Best cheap, curved 1440p ultrawide monitor?

[Chomiq]

I have had mine ages now and have never seen anything like this. He also has a gtx1080, mine is a rtx3080, could be his gtx1080 causing his issue

From rtings review:

Although it's not officially certified as G-SYNC Compatible, it's possible to enable G-SYNC when using this monitor with an NVIDIA graphics card, but only over DisplayPort. Unfortunately, there are some issues when using this monitor in G-SYNC compatible mode. As long as your frame rate stays above 60fps, you won't have any issues. If it drops below that, there's significant flickering that gets worse as the frame rate drops.

So it's not just one guy having issues.

Here's one with 3080 Ti:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PCMonitors/comments/rjmut8

 

[INSTG8R]

No knowledge of any of them, but I wholeheartedly endorse your Christmas wish. Moving to 1440UW was maybe the best move I've ever made in terms of gaming upgrades and I've no intension of going further until cards exist which can handle 4KUW at good native framerates.

I second the choice of a VA panel too, although my current OLED has zero indication of burn-in after 6+ months. My previous Acer VA UW was a really nice screen and if there was no OLED I would have been looking at VA myself.

I could have typed this word for word Except my previous UW was the Odyssey G5. I had no real complaints except that it had “HDR” and some games “agreed” and would turn it on.

 

[AusWolf]

The monitor works fine with my Nvidia GPU so i think it is GSYNC compatible as long as having premium pro, not tried HDR

It says "Freesync Premium Pro" on the amazon page, but I guess it works on Nvidia, too.

How is the curve? My current monitor is 1800R, same as this Dell, but I wouldn't mind a bit more. That's why I was thinking about the Samsung, as it's 1000R.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

It says "Freesync Premium Pro" on the amazon page, but I guess it works on Nvidia, too.

How is the curve? My current monitor is 1800R, same as this Dell, but I wouldn't mind a bit more. That's why I was thinking about the Samsung, as it's 1000R.

I think the curve is fine for such a wide monitor.

From rtings review:

So it's not just one guy having issues.

Here's one with 3080 Ti:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PCMonitors/comments/rjmut8

I don't even have a Gsync option in NCP so can't say about gsync compatible mode. As i said i have not noticed any flickering at all. Do you have the same monitor? if not you are just going by what you are reading and not with the actual monitor in front of you.

 

[Chomiq]

I think the curve is fine for such a wide monitor.



I don't even have a Gsync option in NCP so can't say about gsync compatible mode. As i said i have not noticed any flickering at all. Do you have the same monitor? if not you are just going by what you are reading and not with the actual monitor in front of you.

Ah OK don't mind multiple reports of display flickering with gsync on, the guy that doesn't have it turned on says there's no flicker.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Ah OK don't mind multiple reports of display flickering with gsync on, the guy that doesn't have it turned on says there's no flicker.

I can neither turn gsync on or off as the option is not there. I have noticed no flicker or i would have said so.

Imo it is a pretty good monitor. As i said, there might be better for more or less money. it is kind of a personal choice. As it is my first UW display i have nothing to compare it to i can only go on my experience of this display.

Just tried HDR, for what it's worth it seems pretty good. White is really white looking rather than grey on SDR mode.

Rtings don't really like the Samsung, so imo give that a miss

 

[AusWolf]

I think the curve is fine for such a wide monitor.

I don't even have a Gsync option in NCP so can't say about gsync compatible mode. As i said i have not noticed any flickering at all. Do you have the same monitor? if not you are just going by what you are reading and not with the actual monitor in front of you.

Ah OK. I was thinking it's either fine for a wider screen, or it could really do with some more curve, just like my current 16:9 Samsung.

For now, my two contenders are the Samsung G5 because it has a steep 1000R curvature... I love curves - don't get me wrong. The other one is the Dell because of its better HDR and PIP function.

Edit: Buggy G-sync isn't a problem as long as Nvidia keeps asking stellar money for their GPUs.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Ah OK. I was thinking it's either fine for a wider screen, or it could really do with some more curve, just like my current 16:9 Samsung.

For now, my two contenders are the Samsung G5 because it has a steep 1000R curvature... I love curves - don't get me wrong. The other one is the Dell because of its better HDR and PIP function.

Edit: Buggy G-sync isn't a problem as long as Nvidia keeps asking stellar money for their GPUs.

You have a AMD GPU, so the dell should be fine with its freesync PP

 

[AusWolf]

You have a AMD GPU, so the dell should be fine with its freesync PP

Yep.

