PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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AOCQ 34 E 2 A

LGUltraWide

34 WN 780 - B

Ifyouwantabigscreenona

limitedbudget,theQ34E2A

isanobviousbuy

Thearmmountseparates

thismonitorfromtherest,

anditdeliversonquality,too

PRICE£198(£238incVAT)

fromnovatech.co.uk

PRICE£358(£430incVAT)

fromlaptopsdirect.co.uk

shakingyourheadanawfullot.Butit

won’tbeaboutthisppanel’sqqualit

whichisphenomenalfortheprice.

Viewinganglesareexcellent.

Coupledwithstrongbrightness

uniformity–anaverageof6.7%inour

tests–it’sapleasuretogazeat.Even

thoughitscolourtemperatureis300K

offthe 650 0KtargetinsRGBmode,

all-whitebackgroundslooksuitably

white.Anditsbrightnessuniformity

isamongthebesthere.

Wehavenocomplaintsaboutthe

colourgamutcoveredeither.Inits

defaultmode,thepanelistunedto

thevividDCI-P3colourspace with

90%outofa 92%volume.Ifthat’stoo

vivid,anditdoeslooksaturated,

switchingtothesRGBmode (via the

maximumvalueof1.25,youcan be

extremelyconfidentthatyou’re

seeingthecolours youshouldbe.

Anotherbigplusisthe easewith

whichyoucanswitchbetweenthe

colourpresets,thankstooneofthe

mostintuitiveOSDshere.For

instance,ifyoufindthe defaultcolour

temperaturetoocool(wemeasured

6986K),thenyoucanswitchtoWarm

orfine-tuneityourself.

There’salsoa Vividpreset,butthis

isn’ta widegamutpanel,as indicated

by 74 % coverageof theDCI-P3gamut.

Ifyouwanttoenjoy rich sunsets

whilewatchingBBCnatureseries,we

suggestyoulookelsewhere.Likewise,

admittedlyclunkyOSD)returned

resultsof92%outofa 94%volume.

Whatyoucan’texpectisperfect

colouraccuracy, withanaverage

DeltaE of 2.55in sRGBmodeanda

maximum of 9.47.Alsonotethat

sRGBties youtoa lowerbrightness

thanthispaneliscapableof:we

measured 2 22 cd/m^2 foroursample,

andthatjumpedto349cd/m^2 when

wetookmanualcontrol.

Sotothebigquestion:howhas

AOCproducedsucha high-quality

panelforthisprice?Certainlythere

arefewluxurieshere.No height

adjustment,noswivel,no USBhub

andcertainlynoUSB-C:twoofthe

threeinputsareHDMI1.4,theother

DisplayPort1.2.So,intermsof

standards,it’sbehind thetimes.

Unusually,there’snoDisplayPort

cableintheboxeither,withAOC

supplying an HDMIcable,power

cableandthat’sit.Youdoatleast get

a pair of speakers,butdespitetheir

3Wpowerratingthey’reamongthe

poorestontest:hollowwithnobass,

butbearableatlowvolumes.

TheAOCQ34E2Afallsshortofan

outright recommendation,butif

therewasa BestValueawardin this

Labsthenhavenodoubt:this monitor

wouldbe theundisputedchampion.

peakbrightnessof330cd/m^2 makes

itsHDR 10 supportlargelyacademic.

LGprovidesa discreetnod to

gamerswithsupportforAMD

FreeSync,buta 5msresponsetime

andmaximum60Hzrefreshmakeit

clearthatwork is thefocusofthis

screen(wereviewLG’sgaming-

friendlyUltraGear32GP850as partof

nextmonth’sgrouptest).Withthe

UltraWide34WN780-B,LG’sfocusis

insteadonusworkerdrones, anda

3,440x 1,440resolutionmakesiteasy

toputtwodocumentssidebyside – or

workononesuper-sizedspreadsheet.

There’snoUSB-Cconnectorhere,

rulingthisoutasa docking monitor,

butan old-fashionedUSB-Binputis

theretograntaccesstothetwo

rear-mountedUSB-A ports.You’ll

alsofind a pairofHDMI 2.0ports,a

DisplayPort1.4inputanda

headphoneoutput.LGalsopacks

ina pairofloud7Wspeakers– just

don’texpectsubtletytobringout

thefinermusicalelements.

LGdoesn’tget everythingright

withthis34inwidemonitor– andin

ouridealuniverseitwouldbeslightly

curved, like theDellC3422WE(see

overleaf) – butwecan’t arguewith

thismonitor’soverall quality orits

valueformoney.

T

o puttheAOCQ34E2A’sprice

intoperspective, itwouldbethe

fourthcheapest24inpanelon

test– if youhappenedtoshave10in

offitsdiagonal.Intermsofinches,the

returnperpound spentissensational.

Thedownsideisresolutionand

pixeldensity, with2,560x 1,080

translating into 81 pixelsperinch.

Thisisn’ta disaster:afterall,that’s

thesamedensityasa 27inmonitor

witha Full HD resolution,andusing

thispanelislikehavingtwosuch

monitorsboltedtogether.

Thedisadvantageisthatit’sa flat

screen,andswitchingfromtheleft

edgetotherightisreminiscentof

watchinga rallyatWimbledon.Toan

onlooker,itwill seem likeyou’re

T

hemoststriking thing about

this34inscreen– otherthanits

fullnameof34inUltraWide

QHDIPSHDRMonitorErgo – is notits

flatIPSpanelbutitsstand.Orrather,

lackthereof.Instead,LGsupplies an

armmount thatyouattachtotherear

ofyourdesk.Theobvious advantage

isthatyoucanpushitawaywhenyou

finishworking,andpullitclosewhen

youneedtofocus.It’sa high-quality

pieceof engineeringandalsooffersa

handy130mmofheightadjustment.

Thepanel deliversthesamelevel

ofquality,with98%coverage of the

sRGBgamutoutofa 104%volumeand

anaverageDeltaE of 0.4. Witha

ABOVETheQ34E2A

hasacresofscreen

spaceforthemoney

ABOVEThesupplied

armmountfixesthe

screentoyourdesk

SCORE

SCORE

FullHDor1080preferstopanelswitha1,920x1,080resolution.QHDor1440preferstopanelswitha2,560x1,440resolution.4KorUltraHDrefersto

JARGONBUSTERpanelswitha3,840x2,160resolution.ppistandsforpixelsperinch.Werepresentbrightnessincd/m,sometimescalledcandelaornits.

RECOMMENDED

2 , 560 x

1 , 080 34 in

92 %

sRGB

90 %

DCI-P 3

3 , 440 x

1 , 440 34 in

98 %

sRGB

74 %

DCI-P 3