AOC Q2963PM 29″ UWHD MyMulti-Play AH-IPS Review

Usage And Performance

Like any monitor that I get to have a play around with, there are a number of different scenarios that I will work through to get a feel of how the monitor compares to other panels on the market. Where the testing of this panel will differ from my standard field testing is looking at how the 21:9 aspect ratio affects day-to-day usage, both in an office environment where there is the ability to view two windows side-by-side and then in a gaming environment where the effect of having a wider peripheral vision can enhance game play.

Taking the extra pixels that this panel has to offer out of the equation for the moment and looking more at the image quality that the AH-IPS panel has to offer, it’s time to put the panel through its paces with a series of different tests. Starting with a series of videos with a mixture of bold and darker colours to see how the brightness and contrast perform, the screen is then used in a typical day-to-day home/office environment with a bit of image and video editing. Once the typical home office testing is over, it’s over to the games with some FPS and racing rounds with Metro: Last Light and Dirt3; at which point we will take the extra pixels into account.

When it comes to playing games, the super-wide panel is in a class of its own, The extra width gives a far greater peripheral vision that would only otherwise be gained through two or more panels. The huge advantage that you’ll get with this panel however is that there is no break in the image due to bezels and for people who use two panels, this is even more of a benefit as the cross-hair in a first person shooter is no longer tied between to panels. In racing games, the extra vision gave a better feeling of knowing where your opponents were in relation to you giving a far greater feeling of being in the ‘driving seat’.

Moving over to the day-to-day testing in a home office environment, the ability to have to windows placed side-by-side without any real effect on the workspace that is available actually works better than I though it would have done. Granted windows are not going to be as wide as they normally would on a standard 1920×1080 resolution, but there is more than enough space to play around with. the IPS panel gives a good level of depth and vibrancy to any colours that are shown on-screen, whether it be in a game, whilst watching a film or even just through general day-to-day work.