ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B  Monitor Review

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B has a fairly simple design that's nearly identical to the ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQL1A. It has a curved screen with thin borders on three sides and a thicker bottom bezel. The stand is different from older TUF Gaming models, as the base is now V-shaped instead of a rectangle, and the column is thinner.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B's build quality is decent. Its all-plastic construction doesn't feel particularly premium, but there are no obvious issues with it. The back flexes a little bit where the inputs are, and the plastic piece used for cable management also feels flimsy.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has alright ergonomics. It offers swivel adjustment, but if you prefer an ultrawide monitor that has swivel adjustments, then look into the AOC CU34G2X. Except for the branding, the back is plain. There's a removable piece of plastic at the bottom of the stand's column for cable management.

The V-shaped stand is quite wide, but the feet themselves are thin, so you still have a fair amount of space left in front to put other things. It feels sturdy, and the screen only wobbles a bit.

You can find the controls at the bottom right backside of the screen. There are four buttons and a joystick, and they allow you to turn the monitor On/Off and navigate the on-screen menu.

• User guide
• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
• Power cord
• USB-B to USB-A upstream cable
• Allen key/Screwdriver

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B has an excellent contrast ratio, which means it can display deep blacks, making it great for dark rooms. It's quite a bit higher than the advertised 4000:1 contrast; however, this can vary between individual units.

The ASUS TUF VG34VQL1B doesn't have local dimming. The video above is provided for reference only.

The ASUS TUF VG34VQL1B has great SDR peak brightness. It's very consistent across different content, but it doesn't quite reach the advertised 550 cd/m². That said, it's still more than enough to overcome glare, even in bright, sunny rooms. We managed to reach 543 cd/m² using a checkerboard pattern with Contrast set to max, but it comes at the cost of image accuracy.

We measured the SDR peak brightness after calibration in the 'User' Picture Mode, with Brightness set to max.

Decent HDR peak brightness. It's very consistent, and it's bright enough to bring out some highlights in HDR content, especially when gaming in the dark. It doesn't achieve the advertised 550 cd/m², but it does meet the DisplayHDR 400 requirement.

We measured the HDR peak brightness in the 'ASUS Gaming HDR' Picture Mode.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B has mediocre horizontal viewing angles. Images lose accuracy almost as soon as you move off-center, which isn't ideal for playing co-op games or sharing content. If you prefer an IPS monitor with wide viewing angles, check out the LG 34GP950G-B instead.

The vertical viewing angles are sub-par. This means that images look inaccurate if you set the monitor below or above eye level.

The gray uniformity is great. The sides are just slightly darker, and dirty screen effect is minimal in the center.

Black uniformity is okay. There's visible backlight bleed along the top and bottom edges of the screen.

The ASUS TUF VG34VQL1B has great accuracy before calibration. There are minimal inaccuracies to colors and the white balance, but color temperature is on the cold side. Gamma doesn't follow the sRGB curve at all, making most scenes appear darker than they should. The sRGB mode limits colors well to the sRGB color space, but it also locks many color settings, including the brightness setting. You'll have to use another mode to have access to those settings, but they have oversaturated colors, as you can see here.

The accuracy is exceptional after calibration. The remaining inaccuracies aren't noticeable to the naked eye. The color temperature is much closer to our 6500K target. Gamma improved significantly, but some very dark and very bright scenes are now over-brightened.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has an outstanding SDR color gamut. It has near-full coverage of the sRGB color space used in most content. Its Adobe RGB coverage is excellent, but it might not be enough for some professional photo editors.

Exceptional SDR color volume. It only has trouble displaying bright blues, which is normal for LCDs.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has a great HDR color gamut. Its DCI P3 coverage is outstanding, exactly matching the advertised 90%. However, its Rec. 2020 coverage is much more limited.

The HDR color volume is great. While it displays bright and dark colors well, it's mainly limited by its incomplete color gamut.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has good reflection handling. Combined with the monitor's high peak brightness, you shouldn't have any visibility issues, even in well-lit environments.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has good text clarity. Windows ClearType (top photo) makes diagonal and curved lines look better, like on the R and N. However, it also makes vertical lines thinner, like on the T and I.

Gradient handling is superb. You shouldn't see any banding in most content.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B supports FreeSync natively and is compatible with G-SYNC; however, the latter only works over a DisplayPort connection. Some users have reported flickering when VRR is enabled, but we didn't notice any during testing. If you prefer a monitor with native G-SYNC support, check out the LG 34GP950G-B.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B has a great overall response time, but there's smearing with fast-moving objects. The recommended overdrive setting of '40' has less overshoot than the higher settings, but all of the settings have the same smearing.

The response time at 120Hz is very good. It's very similar to its max refresh rate, as there's the same smearing, and the recommended overdrive setting is once again '40'.

The response time at 60Hz is mediocre. There's still the same smearing as with higher refresh rates, but there's more blur with fast-moving objects. Unlike at higher refresh rates, the recommended overdrive setting is '80' because it has a faster response time than the lower settings.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has a Black Frame Insertion feature to improve motion clarity. It's backlight strobing, to be more precise, and it's called ELMB. Unlike some ASUS monitors, it isn't usable while VRR is active, and it only works above 100Hz.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B's backlight is entirely flicker-free, which helps eliminate image duplication and reduce eye strain.

Input lag is exceptionally low, resulting in an incredibly responsive gaming experience.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has a large, high-resolution screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio. This means you get more horizontal space for a more immersive gaming experience. However, note that not all games support this format, so you might see black bars at the sides in some games, or the picture might be stretched to fill the screen.

This monitor has limited compatibility with the PS5 because it only supports 1080p and 1440p signals, and VRR doesn't work. Also, because it's an ultrawide monitor and the PS5 doesn't support ultrawide gaming, you'll see black bars on the sides.

The ASUS VG34VQL1B has limited compatibility with the Xbox Series X|S. Only 1080p signals work without issue, but VRR doesn't work with 16:9 signals, and for 1440p @ 60Hz you need to enable the HDMI override.

Unfortunately, there are some serious issues when using this monitor with a MacBook. VRR doesn't work at all, both in-game and on the desktop, as it flickers constantly. It also doesn't recover from sleep mode properly, as it takes a long time to wake up, and windows aren't restored to their previous position.

The ASUS TUF Gaming VG34VQL1B has a few additional features, including:

• GamePlus: This includes a virtual crosshair, a timer, an FPS counter, and a display alignment feature.
• Ultra-low Blue Light Technology: Blue light filter to help reduce eye strain.
• Shadow Boost: Makes objects more visible in dark scenes.
• DisplayWidget Lite: Software that lets you control the monitor's settings with your mouse and keyboard.