SAMSUNG 34″ ViewFinity S50GC Series Ultra-WQHD Monitor, 100Hz, 5ms, HDR10, AMD FreeSync, Eye Care, Borderless Design, PIP, PBP, LS34C502GANXZA, 2023, Black

Love love love love love love
I recently purchased this and have been absolutely thrilled with the experience. As someone who isn’t very tech-savvy, I would like to share a few tips for those who might be in the same boat.First Impressions:Okay, so the box and the setup and operations instructions were questionable. I guess this must have come from a third-party seller because Samsung could NEVER. However, out of the box, the monitor is a beauty. The screen is expansive, and the design is sleek and modern. It’s perfect for my home office setup, surrounded by my plants and cozy decor. The ultrawide aspect ratio is a game-changer for productivity and gaming alike.Resolution Setup:Initially, I struggled to get the monitor to display its maximum resolution of 3440 x 1440. After some research and a bit of trial and error, I discovered that the secret lies in using a USB-C connection. If you’re like me and not too familiar with these things, here’s a simple guide:Check Your Cables: The monitor comes with an assortment of cables, including HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C. Make sure you’re using the USB-C cable that supports video output. Not all USB-C cables are created equal, and some only support charging.Right Cable Choice: After downloading various programs to change my resolution and having no luck, I realized the provided USB-C cable (often referred to as a “lightning cable”) was actually the fix. Switching to this cable instantly solved my resolution issues.Update Drivers: Ensure your graphics card drivers are up to date. This can often solve resolution issues.Adjust Settings: Go to your computer’s display settings. Under “Display Resolution,” select 3440 x 1440. If this option isn’t available, reconnect your USB-C cable and restart your computer.Performance:Once I got the resolution sorted, the display was breathtaking. The colors are vibrant, and the extra screen real estate makes multitasking a breeze. For gaming, the high resolution and refresh rate provide an immersive experience. I’ve also found it fantastic for video editing and other creative tasks, where the detailed visuals make a significant difference.Extra Features:The monitor comes with a few extras that are worth mentioning. The built-in blue light filter is excellent for long work sessions, and the customizable settings allow you to tweak the display to your liking.Conclusion:Overall, I highly recommend this monitor. It’s a fantastic investment for anyone looking to enhance their workspace or gaming setup. If you’re struggling with getting the correct resolution, remember to use the USB-C cable that comes with the monitor and keep your drivers updated. This monitor is worth every penny, and the setup is a minor hurdle for the massive benefits it provides.

A good value if on sale, but think carefully about why you want ultra widescreen.
First off, I’ll say that I got this here for about twenty percent off retail, and for that I would consider it a very good value.This monitor is replacing a 27″ 4k LG monitor that I gave to my daughter to use with her Macbook. The two computers that are sharing this Samsung are a file and security camera server, and a desktop computer that sees infrequent use. I wanted to replace the LG with another 27″ 4k; but I’ve always been a little “ultrawidescreen-curious” so I jumped at the opportunity to pick up this Samsung when I saw the sale price.Most monitors at this pricepoint feel very “disposable”, and considering how light this monitor is (even when it was still in the shipping box) I don’t think this is any exception. The included stand does not seem particularly sturdy. With that said, it easily bolted up to my heavy duty VESA monitor stand. (I had to use my own screws though, which thankfully, I had some spares.) Kudos to Samsung for including one each of an HDMI cable and a Displayport cable.Picture quality is solid for this pricepoint. I would not use it for gaming or even my daily work (equal time spent coding and visual design), but it is more than adequate for general/casual home use. One glaring negative for me is the lack of any sort of internal speaker, although it does have a single 1/8″ audio out jack for connecting to headphones or external speakers. Since I depend on audio alerts when my security system software is triggered, I’ll need to hook up some speakers.Monitor settings are controlled via a single small multifunction panel, about 1″ square, at the bottom center of the monitor. Much to my surprise, it works reasonably well. (I favor monitors like my BenQ that have a remote control to change source inputs and access the menu; but I realize such a feature would not be feasible at this pricepoint.)So, let’s talk about why you would want ultra widescreen. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio, so it is more than twice as wide as it is tall. It’s not great for movies, because they tend to be shot at 16:9, so you will have black bars on the left/right sides. It’s not great for general web browsing, because most websites are designed for narrower viewports — rightly so, because reading extremely long lines of text is visually fatiguing (I’m a web developer) — so you have a LOT of empty space on the left and right sides of the screen. In many ways, despite being nominally “larger” than my main work monitor (34″ vs 27″), it feels visually cramped because I have less vertical resolution available.So what would ultra widescreen be good for?- If you are working with wide spreadsheets that have many columns, you will definitely benefit from the extra horizontal space.- If you play panoramic, immersive games, you might like the expanded horizontal view. (But I would reiterate that a monitor at this pricepoint is probably not great for gaming.)- You are a coder and want to see long lines of code fit on one line. (But, coder-to-coder, I would argue that shorter, more readable lines of code is ideal.)- You are a designer that can benefit from the much wider view, e.g. 2-page layouts. (But again, as a designer myself, I would still favor a 16:9 monitor.)If any of the above apply to you, you might like ultra widescreen. For all other uses, I would probably stick with a conventional 16:9 monitor.[By the way, the 21:9 nature of this monitor does not impact my product rating for this monitor, since it is an intrinsic aspect of the design. I just want to make the above points in case you are new to this monitor format.]Oh! Almost forgot. Once nice little surprise (to me at least) with this monitor is the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) / Picture-by-Picture (PBP) feature! It allows you to display the screens from two of the inputs simultaneously! I can do a little web browsing on one side of my screen, while monitoring my security system cameras on the other side. However, keep in mind that the monitor’s audio output can be only assigned to one of the inputs at a time; you cannot have it coming from 2 or 3 inputs simultaneously.

The product arrived with a massive crack on the LCD. The box looked like it had been handled poorly but not enough to cause that crack. Returned it immediately.UPDATE: the return took a while to process but it was competed successfully. The new one works very well. The only criticism I have is the poor cable management system, which is just a rubber clip that comes loose easily. Also, I bought this monitor for $549, but now it’s up to $999. It’s a good monitor but not worth $999.

The package is missing cables; no cables were included!