Prism+ XQ340 Pro

PRISM+ XQ340 Pro 3440×1440 (UWQHD) Quantum Dot monitor (review)

8.7

The PRISM+ XQ340 Pro, 3440×1440, 21:9 (UWQHD), is a value Quantum Dot monitor suitable for gamers and home workers alike.

Who is the PRISM+ XQ340 Pro for? Two markets. First, gamers that want 48-144hz AMD Freesync (and some G-Sync compatibility). It has 4ms G-t-G and an 1ms MPRT. And its $599 price is a lot less than a professional level gamers monitor.

The other market is workers (like me) who need screen real estate. WQHD resolution means a pixel density of 109ppi – the same as a 27-inch 16:9 QHD screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. In simple English, it displays about three A4 pages at the same resolution instead of two. Or for an Excel spreadsheet, it shows columns out to BA and 51 lines deep (at 100% – if you can read text that small. Most will scale it to 125 or 150%).

Who is PRISM+?

PRISM+ is not a brand you may have heard of in Australia. Nor its flagship PRISM+ XQ340 Pro but we have done our homework and can report it is a Singapore based company specialising in displays. It specifies what it wants and works with contract manufacturers (that also work for other major brands) to produce the finished product.

PRISM+ (Australian Website here) is a 100% online company (to be able to offer low prices), so you need to understand that all enquiries go via an automated Zendesk system (good). It has a local Australian office and warehouse in Sydney. Warranty is three years and compliant with Australian Consumer Law (more later on the excellent warranty).

What is Quantum Dot?

First, if you are reading any other reviews, make sure it is for the PRISM+ XQ340 Pro – the Q is for Quantum Dot.

Blue edge-lit (not back-lit) LED lights shine up a light guide and off a reflector plate through the Quantum Dot (QDEF) layer containing microscopic red and green QDs. These fluoresce brightly (different wavelengths), and the combined RGB light goes through the VA TFT LCD (LCM) panel and through an anti-reflective layer to reach you.

Prism+ XQ340 Pro

We use the term ‘value’ as it uses a lower cost edge-light with no local dimming. You can see some light banding and slightly greyer blacks than more expensive FALD (full-array local dimming) panels.

The PRISM+ XQ340 Pro uses the Samsung LSM340YP05 VA RGB vertical pixel panel to which PRISM+ add a blue LED edge-light and a Quantum Dot colour layer. While that bare Samsung panel is used by the likes of Samsung 34CF791, Monoprice Dark Matter 34, Viotek GN34DBE, Gigabyte 34+WQC, HP E344c, AOC CU34G2X, Philips 34B1C and many more, PRISM+ produces one of the higher speced QD versions.

PRISM+ XQ340 Pro Basic panel specs

Size34″ diagonal Quantum Dot
ResolutionUWQHD (Ultra-wide, quad HD) 3440 x 1440 in 21:9 ratio
Curve1500R – means would form a circle with a 3-metre diameter.
PanelSamsung LSM340YP05 VA edge-lit RGB vertical stripe with QD layer
Vertical refresh144Hz (with right video card)
AMD FreeSync (otherwise 100Hz AU power)
HDRYes
Colours8-bit 16.7m colours
Brightness nits SDR 300, HDR400 (peak means a small percentage of the screen for a second or so)
ContrastSDR 2500:1 and HDR 3000:1 (static due to edge-lit)
Gamut140% sRGB, 103% DCI-P3
AccuracyDelta E 3.9 out of the box (<4 is good), but pro users will want to calibrate it below 2.
Colour tempdefault 6500K (Adjust warm, cool and user)
OtherLow Blue light and flicker-free
CoatingAnti-glare – not specified but glare increases as you move off-centre

As far as a panel goes, it shows the punchy Quantum Dot colours that we all like. You can adjust between standard, photo, movie, game, FPS and RTS. The text is crisp. You should download the ICC Windows Profile for this monitor, and it sets it at 6500K and a Delta E of 2.2 – very good.

Our tests confirmed most of the claims. Windows 10 Display Properties report that it does not stream HDR video or support HDR (tested on Microsoft Surface Pro 7).

In any case, you may find that an AMD Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce card may produce different results and support HDR and 144Hz on DisplayPort 1. Note that the Intel Graphics only supports 50, 60 and 100Hz via a DP 1.4 connection and 100Hz via HDMI 2.0.

