PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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PhilipsBrilliance 346 P 1 C

Samsung 32 inM 7

SmartMonitor

ThecurvedBrilliancelives

uptoitsname,defeating

all-comersintheprocess

Ifyou’reprimarilylooking

forsomethingtowatch

filmson,thisafinechoice

PRICE£324(£389incVAT)
frompcpro.link/326sam

coloursabluetine.Headintothe

speedyOSDtotweakthisifyouwish.

Forgamers,Philipsofferssupport

forAMDFreeSync,refreshratesupto

100 Hzandrespectable4msresponse

times.Youcanalsojumpstraightto

theGameSmartImagepresetviathe

shortcutbuttononthe(ratherthick)

lowerbezel,withaselectionofother

presets,too: frommonoEasyReadand

PhototoSmartUniformity.Thelatter

supposedlyhelpswith contrast and

brightness deviation,butwe didn’t

findit particularlyeffectiveorindeed

necessary:an averagebrightness

variationof6.4%isoneofthe better

results here.

.

withsharpness,gammalevel,colour

temperatureandbrightness.

Still,eventhemostadvanced

settingscouldn’thavehiddenthat

thisis,fundamentally,a run-of-the-

millVApanel.Itsnativecolour

temperaturesitsataround 7100 K,

givingwhitesa faintbluetinge,and

themonitor’spoorviewinganglesare

exposedbywhitebackgrounds,too.

Nordid it excelinourtests,witha

peakbrightnessof252cd/m^2 and69%

coverageoftheDCI-P3space;fora

monitordesignedtomakefilms

punchout,that’ssurprisinglylow.

Werecommendtryingoutthe

LightSensor,though,whichadjusts

thebrightnessbasedonambient

light.Therearemore featurestoplay

withtoo.TheWindowsHello 10 80p

webcam,whichtucksoutoftheway,

producesdetailedresults,andthere’s

a four-portUSBhubandanRJ-45port

forwirednetworking.

Thelatter is onlyusefulifyou take

advantage of theUSB-C connector,

whichdeliversupto90Wofpower

• enoughforthehungriestoflaptops.
  Youcandaisychaina secondmonitor
  viaDisplayPort, or connecta second
  PCtothismonitorviatheDisplayPort
  orHDMI2.0input.Philips providesa
  selectionofPIPmodes,butthemost
  usefuloptionisa PBPmodethatsplits
  thescreenequally in two;thanksto
  theintegratedKVMswitch, youcan
  sharea keyboardandmouse plugged
  intooneofthefourUSB-A3 portson
  theleft-handsideofthemonitor.
  Ifyoudon’t need allthesefeatures,
  orUSB-C,thentakea lookatthe
  cheaperB Line 345 B1Conp97,which
  liketheBrillianceenjoys a high-
  qualityandflexible(albeitnotthe
  mostelegant)standandexcellent
  speakers.Ifyou’relookingfora
  curved34inpanelthathasitall,
  though,thenoptfortheBrilliance.

Infact,it’smoretunedtowardsthe

sRGBgamut, covering 9 0%outofa

97%volumein“dynamic”modeand

87%/94%in“standard”mode.Don’t

expectcolouraccuracy:thebest

figureswesawwereanaverageof

2.26and a maximumof7.18.

InSamsung’sdefence,onceyou

switchtoTVprogrammesandfilms,

thehighcontrastof itsVApanel

comesintoplay,backedupbythe

supremequalityofits5Wspeakers.

It’sactuallyinfilmsratherthan,say,

Windowsthatthedetailofthe4K

panelcomesintoitsown;UltraHD

materialshineson thismonitor.

Thenwe cometotheprice,which

iscompetitivefora widescreen32in

4Kmonitor,never mindonethat

packsin somehandyusefulfeatures.

Whilewe wouldn’trecommendthis

asa desktopmonitor,ifyou’re

lookingforsomethingfora denorto

hangona wall– youaren’twasting

anymoney on thestand,whichis

prettybasic– thatwilloccasionallybe

calledinformainstreamcomputing

duties,thenit’sa great choice.One

final note, though:itsinputsare

limitedtotwoHDMI2.0portsand

USB-C,soifyourelyonDisplayPort

thenputtheM7Smart Monitortothe

backofyourmind.

O

neofthedrawbacksofVA
technology comparedto IPSis
theclarityofthewhites.
Normally,thatis.Philipsbucksthe
trend,witha whitethat’salmostas
goodas thebestIPSscreens;wereit
notforthepronounced1800R
curvatureofthis screen, a hallmarkof
VA,we’dquerythe346P1C’s specs.
Toenjoythepanelatitsbest, pump
itupclosetofullbrightness(asearing
463cd/m^2 ),orswitchto sRGBmode.
Thislocksitto 452 cd/m^2 , which
soundsasifitwouldscorchyoureyes
butisactuallyquitepleasant.Itcovers
92%ofthesRGBgamutwith a 95%
volume,withafineaverageDeltaE of
0.92.Theonequirkis thatitscolour
temperatureis7108K,whichlends

S

amsunglikesto addtheword
“smart”to itsproducts,and
withtheM7SmartMonitorit
hasexcellentcause:if youconnectit
toyourwirelessnetwork(itsupports
Wi-Fi 5 ),the Tizen OS givesyoudirect
accesstoappssuchasPrimeVideo,
Netflix,AppleTV,Disney+andeven
basicwebbrowsing.
Ifthat sounds a lotlikea smartTV
thenyou’dberight,except thereisn’t
a digitaltunerbuiltintothemonitor.
Unliketheotherscreenshere,though,
youaccessthemonitor’ssettingsviaa
remotecontrol– justnotethat your
choice of colourandother picture
controlsaremuchmorelimitedthan

ABOVETheBrilliance

346P1Cisacurved

panelthathasitall

ABOVE

andTVprogrammes

PRICE£416(£499incVAT)
fromshop.bt.com

SCORE

SCORE

HDR,highdynamicrange,isashorthandfortechnologydesignedtoshowintenselydarkandbrightimages.IPSstandsforin-planeswitching.Asarule,ithas

JARGONBUSTERthecleanestwhites.MVA(multidomainverticalalignment)orVAiscommonlyusedingamingpanelsthankstofastresponsetimesandhighcontrastratios.

3 , 440 x

1 , 440 34 in

92 %

sRGB

87 %

DCI-P 3

3 , 840 x

2 , 160

31. 5 in^90 %

sRGB

69 %

DCI-P 3