Samsung LC34J791 review: A very tempting screen

Samsung is best known in the UK for its phones and tablets, but it also sells numerous “professional” monitors. It can’t help itself from adding consumer pizzazz, though, and here it’s evident in a glossy white finish on the rear of the screen: this 34in curved monitor would be equally at home on a receptionist’s welcome desk as it would an executive’s office.

Said executives can minimise cable clutter thanks to the Thunderbolt connection, and there are also two USB-A ports for attaching peripherals. Combine this with a second Thunderbolt 3 connector that can supply up to 15W and you have a potent docking station.

Samsung takes a different approach to the stand, opting for what it calls a “swing-and-tilt” mechanism. As you lift the panel through its 100mm of height adjustment, it moves in a gentle arc. You can then separately adjust the tilt so that it faces you correctly. There’s no swivel, but as this is a relatively light 34in screen at 7.6kg, that isn’t a big issue.

There’s nothing particularly special about the panel itself. It uses VA technology with its inherently excellent response times and contrast, making it well suited to games; you can even push it up to 100Hz at its native 3,440 x 1,440 resolution, and it supports AMD FreeSync too.

The panel proved a solid performer in our tests, with its standard setting delivering an average Delta E of 0.69 and 99.9% coverage of the sRGB gamut with 131.8% volume. It covers almost all the DCI-P3 gamut as well. Where it proved less exceptional was brightness uniformity, but excellent viewing angles make up for this in practice – it doesn’t look obviously less bright in any particular areas.

This isn’t a good choice for people who like to hop between colour profiles, with a handful of presets on offer from the simple – simplistic, even – OSD. Dig deeper and you’ll find a choice of five colour temperatures (we measured Cool 2 at 8825K, for example, while Normal hit 6360K), but this isn’t a monitor created with colour obsessives in mind.

With a fine pair of 7W speakers, this stylish screen offers something different to run-of-the-mill office monitors. At this price, and with Thunderbolt 3 to boot, it’s a very tempting screen.

Samsung LC34J791 specifications