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Now that curved ultra-wide monitors have become a de facto standard for gaming, there are many product choices and that has translated to lower prices. What used to be a $1,000 purchase is now easy to find for less than $500, and that’s progress.
Another thing that is commonplace among budget screens is high refresh rates. While I am spoiled enough to consider 240 Hz a starting point, there is a lot of fun gaming to be had at 144 and 165 Hz. A wide variety of affordable hardware is available to power a monitor to 165fps at QHD and WQHD resolutions.
In this crowded market, the PG34WQ15R2B is an excellent first effort from ASRock. It delivers on its promises with solid performance, low input lag and accurate color. There is the light gamma issue which is something that could be fixed with a firmware update. But if you engage the sRGB color temp, or calibrate, and turn on DCR (dynamic contrast), the SDR image is pretty good. And its 1500R curve is ideal for any application.
HDR is the star with bright highlights approaching 500 nits and well-saturated color. HDR black levels are low, meaning almost 17,000:1 contrast, one of the best in class. The PG34WQ looks better in HDR mode than most of its budget-friendly competition.
Video processing is solid as well. Though the overdrive is a bit weak, it reduces blur enough for decent motion resolution. Adaptive-Sync works perfectly with either Nvidia or AMD hardware. And input lag is lower than average, making the PG34WQ a very capable gaming display.
At less than $500, it’s hard to find fault. I enjoyed my time playing and working with the PG34WQ. If you have a mid-tier gaming PC or console, it’s a great choice. Definitely check it out.
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