Samsung CF791 Series 34-Inch QHD Ultra Wide 1440p, Curved Widescreen Monitor (C34F791)

I had a VX238H monitor for about 5 years, and thought it was time for an upgrade in July of this year (2017). I saw Samsung launch their CHG90 monitor that I preordered, cancelled, and ordered again from Amazon because of constant shipping delays. When the monitor arrived, it was awesome, but had a dead pixel in the left middle of the address bar, so it was always obvious to me. After a few days I also noticed some dim pixel clumps and that a stuck blue pixel had developed. For the price there shouldn't have been any issues, so I returned it and ended up waiting to buy another monitor.I compared the X34, Z35P, PG348Q, the Dell U3415W and U3417W, as well as the Agon AG352UCG up through Black Friday, as well as some LG 60Hz monitors, but coming from the CHG90 I knew I wanted more than that, with 100 being the minimum, as well as 1440p.I had looked at the CF791 before but it hadn't grabbed my attention. It felt like more of a 'uninformed consumer' ultrawide rather than something that catered to the discerning. However, after comparing it honestly to the other monitors in my list and watching a number of reviews on it, as well as being familiar with Samsung's Q-Dot panels and how nice it was on the CHG90 (completely smooth/crisp colors with no bleeding or backlight imbalances), I decided to give it a shot at $689.00.The monitor actually arrived pre-assembled in the packaging, which was a big bonus for setup coming from the CHG90, since these ultrawides weigh quite a lot. Simply take it out and let it sit; no floor time required. The packaging was good, just as it was on the CHG90, and did its job.I didn't know how I would feel about the white. In the end, it offered a nice contrast between my black desk, and you'll never notice it when it matters. It kind of draws your eye to it rather than fading into the background when you walk into the room, which is nice since most people going to spend around $700.00 on a monitor would like it to be seen. It definitely becomes the centerpiece of your desk. Note that all the cables are also white, so anyone with darker flooring or carpet should be aware that the cables will be highly visible. It comes with HDMI, power, and DisplayPort cables.Upon starting up the monitor for the first time I seriously scrutinized the screen for any imperfections I could find, as they're the thing that irritates me the most and what really influences my decision to return. In the end I found a slightly phased out pixel in the top right hand corner of the monitor, but with its position and the increased pixel density, I had actually completely forgotten about it until today. You can only see it when looking at the monitor from a shallow angle on a full white screen. No new pixels have made themselves apparent to me, so the electronics are holding up great. The CHG90 was a little over 80 PPI, whereas the CF791 nearing 110. You're going from 144Hz to 100Hz, and it's noticeable, but still a substantial upgrade from 60Hz. Realize that you'll need to set your graphics driver to output at 100Hz, as the monitor's "native" refresh rate when initially connecting to your machine is set to 60Hz. Once you set it to 100Hz, though, you don't have to change it again, and any V-Sync capable application will read it as 100Hz. I use NVidia so I can't comment about Freesync.It's not set on the sturdiest stand in the world, but just don't smash anything on your desk and it won't ever be a problem, as the stand is more than capable of supporting the monitor. It doesn't have a lot of adjustment in terms of tilt and swivel (i.e. none), but has a Vesa adapter included if that's really a problem.As for the curve, it threw me off for a while. It felt like my eyes were seeing at different distances, like one was focusing further than the other. I had been using my VX238H again for a while after the CHG90, so a curved screen just required another adjustment period. After a month of owning it, I don't have any kind of eye strain now. The curve has a centerpoint at around a 2.5-3ft viewing distance, so you need to sit quite close to it.Coming from a TN panel, I can't say much about the colors. Are they good? Absolutely. Are they faded or strange? Not that I can tell. Are they the best? Definitely not, but it's not a big deal. I'd say the monitor is in the 90-95th percentile range of color quality; it will feel like a slight downgrade if you're coming from a current-generation IPS, but nothing to be worried about at all, especially with the nice Q-Dot technology from Samsung which definitely helps their VA panels feel closer to an IPS.Ghosting is unnoticeable, if it's even there. I game on it every day doing everything from MMOs to FPS to sidescrollers, and have yet to have anything pop out to me. If you're looking I'm sure you can find it, but that's like going to a movie and trying to be dissapointed with it. Immersed in whatever you're doing, and you won't be able to see anything wrong. Again, if you're coming from a top-end IPS display costing twice this, then you'll probably see a slight downgrade, but for half the price it definitely gets way more than half the performance (without having to play panel-roulette).Overall I've been very, very happy with the monitor. No issues whatsoever to write home about. Everything is just a tiny step lower than an IPS, but for so much cheaper and with a lot less hassle about stuck pixels, background bleed and IPS glow. This is definitely a monitor I will keep for a while.

The media could not be loaded. I cannot put in words how dissapointed i am with the model I received. Upon opening in from the box, it looked phenomenal. No flaws in any way or form, very sturdy and well built.When it came down to its the initial boot up it was a terrible experience. An entire side of the screen was completely spoltched with dead pixels or something. Ive never seen anything like it before. I sent in a request no problem, and decided I could atleast try out the monitor before I ship it out. And then the damn thing literally ignites in a small flame. I kid you not, the thing started smoking. I grew hysterical and immediately unplugged everything. I am extremely dissapointed in the quality control of this monitor. There is no excuse as to why I should receive a damaged product, let alone a product that ignites in flames in the first minutes of using. Absolutely terrible.

