Bigger is better. We’ve all heard that phrase applied to a multitude of things, and it certainly holds true for gaming monitors. Today’s games create incredibly realistic worlds that reproduce everything in exquisite and meticulous detail. There is no better way to enjoy that detail than with a large monitor. We may all be wearing VR goggles someday, but until then, you either have a jumbo screen or want a jumbo screen.
We’ve reviewed plenty of the best gaming monitors in the 34 and 35-inch ultrawide category, and now a new category is emerging: the 38-inch ultrawide. We recently reviewed, for example, Acer’s Predator X38 and found it supremely engaging. But you’d rather try Alienware’s take on the 38-inch ultrawide, the Alienware AW3821DW ($1,425 as of writing) might be the one.
It’s an IPS screen with a 2300R curvature, a 144 Hz refresh rate, 3840 x 1600 resolution, plus 10-bit DCI-P3 color and VESA’s mid-tier HDR support certification (DisplayHDR 600). Wrapped in Alienware’s unique styling, it’s a package that looks as good as it performs.
If you’re looking for comparisons to the Acer Predator X38, we’ve included its test results in our charts. Functionally, it is identical to the AW3821DW except for its higher 175 Hz refresh rate. And at this writing, the Predator X38 sells for around $300 more. Has Alienware delivered a viable alternative? We’re about to see.
Alienware AW3821DW Specs
| Panel Type / Backlight | IPS / W-LED, edge array |
| Screen Size, Aspect Ratio & Curve | 38 inches / 21:9 |
| Curve radius: 2300mm | |
| Max Resolution & Refresh Rate | 3840x1600 @ 144 Hz |
| G-Sync Ultimate: 24-144 Hz | |
| Native Color Depth & Gamut | 10-bit / DCI-P3 |
| DisplayHDR 600, HDR10 | |
| Response Time (GTG) | 1ms |
| Max Brightness | SDR: 450 nits |
| HDR: 600 nits | |
| Contrast | 1,000:1 |
| Speakers | None |
| Video Inputs | 1x DisplayPort 1.4 |
| 2x HDMI 2.0 | |
| Audio | 2x 3.5mm output |
| USB 3.2 | 1x up, 4x down |
| Power Consumption | 41.2w, brightness @ 200 nits |
| Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base | 35.2 x 17.5-22.5 x 11.6 inches (894 x 445-572 x 295mm) |
| Panel Thickness | 5.1 inches (130mm) |
| Bezel Width | Top/sides: 0.4 inch (10mm) |
| Bottom: 0.6 inch (16mm) | |
| Weight | 26.7 pounds (12.1kg) |
| Warranty | 3 years |
The AW3821DW’s 3840 x 1600 pixels could be called WQHD plus or, perhaps, WUHD minus, but whatever the term, pixel density is relatively high at 111 pixels per inch (ppi_. That’s closer to a 27-inch 1440p (2560 x 1440), which is 109ppi. More importantly though, the AW3821DW’s pixel density is roughly equal to a 3440x1440, 34-inch panel. So, you get the same density in a larger screen.
The AW3821DW adds to its premium status with G-Sync Ultimate certification, working with Nvidia graphics cards from 24-144 Hz with HDR. It also proved to be FreeSync-compatible in our tests, though it has not been certified by AMD. You’ll have to use the DisplayPort 1.4 input to hit 144 Hz signals or use (unofficial) FreeSync. The HDMI 2.0 inputs support up to 85 Hz at full resolution and 120 Hz at 2560 x 1440.
HDR10 signals are accepted through either input with a peak brightness of over 600 nits. The AW3821DW also has a variable backlight feature that works by modulating the edge array in vertical zones. It isn’t as effective as a full-array (FALD) backlight but will improve contrast for both SDR and HDR content.
Assembly and Accessories
The substantial base and upright come out of the box first and are mated with a captive bolt. Then you snap the huge panel in place. Note the electrical contacts, which provide juice for the LED lighting in the upright.