Screen Summary: The focus is on size for the price, and PRISM+ implementation of the Samsung panel is one of the better ones.

Gamers

If you have the right graphics card, it should support 48-144Hz, AMD Freesync and NVIDIA G-Sync (not certified – try at your own risk). It has a grey-to-grey of 4ms and a 1ms MPRT (moving picture response time). It should be fine for most high frame rate games. We saw no evidence of tearing or judder.

The HDMI Port is 2.0 (18Gbps) and won’t support more than 4K@100fps, so it is not one to use with your shiny new PS5 or Xbox. In any case, the PS5 will not support UWQHD displays unless they have 2160p downscaling – this does not.

The claimed 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles are theoretical for all VA panels. Moving past 135° (45° off front on) shows significant colour washout and brightness loss. However, VA panels have a high contrast ratio making light and dark very visible – a plus point of FPS or dark lighting games

Ports

Here we see the cost savings in action.

It has 2 x DisplayPort 1.4 (144Hz support) and 2 x HDMI 2.0 (up to 100Hz). These allow up to four computers to connect and use it as a picture-by-picture screen (driven by two separate devices).

A 3.5mm stereo 3-pole headphone jack takes the embedded sound from the active input port. You need amplified speakers or a headset to use it.

If this were a more expensive monitor, we would expect a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 ALT DP or Thunderbolt 3 port.

Size/fit

It is hard to beat a 34″ 21:9 screen for real estate. The 1500R curve is pretty easy on the eye and lends itself to multiple screen use – it has small top and side bezels.

It is 808 x 495 x 225mm x 7.6kg with stand and 808 x 343 x 123mm x 6.3kg without. The stand is a centre column with +5° to -15° tilt, 15° swivel and 100mm rise from 398-495mm (top).

The legs do stick out, but that is for stability. It attaches to a clip out mount replete with a nice blue LED glow. The VESA wall mount is four standoff screws – you provide the plate or monitor arm.

The 240V cable plugs directly into the unit (no power brick), and the DisplayPort cable provided is way too short for dual monitor use.

User interface- generic

The user interface is the same for most brands using the Samsung panel. What that means is the controls/electronics are also generic to the panel. You can read all about the adjustments in the manual here (it is a PDF, so check downloads).

Power – sipper

We tested using the Emberpulse meter. At worst, it consumes 80W/h, which means a few cents per hour. In sleep mode, it is .5W. It gets a 4-star rating.

Warranty – excellent

Warranty (policy here) is 3-years ACL, and it is excellent. It is a doorstep exchange, so customers do not need to ship the monitors back. The freight costs are all covered by PRISM+ (a strong part of its customer experience). The XQ340 Pro has a 2 bright, 3 dark, total 3 dead pixel policy.

Caveats

Mac users – make sure you have 21:9, 3440 x 1440p res settings (older Macs may have issues). PS5 users may have issues with all Ultra-wide 3440 x 1440 monitors using this panel.

GadgetGuy’s take

Never heard of PRISM+ before. Probably would not have reviewed an unknown brand, but something about the professional approach and the fact it is a Singapore company with local warehousing in Sydney swayed me. And they have 200,000+ customers and over 600, 5-star reviews made me think twice.

I am pleasantly surprised – and that is hard! The gear is value-focused; it is not smick or packaged in glossy boxes. Its direct-to-consumer model means it lives or dies by its quality and after-sales service.

Ratings are is based, for the most part, on performance and in a small part on price. It meets or exceeds all our test paradigms that get it well past the 8/10 pass mark. Price, warranty, and after-sales support notch it up a few more points. I would be glad to have it on my desk.

You can read other GadgetGuy monitor news and reviews here

Prism+ XQ340 Pro
The Prism+ XQ340 Pro, 3440x1440, 21:9 (UWQHD), is a value Quantum Dot monitor suitable for gamers and home workers alike.
Features
8
Value for money
9
Performance
9
Ease of use
9
Design
8.5
Positives
Excellent price with few compromises
Capable of 144Hz and Free-Sync with the right GPU
Good, saturated colours and blacks
Can be driven by up to four computers
Negatives
OSD buttons are painful to use
8-bit colour means any DCI-P3 measurements are theoretical
8.7