Amazing gaming and multi-purpose monitor experience.
It can be difficult — if not impossible — to find a suitable monitor for your desk set-up when you are as picky as I am. I have been trying to find a good all-around monitor to compliment a gaming PC, MacBook Pro, and XBox One X and well, it has been complicated. I’ve wanted something that is not only good for productivity (writing, emails, photo editing, etc.) but I also wanted a monitor that will shine with personal entertainment (gaming, videos, etc.). This 32-inch beast from Viotek has been a wonderful addition to my menagerie of equipment and it satisfies all my needs.
Details
The Viotek GN32LD 32” 144Hz 1440P Gaming Monitor features high-quality performance, customization, eye strain protection, VESA compatibility, and preset settings to make for a truly awesome visual experience. The monitor has a refresh rate of 144Hz and can render 16.7 million colors. You can connect to it using DVI, HDMI, or Display Port plus you can hook up speaker or headphones directly to the monitor using the aux port. The height is adjustable (up and down) and the base of the stand has rubber feet on it so that you don’t have to worry about your desktop getting damaged when the monitor gets moved around. One really cool feature of this monitor is the LED light effects that are built into the monitor’s backside.
In addition to providing QHD quality to your gaming experiences, the Viotek monitor offers PIP or PBP functionality for multi-tasking. The monitor is set-up to deliver a complete digital immersion experience no matter what type of task you ask of it. FreeSync and Overdrive ensure that frames remain intact and that there is a reduction in ghosting and tearing. The screen is anti-glare and features low-blue light to reduce eye-strain, too. If you want to mount the monitor elsewhere, you will find that the Viotek monitor has full VESA compatibility and can be added to any entertainment system.
SPECS
Item | Detail |
Model Number | GN32LD |
Screen Size | 31.5″ |
Curvature | 1800R |
Viewing Angle | 178º (H)/178º (V) |
Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
Resolution | 2560 x 1440p |
Backlight | E-LED |
Typical Brightness | 280 |
Default Color Temperature | 6500 |
Contrast Ratio | 3000:1 |
Response Time | OD3MS |
Refresh Rate | 144Hz |
Power Consumption | Typical: 50W, Max: 60W |
VESA Mounting | 75 x 75 |
Dimension (with stand) | 28.3 x 20.96 x 13.97 in |
Weight | 20.83 lbs |
User Experience
Getting the monitor set up wasn’t particularly difficult, but with it being a 32-inch beast, it wasn’t exactly light. The stand that comes with it is a tripod stand and takes up quite a bit of desk space. I noticed just out of the box that there were a couple of small flaws in the paint on the front facing legs of the stand. Other than that, the parts slid together as they were supposed to and as soon as I powered it up, I connected it to my laptop (2016 MacBook Pro), gaming PC, and XBox One X using an HDMI cable. As I mentioned above, I really wanted a good all-around monitor for my uses. Even though this monitor was designed performance-wise for gaming, I found that it works really well for all the areas I use it for.
GAMING: I found the Viotek monitor to excel at gaming. When I set the monitor up with the XBox One X, I got to take advantage of Microsoft’s recent upgraded 120Hz and Adaptive Sync (Microsoft’s take on AMD’s FreeSync) capabilities. There are not many displays on the market that are compatible with this technology, but this model of Viotek monitor is. I noticed quite a difference between the Viotek monitor and the standard TV that the Xbox is usually connected to. I played Player Unknown Battlegrounds and Mortal Kombat. I thought these were two fairly diverse games in terms of action and motion on-screen. I didn’t have any issues with the monitor being able to handle the intense graphics of either of those games. The picture was beautiful and very immersive. Since I tried Player Unknown Battlegrounds on the XBox, I decided to play Fortnite on the PC for comparison purposes. Again, the Viotek GN32LD did not disappoint. Gameplay was smooth and the picture was gorgeous.
When using my MacBook Pro, I played two very different games using the monitor for testing — Lego Star Wars and Code of War. Lego Star Wars is a few years old and truth be told, it hasn’t been optimized for my computer. Code of War, on the other hand, was released for Mac earlier this year. It has the latest 3D graphics and is a first-person shooter game designed for action. Lego Star Wars looked decent on the Viotek monitor. Gameplay was pretty smooth. I did notice some fragmenting when the scenes would change. I don’t believe this to be a fault of the monitor at all. Since the game is older and hasn’t been updated to run on my modern systems (like my MacBook Pro) I thought that these graphics failures were more about the game and not the equipment it was running on. Code of War proved this was the case because when I started it up, it ran beautifully. I didn’t experience any lag and movements were smooth and uninhibited. The curved screen really helped to emphasize the action and enhanced the gaming experience because I felt like I was ‘in the game’ more than I do when I play on a flat monitor.
PRODUCTIVITY (EMAIL/OFFICE TASKS): The GN32LD is a pretty large monitor and I have it set off to one side of my desk (the desktop is shallow). When I’m gaming or watching videos, I will simply turn my chair to face it, but when I’m writing or completing other office-style tasks, I will sit facing my MacBook Pro with the Viotek monitor being the second screen. The enormous size of the monitor is the perfect dashboard for open windows of applications for reference while I’m researching products. I love having that extra screen real estate for that. It has helped me a lot since I’ve been using it in this fashion because I’m more productive.
PHOTO EDITING: Because the GN32LD was designed for gaming, it’s also perfect for photo editing. Prior to installing the GN32LD, I was editing photos on my 13-inch MacBook Pro screen. While it’s a retina display, the size can be less than productive for that sort of task. Having the gorgeous 32-inch display available is a much easier environment to work with. I simply slide my Affinity Photos window over to the GN32LD monitor and edit away. I feel like it’s a comparable screen to other HD displays for photo editing and it makes having an application that uses multiple windows for tools much easier than the small screen of a laptop.
VIDEO STREAMING: One of the first things I did when I had the monitor set up was to pull up Netflix and watch the first 10 minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. It’s a piece of video that I use frequently when I’m testing out monitors because it has a lot of vibrant colors and movement that would easily tear on lower quality monitors. The Viotek monitor did a fabulous job of showcasing the high-quality video and I didn’t notice any digital artifacts while it was playing.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a beautiful gaming monitor, I can’t imagine a better companion than the Viotek GN32LD. It performs admirably and has a commanding presence on a desktop. It really excels as a gaming monitor but is amazing with video and productivity task as well. I can recommend this monitor to all types of users and think that gamers, in particular, will enjoy all the benefits of the Viotek GN32LD Monitor.
For more information, visit viotek.com.
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