So, this Corsair monitor needs to deliver outstanding performance to justify its price tag.
For a$1,200monitor, though, we weren’t overly impressed with the build quality.
The 34WQHD240-C does have a few things going for it.
The power cord goes into the bottom right corner, making it hard to neaten that up.
Corsair has included a KVM switch here as well.
The text clarity here is generally better than similar WOLED ultrawides like the Asus PG34WCDM.
OLED monitors still carry the risk of permanent burn-in when used to display static content for long periods.
Ourburn-in testsare still ongoing if you want to check them out.
This is a nice benefit for variable refresh rate gamers, resulting in a single overdrive mode experience.
In contrast, many LCDs typically perform worse at lower refresh rates relative to their maximum refresh.
The major limiting factor to OLED motion performance right now is the refresh rate itself.
At 240Hz, clarity is very good, delivering a fast experience for competitive gamers.
But if both are run at the same refresh rate, you’ll see similar results.
This means motion clarity is identical when the refresh rate is the same.
Input latency is excellent, offering a sub-0.5ms processing delay in both the SDR and HDR modes.
The Gigabyte equivalent uses slightly more power, but in general, it’s a negligible difference.
Color Performance
All QD-OLEDs we’ve tested so far offer a very similar color space.
In total, we saw 82.8% coverage of Rec.
For SDR color accuracy out of the box, this Corsair monitor is average.
While white balance is generally fine, the gamma curve is a bit off, leading to average deltaEs.
There’s also the usual issue of oversaturation, as the gamut is left unclamped by default.
Now, Corsair does offer an sRGB mode, but it locks you out of some controls.
Maximum brightness in SDR mode is practically identical to other QD-OLED monitors we’ve tested.
The Corsair model produces 253 nits full-screen white, basically the same level of brightness as the Gigabyte model.
This is below the level of most LCDs, but sufficient for typical indoor use.
We were very impressed with the viewing angles of this panel.
HDR Performance
The Corsair 34WQHD240-C is well-suited to HDR from a hardware perspective.
There are no zone transitions as bright objects move around the display.
For gamers especially, input latency on most OLEDs is low in HDR mode.
The weakness of the HDR presentation on an OLED is overall brightness.
LCDs may not have per-pixel control, but zoned backlights can simply get significantly brighter in bright scenes.
This provides the same performance characteristics as other monitors using QD-OLED panels.
The ‘HDR’ mode is the more accurate of the two.
It has great EOTF tracking at all window sizes, eliminating panel dimming and delivering strong color accuracy.
The HDR Peak Brightness setting unlocks brightness, providing just over 1,000 nits for the smallest elements.
This mode is also generally accurate for less bright scenes, with good EOTF tracking for smaller window sizes.
All other monitors in this chart are using their most accurate configuration that ensures maximum brightness.
HUB Essentials Checklist
In the Essentials Checklist, Corsair does a good job of advertising this monitor.
In the feature support matrix, this is a very typical showing for a QD-OLED.
Same text clarity and screen coating, same brightness characteristics, same HDR experience.
If anything, we think this display lacks the polish needed to justify the high price tag.
The sRGB mode is well-calibrated but locks the sharpness setting to a blurry level.
Like this Corsair unit, we felt the MO34WQC2 was too expensive.
Instead, for most people wanting to game on a QD-OLED ultrawide, we’d recommend theDell Alienware AW3423DWF.
At $1,200, we just can’t recommend it.
