[FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521HF)

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TommioTTV
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[FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521HF)

Post by TommioTTV » 31 Jul 2022, 06:32

January 13, 2023 - Updated:
2518HF and 6-bit+FRC panels: On CRU, changing the maximum color depth from 8 bpc to 6 bpc could help a lot with ghosting issues. The difference in color depth is barely noticeable.
Setting background apps fps max (in nVidia Control Panel) to 60fps + Setting the lower V-rate range limit to 120hz prevents DWM/Other background apps from interfering with G-Sync when you have it on in-game
Setting the upper V-rate range limit to 239hz prevents flickering (sometimes your monitor randomly goes to 241hz with G-Sync on which causes your refresh rate to be set to 241hz even though you have the max range set at 240hz).

Image

This should fix the DisplayID 2.0 flickering on nVidia GPU issue as well. If it doesn't, try adding a CTA-861 data block with a Freesync range that matches the V-rate range limit above (120-239hz).
Image

Use a 5 or 15 vertical line sync width instead of 8 (has to do with the way everything maths together)
Image

Both 2518HF and other panels:
Setting the "Output color format" to YCbCr444 instead of sRGB on nVidia Control Panel (your monitor will automatically change the format itself when you change it on nVidia) may help with ghosting/motion blur as well, however there is a slight amount of input lag added (kind of a v-sync like feeling) since games use sRGB and your GPU+Monitor has to encode+decode the color format, but it is barely noticeable if you are CPU-Bound (you most likely are). I assume this helps due to the way your monitor syncs on "green". Changing the format changes the component video sync format from SOG (Sync-On-Green) to Sync On Luminance. I noticed that green was the color that tend to cause overshoot/undershoot when testing with TestUFO (https://www.testufo.com/ghosting#backgr ... border.png).

On your Monitor Display Color settings (your monitor has some weird gamma correction settings)
Reducing the gain from 100 to 99 for red+green
Reducing the offset from 50 to 49 for red+green
Reducing the contrast from 75 to 74 (75+ turns on weird color correction settings as well)

Still being tested:
Dynamic Contrast (I found that having this on actually helped with the ghosting and motion blur issue a little bit in some cases)
DDC/CI (This is recommended to keep off, but I found no difference in testing. Your GPU might do some dynamic/automatic overdrive adjustments if you enable g-sync/freesync though, so I would keep it on with G-sync enabled)

There are other changes and tweaks I found through the service menu (voids warranty), I will post more about it when I have time.


July 31 2022 - Original Post :
The Alienware AW2518HF monitor ships with the incorrect monitor timings which causes frameskipping and terrible ghosting even with no overdrive. The manual specifications do not specify what the proper monitor timings should be other than the horizontal/vertical frequencies and pixel clock totals. The default EDID CTA-861 extension block type doesn't allow for a front porch above a value of 63, so for some reason dell compensated that by increasing the back porch value to 15 (not sure why). Switching the extension block type to DisplayID 2.0 and changing the vertical values to fit CVT-RB2 vertical standards (while keeping horizontal values the same) gave me the exact H/V frequencies and specified pixel clock as described in the manual specifications. Testing this in-game the issue is completely fixed everything with no tearing or visible ghosting on the highest overdrive settings. The correct timings are shown in the CRU screenshot.

Other thoughts:
Strangely enough, the AW2521HF product manual specifications lists the same horizontal/vertical frequencies and pixel clock timings that were incorrectly shipped with the AW2518HF (possibly due to a Dell test employee noticing that the manual specifications didn't match with the actual values and they may have just negligently made a correction on the document in order to save costs within the production pipeline).
Attachments
aw2521hf product specifciation for pixel clocks and horizontal vertical frequencies.jpg
aw2521hf product specifciation for pixel clocks and horizontal vertical frequencies.jpg (84.51 KiB) Viewed 11230 times
AW2518HF product specifciation for pixel clocks and horizontal vertical frequencies.png
AW2518HF product specifciation for pixel clocks and horizontal vertical frequencies.png (46.47 KiB) Viewed 11230 times
AW2518HF CRU correct settings.png
AW2518HF CRU correct settings.png (51.81 KiB) Viewed 11230 times
Last edited by TommioTTV on 28 Apr 2023, 08:09, edited 16 times in total.

