Needing a replacement for my damaged ultrawide monitor, I picked this one as a step up. It's NOT full 4K, but given the 1)size, 2) curve, 3) relative price, this monitor seemed like a good value. Also, I have owned AOC (not the Congressperson) products before, so I was not expecting to be blown away or anything, and to have some complaints, but also I was expecting something that did the thing it was supposed to do.
Quick takes: 1) Not an ultra-precise display for color or all viewing angles (I mean, if you need ULTRA perfect), but if you're looking for that, you wouldn't consider this price-point anyway
2) 100% great for general desktop use and gaming-- sitting at the center, color and brightness are uniform from edge-to-edge, and normally-imperceptible color variation from top-to-bottom (you will see it with some colors during a manual calibration, but not normally otherwise)
3) Be prepared to make a lot of adjustments to the monitor's settings in order to get the picture where you want it-- AOC does themselves a disservice shipping it the way it's set, as many out-of-the-box users are going to be confused and disappointed, I expect.
So, out of the box, the monitor is pretty substantial-- it has a heft and build quality I'm used to seeing in more expensive monitors. Setup is as easy as you'd expect for any monitor these days. I used DisplayPort, but the monitor also has HDMI inputs also.
Right away, though, I could see something was off about the monitor's settings, which isn't a huge deal, because you can just change the settings, right? Well, yes, but... this monitor insists on having the MOST HORRIFIC combo of on-screen display and small, identical-feeling, hidden control buttons. Getting around the OSD menu is a nightmare of accidentally exiting menus, turning the monitor off, and paranoia about pressing the wrong buttons.
One thing, right off the bat, that was extra-confusing is that (despite what some of the listing info says above this monitor DOES have HDR). However, turning it on in Windows immediately makes the picture entirely washed out, giving me a new starting point to calibrate and to question the sanity/value of HDR (honestly, with it turned on in Windows and on the monitor, I can't see a big difference, but just some odd behavior in games sometimes.. not even sure why).
I'm not a pro at calibration, but I get the basics and, walking through some online manual (as in, by-hand) calibrations, I both learned a lot about the display, and got the picture to a decent place-- it's annoying the default settings didn't start closer. I was able to get it to a place I like-- others have said things about the brightness, but I've had no issue-- I've had to turn my brightness down a bit to get it to a comfortable place.
Anyway, I recommend it, just know what you're getting into.
| Standing screen display size | 34 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 3440x1440 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 3440 x 1440 Pixels |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 4 |
