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Slight deviation from preferred ‘2.2’ gamma, without gamma settings in OSD. Some would prefer a wider gamut for extra vibrancy In case you just want to run your monitor at a fixed 240Hz refresh rate or with FreeSync/G-SYNC, the Dell AW2521HF will do just fine! This is also why TN monitors were almost exclusively used by competitive gamers and tournament organizers alike, as these panels are known to display the least amount of input lag, and have some of the fastest response times when compared to their early IPS or VA counterparts. However, as monitor technology has advanced, these shortcomings have been expiated to a considerable degree with the release of fast IPS, SS IPS, and SVA panels. Gamers have always known that a good monitor can make the difference between life and death, and especially those who indulge in competitive online gaming. It’s these folk that the Alienware 25 AW2521HF is primarily aimed at, but it’s also good for a bit of sneaky work on the side – which, given the recent move towards home working, is a definite bonus. Neither of these Alienware models have screen curvature, but the AW2518HF is not ideal for sharing, which is an issue that the AW2521HF ignores completely.
Regardless, the Fast response time overdrive mode works perfectly well. Although you’re not getting the advertised 1ms speed, nearly all pixels will be able to change in time with the monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate. For AMD cards, FreeSync works over both HDMI and DisplayPort whereas with NVIDIA cards, you’ll need to use DisplayPort and have a GTX 10-series or newer GPU.Input lag is where the Alienware 25 really shines, as it should in a gaming monitor. Using an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix, we measured a 4.1-millisecond input lag on a 60Hz signal, which means an input lag of just over 1ms at 240Hz. That makes the Alienware 25 the fastest gaming monitor we’ve tested to date. at 24.5 inches is on the small and low-res side, but again, the monitor is designed for competitive esports gaming, where you want to be able to see the entire screen without darting your eyes around. The lower 1080p resolution ensures you can push as many frames as possible to reach that super-fast refresh rate, so while it isn't ideal for desktop work, it's all your graphics card can probably handle for gaming this smooth. And if you can't quite hit 360Hz, G-Sync is there to ensure you don't get any stutter or screen tearing.
Alienware claims 1ms grey-to-grey response time, but there are numerous ways to fudge this spec, so it's mostly meaningless – real-world testing is far more revealing of a monitor's capabilities in this realm. Nvidia also offers its Reflex Analyzer built in to the monitor – we've dug deep into this feature before, so I won't rehash that here, but suffice to say it's a cool feature that helps you cut down on input lag, however marginal the improvements may be. Alienware AW2521H – Testing Strong colour consistency and slight extension beyond sRGB, giving a ‘rich and natural’ image without potentially overbearing saturation Intended as a Low Blue Light (LBL) setting, but very ineffective. The colour temperature is warmer by default but the blue channel remained strong on our unit and green channel very strong. This gave an unbalanced image with clear green tint, without achieving its key goal.Dell claims the Alienware 25 can hit up to 99% of the sRGB color space. It comes close in our tests, but in Standard mode, the monitor only reaches 96.8% of the gamut, as shown in the sRGB color-space diagram below... In terms of design and build, the Alienware 25 is unmistakably a gaming monitor, with its dramatically splayed legs, customisable RGB lighting and Alienware logo at the rear. You can even change the colour of the power button on the bottom right edge if you wish. The Super Fast and Extreme modes are too aggressive; they push the pixel response time too much, which results in inverse ghosting or pixel overshoot. Other panel-related specifications include a strong 400-nit peak brightness and a static contrast ratio of 1,000:1. I've bought the monitor couple of days ago and so far I am enjoying it. I've tried finding the best OSD/calibration settings online but pretty much everywhere I see information about the older TN version of the monitor. I am hoping that other users that have the IPS AW2521HF will share some opinions about the best settings that work for them.
Where the TN panel shines, is its low response times and input lag. However, in this case (surprisingly enough), the IPS panel of the AW2521HF actually performs on an almost equal level to the TN panel of the AW2518HF. After messing with the color calibration and the built in settings I finally found settings that seriously bring out some serious clarity for the AW2521hf monitor. I've had this monitor for about 6 months now and honestly I feel as if I just discovered a new one. I used the built in settings and also used the nvidia control panel color settings for this so I apologize to anyone with an AMD card. Note that there is always some disparity between how emissive objects (monitor) and non-emissive objects (printed sheet) appear. The representation of shades in this image depends on the camera and your own screen, it’s not designed to show exactly how the shades appear in person. It still helps demonstrate some of the relative differences between the original intended sRGB shade and what the monitor outputs, however. Full profiling and appropriate colour management on the application would provide a tighter match, our intention here is to show what can be expected in a non colour-managed environment.In terms of features, we have VRR, in the form of native AMD FreeSync support and Nvidia G-Sync certified compatibility, an on-screen timer, and fps counter, and display alignment (which helps when setting up a multi-monitor setup) for both options. The bottom line; strong responsiveness and colour performance from a stylish and well-priced monitor. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. See how we test. The answer is almost certainly no -- it's not repairable. Dell doesn't repair monitors. If they fail, they're replaced. But not for a fall, that is not part of the Dell monitor warranty. And very few if any repair shops will undertake a monitor repair. Beyond the unavailability of screens, monitors are generally not designed to be disassembled for repair purposes - it's very common for screens to be fixed in place with adhesive. Further, the screen is a majority of the cost of the monitor -- it's not an economic proposition to repair these, even if parts are available. There’s also the Dell Alienware AW2521HFL model with a different color scheme (‘L’ stands for ‘Lunar Light’ whereas the AW2521HF model has the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ theme).
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