A few years back, Samsung unveiled the
S34E790C. With its curved UltraWide VA panel, it provided an interesting and in some respects more attractive alternative to the more widespread UltraWides with IPS panels. More recent IPS UltraWides have also pushed refresh rate up well past the 60Hz limit of this model, making them far more attractive to gamers. The Samsung C34F791 (also referred to as the CF791 or C34F791W with various regional suffixes) provides an upgraded VA solution, with steeper curvature and improved refresh rate. Aesthetically this model looks very much like a significantly wider version of the
C27F591FD. The bezels are slender at the top and sides, comprising a very slim silver-coloured hard plastic outer component and slim black panel border. The bottom bezel and upper surface of the stand base uses a silver-coloured matte plastic. The OSD (On Screen Display) is controlled by a joystick (JOG button) located at the rear of the monitor, at the right side when viewed from the front.
The panel used is a 34” SVA (‘Super’ Vertical Alignment) UltraWide part with 3440 x 1440 (UWQHD) resolution (21:9 aspect ratio) and a 100Hz native refresh rate. The monitor also supports Adaptive-Sync and hence AMD FreeSync, with a variable refresh rate range believed to be 48 – 100Hz (unconfirmed). The monitor has a steep curvature of 1500R – significantly steeper than the older model and slightly steeper than the newer models (
C27F591FD etc.) This is designed to provide a more engrossing experience, with the curve being more of a ‘feature’ than it used to be. Other attractive aspects of the specification include a 3000:1 specified static contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles and the use of a very light matte anti-glare screen surface. This minimises ‘graininess’ and helps preserve image vibrancy as much as possible. And vibrancy is certainly something that Samsung intends to deliver, with this monitor featuring a flicker-free
Quantum Dot backlight. Such a solution employs Quantum Dots in place of the usual backlight phosphors to enhance the colour gamut – 125% sRGB is specified. So this isn’t wide gamut in the traditional sense, but the gamut certainly extends beyond sRGB for some extra vibrancy. A 4ms grey to grey response time is specified, which should be taken with salt as usual.
The monitor includes the ‘Eye Saver Mode’ low blue light function, designed to aid a restful night’s sleep or provide more relaxing viewing generally. There is also a ‘Game Mode’, designed to enhance visibility and saturation in an artificial way – competitive advantage over things looking like they should. PiP and PbP functionality is also included. According to a recent product video, the monitor is VESA compatible – although the press images don’t clearly show VESA holes so it isn’t clear whether this is actually the case. The included stand offers tilt and height adjustment, however. The ports include; 2 HDMI ports, DP 1.2a (with Adaptive-Sync), 2 USB 3.0 ports (plus upstream) and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The display inputs are concealable with a removable plastic cover, to keep things neat. There is also a Kensington security slot towards the bottom right corner, at the rear.
Some further information can be found on
this press release. The monitor is currently scheduled for a release in December with an RRP of €1209. The manufacturer has been known to slip from its release schedules in the past, so we wouldn’t put too much weight on this model being widely available until 2017. We’ll bring further information when we have it and will of course do everything we can to provide a detailed review of this model.