- Overall
Review of Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC
The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is a fantastic curved ultra-wide monitor with a UW-QHD/3440 x 1440 resolution that provides excellent picture quality in a sleek well-featured package. This model is one of the brand’s latest ventures into the growing monitor business. Judging from one look, we can say this product surely will not disappoint with its beautiful design and potentially remarkable performance from its slightly curved AH-IPS panel which is capable of delivering vibrant colors and solid contrast outputs. For multimedia enthusiasts who are looking for a wider viewing space previously exclusive to dual or triple displays, the Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is an excellent choice, but let’s see if it has what it takes to edge out the competition.
Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC Specifications
- Screen Size: 34 Inches
- Resolution: 3440 x 1440 UW-QHD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- Response Time: 5ms
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Static)
- Brightness: 300 cd/m²
- Built-in Speakers: Yes 2 x 7 Watts DTS
- Stand: Height –No
- Stand: Tilt – Yes (-5°/+20°)
- Stand: Swivel – No
- VESA Compatibility: Yes 100 x 100
- Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2 x 2, HDMI 2.0 x 1, HDMI 1.4 x2, USB 3.0 x 5, 3.5mm Audio Jack (In/Out)
- Dimensions with Stand(WxHxD): 32.52” x 15.08” x 8.7”
- Weight: 22.66lbs
Design and Features
What’s immediately striking on the massive 34-inch face of the Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is its zero-bezel design which makes a sleek and clean look which gives an illusion that the viewing real estate is already bigger than 34 inches. Only the bottom strip is over an inch thick, but it does exude class with the beautiful brushed black finish instead. The gorgeous panel curves at 3800r, providing a comfortable but less intruding form when viewing the screen. The cabinet sports a glossy white finish with little to no distractions. Aside from the slight bulge at the center, the one thing you will immediately notice is the extensive I/O port layout with signal input lots on one side, and a USB 3.0 hub on the other.
If you are an all in one type of guy, the Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is your best ultra-wide monitor choice. There are ports for DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0, and two HDMI 1.4 slots one of which has MHL capabilities. There is also a total of five USB 3.0 ports with one for upstreaming and another with fast-charging for your mobile devices. There are no OSD buttons. Instead, Philips included a four-way dial which acts as the menu navigator and the power switch neatly tucked under the bottom bezel.
The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC also has a pair of built-in speakers which both 7 watts of power and DTS audio certification. This pair could get loud enough for most purposes, but the bass response was a bit lacking. Another sexy feature of this product is the crescent shaped base which dominates any surface it touches with its broad reach while holding the massive screen with the chromed out tubular neck. We think this is a unique and beautiful design suitable for high-end TV sets for posh living rooms, but unfortunately, the mechanism only allows tilting for ergonomics.
Display and Performance
The gorgeous 34-inch curved AH-IPS panel of the Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is where the action is at since its color performance, and the vivid images are already prominent once taken out of the box. Accuracy is well within ideal coordinates for each RGB shade. Visual output is stellar for still images, movies, and games, and we did not notice any degradation or washing out going further to the each side of the panel. As excellent as the uniformity was, we also did not see any backlight bleeds strong enough to be noticeable, further proving Philip’s fantastic choice and quality control in using a top-notch OEM IPS panel.
The advertised 99% sRGB is achievable through the sRGB mode in the OSD for even better vibrancy and true-to-life shades, but sadly, there are no advanced options available for tweaking. You can, however, adjust six color temperatures or choose from seven other presets which include modes for office work, movies or gaming. Also, features a uniformity correction tool called Smart Uniformity for instances where one side of the wide panel seems to be under illuminated.
The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC’s native pixel response is at an adequate 5ms which is low when compared to the best gaming monitors, like the Acer Predator X34. But there is also an overdrive function which might whitewash some images in different instances. 5ms isn’t entirely bad for casual gaming by today’s standards, and as our Witcher 3 test showed, you can still achieve gaming goodness with the lush colors and the oily darkness of the contrast and grayscale performance of this product. Ghosting and other issues are minimal even in FPS titles like Battlefield 1, but the real kicker here is the input lag which only measures at 10ms, enhancing the connective and immersive feel a curved gaming monitor brings.
Another caveat is the refresh rate which is limited at 60Hz, which is somewhat adequate for casual purposes, but users are left without the help of Freesync or G-Sync, so you might need a meaty graphics card to keep the frames stable at 3440 x 1440. Still, The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is more of a multimedia display more than a cutting edge gaming monitor, so using it as an all in one display for fun or productivity is still ideal. The advantage the lack of gamer-centric features is apparent in pricing since this offering is a slightly more affordable option with a UW-QHD resolution.
Conclusion
The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is a beautiful piece of kit from one of the makers of the best television sets around the globe with its luxurious design and great gently curving AH-IPS capable of vibrant colors and decent gaming performance. Pricing is also friendlier on the pocket when compared to products from well-established competitors at the time of this writing. The Philips Brilliance BDM3490UC is a no-brainer if you are in the market for a multimedia monitor for productivity mixed with entertainment since it also allows a multitude of host devices such as consoles and players to connect to it’s expansive I/O layout. Although, for gamers, you might have to look elsewhere since the screen can only go up to 60Hz and you are going to miss the benefits of having adaptive sync, a sorely needed feature for GPU-hungry resolutions like 3440 x 1440.
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