Alienware AW3423DWF monitor – Specs, Pros / Cons: The Widest Color Coverage On A Gaming Monitor

Alienware, one of the OG’s in the gaming PC and boutique assembly companies, creates unique designs. They’ve now been a part of Dell for well over a decade, which has allowed them to expand and truly flourish, by utilizing all the capital, supply chain, and infrastructure that someone like Dell possesses. The expansion gave us Alienware Laptops, Peripherals, and Monitors. Today we have the Alienware AW3423DWF, a stunning flagship gaming monitor that’s better for much more than gaming, thanks to the immersive 34-inch curved OLED panel, which uses an UltraWide Quad HD resolution (3440 x 1440).

It handles the Gaming part exceptionally well, with a 165Hz refresh rate, and a 0.1ms response time, as well as the option to choose between FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync Ultimate, which are the best versions of the two variable refresh rate standards on the market. Today we’ll check out how much improvement there’s available using our Display Profiles, while also giving you accurate color coverage and accuracy measurement.

You can check the current price of the Alienware AW3423DWF here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Contents


Specs sheet, What’s in the box?, Drivers, Design, Connectivity

Screen size34.18 inch (86.81 cm)
Refresh rate165Hz
Response time0.1ms
Panel type
Backlight typeOLED
Screen finishMatte
Resolution3440 x 1440 (UltraWide Quad HD)
Technologies
  • Curve: 1800R
  • Contrast ratio: 1 000:1 (Static); 100 000 000:1 (Dynamic)
  • Brightness: 250cd/m²
  • Viewing angles: H/V° 178/178
  • VESA mount: 100×100
  • Tilt: -5° to 21°
  • Swivel: -20° to 20°
  • Height adjustment: 0 – 110mm
  • Power consumption (Max): 34W
  • Power consumption (Stand by): 0.50W
I/O
  • 1x HDMI 2.0
  • 2x DisplayPort 1.4
  • 5x USB 3.0
  • 1x line out audio
  • 1x Audio jack

What’s in the box? Assembly

Drivers and Software

Along with the regular Dell apps that are available, like the Display Manager, this monitor also brings the Alienware Command Center, which allows you to control the RGB on the monitor (YES, there’s RGB on the back). As for the firmware and the drivers of the monitor, you can find them all on the official Support Page.

OSD Menu

Drivers and Connectivity

Undoubtedly, Alienware products have always had a unique look and feel, enough to even influence Dell’s G-series of gaming products, be it laptops, monitors, and desktops. The Alienware AW3423DWF has a gunmetal grey finish all around, with three RGB LED pieces, the number 34 on the back, signifying the size of the monitor, the Alien logo, and a small Power LED. The color is customizable through the OSD menu or the Command Center, whatever you prefer. The curve of the monitor is measured at 1800R, which is slight, but still immersive enough.

The stand of the monitor is pretty amazing. While the curve and the UltraWide aspect make Pivot kind of useless, so we understand why it’s not included, the Swivel, Height Adjustment, and Tilt, you can set the monitor up however, you like, so it’s comfortable for you and your body. Posture check: Stand up straight right now!

In terms of connectivity, the monitor brings a lot of ports. There’s a single HDMI 2.0 port, two DisplayPorts 1.4, four USB Type-A ports, as well as one USB Type-B port, which is used as a passthrough to connect the rest of them to your PC. There are two Audio jacks too.


Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

This is a high-quality OLED Panel, which has a unique color composition, compared to IPS and VA units. First of all, it’s got an infinite contrast ratio, as the black color is just the pixel shut-off, which also means incredibly deep blacks. There’s HDR support too. Lastly, the high refresh rate, low response time, and FreeSync Premium Pro support mean tear-free gaming at any FPS. However, let’s focus more on the Color-side,

Color coverage

Here’s an illustration (Fig. 1). The whole “sail-shaped” map below consists of all the colors we can see, while the black crooked line shows all the colors from real-world scenes and nature around us.

