AOC Q29630 29" UltraWide IPS LED Monitor Review
Calibration & Controls
There are several different presets to choose from in the On Screen Display (OSD) options. We stuck with the Normal setting for the duration of our tests.
DisplayMate Test Screens
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AOC opted for physical buttons rather than touch-sensitive controls, a great decision in our opinion. Touch-sensitive controls don't always register our touch inputs, whereas physical buttons are generally more reliable.
Navigating the settings is a mostly easy and intuitive affair. The different options are clearly labeled, and so are the navigation options as you zigzag through the OSD.
There's also an OverDrive setting (Weak, Medium Strong, and Off) that adjusts the response time. Using OverDrive can introduce input lag, so it's nice to see AOC offering different levels to play with.
Navigating the settings is a mostly easy and intuitive affair. The different options are clearly labeled, and so are the navigation options as you zigzag through the OSD.
There's also an OverDrive setting (Weak, Medium Strong, and Off) that adjusts the response time. Using OverDrive can introduce input lag, so it's nice to see AOC offering different levels to play with.
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We're now using DisplayMate for Windows (www.displaymate.com) as part of our monitor evaluation process. DisplayMate's smorgasbord of tests allow us to root out potential problems areas, such as geometry distortion and color inaccuracies, to name just two.
To AOC's credit, we didn't notice any major issues with its Q2963PM. The IPS panel proved bright and vibrant with accurate color reproduction with exception black level performance. There wasn't any backlight bleeding, and despite its wide profile, distortion never reared its ugly head. We were especially impressed with its small font performance. Tiny text appeared sharp and readable, whereas lesser quality displays tend to struggle with this portion of DisplayMate's gamut of benchmarks.
Not all was perfect, though. As we've seen with other high-end monitors, there was a tiny bit of overshoot detected in the video bandwidth test. A perfect score in this test is 100, and the Q2963PM scored about 105. Values over 100 indicate over-peaking and compensation, which can result in ringing and overshooting an image, according to DisplayMate.
We also noticed a bit of overloading on the bright-end of the LCD intensity scale in DisplayMate, indicating a bit of white level saturation. It still outperformed the majority of TFT panels we've tested, but was slightly behind other IPS displays.
To AOC's credit, we didn't notice any major issues with its Q2963PM. The IPS panel proved bright and vibrant with accurate color reproduction with exception black level performance. There wasn't any backlight bleeding, and despite its wide profile, distortion never reared its ugly head. We were especially impressed with its small font performance. Tiny text appeared sharp and readable, whereas lesser quality displays tend to struggle with this portion of DisplayMate's gamut of benchmarks.
Not all was perfect, though. As we've seen with other high-end monitors, there was a tiny bit of overshoot detected in the video bandwidth test. A perfect score in this test is 100, and the Q2963PM scored about 105. Values over 100 indicate over-peaking and compensation, which can result in ringing and overshooting an image, according to DisplayMate.
We also noticed a bit of overloading on the bright-end of the LCD intensity scale in DisplayMate, indicating a bit of white level saturation. It still outperformed the majority of TFT panels we've tested, but was slightly behind other IPS displays.
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Photos looked superb on the Q2963PM. People and scenes came to life on the brightly lit display, and though we noticed some white level saturation in DisplayMate, it didn't appear to affect our sample of photos, including brightly lit scenes. You need not worry about your vacation photos looking crummy on the Q2963PM.
