Pros:
- Decent Image Quality
- Affordable 100Hz Ultrawide
- Excellent Contrast
- Attractive White Design
Cons:
- Adaptive Sync Compatibility Issues
- Tilt Only Stand
The Viotek GN34CW presents the highest value per dollar ratio with its 100Hz QHD Ultrawide screen at a price point that’s way below $500. The device also sports an attractive design and it’s being marketed as a monitor for both gaming and professional use. The Viotek GN34CW looks like its too good to be true, so let’s check out what pros and cons the low price tag comes with.
Viotek GN34CW Specifications
- Screen Size: 34 Inches
- Resolution: 3440 x 1440 UW-QHD
- Aspect Ratio: 21:9
- Panel Technology: Vertical Alignment (VA)
- Refresh Rate: 100Hz
- Response Time: 4 ms
- Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 (Static)
- Brightness: 300 cd/m²
- Speakers: No
- Stand: Height – Yes
- Stand: Tilt – Yes
- Stand: Swivel – Yes
- Stand: Pivot – No
- VESA Compatibility: Yes
- Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2 x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 1, DVI x 1, 3.5mm Jack x 1
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 32.9” x 17.2” x 11.2”
- Weight: 17.2 lbs
Design and Features
The Viotek GN34CW sports a contemporary aesthetic that makes it look like it should be used for studios rather than a gaming setup. This new variant sports a white chassis with silver accents, making it very attractive in a market where white and minimalist builds have become popular. The display is bezel-free on three sides, but you will still see panel borders when the display is in use.
The Viotek GN34CW’s proportions need more space than your typical ultrawide due to the design of the stand. The curved chassis already adds extra depth, but the tri-prong design needs a deeper and wider area. Thankfully, only the tips of the prongs touch the desk, so the space in between can be used for other stuff related to your setup.
Build quality for the Viotek GN34CW could use some improvements since it looks like that aspect took the hit from the price reduction. The plastics used feel thin at some points, but they don’t flex to the point of breaking with minimal force. You will also notice a slight wobble if you touch the display, but it can at least stand stable when left alone on your desk.
The Viotek GN34CW also uses OSD buttons which we prefer less over joysticks which are easier to use, especially in the dark. However, we like that Viotek at least placed the layout in the middle under the bottom bezel, so you don’t have to stretch and reach towards the sides. The monitor also doesn’t have a lot of calibration features, so it will mostly be a fire and forget affair unless you want to use the extras such as the crosshair overlays.
It’s expected that you won’t get a lot of creature comforts with a cheap monitor like the Viotek GN34CW. However, we found it disappointing that the device only has a slot each for DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI. A monitor that advertises mixed or professional use should have at least more connector options, especially the ones that can support its native resolution and refresh rate.
The Viotek GN34CW is limited to tilt for ergonomics, so you won’t be able to adjust it to your liking. Curved monitors only need you to be at the dead center to enjoy their benefits, but we also noticed that this model sits a bit too low compared to other identical models. You are going to need a wide monitor platform stand for this model since the feet are too far apart.
Thankfully, you can use a VESA mount with the Viotek GN34CW by removing the stand from the central attachment point at the rear. It’s also easy to find a model that will support this large display since its quite lightweight at around 17lbs. Buying an armature adds to the cost, but it will be more beneficial for your posture in the long run
Display and Performance
The Viotek GN34CW boasts a 34-inch curved VA panel with a 3440 x 1440 resolution, a 100Hz native refresh rate, and 4ms response time. The backlight is listed at 300 cd/m2, while the contrast ratio is 3000:1 which is common with monitors that use VA technology. The display has a 1800r curve which isn’t too pronounced but with an immersive effect that is more appreciable due to the width of the screen.
The Viotek GN34CW’s QHD screen offers excellent levels of detail and crispness that will not reduce visibility to the point of requiring scaling. Games look sharp enough to lessen the need for enhancements like anti-aliasing, while professionals will get a kick out of the extra horizontal space that’s useful for multitasking.
Color quality is one of the strongest qualities of the Viotek GN34CW which is at the same time, surprising for a budget display. The VA panel covers 100% of the sRGB gamut with some extensions, while accuracy has a DeltaE average of around 2.6. You can calibrate the monitor to get a drastically improved DE of 1.25, but it’s not entirely necessary since the screen is already well balanced.
The Viotek GN34CW also showed as much as 3100:1 when it comes to contrast ratio at maximum brightness, but it drops to around 2850:1 at 50%. That’s an excellent result for a budget VA monitor, especially since some premium models fail to breach 2500:1. Gamma and color temperature are also within the range of ideal points, so the screen won’t look unnatural in most instances.
One aspect that the Viotek GN34CW could some improvement in is its panel uniformity which had noticeable deviances on the sides of the display. The left and right edges showed noticeable differences in brightness which in turn affected the vibrancy and contrast output. It’s difficult to notice unless you focus on these quadrants, but we think its isolated or case to case since there are manufacturing tolerances to consider.
The Viotek GN34CW isn’t the most responsive, but its motion handling is considerably better than some VA monitors we’ve tested. The device feels close to some IPS models we’ve tested when it comes to pixel transitions, so blurring is minimal as far as VA models are concerned. Agile swipes of the mouse or run and gun sequences could reveal a few blurs, but it’s easy to overlook that if you consider the price.
The Viotek GN34CW is a FreeSync monitor, but it’s not entirely compatible with Nvidia G-Sync. Some issues such as flickering can arise from the display, and we’ve seen some reports that this issue isn’t isolated to one unit. Input lag sits at 10ms, so there are no delays or desynced instances while playing.
Thoughts on the Viotek GN34CW
The Viotek GN34CW is too cheap to ignore if you want an ultrawide monitor for everyday purposes such as multitasking and gaming. The curved VA display offers excellent image quality despite the budget product treatment, while the design looks attractive and classy. The latter has limitations, but the price is an excellent motivator to look for solutions to counter these missing features.
But that’s not the biggest issue with the Viotek GN34CW since you can just mount it to solve its functionality issues. The most concerning caveat of the affordable display are its adaptive sync issues which some reports have claimed to induce flickering and other similar issues. It’s a fantastic value option overall, but make sure your PC can handle the resolution to keep the framerate steady since its VRR isn’t reliable.
Paolo is a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since his junior high years. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations and he believes that it’s every citizen’s right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear to create reviews that accentuate the seldom explained aspects of a PC monitor.