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IiyamaDS1002C

review:dual-

screendesk

mountingarm

We’resittinginfrontofa49inscreen.Orto

bemoreaccurate,two27in16:9monitors

sittingsidebysideonIiyama’sDS1002C

deskmountingarm,forweareindeedliving

ourbestWallStreettraderdream.

For£35incVAT,though,thisishardly

thestuffofmillionaires.Infact,allyou

needisaprimarymonitorthatsupports

daisychainingandthenanysecondary

display.Trytousepanelswiththesame

pixeldensity,though,ormovingwindows

betweenthemwillfeelawkwardasthey

shiftinsize.Thisisalsowherecolour

standardssuchassRGBcomeinuseful,

asitisn’tnaturaltoswapyourattention

betweenpanelswithdifferentpalettes.

Assemblyisstraightforward,and

Iiyamamakesiteasytoslipthescreens

intopositiononceyouhavethemounting

armattached:tightenthetoptwoscrews

ineachmonitor’sVESA 100 mount,drop

thepanelintoposition,addthefinaltwo

screwsandtightenasrequired.

Althougheacharmoffersachoicein

theanglesofthescreenonceinplace,the

DS1002Cisbettersuitedtoapairof24in

monitorsduetothewidthofitsarms;we

hadnochoicebuttoplaceour27inpanels

sidebysideinrigidalignment.Youcan

sidestepthis(andfitevenlargerscreens,

upto30in)byusingthepivotfunction,but

thisneverworksaswellasoneimagines.

Youcanalsoadjusttheheightthrough

200mm,butit’sacumbersometaskonce

thepanelsareinplace.Gasspringarms

makethiseasier.

Moreluxuriousarmsareavailable,

includingIiyama’sgasspringdualarm

DS3002Cfor£130,butyou’llstruggleto

findoneasgoodvalueastheDS1002C.

PRICE£29(£35incVAT)

fromshop.bt.com

SCORE

PhilipsBLine 345 B 1 C ViewSonicVG 3456

Ifyoudon’tneedUSB-Cdocking

thenthisquality-packed34in

curvedscreenmakessense

Awell-connectedmonitorthat

mighthavewonawardsbutfor

lacklustrecolourperformance

PRICE£346(£415incVAT)fromuk.insight.com PRICE£367(£441incVAT)fromuk.insight.com

T

hePhilipsB Line 3 45B1Cshares
muchincommonwiththeBrilliance
346P1Creviewedonp93.Theyboth
featurea curved34inVApanelwitha
3,440x 1,440resolution,theysharethe
sameflexiblestandwitha generous180mm
ofheightadjustment,andtheyevenlook
virtuallyidentical.
Theirdifferencesaren’toverlydifficult
tospot,however.Mosttellingly,froma
practical standpoint, theB Line lacksa
USB-Cinputanddoesn’tsupportdaisy
chaining, with inputslimitedtoone
DisplayPort1.2connectorandtwoHDMI
2.0ports.The luxuryof a built-inwebcam
alsodisappears.Philips stickswith the
samefour-portUSBhubfound on themore
expensivescreen,however,andagain
providesa crackingpairof 3W speakers,
whicharemorethangoodenoughtoenjoy
musicandfilmson.
Otherdifferencesbecameapparent
duringtesting.WheretheBrilliancehita
brightnesshighof463cd/m^2 inourtests,
the 3 45B1Ccouldonlyreach 317cd/m^2.
That’sstillmorethangood enough,mind
you,andwewerequitehappyusingthis
B LinemonitorinsRGBmodewhereits
brightnesslevelwaslockedtoaneven
lower 2 23cd/m^2.
Philipsalsoclampsdownongamut
coverage in sRGB.Wherethedefault profile
covered96%ofsRGBwith a 121%volume,
sRGBreduced thatto81%(outof81%).We’d
sticktothedefault,ashereitalsocovereda
strong85%oftheDCI-P3gamutand
returneda colourtemperatureof 657 9K–
closetothe6500Kittargetsandresultingin
someexcellentwhites.
Thepanel’scolouraccuracyisalsogood
overall, withanaverage of 1.41,with only
bluesstraying: we measureda maximum
valueof6.72, whichisn’tgreat.Still,this
isn’ta paneltargetedatcolourpurists,and
isinsteadaimingtodeliver goodqualityfor
a competitiveprice– somethingitachieves
withgusto.

T

heVG3 456 hasaneasysell:fora

competitiveprice,you benefit froma

whopping34.1inofscreenreal estate

aswellasthe convenienceof a USB-C

connectionandRJ-45port.Inonefell

swoop,thiscouldreplacea dual-monitor

setupandridyourdeskofmanywires.

IfViewSonichadusedanIPSpanelthis

sellwouldhave beenevenmoreconvincing,

butinsteaditoptsfor VA.Thismore

bendabletechnologymakessenseina

curvedscreen, buttheall-flatVG345 6

leavesusfeelingjustasflataboutitscolour

performance.VApanelsoftenhavean

almostgrey-ishhue,andthat’sobvious

here:eventhepromise of1.07billion

colours anda measured3,512:1contrast

ratiofailtogivethispanelpunch.

Youcantweakthecoloursusingthe

OSD,anditoffersfive“ViewMode”options

aswell: Office,Movie,Mac,Monoand

Game.OfficeandGamebothopenupinto

submenus(forexample,first-person

shooters), andit’sworthexperimentingto

seewhichsuityoubest, butwepreferredto

sticktothepanel’snativecolour profile.

Thishasa colourtemperatureofaround

6800K,butyou canfine-tunethis or pick

Bluish,CoolorWarminstead.

ViewSonicclaimsa 300cd/m^2 peak

brightness,butthehighestwemeasured

was269cd/m^2. That’s fine indoors,though,

anddespitethesubstantialdrop-offin

brightnessattheedges– up to 20%– VA

technology’snaturallygoodviewingangles

meanthatthisisn’tobviousinpractice.

Thequestionis,doesa flat 34 inVApanel

makessensewhenyoucanbuya curved

onesuchasthePhilips345B1Cforevenless?

TherearepointsintheVG3456’sfavour.

TwoHDMI2.0inputs,a pairofUSB-A

portsplacedconvenientlyontheside,

ViewSonic’svDisplaysoftware, thequality

andflexibilityof thestand,andthe

surprising subtletyanddepthof the3W

speakers.Buteventhesemanyplusescan’t

outweightheminuses.

SCORE SCORE

3 , 440 x

1 , 440 34.^1 in

93 %

sRGB

73 %

DCI-P 3

ABOVETheDS1002C

makessettingupdual

monitorsacinch

3 , 440 x

1 , 440 34 in

81 %

sRGB

85 %

DCI-P 3

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