- Alienware has launched a new 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED display
- The AW2726DM marks a significant change in the display market, making OLEDs much more affordable
- It’s available for $350 / £369 / AU$699 in the UK, US and Australia
It’s been a long time coming, but OLED displays are finally approaching a stage of affordability for PC gamers and those focused on productivity – and it looks like Alienware has been at the forefront of this change.
As reported by Notebookcheck, Alienware has launched a new 27-inch 1440p QD-OLED monitor, the Alienware AW2726DM, available for $350 / £369 / AU$699.
It uses a 0.03ms GtG response time, a 240Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium support, HDMI 2.1 support and most importantly, a 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio for perfect black levels – and it’s easily made it onto my wish list for a second desktop monitor.
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Notably, the AW2726DM lacks brightness compared to more expensive QD-OLED models with just 200 nits of brightness, and it’s clear that this is where corners have been cut to keep the price as low as possible.
However, that doesn’t take away from the massive benefits the display has, as QD-OLED is popular for ensuring every scene in a movie or game has the best color and picture quality via deep black levels, and this is most noticeable in darker scenes. The screen is best used in an environment with no light that glares on the screen as it can easily spoil the visuals due to the screen brightness of 200 nits at entry level.
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The biggest takeaway is the $350 / £369 / AU$699 price, as this effectively makes other IPS or regular LED displays of the same size and resolution obsolete as the AW2726DM is now in the same price range, providing stiff competition for non-OLED displays.
It’s hard to beat an OLED panel in most cases, and while mini-LED screens come close to delivering similar deep black levels, they can’t fully compete, with their only major advantage being greater brightness.
Samsung has previously made clear its intentions to make OLED more affordable, and while it has done so, Alienware’s case stands out as opening the floodgates for even more affordable OLED displays to enter the market.
That’s simply because the price tag for the AW2726DM is the lowest I’ve ever seen for the display type, barring a discount. We may be looking at a future where OLED finally becomes fully mainstream in the desktop display market, and I couldn’t be happier.
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