I am coming from a 27" QHD monitor and I think the text may be a little less sharp but it is more than acceptable. https://www.dell.com/community/Customer-Care/I-need-help-with-a-product-exchange-Dell-Support-hangs-up-on-me/m-p/7716255 So I have some questions about the monitor, and would love to get some answers, from not only Tom's, but from owners of this monitor. Dell’s display looks subtle, so it’s ideal if you want a screen that will suit a more professional environment – or if you just don’t like the gregarious design of modern gaming hardware.

The inability to rotate your display without purchasing a mount is common to Dell displays, while the stand is very sturdy and easy to install the mount simply isn’t designed with portrait usage in mind. The adjustable height and side rotation is more than sufficient for most setups and the mount does not have a tendancy to slowly slide down from the weight of the display. The 1800R curvature is enough to mitigate any loss of quality at the sides of the display by keeping the angle within specifications for VA panels. Of course, if you do like displays with wild design and plenty of lighting, the Dell doesn’t fit the bill. Alienware will be more your style. The Dell’s refresh rate and response time aren’t good enough for top-level eSports competition. If you need that extra speed, look for a 240Hz and 1ms display instead.The monitor is a little pricey in the mainstream line up but how often do you really need to upgrade once you get to this size of monitor. For me, it was worth paying a little extra.

Dell’s display has AMD FreeSync 2 with a peak refresh rate of 165Hz, and it also works with Nvidia graphics cards. That refresh rate is high enough to handle mainstream eSports games, and it will make single-player titles look butter-smooth. It isn’t fast enough for top-tier eSports gaming, however. We find QHD to be the best balance between detail and performance. Although 4K gaming monitors will look slightly sharper, its lower motion resolution will erase much of that gain unless you have a lot of graphics processing power under the hood. The S3220DGF is a great fit for a mid to high-budget systems. Beneath this, you’ll find a VA panel with 10-bit colour and a 4ms response time. Again, those figures are more suited to single-player gaming and mainstream eSports gameplay – that response time needs to be lower for high-level competition. The Dell S3220DGF is an impressive gaming monitor in many areas: it offers superb core image quality alongside subtle and sturdy design, and its size, resolution and curve deliver absorbing gaming.We sat about 3 feet away and had no trouble discerning the finest details in photos or in moving images. The bonus color is nice to have for all conten, even though it isn’t strictly accurate. The 32in diagonal and gentle curve make the Dell an absorbing option – great if you want to really get lost in your games. https://www.dell.com/community/Monitors/S3220DGF-revision-A03-still-no-1440p120Hz-over-HDMI/m-p/7640772 The Dell S3220DGF’s 32in diagonal means this screen is on the large side, and it has an 1800R curve which is entirely standard for a gaming display. It isn’t a dramatic curve, but it works well, adding immersion and improving viewing angles without becoming distracting. The 2560 x 1440 resolution stretches across the 32in display, and this is a sensible mainstream figure. It’s high enough to provide a crisp gaming experience, but it isn’t outrageous. As such, a broad range of graphics cards will be able to run games on this panel, including cards such as the Nvidia RTX 3070 and Radeon RX 6700 XT. Only a 4K display will be sharper, but that will require a far more powerful graphics card.

Nevertheless, at this price, there’s a lot to like. The Dell S3220DGF is a top-notch option for immersive mainstream gaming. You should buy it if… Dell’s S3220DGF is a great path for an upgrade to an SDR, fixed resolution display for those with a budget in mind; assuming it is on sale. At the full price there are choices out there with better panel tech and if you don’t have a budget you should be looking at ultra wide displays meeting the DisplayHDR1000 specification. You should also consider your intended usage before choosing between an IPS panel or a VA panel such as this Dell S3220DGF. An IPS will offer you better viewing angles which is important on screens without a curve, however it cannot match the superior contrast ratio of the VA panel nor will it be as enjoyable in a dark room. The refresh rate and response time are acceptable for single-player gaming and mainstream eSports, but they’re not good enough for competition-level play. The Dell is best-suited to single-player gameplay. The Dell’s logos use a blue, metallic shade, but that’s it for ornamentation. Subtle gunmetal plastic is used throughout, the stand is a sleek pillar of metal, and the base is smart, flat, and ideal for peripheral storage. The bezels are slim, and the build quality is consistently impressive. Dell’s display also has height, pivot, and tilt adjustment, but no portrait mode option which, again, is entirely normal for a curved monitor. The OSD is well designed and worth spending a bit of time getting to know. Along with the obvious controls found on all monitors you will be able to tweak your response rate, HDR settings and even set up four shortcut keys if you so desire. For those without a colourimeter there are eight preset colour modes to choose from, with three game profiles you can program and store as well as a general custom colour profile.

If you want to play high-level competitive games, you’ll be better off with a 240Hz display with a 1ms response time, even at a lower resolution – it will be smoother, faster, and more crisp.