BenQ’s PD3420Q review: An ultrawide that works too hard

Price When Reviewed

$699.99

Best Prices Today: BenQ PD3420Q

Ultrawide displays aren’t exhausting to return by in 2024, however most fashions nonetheless goal video games and leisure over productiveness and content material creation, and most are curved. BenQ PD3420Q presents another with a flat 34-inch panel and a deal with colour accuracy, although shortcomings within the monitor’s distinction ratio, HDR efficiency, and refresh fee maintain it again.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best ultrawide monitors to find out about competing merchandise.

BenQ PD3420Q specs and options

The BenQ PD3420Q’s specs may hardly be much less fascinating at a look. Nearly all displays of this measurement keep on with 3440×1440 decision, and most opponents additionally use an IPS panel. The monitor’s $699.99 MSRP is typical, too.

• Display measurement: 34-inch widescreen
• Native decision: 3440×1440
• Panel sort: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
• Refresh fee: 60Hz
• Adaptive sync: No
• HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR 400 licensed
• Ports: 2x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort, 1x USB-C with 65 watts Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 3x USB-A downstream, 1x USB-B upstream, 3.5mm audio
• VESA mount: 100x100mm
• Speakers: 2x 2.5-watt stereo audio system
• Price: $699.99 MSRP

The monitor’s most notable options aren’t issues listed in a show’s specs. It has software program out there to regulate monitor options, a wired puck for accessing the on-screen menus, and important picture high quality customization. These are helpful for the monitor’s audience, although they received’t transfer the needle for everybody else.

BenQ PD3420Q design

The BenQ PD3420Q is a part of the corporate’s Designer Monitor sub-brand, which is tailor-made for artistic professionals. And although it features completely with a PC, it’s additionally prominently marketed as Mac-compatible.

That emphasis is mirrored in its elegant but understated design. The monitor presents an immersive viewing expertise with slim bezels on three sides and a small backside chin that lacks BenQ branding. It additionally adopts a darkish charcoal colour scheme, which could appear generic however fits its audience effectively. The again continues the theme with an expanse of black plastic accented solely by a discreet BenQ brand that’s straightforward to overlook.

While the design is essentially unremarkable, there’s a pair delicate traits price discover. The monitor is totally flat, which is uncommon for a 34-inch ultrawide show. A curve, although extra immersive in leisure, may also skew the looks of photographs, digital artwork, video, and different content material a artistic skilled would possibly work on. I admire this, as I personally favor a flat show over a curved show, excluding super-ultrawide side ratios.

The included ergonomic stand is great. It adjusts for peak, swivel, and tilt, and presents a broader vary of adjustment than most, with 60 levels of swivel adjustment and 150 millimeters of peak adjustment. The base of the stand is a bit broad however extraordinarily flat, which ensures the area occupied by the stand stays usable desk actual property.

Switching the stand for a third-party monitor arm is comparatively easy, as effectively. The PD3420Q has a 100x100mm VESA mount and weighs simply 9.6 kilos, so most quality monitor arms will show sturdy sufficient to deal with it.

BenQ PD3420Q connectivity and menus

The monitor’s deal with Mac compatibility means the BenQ PD3420Q features a USB-C port with 65 watts of energy supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode. It’s nice for connecting most mid-range laptops like an Apple MacEbook Pro 14 or a Dell XPS 14. Still, I’d’ve most well-liked if BenQ included 90 watts of energy supply, or perhaps a bit extra, as many laptops utilized by artistic professionals would require extra energy than the monitor’s USB-C port can present.

Additional USB connectivity consists of three USB 3.1 downstream ports and one other USB-C port. The USB information ports could be accessed by way of USB-C, in fact, but in addition by way of USB Type-B, a standard alternative for connecting a PC desktop. Video connectivity consists of two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort 1.4, totaling 4 video connections when together with the USB-C port. One USB-A port, one USB-C port, and the 3.5mm audio jack are positioned on the monitor’s left flank, which makes them simpler to make use of.

While the PD3420Q’s connectivity is stable, it doesn’t leap out from the gang. Competitors just like the Dell U3423WE ship extra energy and add Ethernet for the same worth. However, what’s offered right here is ample for a lot of artistic professionals.

While the monitor’s connectivity is common, its different options are extra notable. BenQ offers a number of Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes, a “Dualview” mode that may apply a colour preset to solely half the show for side-by-side comparisons, a KVM swap, one-click colour calibration with Mac laptops, and a software program utility known as BenQ Display Pilot 2, which permits for management of some monitor options inside Windows or macOS. There’s a transparent deal with professionals who wish to swap between totally different enter gadgets all through the day.

BenQ’s wired puck controller, which is used to navigate the on-screen menus, makes a return. The puck is less complicated and extra handy to make use of than the joystick and buttons positioned on the monitor itself, although they continue to be out there. The monitor consists of quite a few colour modes designed to focus on particular colour gamuts and a big selection of colour customization choices.

The monitor additionally packs a pair of two.5W audio system that present sufficient sound high quality for primary duties like working system navigation or listening to podcasts. They’re meager at most quantity and might sound muddy at instances, nonetheless, so that they’re not nice for taking part in a sport or watching a film.

