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Conclusion
Clearly, there is a lot to be said for having a large monitor on your desktop. The gain in screen real estate alone is a huge attraction. With so much area, you can easily open multiple windows, all at a usable size, and engage in some serious multi-tasking. And you’ll never have to hunt for an open application. Yes, you can accomplish the same thing with multiple displays, but once you’ve eliminated those dividing lines it’s hard to go back. We’re talking about almost three feet of uninterrupted width here. And the curvature means you’ll see the entire image clearly with no change in brightness or color. An 1800R radius sounds tight, but in practice it’s just enough to enhance without distortion.
Now that the tests are complete, can we call the AOC C4008VU8 an excellent monitor? Well, yes and no. Visually, it’s almost a home run. The screen looks fantastic with high contrast and rich color that extends perfectly out to the DCI-P3 gamut. While that might be a liability to those needing precise sRGB color, it works well in most applications, providing just enough extra punch without going over the top. But the stand falls short for us. It desperately needs a height adjustment, because the panel sits too far above the desk in its current form. A monitor this tall should almost be touching the surface of most normal workspaces. At least there is a VESA mount so users have another mounting option.
After raving about contrast, we are disappointed at the lack of HDR support. Many people are fixated on the 1000-nit figure touted by many television manufacturers. The fact is that even bright displays like that are often challenged in the black level department, and their true static contrast ratios are closer to 2000:1 or less. That won’t show HDR effectively no matter how high the output is. The C4008VU8 easily delivers over 4000:1. Short of an OLED or plasma panel, dynamic range doesn’t get any wider than that.
We are happy to see such an accurate presentation of the DCI-P3 color gamut though. Many wide-gamut pro screens have a DCI option since it falls within the Adobe RGB space. But few can render it as precisely as this AOC. Left in its Standard picture mode and Warm color temp, it just squeaks onto our list of monitors that don’t require calibration. That’s a good thing since adjustments won’t produce any significant gains.
All our talk about performance pales in comparison to the sheer size of this display. If you have the room for it, there is nothing else that will be as impressive on your desk. Add to that a nicely styled white chassis and you have the potential to add something unique to your system. As I write this review on a 32” BenQ monitor, I wonder if the task would be easier to accomplish on the C4008VU8. Before you run out and buy a cheap television to anchor your system, take a hard look at this jumbo curved beauty from AOC.
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