Now the question is... bigger curve, or PIP and better HDR... Tough choice.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Yep.

Now the question is... bigger curve, or PIP and better HDR... Tough choice.

PIP and better HDR, the PIP is more useful than the curve. Switch and PC on the same monitor

 

[AusWolf]

PIP and better HDR, the PIP is more useful than the curve. Switch and PC on the same monitor

Something compels me to agree with you. A bigger curve is nice, but PIP is actually useful to me.

 

[AleXXX666]

I don't know in which subforum monitors go, so I'll drop this here - mods, feel free to move it as appropriate.

So... which cheap, curved 1440p ultrawide monitor is the best?

So far, I've looked at these:

• MSi PRO MP341CQ (seems nice),
• MSi MAG 342CQPV (seems okay),
• AOC CU34G2X (the HU review is a bit meh, but okay),
• AOC CU34V5CW (I haven't found any review),
• Samsung Odyssey LC34G55T (the HU review is quite positive about the colour space, just not the stand, which I don't care about too much as long as it does its job - a bit expensive, though).

It'll probably be a Christmas surprise from me to me (if I even decide to buy, which I might not), so there's no rush.

My preference is a VA panel, as the monitor will have to serve as close to a lifetime as possible, with no burn-in or discolouration over time.

The budget is around 350-400 Great British coins, so messages like "these are all crap, you should buy this $1000 model" will be ignored.

Thanks.

budget is 27" LMFAO

PIP and better HDR, the PIP is more useful than the curve. Switch and PC on the same monitor

comparing apples to carrots, nice

 

[AusWolf]

budget is 27" LMFAO

This is the kind of answer that I wanted to avoid by stating what my budget is. Budget, as in "money available to spend" and not "being cheap".

comparing apples to carrots, nice

Show me a monitor within my budget that has both.

I kindly ask you to be useful by suggesting something, or to not comment at all. Being a smartass won't get either of us anywhere.

 

[Sithhy™]

Got the G34WQC myself.

I had the same monitor for 6 months. While it had the features I wanted, it was one of my worst purchases I've ever made. Didn't think the black smearing could be too bad on a new generation VA panel but it was genuinely worse than on my 5 years older Samsung monitor which also features a VA panel. The vignette was noticable for some time but after a month or two I got used to it & completely forgot about it at times. If I had the choice to stay with my current non-ultrawide Samsung (mentioned earlier) or go with the G34WQC again, I'd seriously stay with the Samsung; the experience was not good, despite the 1440p resolution being quite a nice improvement to my overall day-to-day experience with an ultrawide monitor

 

[AusWolf]

I had the same monitor for 6 months. While it had the features I wanted, it was one of my worst purchases I've ever made. Didn't think the black smearing could be too bad on a new generation VA panel but it was genuinely worse than on my 5 years older Samsung monitor which also features a VA panel. The vignette was noticable for some time but after a month or two I got used to it & completely forgot about it at times. If I had the choice to stay with my current non-ultrawide Samsung (mentioned earlier) or go with the G34WQC again, I'd seriously stay with the Samsung; the experience was not good, despite the 1440p resolution being quite a nice improvement to my overall day-to-day experience with an ultrawide monitor

Was that an issue with the monitor itself? Or would you not buy a VA ultrawide again, not even a different model?

 

[Outback Bronze]

While it had the features I wanted, it was one of my worst purchases I've ever made.

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe I'm no monitorphile (if there is such a word) that can see and understand those issues that you describe.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

budget is 27" LMFAO


comparing apples to carrots, nice

Why did you post to add nothing to the thread?

 

[Sithhy™]

Was that an issue with the monitor itself? Or would you not buy a VA ultrawide again, not even a different model?

Honestly, it's a characteristic of VA panels themselves, especially the ones with high(er) contrast but it gets amplified on cheaper models. I have no personal experience with them, but I've seen people say that the more expensive Samsung VA panels are nowhere near as bad with black smearing but they do still possess it. In your situation but I don't think those would fit in your budget . I would definitely look for something with an IPS panel at the very least as despite not having black-ish blacks, all the other colours will be looking better than on a VA & won't have that yellow tint to them which will definitely improve your experience with the monitor. The iiyama XUB3493WQSU-B5 would be the closest match for your budget, but it does not feature a curved screen & is "just" 75Hz

 

[arroyo]

IIYAMA XCB3494WQSN
zero dead pixel warranty, excellent refresh rate and usefull OSD (not like in Philips or AOC which are mess)

 

[oxrufiioxo]

For now, my two contenders are the Samsung G5 because it has a steep 1000R curvature... I love curves - don't get me wrong. The other one is the Dell because of its better HDR and PIP function.

