Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
The X34 OLED ships in its Eco picture mode, but that means limited brightness. You can change to Standard easily enough, but making any adjustment will switch the monitor to User mode. There, you have a full set of calibration options, and you’ll need some of them for the best possible picture.
Grayscale and Gamma Tracking
Our grayscale and gamma tests use Calman calibration software from Portrait Displays. We describe our grayscale and gamma tests in detail here.
The X34 OLED’s default grayscale shows green errors from 40% brightness and higher. They are visible in test patterns and in content. Gamma also tracks on the dark side with a value closer to 2.4, even though the default preset is 2.2.
Luckily, the fixes are easy ones. A few tweaks of the RGB gains and a change to gamma 2.0 and the X34 OLED is much closer to perfection. This is pro-level performance.
The sRGB mode is accessed by choosing that gamut from the color space list. It also shows the same green tint and dark gamma. Here, there are no options for correction.
Comparisons
A 5.13dE grayscale result is out of character for the premium OLED category. The X34 OLED definitely needs some love to look its best. The dark gamma is also a negative because it makes the image a little subdued. Fortunately, its image controls are very precise and effective. By changing the gamma preset to 2.0 and tweaking the RGB gains, it now plays in the same sandbox as the others with a 0.87dE grayscale error and gamma value of 2.16. The range of values is also much tighter than before with a winning range of just 0.12, excellent performance. And this has a positive effect on color, as you’re about to see.
Color Gamut Accuracy
Our color gamut and volume testing use Portrait Displays’ Calman software. For details on our color gamut testing and volume calculations, click here.
By default, the X34 OLED’s color tracking isn’t too bad. It’s closer to the mark than grayscale, with an average error of 2.89dE. The hue error in cyan is visible in content, but the other colors look good. After calibration, the error is lower by half. Every point is on target. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Though the X34 OLED has a full set of color gamut options, they all look and measure about the same. The sRGB mode still renders DCI-P3 color as you can see in the third chart above. While a usable sRGB mode isn’t an absolute requirement for a gaming monitor, the choice should be there for those who want that smaller gamut for SDR content or color grading applications.
Comparisons
The X34 OLED’s final color result is one of the best I’ve recorded in this display category. A 1.08dE average is about as low as it gets. In the comparison, it takes second place but in practice, you won’t see a difference between any of these screens except in overall saturation. The X34 OLED isn’t a QD-OLED, so it won’t be quite as colorful as the top four monitors. But it’s a tad less expensive too, so that’s worth considering. And 98.78% coverage of DCI-P3 is pretty close to the ideal 100%. sRGB is a non-starter, with a very over-saturated 146.46% score. If you really need sRGB, the X34 OLED is not the monitor for you.
Test Takeaway: The X34 OLED delivers extremely accurate color, grayscale and gamma once calibrated. It’s out-of-box performance is a little disappointing, as is its lack of a usable sRGB mode. But with a few tweaks, it becomes a gorgeous monitor. Apply the settings I’ve recommended here, and you can enjoy the same high performance.
MORE: Best Gaming Monitors
MORE: How We Test PC Monitors
MORE: How to Buy a PC Monitor
Silicon Power's 4TB US75 PCIe 4.0 SSD drops to its lowest price this year, just $199
Meta turns to nuclear power for AI training — asking for developer proposals for small modular reactors or larger nuclear solutions
Noctua shares a fan grill design that drops noise levels — 3D print your own 120mm fan grill like the one on the Seasonic x Noctua 1,600W power supply
