensure 120Hz is selectable. Weve highlighted some of the key talking points of this model in blue below, for your reading convenience. 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. Make sure this is selected (it should be if youve set everything up correctly in Set up G-SYNC). 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. A gamery but in our view tasteful aesthetic, good ergonomics, competitive pricing and a relatively easy to drive resolution The monitor itself must support VESA Adaptive-Sync for at least one of its display connectors, as this is the protocol that FreeSync uses. Because each frame remains on the screen while the next one is drawn, it has been termed sample and hold. Self-illuminant panels, like plasma and OLED, redraw the image hundreds of times per refresh cycle, which means there is no blur, even at frame rates as low as 60 fps. We stuck with the Fast setting for the subjective testing below. This isnt a strong stuttering and isnt something youll generally notice or find bothersome unless youre frequently passing the boundary.