Is very wide and slightly curved the new way ahead?
U ltra wide screen monitors take up a rather intimidating amount of desk real estate thanks to the 21:9 aspect ratio and the 34UC97 is definitely no exception. It’s a whopper of a thing, measuring just over 83cm wide and 47cm tall, but with great desk space comes great screen size. The bright 3440x1440 IPS screen is a beauty featuring high pixel density for extremely crisp images and is also slightly curved, making looking from one side of the screen to the other feel a little more natural than some of the flat ultra wide monitors on the market. The matte anti-glare finish is also a welcome feature, as there’s more than enough surface to catch the light.
The size and image clarity of the monitor are impressive, but its usefulness is definitely situational for most users. It’s wide enough that you can have three full size applications open next to each other – an email client, word and web browser for instance – but that alone doesn’t really recommend it over similarly sized but cheaper 16:10 monitors. For applications that require a good number of toolbars, such as desktop publishing, design, Autocad or fi nancial analysis, the extra screen width could definitely be invaluable. When it comes to gaming, the ultrawide format is something of a hit and miss scenario. Some games can run natively in 21:9, but the vast majority need third party programs or mods to run in the correct aspect ratio, and even then it can cause some interesting distortion as the engines try and render images in a ratio they are not created for.
There are some curious design choices with the 34UC97, such as having all the cabling, ports and the on/off switch hidden behind a not particularly accessible flap obscured by the stand, but for the most it’s a well-designed, slightly austere but otherwise attractive piece of kit. If you have a need for extra horizontal screen space, you could do a hell of a lot worse than the 34UC97, but if you’re a more casual computer user or a gamer who couldn’t be bothered modding each new title to work in the correct aspect ratio, stick with 16:9. Dan Wilks
KEY SPECS
21:9 curved QHD • IPS Display • SRGB over 99% • thunderbolt / Mac compatible • 3440x1440 IPS screen