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The AW3225QF ships in its Standard picture mode which is accurate enough to be used without calibration. It uses the full native color gamut, which covers 109% of DCI-P3, for all SDR content. If you want sRGB, it is available in the Creator mode.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.
Out of the box, the AW3225QF puts up a solid grayscale and gamma chart. There are no visible grayscale errors and gamma is nearly all on the 2.2 reference line. There is a slight hump at 80 and 90%, which represents lower output values, but you’ll have a hard time seeing this in actual content. This is excellent performance.
In Custom Color mode, you get RGB gain and bias sliders that are very precise. I only adjusted the gains to achieve pro-level numbers. Gamma went a tad light with a dip at 90%, but again, this is hard to spot in actual content.
The sRGB option in Creator mode has excellent grayscale tracking, but gamma is a little wonky. The 10% step is too light, making shadow detail more visible but less impactful. The range between 30 and 80% is a tad dark, but that is forgivable given the AW3225QF’s high contrast. You can compensate by turning up the brightness a click or two.
Comparisons
OLEDs in general have solid out-of-box accuracy in my observation. The AW3225QF is a bit behind the pack, but visually, it is the same as the top screens. The Samsung is a definite over-achiever with its 0.50dE default result.
After calibration, the AW3225QF improved to second place at 0.49dE. Obviously, the G8 should be left alone since its error level increased with calibration. But these are very fine and ultimately invisible differences. OLEDs are premium products, and as such, they deliver high accuracy and fidelity.
In the gamma tests, the AW3225QF shows a tight range of values, but the dip at 90%, which I noted earlier, pulls its average further from 2.2. A 2.27% deviation equates to an actual value of 2.15, which is not bad but not as good as the others.
Color Gamut Accuracy
Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.
In the color gamut tests, the AW3225QF leaves no cause for complaint. In Standard mode, you can see that it goes past the triangle perimeter for all colors and is slightly over-saturated overall. Tracking is linear, which results in a very colorful and natural image. The errors are small enough to be invisible. Only slight hue issues remain in cyan and magenta.
My grayscale calibration fixes the secondary colors and leaves saturation points unchanged. The improvement is more measured than visible. No one will complain about an uncalibrated AW3225QF.
The Creator mode offers a spot-on sRGB option with a low error level of 1.79dE. This is professional grade accuracy. You can’t adjust grayscale in this mode but there are gamma presets that work well.
Comparisons
It doesn’t get much better than the AW3225QF’s 1.33dE color score unless you’re a 42M2N89 or an OLED G8. Those differences are visible to the color meter but not to the naked eye. You can choose any of these screens and enjoy excellent performance.
Besides its blinding speed, the AW3225QF’s biggest selling point is its large color gamut. It’s roughly equal to the AW2725DF and a few points shy of the current OLED record holder, Asus’ PG49WCD. With the lowest volume here being 95.26%, you won’t be unhappy with any of these monitors. However, the Quantum Dot technology has a clear advantage. Whether you use DCI-P3 or sRGB, the AW3225QF is qualified for color-critical applications.
Test Takeaway: You won’t find many monitors more colorful than the AW3225QF. Among OLEDs, only the PG49WCD has greater volume. That color is accurate right out of the box and can be made slightly better with calibration. There is nothing to complain about here. It won’t get better until Rec.2020 monitors are available to consumers.
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