Dell at CES 2019: Alienware 55-Inch 4K 120 Hz OLED Gaming Monitor Showcased
by Anton Shilov on January 11, 2019 12:00 PM EST
In a surprising move Dell demonstrated a prototype of its Alienware 55 OLED display for gamers at CES. The 55-inch OLED monitor features a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate and because of high contrasts that the OLED technology provides, the display promises to be one of the most impressive displays released this year. In the meantime, it is still in development and its price will likely be well beyond reach of most gamers.
The Alienware 55 display relies on an Ultra-HD (3840×2160) OLED panel that boasts with vivid colors, deep inky blacks, an extremely high contrast ratio (~100,000:1), fast response time (~0.1 ms), wide horizontal viewing angles, and an up to 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate (which is what sets the monitor apart from OLED UHDTVs). The display can reproduce up to 95% of the DCI-P3 color space, which is oddly low for an OLED monitor, but which is explainable as the device is still in development.
(Photo from Engadget)
In fact, while Dell says that the Alienware 55 display is set to support an adaptive refresh rate technology, the manufacturer does not disclose whether it will eventually support AMD’s FreeSync/FreeSync 2 or NVIDIA’s G-Sync/G-Sync HDR when it is finalized. As for connectivity, the monitor features DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 (with the latter possibly pointing not only to a new cable requirement, but also to variable refresh rate (VRR) and other HDMI 2.1 features support).
It is noteworthy that to make design of the Alienware 55 attractive for gamers (if a 4K 120 Hz OLED panel is not enough), the monitor has programmable RGB lighting on the back.
Dell currently expects to start sales of its Alienware 55 gaming OLED monitor sometimes in the second half of the year. Pricing of the device is currently unknown, yet one can guess that because it uses a 55-inch Ultra-HD OLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate, this is going to be an ultra-premium product competing against NVIDIA’s BFGD (Big Format Gaming Display) LCDs.
What is notable is that Dell no longer sells its UltraSharp UP3017Q OLED monitor, so the company might be reviewing its OLED offerings in general and the 55-inch panel could be used not only for the company’s gaming solution.
Related Reading:
- Dell’s Ultrasharp 30-inch 4K OLED Now On Sale: UP3017Q for $3500
- Dell Demonstrates 30-inch 4K OLED Display
- JOLED Demos 21.6-Inch OLED Monitor for Gamers
Sources: Tom’s Hardware, Engadget
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Captain Praggot - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
Sir, here is a check with my name on it. Write down any number on this piece of paper and I will pay it.r3loaded - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
Why wouldn't I just get a 2019 LG OLED TV? Same specs, but more adult friendly styling.DanNeely - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
120hz input and variable refresh rate would be the biggest reasons. HDMI 2.0 is limited to 4k 60hz at 4:4:4 color (needed for legible text in computer applications). Until HDMI 2.1 is out, no TV can do that.Not having to hunt for the buried setting in the menu that turns of 50-150ms of preprocessing input lag would be a secondary gain.
Inteli - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
LG's 2019 OLEDs have HDMI 2.1. The current panels are already capable of 120Hz so they just need the input to do so.DigitalFreak - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
True, but there are no video cards with HDMI 2.1 so you're back to square one. :-)darkswordsman17 - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
By the time this is out, there almost certainly will be HDMI 2.1 video cards out.I have a hunch that this is supporting a fairly agnostic VRR adaptive sync setup, where AMD and Nvidia (and probably Intel and even others) will be able to offer some support (even if its fairly simplistic and just managing things based on fixed framerate of content 24/30/60). Plus, since Nvidia is expanding their support of adaptive sync, I could see them supporting both Freesync and GSync.
r3loaded - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
The 2019 models will support HDMI 2.1, Adaptive Sync, 120Hz and have incredibly low input lag (especially for a TV) somewhere in the teens though, so they're gonna be fantastic for gamers. Come to think of it, chances are that LG are supplying the panel for Dell here.DigitalFreak - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
I'd be surprised if this actually goes on sale in 2019. OLED still has burn-in issues. It may not be a big deal when watching television, but static desktops and game HUDs will burn in real quick.Applejackson - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
I don't know how much of an issue that really is. LG TVs have a pixel shift feature to help prevent this as well. I played RDR2 for very long sessions for over a month with that little map in the bottom left corner and it never even retained the image, let alone true burn in.Blacksunn - Friday, January 11, 2019 - link
I was at CES and spoke to the Dell monitor PM about retention on this monitor and he said they are still trying to work though those issues with the panels but at this point this monitor will still be prone to it.