Calibrating a monitor is often a good way to improve its weaker points, if those are color accuracy or gamma. Unfortunately, it can’t help the Dell’s poor contrast ratio, or low maximum brightness.

The storage temperature shows the range from a minimum to a maximum temperature, within which storing of the display is considered to be safe. As usual, Dell’s construction consistency is high, and there are no panel gaps or awkward flex points to speak of. In fact, apart from the Acer Predator series, both Dell screens have the best construction in the ultrawide category. No shortage of plugs The Dell UltraSharp 34 Curved Monitor is specifically designed for multitaskers who can benefit from getting two monitor’s worth of real estate in one sleek panel. The U3417W looks great while providing a comprehensive workspace for the most discerning of users. Beyond that, spending time on shelves brings down prices on monitors in a dramatic way. That means you can buy the better U3415W for over 25 percent less than you’d spend on the curvier model. Sometimes, newer isn’t better.

The Dell U3417W has speakers that can get decently loud, but not nearly as loud as headphones or dedicated speakers.

We’re used to seeing ultrawide monitors with mediocre audio offerings, if any at all, so the U3417W’s prowess here is a pleasant addition. Well covered The wingspan of this display is just over 32 inches with a slightly higher diagonally viewable size of 34.14 inches. The operating humidity shows the acceptable level of humidity, in which the display will function flawlessly. It sets a lower and an upper humidity level for safe operation and is measured in percentage. The heart of the U3419W is its 34-inch (measured diagonally) panel, with a native UWQHD (3,440-by-1,440-pixel) resolution that works out to a 21:9 ultra-wide aspect ratio. Pixel density comes to 110 pixels per inch (ppi), matching that of the Asus PA34VC. That monitor, like this one, is an in-plane-switching (IPS) panel, and it has the same resolution and aspect ratio. This is a lower pixel density than 4K monitors such as the ViewSonic VP2785-4K (that one comes in at 163ppi), but it is more than enough to ensure image sharpness.

There are four buttons for navigating in-display menus on the bottom right. Here users can tweak settings to their liking and set the modes of the shortcut buttons. The defaults of display modes and volume are a good starting point. The latter had to be used with the Macs during testing as Apple has a longstanding issue when it comes to controlling speaker volume on a display via Mac hardware buttons. Incidentally, the integrated speaker quality is pretty good, and certainly better than most portable systems that may be connected to it. The panel has a narrow bezel, about a quarter of an inch wide all around. Including the stand, the U3419W measures 16.4 by 32 by 8.9 inches (HWD), with the height extending to 20.9 inches when the stand is fully raised. Together, the panel and stand weigh 18 pounds. As an in-plane switching (IPS) monitor, the U3419W counts color accuracy as one of its fortes. According to Dell, this panel is factory-calibrated to cover 99 percent of the sRGB color spectrum, and it even outdid this in my testing, covering a full 100 percent. Below is a color-fidelity or chromaticity chart for the U3419W, which was generated in standard mode using a Klein K10-A colorimeter and SpectraCal CalMAN 5 software. The area within the triangle represents the sRGB color spectrum, and my data points (the circles) are evenly spaced to encompass the entire sRGB gamut. There’s some good news here, in that 3,440 x 1,440 is a relatively high-end resolution, and there’s plenty of connection options to hold you over through several video connection revisions. These traits should make the Dell relatively future-proof if you can tolerate its image quality shortcomings.