RestTarRr
Posts: 36
Joined: 08 Mar 2020, 07:08

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by RestTarRr » 05 Aug 2022, 07:05

Is this better than the exact reduced fix?

BTW how did you know these exact numbers are the correct ones when manual doesn't allow for 121 front porch? Can I somehow brick my monitor with this?

Kyouki
Posts: 190
Joined: 20 Jul 2022, 04:52

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Kyouki » 05 Aug 2022, 07:44

I own the AW2521H but I have not experience any frame skipping nor ghosting doing the tests on testufo. as well as the gaming portion seems great!

What else can I check to verify if I suffer or have this issue?
CPU: AMD R7 5800x3D ~ PBO2Tuner -30 ~ no C states
RAM: Gskill Bdie 2x16gb TridentZ Neo ~ CL16-16-16-36 1T ~ fine tuned latency
GPU: ASUS TUF 3080 10G OC Edition(v1/non-LHR) ~ disabled Pstates ~ max oced
OS: Fine tuned Windows 10 Pro, manual tuned.
Monitor: Alienware AW2521H ~ mix of ULMB/Gsync @ 240hz/360hz
More specs: https://kit.co/Kyouki/the-pc-that-stomps-you

Tell
Posts: 21
Joined: 09 May 2018, 07:27

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Tell » 05 Aug 2022, 08:48

Does this also apply to the AW2518H g-sync module version?

Bobo
Posts: 83
Joined: 05 Jun 2018, 11:44

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Bobo » 12 Aug 2022, 10:21

using DisplayID 2.0, does not work for me.
could it be cuz i`m on HDMI and not Displayport ?

Seph
Posts: 2
Joined: 12 Aug 2022, 10:43

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Seph » 12 Aug 2022, 10:51

I briefly tried it and so far it seems it has eliminated the inverse ghosting quite a bit on the highest overdrive.
I'll try some games today and see how it goes.

Kyouki
Posts: 190
Joined: 20 Jul 2022, 04:52

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Kyouki » 15 Aug 2022, 04:07

Kinda wish we had more information on this. Is anyone able to explain/tell me how I could test/verify this on my AW2521H model?
CPU: AMD R7 5800x3D ~ PBO2Tuner -30 ~ no C states
RAM: Gskill Bdie 2x16gb TridentZ Neo ~ CL16-16-16-36 1T ~ fine tuned latency
GPU: ASUS TUF 3080 10G OC Edition(v1/non-LHR) ~ disabled Pstates ~ max oced
OS: Fine tuned Windows 10 Pro, manual tuned.
Monitor: Alienware AW2521H ~ mix of ULMB/Gsync @ 240hz/360hz
More specs: https://kit.co/Kyouki/the-pc-that-stomps-you

Bobo
Posts: 83
Joined: 05 Jun 2018, 11:44

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Bobo » 15 Aug 2022, 12:12

Seph wrote:
12 Aug 2022, 10:51
I briefly tried it and so far it seems it has eliminated the inverse ghosting quite a bit on the highest overdrive.
I'll try some games today and see how it goes.
are you using hdmi or displayport ?

Boomchakadah
Posts: 196
Joined: 15 Aug 2018, 02:44

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Boomchakadah » 17 Aug 2022, 02:36

.
Last edited by Boomchakadah on 22 Aug 2022, 22:30, edited 2 times in total.
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Seph
Posts: 2
Joined: 12 Aug 2022, 10:43

Re: [FIX] Alienware AW2518HF frameskipping/ghosting fix (and possibly all the other AW2XXX series such as the AW2521)

Post by Seph » 17 Aug 2022, 21:30

Bobo wrote:
15 Aug 2022, 12:12
Seph wrote:
12 Aug 2022, 10:51
I briefly tried it and so far it seems it has eliminated the inverse ghosting quite a bit on the highest overdrive.
I'll try some games today and see how it goes.
are you using hdmi or displayport ?
I'm using displayport, I've been running these settings since I last posted with no issues so far.
I'd love to see other opinions on this.

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