I would pretty much ignore hdr if the monitor isn't oled or fald with a ton of zones the experience will be terrible. Some of the edge lit options with 8-16 zones are ok but they are typically much more expensive.

1000R curve on a va monitor can cause issues due to the terrible viewing angles how much this effects you will depend on how much off angle color degradation bothers you I'd stick with the 1800R curve though.

The best advice I could give is grab somthing with an excellent return policy all budget ish monitors are going to have downsides how much they bother you will be hard to quantify till you actually have the monitor sitting in front of you.

Another thing to keep in mind is going from a 1080p 24 inch model to a 34 inch 1440p model the ppi only goes from 92 to 110 this may or may not be underwhelming from a clarity/sharpness standpoint to some, also keep an eye on what antireflective coating the monitor uses some destroy color/clarity even further depending on lighting conditions.

 

[physicsjunky]

Got the G34WQC myself. Been good for the last couple of years. Haven't noticed any issues in game or picture quality yet.

I would also recommend a gigabyte monitor but their warranty is slow. The G34WQC is the older version and the G34WQC A is their new refreshed version.
their contrast is excellent and HDR works alright for 400 nits they also have some cool features like hooking up your mouse and keyboard up to the back and PIP, and PBP.
You can change the overdrive setting to balance or picture quality to get rid of the smery mess.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

The Dell has both PIP and PBP too.

 

[KrazyT]

1000R curve is a marketing trick on a 34"
I had a Samsung 34" with 1800R curve, when i gave it to my sister, i really wanted a 1000R....
If you compare the 2 side by side, you see the difference, but now i barely see the change.

 

[Vayra86]

$450,- is perfectly fine spot for this class of monitor. G34WQC here. Its not perfect. But its pretty good. There are some cut corners: can't have BFI together with Freesync for example, and BFI is at a fixed brightness - and that's pretty bright if you are in dim lit room; I reckon its around 250-300 nits - around 60-70% brightness. Other than that... perfect colors, no smearing... good uniformity, no bleed. My model does have a slight error on the bottom of the screen, where one backlight is brighter, but I chose to accept it.

Something compels me to agree with you. A bigger curve is nice, but PIP is actually useful to me.

I dunno man, PIP on a 34 inch at this res? What would you use it for? Can you really multitask like that... I've had it on multiple screens and never stuck with it for anything Genuinely curious

I would also recommend a gigabyte monitor but their warranty is slow. The G34WQC is the older version and the G34WQC A is their new refreshed version.
their contrast is excellent and HDR works alright for 400 nits they also have some cool features like hooking up your mouse and keyboard up to the back and PIP, and PBP.
You can change the overdrive setting to balance or picture quality to get rid of the smery mess.

Yeah this panel is calibrated and dialed in pretty damn well. As long as you don't use sRGB, that color balance is hideous. DCI P3 or bust.

If you look for the refresh I would definitely check if they improved those points I mentioned up top. If they fix those, this is really hard to beat rn I think at around 450 bucks.
As for the curve, you'll get used to any bend except the sharpest ones at this diameter. I wouldn't overdo it - but a curve is definitely nice because on VA it fixes the somewhat limited viewing angle perfectly. This adds to color uniformity. Warped geometry IS a thing though. And that's perfectly fine in especially 3D gaming, but for isometric and desktop, well... you get used to it. It doesn't bother me now, but that took a month or so. Its not huge, but if you do desktop design work, mehh...
HDR... I wouldn't worry about it. On a 400 nit panel its not great and it can't be. Fake shit; I always preferred SDR on this monitor.

ppi only goes from 92 to 110

This is an absolute blessing. It means you can skip AA most of the time and still not see jaggies a whole lot. 110 is absolutely perfect for this diameter

 

[oxrufiioxo]

This is an absolute blessing. It means you can skip AA most of the time and still not see jaggies a whole lot. 110 is absolutely perfect for this diameter

It's pretty similar to 27 inch 1440p monitor ppi wise which I find usable but I still find it to be a pretty large downgrade clarity wise vs a 4k 32 inch monitor. I still need AA regardless of the ppi maybe at 4-500ppi that would change but I'll probably be dead before that is a reality.