There is a 100mm VESA mount pattern on the panel for which fasteners are provided. Nice quality cables are included for power, HDMI, USB and two DisplayPort cables. You also get an input panel cover to tidy things up around back.
Product 360
The AW3821DW is a very large monitor with a deep base and an upright that holds the panel firmly in place. You’ll need to devote plenty of space to accommodate its over 35-inch width and nearly 12-inch depth. Movements are smooth and sure with 20-degree swivel to each side, 5.1 inches of height and a -5/21-degree tilt adjustment.
On-screen display (OSD) controls are around the back right with four keys and a joystick for easy and intuitive navigation. The power button is also the power LED and protrudes slightly from the bottom right corner. At the top center is a room light sensor, which can vary the monitor’s brightness according to ambient light. We left this off during benchmark testing because it alters the results unpredictably.
Styling is distinctly Alienware-themed with a matte white finish on the back, upright and base. It isn’t reflective nor is it the brightest white. Features like the large “38” and “Alienware” markings are subtly molded into the panel and upright. The RGB lighting is mainly on the upright with a long ring that finishes a rearward taper. The OSD has many customization options for changing the color and effect of the RGB color. Aienware’s alien head graphic also adorns the panel with RGB matching that of the upright. The small LED bar on the bottom casts a soft glow upon the desktop. All surfaces that face you, including the screen, which has a relatively thin flush bezel, are matte black and non-reflective.
Tilting the panel all the way back reveals two USB ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack under the front-center of the screen lit by an LED bar. This is super-convenient for peripherals that you might hook up just for gameplay then put away for work. Two more USB downstream and one upstream port are on the input panel, which is tucked up in the extreme. We had to plug cables in by feel. You also get two HDMI 2.0 and one DisplayPort 1.4.
OSD Features
Pressing the AW3821DW’s joystick brings up a large and well-optioned OSD. There are eight sub-menus that control just about everything, including the RGB effects.
The Game sub-menu offers 12 picture modes in total, nine of which are fixed presets. The three Game modes are adjustable for six-color saturation and hue, along with independent overdrive settings.
Custom Color has RGB controls to adjust grayscale. Standard is the default mode and delivers reasonably accurate color with a slightly cool but acceptable grayscale. For HDR signals, all the modes are available, and you can calibrate in the Custom Color mode.
Game Enhance Mode includes a countdown timer and framerate counter, along with display alignment marks if you can fit more than one AW3821DW on your desk. There are no aiming points though, which is an unusual omission.
Response time is a three-level overdrive that’s effective at reducing blur. You can bump up to its middle settings without seeing ghosting. Meanwhile, dark stabilizer increases shadow detail visibility at the expense of black level. The AW3821DW doesn’t have great black levels to start with, so we suggest leaving this one alone.
Though the AW3821DW is an edge-lit monitor, it has a variable backlight control, which helps increase contrast. That variable backlight has three modes that vary in speed. Mode 0 makes the fastest transitions. Its effectiveness depends on the content you’re viewing, but the image can look a little better when turned on. It also substantially increased measured contrast in HDR mode; although, it wasn’t a necessity.
AlienFX Lighting refers to the RGB effects that you can find in four places on the monitor. Zone 1 is a small Alienware head in the back that’s raised from the surface. Zone 2 is on the stand. It's the long ring on the back of the upright. Zone 3: is the small bar near the USB and headphone jacks. And Zone 4:, is the power button. The LEDs can breathe or remain steady, and you can choose one of 20 different colors for the four zones. You can customize the effects further with the AlienFX desktop app.
Alienware AW3821DW Calibration Settings
The AW3821DW is fairly accurate in its default Standard mode, but grayscale tracking could be better. For that, we switched to Custom Color mode to access the RGB sliders. The improvement was both measurable and visible with better saturation and punch after calibration. The RGB settings also work in HDR mode so we recommend using Custom Color for all signals.
