Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD-OLED Monitor Review

OHHH L E D

For a few years now, gaming OLED monitors have been out there like the hyper cars of the gaming nerd world. The game-changing performance truly had to be experienced to be believed. Yet like the Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s of last millennia, there were necessary sacrifices to living with them. Burn in and image retention were major issues. The subpixel layouts of most OLED panels made them less than optimal for any desktop work that did not involve gaming or viewing media. Just like an F40, your OLED monitor was going to end up sitting off to the side while you were actually being productive in your Ford Taurus.

Despite all of the shortcomings, OLEDs offered advantages that no other panel technology has been able to match at this point. As each individual pixel is its own light source than can be turned completely off, the true black levels and infinite contrast ratios of an OLED make them a viewing experience unlike any other display. OLED also offers near instantaneous pixel response times.

Before we get to the review, a brief history of modern OLED monitors will be helpful for context:

Two years ago, Samsung released their first generation QD-OLED (Quantum Dot OLED) technology in a highly sought-after 3440×1440 Ultrawide capable of up to 175hz refresh rate. Gamers snatched these monitors up, hungry for a true desktop OLED experience. Unfortunately, both first gen QD-OLED and the competing W-OLED panels from LG Display utilized a Red-Blue-Green subpixel orientation. This did not mesh well with Windows which was designed to work with a Red-Green-Blue layout. While this did not have a noticeable effect on gaming and video content, text and high contrast areas could exhibit a green/blue color fringing that many found to be distracting. The same applications in which the text clarity issues were most apparent, also tended to work in interfaces which presented more risk to burn in and image retention. My own PC is used not only for gaming and video consumption, but also for a large amount of productivity with applications like Word and Excel. Because of this, I decided to hold off on an OLED panel until the technology improved.

At CES in January of 2024, both LG Display and Samsung Display introduced the world to a plethora of new panels. LG showed several displays that would be arriving during the first quarter, which would feature their second generation W-OLED. Unfortunately, LG did not change the subpixel layout in the second generation panels. LG also announced Third Generation panels which would feature a smaller pixel structure (allowing for higher pixel density), as well as a corrected r-g-b subpixel layout. These third gen panels will not be available until later in the year.
Samsung Display jumped ahead of the game with their announcement that their Third Gen QD-OLED desktop panels would be shipping some models immediately. Samsung had already made some changes to their subpixel layout in 2023 on their 49 inch, ultrawide QD-OLED panels (which my cohort Josh Walrath should be able to give some feedback on shortly). This design change helped with the text clarity issues experienced by the first gen panel users.

These new Third Gen QD-OLEDs feature a new process for creating the subpixels which allowed for a huge improvement in pixel density (up to 140 pixels per inch), and a maximum refresh rate of a staggering 240hz at 4k resolution.

While the previous intro was a bit long, I felt it might be beneficial to give an explanation for some of the reasons that OLED monitors have not taken over the market, despite the technology being available for several years. What this intro has led us to, is my decision to move away from my long used 34 inch ultrawide IPS LG panel, and upgrade to Alienware’s version of the new third gen QD-OLED in a 31.5 inch, 4K, HDR panel, and to share my experience with this monitor over the last month.

And now, the review…

Initial Setup

Alienware ships the panel in a large, but well padded and sturdy box. Inside are the panel, the stand, and HDMI cable, Displayport cable, A USB Type-B 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) cable for the built in KVM hub, and a power cable. I was very happy to see that the power cable is a standard three pin, with no external power brick. I am aware that some people prefer to have the power supply for a monitor outside the actual housing, but the fewer power bricks I have to deal with, the happier I am.

The included stand is very sturdy and easy to assemble and attach to the monitor. It has height, tilt, and swivel adjustments, but no pivot. There is a very well designed cable pass-through in the stand as well. My only complaint with the stand is that it the V shaped foot has a slightly narrow angle, and extends very far out in front of the screen, so it takes up a lot of desk space. While the included stand is acceptable, the monitor is also compatible with VESA 100×100 mounts.