BenQ PD3420Q SDR picture high quality

Image high quality is clearly key for BenQ’s audience. Unfortunately, the PD3420Q struggles to make a optimistic impression.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Our first take a look at, brightness, demonstrates why the take a look at stays related regardless of the excessive brightness of many trendy shows. The PD3420Q’s most SDR brightness of 229 stays excessive sufficient that it ought to work in most conditions, however it might seem dim in a brilliant, sunlit room. The monitor’s anti-glare coat does assist to attenuate the impact of the monitor’s modest brightness, however I nonetheless at instances felt it may gain advantage from just a few additional nits.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Contrast, nonetheless, is the place the BenQ PD3420Q runs into bother. It reached a distinction ratio of simply 590:1, which is way lower than best displays. The low distinction ratio is generally as a consequence of elevated black ranges which create a hazy, grey look in darker content material. It’s not as noticeable in a brilliant room, however very noticeable in a darkish room, and results in a flat, boring, washed-out look.

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

The BenQ PD3420Q’s colour gamut is respectable and by default spans 100 % of sRGB, 96 % of DCI-P3, and 87 % of AdobeRGB. As talked about earlier, the monitor presents many colour modes that concentrate on explicit colour gamuts. These modes will barely change the colour efficiency and will even limit the colour gamut, when obligatory.

With that stated, the PD3420Q’s colour gamut efficiency is in keeping with the competitors. Some, just like the Asus ProArt PA348CGV, carry out a bit higher. Others, just like the Dark Matter 38035, are a tad worse. The distinction both means shouldn’t make-or-break your choice until colour gamut efficiency is the highest precedence (which received’t be true for most individuals).

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

Matthew Smith / Foundry

It’s the same story in colour accuracy, the place the BenQ PD3420Q achieved a stable however modest default colour error of 1.27. That’s not the bottom we’ve recorded, however it’s respectable, and the monitor’s colour customization choices give homeowners the chance to tune the colour to their wants. That will show simpler on the PD3420Q than with most opponents, together with sturdy alternate options just like the Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV.

The monitor did effectively in gamma, scoring a default gamma curve of two.2, which is exactly our desire. However, the monitor’s gamma is adjustable to focus on a unique gamma curve, if required. The colour temperature was near ideally suited, too, with a default colour temperature of 6400Okay. That’s only a tad hotter than our goal of 6500Okay, however the distinction is tough to note.

Sharpness continues the monitor’s streak of stable however unexceptional outcomes, because the monitor has a decision of 3440×1440, which works out to 109 pixels per inch. That’s by far the preferred decision for a 34-inch ultrawide monitor. It’s sharp sufficient for many conditions, however a 27-inch 4K monitor will in fact look sharper.

The BenQ PD3420Q’s general SDR picture high quality efficiency is restricted to the monitor’s supposed use. It’s not meant for leisure, and whereas it may be used for coding or video enhancing, it’s finest fitted to picture enhancing and digital artwork. Contrast is commonly much less essential for these functions than colour accuracy and customization. With that stated, I’m skeptical that the monitor’s sacrifices are well worth the benefits. Competitors just like the Asus ProArt PA348CGV can supply significantly better distinction and better brightness at the same worth.

BenQ PD3420Q HDR picture high quality

The BenQ PD3420Q helps HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR 400 licensed, however I wouldn’t advocate it for viewing HDR content material. The monitor’s most brightness elevated to 330 nits in HDR, which nonetheless isn’t sufficient to ship important extra element. The distinction ratio additionally holds the monitor again as brilliant areas of the show trigger a rise in brightness of darkish areas of the show. That, in flip, restricts the monitor’s distinction.

It’s not all unhealthy information, although. While HDR efficiency isn’t nice, the monitor does an inexpensive job of displaying SDR content material alongside HDR. The colour temperature, gamma, and colour accuracy of SDR content material stays acceptable on this scenario, which isn’t true of all competing displays. That’s excellent news if you wish to view HDR content material in a window on a desktop in any other case stuffed with SDR content material and apps. 

BenQ PD3420Q movement efficiency

Gaming isn’t a precedence for the BenQ PD3420Q, and that comes throughout in its movement efficiency. The monitor has a most refresh fee of 60Hz and quotes a gray-to-gray pixel response time of 5 milliseconds. Neither is spectacular.

As a consequence, movement readability is mediocre at finest. Fast-moving objects reveal sufficient element to make out their silhouette, however advantageous particulars are obscured. Fast shifting textual content and cursor-sized objects turn out to be illegible. The monitor additionally lacks Adaptive Sync, so body pacing and display screen tearing could be a problem when V-Sync will not be engaged.

None of that is shocking given the PD3420Q’s viewers. However, aggressive displays just like the Asus ProArtwork PA348CGV, in addition to the most recent Dell Ultrasharp fashions, can hit as much as 120Hz. That places BenQ’s ultrawide a tad behind the leaders.

Should you purchase the BenQ PD3420Q?

The BenQ PD3420Q tries to play it protected. It targets artistic professionals with intensive colour customization, a puck controller for straightforward menu entry, and stable USB-C connectivity. But the PD3420Q by no means tries to do greater than what’s obligatory for that viewers, to its detriment.

It’s a smart choose for professionals who solely work with duties that demand exacting colour accuracy and wish to make sure the show suits a selected colour profile. However, it’s not nice for motion pictures or video games, and whereas it would deal with video enhancing, that’s solely true in the event you don’t work in 4K or HDR.

That makes the PD3420Q a distinct segment choose. It’s a stable alternative for productiveness, images, or digital artwork, however faces extra versatile opponents that competently deal with a wider vary of duties for a similar worth.