Lenovo G34W-10 Review: 3440×1440 144Hz UltraWide Curved Gaming Monitor

The Lenovo G34W-10 is one of the most affordable 34″ 3440×1440 ultrawide curved gaming monitors. Let’s see where Lenovo had to cut corners to achieve this price, and if it’s the right monitor for you!

Image Quality

To start with, the monitor features the UWQHD resolution with 3440×1440 pixels; When displayed on its 34″ viewable screen, it results in a pixel density of roughly 110 PPI (pixels per inch).

For most people, this is the pixel density sweet spot. You get plenty of screen space with crisp details and text – and you don’t have to use any scaling.

The ultrawide format further improves upon this by providing you with extra horizontal screen space for multitasking and by extending your field of view in compatible games.

21:9 movies (2.35:1 – 2.40:1) also look exceptional as they are displayed without the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen as they’d be on a 16:9 display.

Of course, this also means that 16:9 content will have black bars at the sides of the screen on the Lenovo G34W-10 ultrawide monitor (like when watching 4:3 content on a 16:9 display). Alternatively, you can stretch out or zoom the content to fill the screen.

Luckily, most games support the 21:9 aspect ratio.

There are a few competitive titles, such as Overwatch, that don’t allow 21:9 support as it’s considered an unfair advantage.

Also, keep in mind that 3440×1440 is considerably more demanding than 1920×1080 (though still not nearly as taxing as 4K UHD), so you will need a decent graphics card to maintain playable frame rates in the latest AAA titles.

Moving on, thanks to its VA panel, the Lenovo G34W-10 offers a high 3,000:1 static contrast ratio for deep and inky blacks. Plus, there’s no IPS glow, which makes for an immersive and distraction-free viewing experience in dark rooms.

The peak brightness amounts to 350-nits, so the screen can get more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions and you’ll most likely prefer to have the brightness setting down from the maximum.

Now, while the other 34″ 3440×1440 VA ultrawide monitors using the same panel boast a wide color gamut, the Lenovo G34W-10 covers 72% of the NTSC color space.

72% NTSC is equivalent to ~99% sRGB gamut size. The monitor covers ~95% of the sRGB color space; so there’s some undercoverage and some extension beyond the sRGB gamut, but the difference between 95% and 100% sRGB is not perceptible unless you’re doing professional color-critical work.

Still, given that the other similar ultrawide monitors have around 120% sRGB, such as the AOC CU34G2X and the Gigabyte G34WQCA, the colors on the Lenovo G34W-10 won’t be quite as vivid and punchy, but they’re rich nonetheless – just a bit more natural and without over-saturation.

For the best image quality, we recommend setting the ‘Preset Mode’ under ‘Image Color Setting’ to ‘sRGB’ as it has the most accurate white point and gamma curvature. However, since each monitor unit is at least slightly different, your mileage may vary – you can test your monitor on this website to see what looks the best to you.

Performance

The Lenovo G34W-10 input lag amounts to only ~4ms, meaning that you won’t be able to feel or notice any delays between you and the reaction on the screen.

The pixel response time speed, on the other hand, is not as flawless. As expected from a VA panel monitor at this price range, transitions from very dark to very bright pixels are slow, thus causing noticeable trailing/ghosting behind fast-moving objects.

The ghosting is mostly visible in dark scenes of fast-paced games, but it’s tolerable and even negligible for casual gaming. However, gamers sensitive to ghosting might find it too bothersome.

There are three response time overdrive modes: Off, Normal, and Extreme.

The default mode is ‘Off’ which we recommend dialing up to ‘Normal’ for less ghosting. ‘Extreme’ pushes the pixels to change even faster, but can cause overshoot in some scenarios – so you might want to check out both modes and change them depending on the game/your preference.

The Lenovo G34W-10 monitor supports AMD FreeSync for variable refresh rate (VRR) within the 48-144Hz range and LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) below that.

VRR prevents screen tearing and stuttering by dynamically changing the monitor’s refresh rate to match the GPU’s frame rate (Hz = FPS). This process doesn’t increase input lag as V-Sync does. Below the supported VRR range, LFC kicks in and changes the refresh rate to multiples of the frame rate to keep tearing at bay (47FPS -> 94Hz, etc.).

While the monitor is not officially certified as ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ by NVIDIA, you can use VRR with compatible GeForce graphics cards (GTX 10-series or newer) over DisplayPort too – you’ll just have to manually enable it in NVIDIA Control Panel.

Alas, as it’s the case with most VA panel monitors, VRR brightness flickering is present (though not necessarily on all units). So, in video games where your FPS is fluctuating a lot or frequently around the LFC threshold, VRR can cause brightness flickering.

Related:What Is VRR Brightness Flickering And Can You Fix It?

The intensity of it will vary from game to game and unit to unit.

Since screen tearing is a lot less noticeable at 144Hz than it is at 60Hz, a lot of gamers won’t mind this as they’ll keep FreeSync disabled – it’s just something to keep in mind.

Features

The Lenovo G34W-10 also supports Motion Blur Reduction (MBR). When you disable FreeSync, you can enable ‘MPRT’ in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the monitor.

MBR uses backlight strobing to reduce perceived motion blur at the cost of picture brightness. It also introduces flickering, which is invisible to the human eye but can cause discomfort (eye strain, headaches) after prolonged use to those sensitive to screen flicker. The backlight of the monitor is otherwise flicker-free.

Other useful features include Dark Boost (improves visibility in darker scenes), Saturation, Low Blue Light, a refresh rate tracker, and various picture presets, such as FPS, RTS, Racing, etc.

For navigation through the OSD menu, there’s a 5-way directional joystick at the right side of the monitor.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is sturdy and offers tilt by -5°/22°, up to 130mm height adjustment and 100x100mm VESA mount compatibility.

Further, the screen has a matte anti-glare coating that eliminates reflections without making the image too grainy, while connectivity options include DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0 and a headphone jack.

Note that HDMI 2.0 is limited to 100Hz at 3440×1440. Make sure that ‘DP Select’ is set to ‘DP 1.4’ in the OSD menu for maximum bandwidth.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Lenovo G34W-10 usually goes for around $350.

We recommend the KTC H34S18S instead. It has a wider color gamut and can be found for as low as $250.

You can even find a 34″ 3440×1440 144Hz ultrawide monitor for $300, though it has a flat screen – Sceptre E345B-QUN168W.

Visit our comprehensive best gaming monitor buyer’s guide for more monitors and information.

Conclusion

The Lenovo G34W-10 offers a very immersive gaming experience for the money thanks to its high ultrawide resolution and high contrast ratio. Its lack of a wide color gamut allows it to be cheaper than the alternatives, which might appeal to some users on limited budgets.

Performance is within expectations for a VA panel. Some smearing is noticeable behind fast-moving objects in darker scenes and VRR brightness flickering will affect some units. Regardless, the overall gaming experience is still enjoyable as these visual artifacts (ghosting, tearing) are mainly noticeable when deliberately looking for them.

Specifications

Screen Size	34-inch
Screen Curvature	1500R
Resolution	3440×1440 (UWQHD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	21:9 (UltraWide)
Refresh Rate	144Hz
Response Time (GtG)	Not specified
Motion Blur Reduction (MPRT)	1ms (MPRT)
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-144Hz)
Ports	DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	350 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	3000:1 (static)
Colors	16.7 million (true 8-bit)
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)