Unsolved
1 Rookie
•
20 Posts
45
5036
AW3225QF (and likely other Gen 3 QD-OLED models) - HDR Peak 1000 bad PQ tracking compared to DisplayHDR True Black
Hello
I purchased the AW3225QF a while ago and while it has mostly been a joy to use, there is one issue with it which I would consider pretty significant. It is related to the brightness of the monitor inside the HDR Peak 1000 mode.
One of the first things I did after getting it was experimenting with HDR Peak 1000 and DisplayHDR True Black 400 as I had heard differing opinions when it comes to these. While the HDR Peak 1000 mode obviously produced much brighter highlights in low APL scenarios, I also noticed that in higher APL scenarios it was significantly dimmer than the True Black mode. This is the case even when there is no apparent reason for it, i.e. no bright highlights on the screen. And since most reviewers simply said that Peak 1000 was preferable in most scenarios due to its higher brightness, I simply dealt with it and assumed that was how it was supposed to look.
However, recently TFTCentral looked into this issue and their findings suggest that there is a problem with the Peak 1000 mode. I will note that their testing was not done specifically with the AW3225QF, but the same behaviour is very much happening on this monitor as well (and likely all other Gen 3 QD-OLEDs, as mentioned in the article). The issue is that the PQ EOTF tracking is honestly not good at all when it comes higher APL scenes (around 10% and above), specifically for midtones. This results in the overall screen brightness being significantly lower in a lot of scenes on the Peak 1000 mode when it really shouldn't be. At times, the luminance can be almost 50% lower. While some roll off is fine, this is way too drastic.
To me, this is a big issue which I think needs attention. The result of this problem is that there is no HDR mode which is preferable in all scenarios. In brighter scenes with generally higher APL, DisplayHDR True Black 400 will often look much better than Peak 1000. However, in darker scenes where you really want those bright highlights Peak 1000 will be the better choice. So unless you're fine with dim e.g. outdoor scenes, you'll have to sacrifice the punchy highlights. I hope this is something which is being looked into.
More details can be found in the article written by TFTCentral: https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/testing-hdr400-true-black-and-peak-1000-mode-brightness-on-new-oled-monitors#Key-update-Heres-why-TB400-can-sometimes-look-brighter-than-P1000
Vanadiel
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
6.5K Posts
1
May 2nd, 2024 16:27
Honestly don't fully understand why anybody would be using HDR 1000 when there is a VESA certified HDR 400 mode available.
I would use the certified over the non-certified any day, but that is just me.
farmormeister
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
20 Posts
3
May 2nd, 2024 17:59
@Vanadiel Just because a mode is certified does not inherently make it better. Peak 1000 can look significantly better in low APL scenes, unless you simply dislike bright highlights.
(edited)
Vanadiel
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
6.5K Posts
1
May 2nd, 2024 18:26
@farmormeister I prefer correct color reproduction and proper EOTF curve over bright highlights. That's why I stuck with the HDR 400 mode over the 1000 mode.
J03Y0
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
1 Message
3
May 8th, 2024 08:17
Same issue! Please roll out a firmware update
dubeux
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
15 Posts
3
May 11th, 2024 01:05
Same issue here as well. C'mon Dell!
Petrarca22
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
10 Posts
2
May 11th, 2024 15:36
Same here, I you have to follow samsung rules for power usage add like 700-800 nit mode with less abl..
MaxLebled
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
2
May 11th, 2024 16:55
The HDR400 TrueBlack mode ABL behaviour is decent enough, the auto-dimming behaviour of the HDR 1000 mode is downright terrible.
Definitely hoping to see this addressed with a firmware update. The fixes so far have been encouraging. Dell should continue on that path!
ELMatadario
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
6 Posts
1
May 26th, 2024 15:03
Same issue here, highlights look amazing but as soon as they're bigger than a match flame or small torch, the whole panel dims down.. Source tone map on seems to improve the behaviour a bit but it's not enough
Blinkkkk
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
1 Message
1
May 27th, 2024 08:22
PQ tracking is really terrible with the scene being dimmed so aggressively at higher APL, updates so far have been promising, please fix this Dell!
rEngage
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
1 Message
1
May 29th, 2024 16:28
Same issue here. We need this fixed, Dell! If Dell hasn't acknowledged it by the time my 2 month return window is up, I will be returning the monitor and sticking with my 1st gen OLED until Gen 4 drops.
JohnDeFaze
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
1 Message
1
May 31st, 2024 07:21
Since they did it before with the AW3423DWF model by updating the FW, I think they can do it with the AW3225QF too.
CM87
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
1
June 5th, 2024 10:54
Same issue. Don't know why most reviews did not pick up on this but it's really obvious with brighter scenes. It looks greyish on the Peak 1000 mode, compared to the True Black 400 mode. Please fix this, we don't want to sacrifice bright highlights in darker scenes to get proper full screen brightness in brighter scenes!
Vicariousx
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
June 10th, 2024 13:52
Apparently MSI fixed it with their latest firmware udate. Where's Dell's fix? Still have this issue.
farmormeister
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
20 Posts
2
June 12th, 2024 00:16
Not sure whether any of the other manufacturers have actually fixed this issue but they have at least said that they are working on it.
Either way, some interesting info from TFTCentral once again here: https://tftcentral.co.uk/articles/hdr-brightness-investigation-and-how-to-get-a-brighter-hdr-experience-on-the-dell-alienware-aw3225qf
So basically, we can work around this issue (although not 100% accurate, it might be wonky and is only possible on PC) by using the DV Bright mode due to Windows being bugged in relation to DV. Evidently the monitor CAN get bright enough, so this seems to purely be a tuning issue on Dell's end if I understand things correctly. Apparently the problems go deeper with specifically this monitor, as the TB400 mode is also dimmer than it really should be. TFTCentral also got the same response as earlier in this thread when reaching out to Dell.
But evidently, the monitor can behave as people are wanting it to, so why not just give us the option!? Apparently Gigabytes monitor using exactly the same panel already behaves that way (although still a bit inaccurate), so surely it's not Samsung stopping Dell from fixing/improving things?
It'll be interesting to see what other manufacturers end up doing. Hopefully we'll see it fixed to put som more pressure on Dell. If anyone has time to try the DV work around for the moment, I'd love to hear how it works out! Not able to test it for myself for a little while
CM87
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
2 Posts
0
June 22nd, 2024 16:11
My system unfortunately will noch switch to Dolby Vision if enabled in the OSD, so I cannot test it. Is it a Windows 11 problem? If anyone has tips how to "force" the DV bug, i am all ears.
System: AMD 7900XTX (newest driver), Windows 10, Monitor via Displayport, newest Firmware