PHILIPS BRILLIANCE BDM3490UC
Ahead of the curve or overpriced?
FORGIVE US A PHILOSOPHICAL interlude. If you need to double-check both the product itself and its spec sheet to confirm the presence of a given technology or feature, does that feature have any value?
Adaptive frame sync had us pondering along those lines. It’s one of those technologies where it isn’t obvious whether it’s working correctly. But we’ve never felt like that about curved LCD screens. They split opinion, sure, but not being able to see the difference hasn’t been an issue.
Until the Philips Brilliance BDM349OUC, that is. That’s surprising, because it has the same 3800R curvature as several other 34-inch displays. The explanation very likely comes down to context. Both of the Samsung displays in this group test are so curvy by comparison, the Philips looks flat. The mild curve makes for moderate impact at most. That either makes it a good choice if you’re unsure of the merits of curved panels, or a monitor that doesn’t fully deliver on the curved-screen proposition.
Curvature aside, however, how does the BDM349OUC shape up? On paper, it all looks pretty familiar. The 3440x1440 pixel grid is standard for a 21:9 and 34-inch screen, as is the IPS panel technology. Elsewhere, the feature set is pretty thin when it comes to image quality enhancements. There’s no HDR, no quantum dots, no high refresh, no exotic color space support.
All that would be fine were it not for one other detail: It costs around $1,100. That’s mega money given the overall spec, and means the Philips is not only nearly double the money of the similar AOC monitor, but more expensive than the 100Hz, ultracurved, quantum dot Samsung CF791. Question is, can the Philips somehow make up for its implausibly high price?
In a word, no. Don’t get us wrong, this is a very nice screen. It has the measure of LG’s 38UC99 for colors, pop, and punch, for instance. There are no nasties from the factory calibration, either. The white and black scales look good, and the gradients are nice and smooth. Ditto the anti-glare coating. The pixel response is decent for an IPS display, and Philips includes an option in the OSD to tweak the overdrive levels, and thus choose between speed and accuracy.
The chassis has an intriguingly spacey design, and feels well put together, even if the tilt-only stand is pathetic at this price. All told, it’s a nice display. Shave $400 or $500 off the price, and it would be easy to recommend. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it experience a major price drop. Until that happens, it’s impossible to recommend when there are better screens for less cash.