Alienware Introduces AW3418DW and AW3418HW Ultrawide, Curved Displays

[Raevenlord]

Alienware has introduced a pair of ultra-large monitors to their lineup at IFA, which boast of Curved, ultrawide displays with a 34" diagonal. Refresh rates are above 100 Hz - especially after these have been overclocked - and both feature NVIDIA's G-Sync tech alongside Alienware's AlienFX lighting and cable management features.

While the AW3418DW will be Alienware's flagship, packing a 3440x1440 resolution on its 4 ms GtG IPS panel, the AW3418HW is much more of a budget option, offering a much more common 2560x1080 IPS, G-Sync panel with the same 4 ms GtG, a 160 Hz refresh rate (when overclocked), G-SYNC, and a less enveloping 3900R curvature. Both displays offer the same 1000:1 contrast ratio, and while we don't know the brightness rating of the AW3418HW (2560x1080) panel, the flagship AW3418DW only offers 300 nits of brightness, effectively leaving HDR out of the picture. Pricing on these is what seems to be a little off, if you were to ask this particular editor. The AW3418DW is an interesting panel (who needs 144 Hz or higher refresh rates at this resolution) but at this point, giving up $1,499 for a non-HDR panel seems wrong. There are other options out there with the same or equivalent specifications at a much lower price tag. And the $1,199 Alienware is asking for their 34", 2650x1080 W3418HW also seems too excessive. But your mileage may, of course, vary. The flagship AW3418DW is available now, while the AW3418HW should be available around the holiday season. I've put a useful guide for screen curvatures below, if you need a reminder of how curvature ratings work.



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[Chaitanya]

Is dell using Samsung panels in these as well? last iteration ultrasharps were mostly Samsung.

 

[PLAfiller]

I wish I could try one of those curved displays for a week or so. I just want to see for myself if it is really awesome or it is just a gimmick.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

$1200 for a 34 inch 2560x1080 IPS G-Sync Curved Monitor is a little too pricey... but as @Raevenlord said, it all depends on one's mileage.

 

[noname00]

Maybe it would worth $1200-$1500 if it was 3440x1440 165 Hz.

For now, I am waiting for one of those.

 

[bug]

I wish I could try one of those curved displays for a week or so. I just want to see for myself if it is really awesome or it is just a gimmick.

I've only got to try curved TVs, but boy, do they suck. Monitors may be different because you're dead-center almost all the time. But at the same time, a non-planar focal plane is considered a defect in a lens. So that rules curved monitors out for those doing photo or video editing.

 

[Solidstate89]

I wish I could try one of those curved displays for a week or so. I just want to see for myself if it is really awesome or it is just a gimmick.

Curved displays with an Ultrawide aspect ratio are awesome. Curving other monitors with like a 16:9 ratio is pointless due to the shape of the monitor itself.

Really fills your FoV on an Ultrawide though.

 

[ZoneDymo]

every time I see "human eye" in comparison panels regarding monitors Im just seeing comments about how the "human eye cant see more then 30fps" etc

 

[bug]

every time I see "human eye" in comparison panels regarding monitors Im just seeing comments about how the "human eye cant see more then 30fps" etc

Well, there is the persistence of vision that dictates there is probably a limit to how fast the brain can process image changes, but that's definitely where the 30fps came from. 30fps is simply what was determined to be suitable for prolonged cinema sessions.

 

[LogitechFan]

Is dell using Samsung panels in these as well? last iteration ultrasharps were mostly Samsung.

AU most likely.

 

[nickbaldwin86]

144Hz+ or I cant even consider it... sorry but once you experience high Hz you don't/wont go back

 

[Agony]

Why everyone cares about HZ ... still dont get it , when there are more important things on panels like , Is it Ultrawide ?is it Curved ? is it 3440x1440? does it have ghosting, does it have bleed, does it have coil whine (my old Ultrawide Samsung was not possible to play at night with that noise) , is it RGB color calibrated , does it have good blacks and whites?
And if all that are ok then yes I can see the point of 100-144HZ if you have 2x1080TIs because there is NO WAY to get 100-144FPS minimum, on modern games maxed out at 3440x1440 or more .

Unless if Gaming is only for those with RGB mechanical keyboards with this clipping noise and big key movement , the corded mouses , the 200HZ TN panels that look washed out and a single 1080TI that can get those FPS on 1080p and medium settings ...

For me numbers are nothing , I Have seen all these years 100HZ panels way worst than 60HZ panels .

 

[bug]

@Agony Truth be told, I was fine with a TN panel in gaming for years. It was only when I splurged on a DSLR and then tried to do some photo editing that I was like "how on earth did I use this thing for so long". Truly in games there is much motion, IQ really doesn't matter. Even less so for those playing at low settings to squeeze every last fps from their video card.

 

[Prima.Vera]

every time I see "human eye" in comparison panels regarding monitors Im just seeing comments about how the "human eye cant see more then 30fps" etc

I think there is a confusion going on. Definitely the eye can see more than 30fps. The value is between 500 and 2000, depending on your age, eye health, luminosity outside, etc. However 30 fps, actually is more like 26-27 fps is THE MINIMUM value the eye-brain coordination will see the image as fluid without major stuttering. The more fps you add, the more fluid the final image it is, but then again this is up to 500-1000 fps maximum.
Personally, I have found out that any game is perfectly playable as long as it have more than 45 fps minimum frame-rate.

 

[bug]

I think there is a confusion going on. Definitely the eye can see more than 30fps. The value is between 500 and 2000, depending on your age, eye health, luminosity outside, etc. However 30 fps, actually is more like 26-27 fps is THE MINIMUM value the eye-brain coordination will see the image as fluid without major stuttering. The more fps you add, the more fluid the final image it is, but then again this is up to 500-1000 fps maximum.
Personally, I have found out that any game is perfectly playable as long as it have more than 45 fps minimum frame-rate.

And even that depends on the game. A TBS or a card game is perfectly playable at 20-24fps. But those are corner cases.

 

[Prince Valiant]

Why everyone cares about HZ ... still dont get it , when there are more important things on panels like , Is it Ultrawide ?is it Curved ? is it 3440x1440? does it have ghosting, does it have bleed, does it have coil whine (my old Ultrawide Samsung was not possible to play at night with that noise) , is it RGB color calibrated , does it have good blacks and whites?
And if all that are ok then yes I can see the point of 100-144HZ if you have 2x1080TIs because there is NO WAY to get 100-144FPS minimum, on modern games maxed out at 3440x1440 or more .

Unless if Gaming is only for those with RGB mechanical keyboards with this clipping noise and big key movement , the corded mouses , the 200HZ TN panels that look washed out and a single 1080TI that can get those FPS on 1080p and medium settings ...

For me numbers are nothing , I Have seen all these years 100HZ panels way worst than 60HZ panels .

Higher refresh is good even if you can't manage whatever FPS in a given game. Blurbusters has an article covering it.