34" Monoprice Dark Matter Curved Ultrawide 3440x1440p 165Hz VA Monitor Expired

I can speak to this monitor - it has been my daily primary for about 3 months now.

It's stellar.

Fantastic color and black depth. Outstanding for gaming - 165hz is so buttery smooth it has to be seen to be believed. I'm a professional photographer and while I'd never use this to do editing in, it's actually a decent monitor for that in a pinch.

The only serious downside to this monitor are the menu/controls. They are, by far, the worst of any monitor I've ever used. Once you get them set though, it's not something you need to worry about or fiddle with, but if you're someone who enjoys constantly tweaking it bears considering.

Overall for the price I think this is the best monitor on the market. I have virtually 0 complaints. It's stunning - everyone who's used it at my desk is blown away. The image quality and response rate punch far, far above its price range.

Yes. It's usually replaced with new. But assuming they have stock. Remember, supply chain. If not they will substitute and it might not be the same one. If they have nothing, you'll be stuck with a store credit.

They do cover return shipping, but support is abysmal. It's not really support as much as it is a shipping department with bad communication.

I returned a malfunctioning 35" zero g and was offered this monitor as a replacement, but the curve is too aggressive for me. This was only after they said support would respond to a ticket but nobody got back to me after two weeks. I had to contact them over and over.

Once I got the RMA approved it was painless but getting there was bad enough that I don't want to deal with monoprice again

Reddit has some good comparisons on these. One user posted this:

"Oh hey thanks for the reminder to come back!

So I'm suuuper torn between the two. The gigabyte seemed way more accurate out of the box (as far as I know... I've never had a calibrated monitor... Just stared at a bunch of test patterns...). But adjusting the monoprice a bit got them to match quite closely. The mp definitely has a bit more saturation by default (and seems to blow out reds quite a bit). BUT... those deeper greens and reds are pretty....

I've had about the same flickering on either, and it wasn't bad. Usually it was just a matter of limiting the frame rates to stay under the 144 limit or turning on/off vsync per game. (I have an amd rx480 btw).

The gigabyte is a bit better with automatically adjusting to different Inputs. Switching to a chromecast I had to manually limit the rgb range on the mp. Seems like the setting stuck though. The gb has saveable settings and profiles which while I wouldn't really use.... Is nice to know I can save it.... The osd is WAY better in the GB. No contest. Programmable shortcuts to the nub (limited selection... But you can change them still). You can also turn on a frame counter to show current refresh rate.... Which the monoprice lacks. That's actually a bigger deal to me than I thought it would be.

Basically... Menu/options/out of the box, gigabyte wins hands down for looking natural. But the monoprice is pretty. OH... Also when looking at test patterns, the gigabyte seemed to always have a smoother gradient transition scale. I never noticed anything weird in games, but on the gradient the monoprice has vertical bands that are like an inch wide... The gb just seemed to be smooth. It's been a bit since I've looked at the test patterns though and I was staring at bright screens for a while that day, I'll take another look later.

Both have what appears to be decent overdrive modes... High on the mp definitely causes inverse artifacts, medium Is good. The gb seems to look ok even with the fast setting on the ufo tests and such.

I hope this helps...lol. whenever I end up making a decision I'll let you know. So far I'm leaning toward the gigabyte.... But slightly..."

Personal I would keep the gigabyte deal if you got it as the menu options really seems to be the deciding factor here