As you face the monitor, there is a power button on the bottom of the right bezel, and a small joystick at the bottom center for setting adjustments. On the back of the monitor, you will find the video outputs which include two HDMI 2.1 ports (one of which is capable of eARC/ARC), and one Displayport. The USB hub includes three Type A ports at 5 Gbps, and a single Type C port which supports charging. It is required for the USB input to be connected to the PC for firmware updates.

The rear panel also includes a couple of illuminated elements of the Alienware logo, and a large “32”. The colors of both elements can be customized in the panel control interface. There is also an included rear slip on plastic cover for the I/O. I had initially used this cover, but after changing the rear connections a couple of times, I decided it was just more hassle than it was worth and ended up putting it back in the box.

The set up was very straightforward, and not unlike most other monitors, with a couple of exceptions. In the control menu there are several HDR options, plus an option to enable or disable Dolby Vision. I initially selected DisplayHDR True Black, but I personally find that Windows 10 standard colors are a little bland in HDR mode, so I selected Custom Color HDR ion the menu and adjusted contrast, hue and saturation to my preference.

The Dolby Vision control was added as a firmware update to fix a problem that some people had encountered when playing standard HDR content on the monitor. To be clear, this problem was not a fault in the monitor itself, but a problem with how Windows manages Dolby Vision and HDR10 content, or more accurately, how Windows fails to manage it. If Dolby Vision is enabled on the monitor, then Windows attempted to play all HDR content in the Dolby Vision space, which led to problems in scene transitions with large changes in brightness and contrast. I’m happy to report that with Dolby Vision switched off, I have not encountered this issue. Thanks Microsoft (sarcasm).

Speaking of Firmware updates, Dell has been very proactive with this panel (as they should with a flagship monitor). Since I received my panel roughly a month ago, Dell has issued three firmware updates, which have been painless to install and did not reset any of my preferences.

Experience

I expected to like the OLED experience, especially after dealing with IPS glow and mediocre contrast for the last several years. The result went far beyond those expectations. The contrast is simply amazing. Combining that contrast with the detail and sharpness that the 139.87 pixels per inch brings to the package and I’ve simply never had a gaming experience close. I found myself downloading games I haven’t played in years just to see what they look like (Arkham Origins was particularly impressive). The colors, the contrast and the practically instant pixel response just change the experience.

Video consumption is just as amazing, especially when dealing with 4K HDR content. Black is black, with no light or bleed-through. A white element in a black area will have no halo effect, and can be a point of light as minuscule as any one of the 8,294,400 individual pixels. The detail, sharpness and color reproduction brings content to life in a new way, to the point that at certain points there is the perception that you are just looking through a curved window at reality.

Many people have some concerns regarding reflections with QD-OLED panels due to the use of a semi-gloss coating (as opposed to the matte or semi-matte that is used on the LG Display W-OLED Panels). I will admit that I shared these concerns as the lighting in my office is centrally located, and I have two windows to the side (though these are really a non-issue as they are covered with blackout, thermal blinds).

I am happy to report that it has not been a big issue for me. I do find myself dimming my overhead light more often than I used to just to minimize any reflective images, and to insure maximum contrast, but in my situation, the reflections have not detracted from the experience at all.

This might not be the case for everyone. Were it not for the blackout blinds on my windows, I think this monitor might border on unusable during daylight hours. Ideally, this screen would be best in a dim room, with the majority of lighting positioned behind the panel. If your workspace is in a bright room, with lots of lamps, overhead lighting, or natural lighting, this monitor might not be the best way to go. While this is true for most monitors the semi-gloss panels used on the QD-OLED monitors are going to magnify the issue. But if you’re looking for the best display experience, then you’re going to need to find a way to minimize reflections no matter what panel you choose.