The only thing missing here is an sRGB mode. All content is viewed using the monitor’s full native gamut which covers just over 90% of DCI-P3.
Here are our recommended calibration settings for the Alienware AW3821DW.
| Picture Mode | Custom Color |
| Brightness 200 nits | 43 |
| Brightness 120 nits | 22 |
| Brightness 100 nits | 16 |
| Brightness 80 nits | 11 |
| Brightness 50 nits | 4 (min. 44 nits) |
| Contrast | 75 |
| Color Temp User | Red 100, Green 99, Blue 92 |
Gaming and Hands-on
Our first impression of the AW3821DW is that it is very colorful with a nicely saturated image that’s bright and sharp. It also filled the peripheral vision at a 2-3-foot viewing distance with no head turning required. We observed this when reviewing the Acer X38 as well. The 2300R curve and 38-inch size is ideal for an immersive view, no matter the content.
Working in Windows was no different than using a flat screen. The curve is gentle, so there was no image distortion to cause distraction. It was easy to have two or three documents open at once, and there’s enough height to view a full page in a word processor. Web browsing on the AW3821DW doesn’t require as much scrolling as a 34-inch ultrawide screen does.
Turning to Tomb Raider, we enjoyed reasonable contrast when using the Variable Backlight, but it didn’t have a lot of impact. We could see slightly darker blacks and slightly brighter highlights, but the Predator X38’s backlight is more dramatic, as it modulates the backlight more aggressively. Still, using the AW3821DW’s Variable Backlight improved image quality slightly, since the AW3821DW’s native contrast is a bit below average.
Color looked fantastic in this game. Even though the monitor’s color gamut is oversaturated for SDR content, accuracy kept Tomb Raider from looking overblown. Earth tones had a nice warmth, while metal retained just the right coldness. The greens of the jungle looked vibrant and natural.
Trying out the different overdrive settings proved that the middle option was best. The fastest choice caused quite a bit of ghosting, (which, interestingly, did not show up in Blur Busters test patterns). Definitely stick with the middle setting. G-Sync Ultimate worked without issue at 144 Hz when run on a GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, and we also tested the monitor with a Radeon RX 5700 XT respectively. Framerates stayed at 144 frames per second (fps) on both platforms.
Turning on HDR in Windows made the picture a little brighter but not so much that we couldn’t leave it on for workday tasks. It didn’t make as great a difference in black levels though. Overall contrast looked a little better, but the improvement is more in the highlights than the shadow areas.
Loading up an HDR copy of Call of Duty: WWII, showed a better image, mainly in the brighter zones. Highlights popped nicely with things like glinting sunlight looking particularly strong. But shadow detail, though easy to see, was more a dark gray than black. The Variable Backlight feature is more aggressive at making highlights stronger than it is at making shadows darker. Unlike the best HDR monitors, shifting to HDR mode didn’t bring a dramatic improvement to the image, but it did improve somewhat. We’d give the Acer X38 the edge in HDR quality.
To read about our monitor tests in-depth, check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.
Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level
The AW3821DW is the second 38-inch monitor we’ve reviewed, the first being the aforementioned Acer Predator X38. Also included in the group are four 34-inch screens: the Cooler Master GM34-CW, Gigabyte G34WQC, MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR and Viotek GNV34DBE.
For our initial round of measurements, we made sure the Variable Backlight and the room light sensor were turned off to check the AW3821DW’s native performance. There is plenty of brightness available, 527.2 nits, a good bit more than its 450-nit rating.
Black levels are higher (worse) than each of the comparison monitors. VA panels generally have a distinct advantage, but even next to the IPS-based X38, the Alienware is more gray than black. Resulting contrast is just 875.6:1.
Before moving on to the calibration, we checked the numbers again using Variable Backlight. The increase in dynamic range was significant – over 48,000:1 in modes 0 and 1, and just over 8,000:1 in mode 2.
