Viotek GNV34DBE Gaming Monitor Review: Ultra-Wide Value King

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

Reviews
By Christian Eberle
published
Viotek GNV34DBE
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Viotek)

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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)

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)

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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MORE: All Monitor Content

Christian Eberle
Christian Eberle
Contributing Editor

Christian Eberle is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He's a veteran reviewer of A/V equipment, specializing in monitors.

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Schlachtwolf
    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
    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
    "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
    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
    "GTG" @ 4mS? I don't think so!
    Kudos should only be awarded to GTG@1mS. Otherwise, FreeSync (@144hz) is for naught.
    Reply
  • SMcCandlish
    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
  • maestro0428
    I bought this monitor to replace my triple screen set up. Much better picture visually, even without calibration. After calibration, this screen is one of the best I have owned out of dozens. I honestly don't mind the stand as on my black monitor riser I can barely see it anyway. My one gripe- my display port cable hangs from the input and there is nowhere to hide it. Ugh. Awesome purchase anyway. Oh, and I don't care about HDR, especially at this price.
    Reply
  • HOSTILExAPOSTLE
    maestro0428 said:
    I bought this monitor to replace my triple screen set up. Much better picture visually, even without calibration. After calibration, this screen is one of the best I have owned out of dozens. I honestly don't mind the stand as on my black monitor riser I can barely see it anyway. My one gripe- my display port cable hangs from the input and there is nowhere to hide it. Ugh. Awesome purchase anyway. Oh, and I don't care about HDR, especially at this price.
    Just curious, what calibration settings did you use? In the article it says multiple times, we highly recommend using our calibration settings. But I'm unsure what those settings actually are? Besides the chart that shows settings for red, green, and blue, and brightness levels I don't see any additional settings for black levels, sharpness, etc. Did i miss somewhere in the article where it outlines all calibration settings? Thanks for your help!
    Reply
  • maestro0428
    I don't think they listed all of the settings. I adjusted the best I could according to my room lighting manually. If you are really worried about the color, I wouldn't, even before I adjusted it, I didn't see any issues at all, get a color meter.
    https://www.amazon.com/Datacolor-SpyderX-Pro-Calibration-Photographers/dp/B07M6KPJ9K/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=Screen+Color+Calibration&qid=1627407787&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQllHUzFGTFZRMEtaJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjA2ODQxM1Q3SjJSVjU0VEZDUyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzM2NjI2MTRaOEwxUTVNUTRBSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
    If you are just gaming and watching content, adjust to your personal liking in your room. If you are a serious photo pro, you may want to spend more.
    Reply