Then, we’ve drawn some of the most important and interesting color spaces, compared to the colors the panel of Alienware AW3423DWF can show:

Standard/For Web: sRGB – widely used color space for most consumer devices, ideal for Web design and development
For Print: AdobeRGB – used in professional graphic design, and print
For Photographers/Video Editors: DCI-P3 – used in high-end film production, and digital cinema, and photo editing
Premium HDR: Rec.2020 – the widest consumer ITU color standard, covering a massive 75.8% of the visible spectrum, a benchmark for premium HDR content

Alienware AW3423DWF: the yellow dashed triangle (– – – – – –) represents the range of colors this monitor can display. In our tests, we calculated the total color coverage of the monitor at 100% of the sRGB gamut, and 99% of the DCI-P3 gamut.

 

(Fig.1) Alienware AW3423DWF covers 100% of the Web colors (sRGB)

This means that if the Alienware AW3423DWF tries to show any color outside of its triangle, it will show the closest color to it that’s inside the triangle.

Color accuracy

Now let’s see how big is the difference between the real colors and the one you’ll see on the Alienware AW3423DWF. We measure that distance in DeltaE – the bigger the number, the more different they look.

For the next illustration, we’ve chosen 24 common colors like dark and light skin, blue sky, green grass, etc.

Values below 2.0 are considered suitable for color-sensitive work. Before our calibration of Alienware AW3423DWF, the Average color accuracy was 3.3 dE (Fig. 2), and with our Web Design and Office Work profile, it lowers to 3.2 dE (Fig. 3). With this dE value, the monitor still presents decent colors, as the OLED technology is most often tricky and stubborn and doesn’t take adjustments really well. As you can see from the graph below, the profile managed to make the whites more accurate, with a white dE value dropping from 2.6 to 1.2. so if you’re

(Fig. 2) Alienware AW3423DWF in its factory condition
(Fig. 3) Alienware AW3423DWF with our display profiles

Comparison in the sRGB color space (primaries and D65 white point specified in ITU-R BT.709, sRGB encoding curve).

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom-tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate (they may seem strange at first but after a few minutes our brain will start recognizing them as accurate ones – that’s how Health-Guard differs from alternatives like f.lux).

Pro Tip: As the Health-Guard profile simulates paper and has as accurate as possible colors, it could be a great tool for prepress designers!

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Health-Guard Profile

Gaming and Movies

We also have a third Gaming and Movies profile, which regulates the black colors, making dark areas in games and movies appear more visible, thus giving you a better viewing experience. Shooting at your opponent first can be a make-or-break moment, so make sure you’re best prepared with our profile.

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Design & Gaming Profile

BUY OUR DISPLAY PROFILES

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Alienware AW3423DWF.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Verdict

The Alienware AW3423DWF is a fantastic gaming monitor, with a fantastic price point to match. The revolutionary Quantum Dot OLED backlighting offers incredible brightness and contrast, while the deep color coverage, that spans across the entire DCIP3 color gamut, will make your games pop on the screen and offer an immersion experience like no other. Regardless of what games you like to play, with the FreeSync Premium Pro, the 165Hz refresh rate, and the 0.1 ms response time, you WILL be at the top. All you need now is our Gaming and Movies profile, which elevates the picture in both games and movies, bringing a lot of detail out of shadowy and dark parts of images, scenes, and environments, depending on your choice of entertainment.

The Health Guard is very useful too, in case you’re staring at texts and tables all day. The profile reduces harmful Blue Light and any PWM (flickering) that there might be, so your eyes are less tired and energized.

Overall, it’s one of the best gaming monitors that you can get, and you actually don’t pay that much of a premium for the Alienware badge, even though some people might think that you will.

You can check the current price of the Alienware AW3423DWF here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Pros

  • Wide Color Coverage – 100% sRGB and 99% DCI-P3
  • FreeSync Premium Pro + 165Hz Refresh Rate + 0.1ms Response Time makes this the ultimate gaming weapon
  • Amazing design – Controllable RGB and a great stand
  • QD OLED panel is amazing to look at


Cons

  • You need a hefty wallet to buy it

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