Where do I begin? The monitor is hands down the highest quality 3440x1440 image there is. The 100Hz refresh rate, the Super-VA panel with Quantom Dot backlighting give it a picture I have yet to see beat. I replaced a BenQ XL2720Z 144Hz with this and wont look back. The black point is almost AMOLED level (cell phone). Its BLACK. The brightness is insane - I have my down to 29% most of the time. Watching movies on this is a DREAM. I use MPC-HC for movie watching that puts it in the 21:9 correctly. The gamut it almost Adobe RGB. I've done gamut testing and calibration and it's almost wide gamut, blows my laptops IPS out of the water. I highly recommend having it calibrated because of the gamut so websites and things will look correct. Otherwise Windows will assume its only sRGB and throw the gamut off (images will look washed out). It came from the factory pre-calibrated! They even supplied a printout for my specific monitor. This is Samsung at there best! But you do pay for it.I've been gaming on it with two Sapphite Nitro+ 8GB RX 480's and use the freesync. I want to get the freesync flickering out of the way first. Games look gorgeous. Just beautiful dynamic range that adds a punch to everything. Motion blur is present but barely noticeable. I have 1700 hours on Battlefield 4 and going to this monitor I don't even notice any blur. Freesync makes my 88fps (what I average) look as smooth as my 144Hz.The flickering. Its not present in every game. I use the ultimate engine (freesync from 40-100fps) theres a standard engine (80-100fps), these are in monitor modes that dont affect picture quality but just how FreeSync operates. This is not a defect of the monitor! nVidia users have the same issue with gSync nVidia has even released a statement about their issues with variable frame rate. Its not present in every game and has something to do with the pixels relaxing, and entering a transient relaxed state then getting powered again, the monitors have built in ways to compensate but this is the nature of the beast today and not flawless. If you can keep your framerate from rapidly fluctuating so much it goes away. I notice it when something crazy happens and I drop down to low 40's then shoot right back up to 100. Lower the settings slightly and keep that framerate higher. The only game that refuses to work flawless is Witcher 3. Other games you might notice the flickering in the menus and that's it. I was playing prison architect the last few days and the pixel art is SO BEAUTIFUL and SMOOTH! If your having issues just drop it to the standard engine mode or lower the graphics settings in game to compensate - the monitor is too nice to return.Overall build quality is hands down the best Ive ever seen. The bezel around the panel is all brushed aluminum (think iphone 6 metal back) the samsung logo is laser etched on the front. around the sides and top of the monitor the bezel is only 2mm thick. They bring the panels out as far as they can. The screen has a thin black strip around the outside - Samsung was able to eliminate the light bleed this way. Its not an issue whatsoever.The stand is ok. It came with a vesa mount too but finding a stand is more tricky. The only thing I dislike about the stand is that the monitor does not swivel. So any adjustments I have to make I make by grasping the bottom stand and swiveling it. Its not the end of the world and the panel image quality makes up for any imperfections.I did have a stuck pixel - a red one in the far bottom right of the screen. Right over windows volume icon. Its barely visible. Its like a red sub pixel is stuck at about 10% illumination. It can only be seen if you put a solid grey image at full screen (how you look for pixel defects). In fact its so barely noticable I cant see it unless I go looking for it again and then I still have to hunt for it. I freaked out at first because Ive been lucky and never had a dead or stuck pixel before but it was so far into the corner it wasent worth exchanging it and gambling getting a monitor with more dead pixels.I do video editing and some post production work, lots of graphics work and that's where this bad boy really shines! the real estate using Adobe Premiere Pro CC is WONDERFUL! A reviewer on YouTube said he had bad color shifting when moving his head - untrue! I have literally no colorshifting unless I exaggerate my viewing angles on purpose. I have a rollor chair and move all over and it looks the same! So dont let this even be a consideration - viewing angles are AWESOME Gaming or Work!Conclusion: if your a gamer be prepared for FreeSync weakness in SOME games, not all. Just compensate and youll be fine. Its great for FPS or MMORPG ect. Ashes of The Singularity had no problems ;DIf your a graphic artist be prepared to calibrate this monitor and have working color spaces set correctly because it goes into wide-gamut territory 89% AdobeRGB . I think its hysterical some people say you can only use 10,12bit displays for graphic art - not. This monitor is perfect for HD video.Watching movies (I do this a lot) is an experience now. Just so beautiful. Unless the movie was specifically formatted for 4:3, 16:9 youll get to use the screen corner to corner. It takes a little work at first. Most Blu Rays are 21:9. Ive ripped most of my collection to have a digital ready copy and using a program like VLC or my favorite MPC-HC I can watch (for instance) Star Wars The Force Awakens in its NATIVE 21:9 format. Corner to corner and put the monitor in ultra bright mode for theater quality contrast. AND THOSE BLACKS WOW!So even with any little issues and inconveniences here or there - I'm in love. It was a bit expensive but a gift from my boyfriend cos he likes all the work I do for his family and church (video/images). Dont bother with the monitors speakers, just get a set of Bose or equivlient and youll be set.Allround great monitor with drop dead beautiful image reproduction. 90%