After Calibration to 200 nits
Our calibration to 200 nits brightness (see our recommended calibration settings on page 1) doesn’t help contrast but doesn’t really hurt it either. But a 846.2:1 contrast ratio is below average among most other IPS monitors we’ve tested. It looks like the Variable Backlight feature is a must if one is to get decent image depth from the AW3821DW.
ANSI contrast is exactly the same as the static number, which indicates a good build and good quality control. Our AW3821DW showed nearly perfect screen uniformity, which helps this score. Variable Backlight doesn’t affect the ANSI test, but in practice, it made the picture visibly better.
The AW3821DW ships in its Standard picture preset with Eco mode turned on. This works with a room light sensor to vary brightness according to ambient light and limits output to conserve power. We disabled the sensor and the Eco mode for all testing, since it alters the results unpredictably.
Grayscale & Gamma Tracking
Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe those our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.
The AW3821DW’s initial grayscale measurement run isn’t too bad, but you will see a slight blue tint at 60% brightness and higher. The error is more visible as the picture becomes brighter. For most content, this is just within the realm of acceptability, but a premium monitor like this should come out of the box a little more neutral in tone.
Gamma is also a bit off the mark with a light spot at the 10% step and slightly dark highlight areas between 70 and 90%.
Our calibration resulted in near-perfect grayscale tracking with all errors less than 1 Delta E (dE). Gamma also improved slightly after calibrating, too but we’d prefer to see a flatter luminance trace. It’s a minor issue but one that shouldn’t be present in a premium display.
Comparisons
Though the AW3821DW acquits itself well among the other monitors here, its out-of-box performance is a little behind the Acer. You’ll have to decide whether it’s worth paying ~$300 more for the X38 to get a little better grayscale and gamma performance. But in the bigger picture, the Alienware performs well. Calibrated grayscale is at the top, and gamma isn’t too far off the mark with a 1.36% deviation from the 2.2 ideal.
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.
The AW3821DW’s out-of-box color gamut results are quite good. With an average error of just 2.47dE, there are no visible issues here. Red, magenta and cyan hues are slightly off, but this was almost impossible to spot in actual content. The DCI-P3 gamut is covered well with only slight undersaturation in green.
After our grayscale calibration, the chart looks even better with every point on target except green, which is still slightly undersaturated. But this is typical of extended color monitors. Only a tiny handful of displays can fully cover a DCI-P3 green primary.
Comparisons
With a default color gamut error of 2.47dE average, the AW3821DW could make our Calibration Not Required list -- if its grayscale were a little better. But most will be satisfied with the default image in Standard mode. We recommend using our settings in Custom Color mode for the best possible picture. At 1.5dE, the final color error level is very low and only eclipsed by the Acer X38.
The X38’s extra cost will also buy you a bit more DCI-P3 gamut coverage, but that extra color will be very hard to spot in a side-by-side comparison. The Alienware’s 90.44% result is a very good number for any extended color display and definitely higher than average. You can also see that the X38 has an sRGB mode that affords it more accurate coverage of that smaller color space.
Our HDR benchmarking uses Portrait Displays’ Calman software. To learn about our HDR testing, see our breakdown of how we test PC monitors.
The AW3821DW switches automatically to HDR mode once you apply an HDR10 signal. All picture presets are still available, and they all make a visible difference in color and contrast. Standard works reasonably well, but the best HDR image results from a calibration in the Custom Color mode. Luckily, the same RGB settings work for both SDR and HDR.
HDR Brightness & Contrast
The AW3821DW is rated for 600 nits but we managed a peak reading of over 724 nits. We had to measure a window pattern to achieve this, and the level quickly dropped once we displayed a full pattern. Variable Backlight is locked on for HDR signals, but you can still pick from the three levels. Mode 0 provides the fastest switching and the greatest dynamic range.
