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Viotek GNV34DBE Gaming Monitor Review: Ultra-Wide Value King

Rocking the price to performance ratio with 144 Hz, FreeSync and HDR.

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Viotek GNV34DBE
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Viotek)

To read about our monitor tests in-depth, check out Display Testing Explained: How We Test PC Monitors. We cover brightness and contrast testing on page two.  

Uncalibrated – Maximum Backlight Level 

We’re comparing the GNV34BDE to a group of mostly ultra-wide VA monitors with refresh rates ranging from 100-200 Hz. All cost more than the Viotek, except the Dell S3220DGF, which is a 16:9 curved screen. The other models are the Acer Predator X35, AOC Agon AG493UCX and AOC CU34G2X and the ViewSonic Elite XG350R-C. 

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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The GNV34DBE isn’t the brightest screen out there but proved bright enough to get the job done in SDR mode. At just over 300 nits, it worked well in brightly lit rooms and could go down to 65 nits if you prefer to play in the dark. 

Black levels are low enough to place it third in the group resulting in a respectable default contrast ratio of 2,594.9:1.

After Calibration to 200 nits 

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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
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Viotek GNV34DBE

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Our calibration (see our recommended settings) improved black levels enough to move the Viotek up to second place here, just ahead of the AG493UCX mega-wide. Contrast improved to 3,019.5:1 for one of the best scores we’ve ever recorded with this test. This was without the use of any dynamic contrast features. The GNV34DBE has a wide native luminance range and rendered all fine highlights and shadow details without clipping.

The GNV34DBE’s ANSI contrast is just under 3,000:1, so it finished second to the Dell by only a slim margin. In practice, the Viotek’s image showed a lot of depth with true blacks and well-defined highlights. Color was very saturated and vivid with a natural look that complemented any game, movie or work task.

MORE: Best Gaming Monitors

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6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Schlachtwolf 18 May 2020 21:49
    Man is that one ugly stand.... I think is is an awesome monitor for the price but I could not look at the stand ......aaarrrggghhhh!!!!:LOL:
    Reply
  • jakjawagon 18 May 2020 22:23
    I looked for a better place to post this but couldn't find one:

    The Tom's Hardware website uses a lot of CPU in Firefox. I don't know why it doesn't in Chrome or Edge. The forums are fine also. But if I have the homepage or any article/review open in Firefox, it uses about 30% of my CPU just sitting there.
    Reply
  • techrabbit2015 19 May 2020 00:39
    "HDR" at 350 nits? I don't think so. That doesn't even qualify as the not-really HDR 400 spec. This is NOT an HDR monitor folks.
    Reply
  • Schlachtwolf 19 May 2020 05:59
    techrabbit2015 said:
    "HDR" at 350 nits? I don't think so. That doesn't even qualify as the not-really HDR 400 spec. This is NOT an HDR monitor folks.
    I agree that could look a bit dull if was a TV but while 500+ nits would be ideal you are not going to get it at $450, many even more expensive ones are only 300-400 nits. This is bang for your buck and not top of the tree for sure.
    Reply
  • 42n82rst 19 May 2020 17:27
    "GTG" @ 4mS? I don't think so!
    Kudos should only be awarded to GTG@1mS. Otherwise, FreeSync (@144hz) is for naught.
    Reply
  • SMcCandlish 06 August 2020 21:32
    Agreed this is not an HDR monitor. It's an "HDR-ready" or "HDR-compatible" monitor. I.e., it can accept and decode the 10-bit signal, but it's going to downsample it to 8-bit. And this is not news; this deceptive marketing ploy by manufacturers has been covered (and criticized, including from within the TV and monitor industry) for some time now: https://web.archive.org/web/20180612121214/http://www.avhub.com.au/news/sound-image/what-does-hdr-compatible-mean-461032
    That said, the price is great for the feature set. I won't be getting this one myself, because a non-adjustable "chopsticks" stand will have to be replaced by a proper VESA one, which jacks the total cost up into the range of an at least marginally better monitor.
    Reply