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Alienware’s new 55-inch OLED monitor is a step closer to the perfect gaming TV

Alienware’s new 55-inch OLED monitor is a step closer to the perfect gaming TV

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Available on September 30th for $3,999.99

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Image: Alienware

Dell is looking to surpass Nvidia’s giant 4K gaming displays with an OLED panel on its latest Alienware monitor. The Alienware 55 OLED Gaming Monitor includes a 55-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and support for AMD’s FreeSync that reduces visual artifacts like screen tearing. This Alienware panel has super-thin bezels and includes a single DisplayPort 1.2 port, three HDMI 2.0 ports, four USB ports, a headphone jack, and SPDIF audio line-out.

The lack of HDMI 2.1 will disappoint many hoping to take advantage of 4K video at 120Hz through HDMI. The rear mount is VESA compatible, so you can use this display with the included leg supports or mount it on a wall or third-party stand. Dell’s panel also has a response time of 0.5 milliseconds (gray-to-gray) and includes a remote that hopefully works a lot better than the one included on HP’s Omen X Big Format Gaming Display (BFGD).

Image: Alienware

We’ve seen similar 65-inch gaming displays from the likes of HP, Acer, and Asus, but none of these have included an OLED panel. OLED is great for true blacks and color reproduction, but unfortunately, Dell isn’t including HDR support on this Alienware display. That makes it less appealing as a main TV you could use for both gaming and 4K movies / TV shows, especially as more and more games are also getting HDR support.

As the line between TVs and monitors continues to blur, we’re still waiting on the perfect big-screen TV / monitor that combines all of the features you’d want for gaming and entertainment. The ideal would be a 65-inch 4K OLED display with 120Hz or higher refresh rate, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, HDMI 2.1 ports, DisplayPort 2.0 ports (once they’re ready), and both G-Sync and FreeSync support.

While the perfect panel might not exist just yet, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more OLED displays with 120Hz or faster refresh rates and support for technologies like FreeSync in 2020. Both Microsoft and Sony are significantly improving the capabilities of their next-generation consoles, with plans to support ray-tracing, up to 8K gaming, and a big focus on improving raw frame rates to take advantage of 120Hz displays and beyond. That could mean the traditional living room TV is about to get some much-needed upgrades for console gaming that will also benefit those who connect up powerful gaming PCs.

Dell is planning to make the Alienware 55 OLED Gaming Monitor available on September 30th starting at $3,999.99.