Black levels are super low because the backlight is nearly turned off when a 0% signal is input. That results in an HDR static value of over 60,208:1, impressive performance. As an edge backlit monitor, its HDR image isn’t as dramatically improved as a zone dimming screen with the same test results, but the Variable Backlight feature definitely has a positive impact on HDR material.
Grayscale, EOTF & Color
The AW3821DW is one of the few HDR monitors that allows calibration in HDR mode. The first and third charts above show the fixed Standard mode. Grayscale runs a little blue as brightness increases, but the errors are minor. The luminance curve is a bit skewed, thanks to Variable Backlight. Using the RGB settings from SDR in the Custom Color mode improves grayscale tracking to where the blue errors only occur after the tone-map transition point. That means you’ll almost never see them in actual content.
Color tracking is solid with slight oversaturation of all inner primary and secondary targets. This is typical of the HDR monitors we’ve tested. Though not strictly accurate, it provides a nice bit of extra punch and helps differentiate HDR content from SDR. Our calibration (see our recommended settings on page 1) boosts hue accuracy and shows a positive visual effect.
Viewing Angles
The AW3821DW has off-axis performance typical of the latest IPS panels. At 45 degrees to the sides, the picture goes a bit green and brightness falls by around 30%. Shadow detail remains clearly visible, but black levels increase slightly. From the top, the screen goes cool, and brightness drops by approximately 40%.
Screen Uniformity
To learn how we measure screen uniformity, click here.
Our AW3821DW sample laid down one of the best uniformity test results we’ve ever recorded. 2.66% is well beyond visually perfect. There are no visible artifacts anywhere on the screen when displaying an all-black pattern. No glow, no bleed, no nothing. It doesn’t get better than this.
Pixel Response & Input Lag
Click here to read up on our pixel response and input lag testing procedures.
The X38’s extra speed might be a reason to spend more money, but the difference is pretty small. Though the AW3821DW is 1ms behind in its screen draw time, it matches the Predator X38’s lag score, so its raw input lag is actually a tad lower. In practice, there is no perceivable difference in response between the AW3821DW and Predator X38. Even the most skilled player would not be at a disadvantage with either 38-inch screen. 25ms is very quick, and only a few milliseconds behind the fastest 240 and 360 Hz monitors we’ve tested.
There are few gamers who would not prefer a larger monitor. A bigger screen makes the game’s environment more realistic and engaging. Adding the ultrawide aspect ratio and curvature just heightens the effect. As much fun as a 34 or 35-inch display is, a 38-incher is even more fun. You can sit 3 feet away, fill your peripheral vision and not have to turn your head to see all the action.
There is also no doubt that as a new jumbo screen category, prices are at the premium level. But Alienware’s AW3821DW is currently about $300 cheaper than the other 38-inch display we reviewed, Acer’s Predator X38.
To save $300 on any monitor, one usually must make a few sacrifices. The obvious difference between the two, on paper anyway, is the refresh rate. The Acer offers 175 Hz over the Alienware’s 144 Hz. In our tests, that proved to be a wash. While the Acer draws the screen 1ms faster, the total lag score is the same.
The X38 offers better contrast but other aspects of image quality are the same. Both screens are colorful and accurate with large gamuts and beautiful images. Both are bright, saturated and sharp. The contrast equation might be an issue for some, but the question of how much contrast is worth an extra $300 must be answered by the potential buyer.
Certainly, the Alienware AW3821DW is a beautiful monitor with excellent build quality and decent ergonomics. Its styling and RGB effects are top shelf. There’s no doubt it will provide many years of entertainment and it works well for productivity too.
The $300 answer is this: if price is no object, the Acer X38 is a little better. If you’d rather save $300, the AW3821DW will completely satisfy. It’s a really nice monitor, and we have no problem recommending it for those seeking an immersive jumbo screen experience.
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April 16, 2021 at 07:00PM
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Alienware AW3821DW Review: Smooth, Curved, Slick Ultrawide - Tom's Hardware
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