As I proceed my quest to seek out one of the best ultra-wide monitor for enjoying Final Fantasy XII, the subsequent show in my celebration roster is the AOC Agon AG352UCG. Equipped with a 100Hz refresh price, Nvidia G-Sync assist and an LED-laden decrease bezel, this curved, 35in 3440×1440 monitor has virtually every little thing you possibly can presumably need for the final word 21:9 expertise. Almost.
Let’s begin with what the AG352UCG is lacking. The greatest omission by far is the very fact its single HDMI enter solely helps the 1.four commonplace reasonably than the newer, and extra 4K-friendly, 2.zero commonplace. This is fairly crucial for a excessive decision show like this, because it’s solely with HDMI 2.zero that you simply’re capable of run a full 4K decision (3840×2160) at 60Hz. HDMI 1.four, however, is restricted to 30Hz at 4K, which reasonably restricts the kind of body charges you may get once you’re enjoying video games.
Now, this isn’t a full 4K monitor, so we’re not taking a look at a drop proper all the way down to 30Hz. What we’re taking a look at, nevertheless, is a cap of 50Hz, which is the utmost refresh price supplied to me by Windows’ show settings when I attached its bundled HDMI cable. Switch over to DisplayPort and you’ll bump that each one the way in which as much as 100Hz for top body price gaming.
In a approach, it’s not the top of the world that it solely has HDMI 1.four, as you’ll additionally want the DisplayPort to reap the benefits of its Nvidia G-Sync assist, too. This helps prop up the body price in case your Nvidia graphics card isn’t fairly as much as the duty of pumping out all these pixels at a gentle tempo and it additionally helps get rid of display screen tearing, dynamically adjusting your monitor’s refresh price to match the variety of frames it may well deal with. This means video games seem smoother for optimum viewing pleasure – that’s, you received’t see Balthier’s stunning face torn in two in case your graphics card does a stuttery cough throughout a busy battle scene.
Then once more, when the cheaper Philips 349X7JEW comes with each HDMI 2.zero and HDMI 1.four assist along with DisplayPort, it begins to make the AG352UCG look a bit rigid, particularly when it prices a lot extra (thanks, G-Sync). You additionally solely get two USB3 ports versus 4 on the Philips, however at the least one in every of them continues to be able to charging your cellphone on the sly when you’ve truly enabled mentioned perform within the onboard menu system.
You’ll must allow USB charging within the onboard menu, however having the ability to cost your cellphone or one other USB system out of your monitor could be very useful certainly.
Its lack of ports could also be a bit disappointing, then, however fortunately the AG352UCG’s AMVA panel places in a commendable efficiency. Spreading 3440×1440 pixels over a bigger 35in display screen might imply it has a barely decrease pixel density than its 34in rivals (106 pixels per inch, or PPI, versus 110 PPI), however its color accuracy is correct up there with the perfect, as my i1 Display Pro calibrator confirmed it was able to displaying a powerful 99.three% of the common sRGB color gamut.
I needed to regulate its User color temperature profile a bit with a purpose to get that determine, all informed, however I solely needed to make a few tweaks to the pink (shunting it as much as 53) and blue (decreasing it all the way down to 48) values to stability out the inexperienced (which remained at its default place of 50). If that seems like an excessive amount of problem, although – and it most likely will probably be due to AOC’s reasonably infuriating navigation controls – the fastened Normal color temperature profile is your subsequent finest wager, as this covers 97.eight% of the sRGB gamut straight off the bat.
However, whereas AOC’s color accuracy could also be prime notch, it nonetheless falls behind the Philips 349X7JEW on distinction and black ranges. Not by an enormous margin, and one you’re unlikely to see or discover by sight alone, however if you happen to’re judging a monitor solely on its numbers, then the AG352UCG’s distinction ratio of 1633:1 clearly isn’t pretty much as good because the Philips’ 1896:1. On my calibrated User profile it got here in even decrease, too, at simply 1281:1.
I’d count on extra contemplating it has an AMVA panel (or superior multi-domain vertical alignment, if you would like the total acronym breakdown – see our best monitor and buying guide article for more information on all of the totally different panel sorts), which is mostly meant to have higher distinction than its TN or IPS-based counterparts. Still, I didn’t discover it to be a specific hindrance in video games, and the dingy particulars of Final Fantasy XII’s murky Rabanastre slums remained completely seen always.
One factor I did discover, although, was that the monitor’s viewing angles tended to take a little bit of a success after I wasn’t wanting on the display screen dead-on. It wasn’t disastrous, however taking a look at it off-centre resulted in a minor shift in each color and distinction. This is one thing I’ve seen on a whole lot of curved screens earlier than, however that is the primary time it’s caught my eye in fairly a while.
The AG352UCG’s black ranges had been additionally a fraction greater than the Philips, measuring zero.18cd/m2 on full brightness versus simply zero.13cd/m2 on the 349X7JEW, however you’ve received higher eyes than I do if you happen to can spot the distinction between them. Besides, nobody can stare at a display screen set to 270cd/m2 for very lengthy anyway, and after I lowered its brightness all the way down to about 50%, the black degree fell accordingly, coming in at a a lot tastier zero.09cd/m2 (the nearer to zero.00cd/m2, the higher). There’s additionally a low blue gentle possibility within the onboard menu to assist cut back eye pressure even additional, too.
One factor the AG352UCG does have in its favour is its black and silver design, which I significantly favor to the swathes of white plastic on the Philips. Its giant AGON emblem and go-faster LED strips on the again and decrease bezel are a bit excessive, however fortunately the latter might be turned off or made much less overt utilizing the onboard menu. However, for these of you who dig such issues, you’ll be happy to listen to you possibly can change the color from pink to inexperienced or blue relying in your most popular color scheme.
The monitor additionally has loads of adjustment choices, together with top, swivel and loads of tilt for straightforward setup, and I notably just like the fold-out arm for hanging up your headset on the again. The solely potential spanner within the works is that its 2000mm curve radius and chunky steel base give it fairly a deep footprint, so that you’ll want a whole lot of free house in your desk to squeeze it on.
There’s additionally the small drawback of the AOC AG352UCG costing £760 / $770, which is about £90 / $120 dearer than the Philips 349X7JEW. A big a part of that’s what I wish to name the G-Sync tax, which all the time provides a hefty premium onto any type of show, nevertheless it’s nonetheless fairly eye-watering nonetheless. The 349X7JEW, however, is an AMD FreeSync display screen, which usually don’t have a tendency to draw the identical type of costs as their G-Sync counterparts.
Of course, there are some individuals with Nvidia playing cards who wouldn’t dream of spending this sort of cash on a display screen they couldn’t totally utilise (and the identical goes for AMD house owners taking a look at G-Sync screens), however as an Nvidia card proprietor myself, I’ve to say the Philips continues to be a fairly tempting deal on this explicit case. Even if each displays value the identical sum of money, I’m undecided the AG352UCG does fairly sufficient to return out on prime. Its ports don’t supply as a lot flexibility, its menu is a ache within the bottom, and its viewing angles simply aren’t fairly pretty much as good. All in all, the Philips continues to be my primary alternative on this Final Fantasy XII monitor showdown in the meanwhile, however this will likely effectively change when Acer’s Predator Z35p steps as much as the plate in a few days time. All will probably be revealed shortly.