Burn-in Mitigation

Anytime we mention OLED televisions or monitors during the PCPer podcast, you could safely bet that someone in the YouTube comments is going to throw out “What about burn-in?” It’s true that burn in and image retention are an issue with any OLED panels (just like it was a risk with Plasma televisions and CRT displays). Both Samsung Display and LG Display (the only OLED panel manufacturers that I am aware of at the time of writing) have come up with a variety of methods to mitigate image retention risks. All of the new panels feature various firmware protections to help. Dell has backed the AW3225QF with a three-year warranty which specifically covers burn in.

In addition to firmware level protections, all the newest generation of high refresh rate OLED monitors from both manufacturers feature heatsinks to protect those precious pixels. Many of these feature passive cooling, though the Alienware AW3225QF utilizes active cooling with a two speed fan. I’ll be completely honest, the only time I’ve ever heard the fan on this monitor is when actually using the Fan Test feature in the monitors diagnostic menu. If it has ever kicked to high speed during usage, I’ve never heard it. At low speed, I am unable to hear the fan at all over ambient and system sounds.

Still, despite these built in protections, there are steps that the end users should take to help. Static images, especially high contrast with bright zones, are the biggest risks. I took several steps to help, some of which probably are not necessary, but I’ll detail them here anyway.

The first thing that any PC user with an OLED display should do is to set the taskbar to auto-hide. This setting is found under taskbar settings by right clicking on the taskbar. After that, the display should be set to auto turn off after any short period of inactivity. This is under Windows System Settings / Power & Sleep. I have set my display to shut down after 5 minutes of inactivity, though I did not base this number on any scientific data. I decided on 5 minutes as the shortest period that would not become an annoyance.

The next step I took was to go into Personalization in Windows Settings and set my Windows background to Slideshow, with the image changing every two minutes. Two minutes is not an interval that Windows lists and some binary editing in the registry is required, so for most people I would recommend just setting the background to change at one-minute intervals. You can choose any set of images, but I set a specific folder for backgrounds. I also went one step further here and tried to use images that didn’t have any large, overly bright elements.

The final step I took to help mitigate burn-in and image retention risks was to deal with my desktop shortcuts. I know that a lot of modern Windows users (and Windows 11 users) don’t use desktop icons at all, but after almost 30 years of the Windows desktop, I’ve gotten very set in my ways, and can’t seem to give up on my desktop icons and folders. I know that most of these could be moved to Windows 10 Start, but there are some items I use regularly (like Control Panel) that can’t be moved to Start.

After some research, I downloaded a program called Fences. Beyond the fact that it allows the auto hide/reveal of desktop icons with a double click, it also offers some other pretty cool features. Fences allows the user to group desktop icons by type, as well as creating custom “fence” areas. It also allows desktop icons to be set to custom levels of opaqueness until you mouseover the fence area, then the icons’ standard appearance returns. You can also have the fence area “roll up” until you mouse-over to show the contents. All of these were just extra steps in the effort to combat burn-in and image retention, but I’ve actually come to really like Fences and how I can group my desktop items.

Conclusion

Despite all the advanced hardware, and crazy PC’s I’ve built in the last 15 years, I still tell people that the one thing that made the biggest difference in my experience was when I first switched to a Solid State Drive. That is still true, but the switch to OLED I feel is now a close second.

Would I recommend an OLED monitor? Without a doubt. If you have the funds, and are serious about gaming and video consumption, there simply isn’t another monitor technology that can offer what OLED offers. Mini-LED panels are not there, and Micro LEDs are still a few years off.

Would I recommend this Alienware to everyone? Only if you require a curved panel, as I do. There are now several flat versions of this QD-OLED panel on the market, most are less expensive. MSI has a version which sells for $949 ($250 less than the Alienware) if you can catch it in stock. I would recommend that one to most people. For those like myself that need a curved panel, then Alienware AW3225QF provides an astounding experience.