[PCM2]

VRR flickering (or VRR flicker) is a common problem on both WOLED and QD-OLED. And even more egregious on many VA LCDs. If you’ve come to this post expecting a scientifically rigorous analysis of how VRR flickering compares on WOLED and QD-OLED or are expecting an absolute answer as to which technology suffers less from it – prepare to be disappointed. Here I am simply expressing my own subjective thoughts reinforced by some thoughts expressed by others who have experience with both technologies. If you’ve experienced both yourself, please feel free to share your own thoughts and feelings on how they compared with respect to VRR flickering – even if (and this will apply in many cases) you find them very similar.

I’ve now reviewed or at least used at least a dozen QD-OLED and WOLED models combined, and they’ve all suffered from a degree of VRR flickering which has the potential to bother some people. And none have been as ‘offensive’ in that respect as your average VA LCD in this domain, at least for normal ‘in-game’ fluctuations that might occur. If there is such a thing as a normal in-game fluctuation (of course there isn’t – it very much depends on the game and your system). My overriding general feeling is that, for whatever reason, I tend to find WOLED flickering more noticeable when gaming on my system. The best performer in this respect was actually the first model I tested and one I owned for a few years – the Dell Alienware AW3423DW. This one benefited from a G-SYNC module, which performs some degree of compensation for the gamma fluctuations occurring in a VRR environment. This reduces but does not eliminate VRR flickering.

In my video review of the Dell Alienware AW3225QF (which replaced the AW3423DW for my own personal use), I made a general assessment of VRR flickering and also stated: “I don’t find QD-OLEDs like this have as obnoxious VRR flickering as WOLEDs. Somebody in the comments section drew my attention to a video that was posted where they found the reverse to be true (see below). This compares the Samsung G80SD (QD-OLED) with the LG 32GS95UE (WOLED). The monitors are calibrated rather differently, as the poster states in a comment on their video: “Samsung was in its sRGB clamp mode, I had to put the WOLED in FPS preset to raise gamma so it doesn’t look so dark on camera. The FPS preset doesn’t clamp to sRGB so its oversaturated.” Nonetheless, I appreciate some things need to be adjusted to try to highlight differences more clearly in the video and also got the impression they observed more obvious flickering on the QD-OLED by eye than on the WOLED they tested.

Now I don’t know if the Samsung G80SD is just particularly poor in this respect, but the pretty much constant low level flickering detected by the camera may not be observed at all by eye or at least not in a clear or distracting way. I have often found when I’m recording QD-OLED monitors, there’s quite a bit of flickering picked up by the camera in a way that’s massively exaggerated. You can certainly see this in the VRR flickering test used in the AW3225QF video snippet I referred to earlier, but also during gameplay in certain scenes. In my review of the MSI MPG 321URX QD-OLED I attempted to show the flickering in-game where the camera picked it up in a way that fairly represented how it appeared to the eye. I wouldn’t say the flickering there was exaggerated and actually some of the flickering I found more noticeable by eye than in the video. Trying to record in-game examples of VRR flickering is incredibly frustrating, given that it’s either greatly exaggerated or not actually picked up at all (or strongly enough).

I’ve thought more about all of this whilst performing some testing on the ASUS XG27AQDMG. This is a model I stated in the review I found to be relatively good in terms of VRR flickering “for a WOLED”, incidentally. In my experience I feel that WOLED models tend to be more prone to intense flickering during significant frame rate fluctuations. I’m not talking about the sort of bizarre fluctuations in refresh rate that can occur in some loading screens and game menu systems, as I feel both technologies are problematic there. But sudden drops in frame rate in a game that are a bit less extreme than that though still significant (for example – the monitor suddenly going from 150Hz to 90Hz). It could be that QD-OLED models are more prone to a more subtle flickering during smaller fluctuations in frame rate. This flickering is subtle enough that many people won’t notice it, especially if they’re not sitting in a dark room and they aren’t overly sensitive to flicker. In reality it’s difficult to assess all of this as the exact fluctuations occurring (both magnitude and direction), the brightness of the display and how it’s calibrated with respect to gamma could all affect it. And sensitivity to the flickering as well as the exact shade levels involved can affect how it’s perceived by an individual.

TLDR; both WOLED and QD-OLED exhibit VRR flickering and if somebody is sensitive enough to it to find it annoying with one technology, they probably will with the other. There can be some variation between models and not just technology types. It might be that WOLED is slightly more prone to intense flickering during moderately strong fluctuations in frame rate and QD-OLEDs may be more prone to a subtler flickering during smaller fluctuations in frame rate. Both technologies are prone to obvious flickering during significant fluctuations such as loading screens, in-game menus and sometimes in the game itself (depending on the game and system).

[Darryl282]

Thanks, this is a great read. Im sitting here stuck between the ASUS ROG Strix OLED XG27AQDMG or the Alienware AW2725DF. Both 27 inch OLED monitors. One being QD-OLED, the other W-OLED. Deciding factor for me is the black level issue with QD-OLED and VRR flickering. I want less flicker, but also don’t want that magenta tint with lighting. My room is generally not that bright and I don’t use it for bright office work. A difficult decision as it seems the Alienware has much less vrr flicker.

[PCM2]

It’s always a difficult decision given the compromises of both options. If the room isn’t generally very bright and there isn’t too much light striking the screen directly, the QD-OLED’s lightening up shouldn’t be too severe and you shouldn’t observe strong colourful tints. I’d also add that the XG27AQDMG has a grainy screen surface (despite being glossy) as covered in the review.

You’ll also get less vibrant HDR output on WOLEDs due to the lower gamut and colour volume (dilution from white subpixels), but better overall brightness is maintained in scenes where brighter shades start to dominate. Dark grey uniformity is also worse on WOLED than QD-OLED and I personally find the fringing on WOLED more obnoxious, so I prefer QD-OLEDs on the desktop. For me QD-OLED is the superior technology, but it’s a very subjective and individual thing really as they both have their compromises.

[Darryl282]

Thanks for the reply, how does the OLED anti-flicker feature fare at low and high frames?

[PCM2]

I found it to be a pretty useless feature on the XG27AQDMG so didn’t really explore it too deeply. It might help for very specific content but will otherwise cause more flickering. For more details on the technology more generally, see this video where I tested it on the PG32UCDP.

[Author]

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