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Though the AW3425DW can be used without calibration in its Standard picture mode, it includes many options for color gamut, grayscale and gamma among its 12 image presets.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
It would have been easy to collect the first chart above and call it a day. The AW3425DW is spot-on out of the box with nearly all grayscale errors below 2dE and visually perfect gamma tracking. This is the chart I’d expect from a much more expensive professional display, not an $800 gaming monitor.
The Custom Color mode included two-point RGB controls for grayscale and hue/saturation sliders too, but no gamma options. 2.2 is the one and only choice, but it is nearly perfect, so there’s no issue there unless you want a darker or lighter presentation. Performance is exemplary, but I’d love to see options. Using just the RGB gains, I managed to get all grayscale errors below 1dE.
In the Creator mode, you can choose sRGB color. There are no grayscale adjustments, but clearly, they are not needed. However, you can change gamma. It says 2.2 but clearly, the AW3425DW tracks 2.4. This isn’t a big deal because you can just change it to 2.0 and get 2.2.
Comparisons
The AW3425DW hovers near the top both before and after calibration. Most users won’t want or need to tweak but those that do will be rewarded with a 0.43dE error which is very low. In either case, gamma outshines the rest with a tight 0.06 range of values and a 1.36% deviation from the 2.2 reference. The measured value was 2.17, excellent performance.
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.
You can see the extra gamut volume in the AW3425DW’s first color chart, which shows slight oversaturation in red and full coverage of the green primary. This is the usual weak point for non-QD screens, so if you want full DCI-P3 green coverage, QD is the only way to get it. The average error here is very low, but you can see slight hue errors in the magenta secondary. That’s repaired by the grayscale calibration while every other point stays the same.
The sRGB gamut is as close to perfect as any monitor can boast. The average error is just 0.82dE, which is something almost no screen can achieve. If you need sRGB, it doesn’t get better than this.
Comparisons
This comparison shows why I say there are no bad OLEDs. For six displays to all measure under 2dE in the gamut test is extraordinary. The difference grows a bit in the volume test. Though the AW3425DW is a QD panel, it has slightly less volume than the top three. Visually, this will be hard to see unless the content has a lot of bright red areas. That’s where the AOC, Gigabyte and Corsair pull slightly ahead. But Alienware will be more vivid than the Acer or Asus screens, which don’t have QD tech.
Test Takeaway: The AW3425DW’s color volume and accuracy are superb. Though you can find a few screens that are slightly more colorful, they don’t hit every metric as closely. And since Alienware comes in at a low price, the pendulum swings its way. If you want a color accurate OLED gaming monitor, there’s none better.
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