Turbocharge your office! Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor test

The Philips 34E1C5600HE speeds up work, as you can process much more information at the same time.

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Introductory

The monitor market is constantly developing, responding to the changing needs of users and technological innovations. In recent years, ultra-wide displays have become more and more popular, offering an increased work area and an immersive visual experience on a single panel. The Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor was also released in this segment, which attracts attention with its promising functionality and modern features.

This 34-inch ultra-wide monitor is a product tailored to the modern work environment or even to the needs of home entertainment, it can be used for both tasks. Philips' goal was to create a display that combines productivity-enhancing features with superior image quality and convenience features. The result was a versatile tool that can be used for office work, creative activities and relaxation at home.

One of the most important innovations of the Philips 34E1C5600HE is the built-in webcam, which not only facilitates remote work and online communication, but also offers security functions such as Windows Hello. This solution reflects the manufacturer's effort to respond to the changing needs of a post-pandemic world, where hybrid working and increased online presence are increasingly becoming the norm.

The monitor's 3440 x 1440 pixel resolution and 21:9 aspect ratio significantly increase the available screen area. This design can be especially beneficial for those who regularly work with multiple windows at once or use applications that benefit from a wider field of view.

The performance of the Philips 34E1C5600HE display is also remarkable. The 100 Hz refresh rate ensures smoother image movement, which is not only beneficial for gamers, but also provides a more pleasant experience during everyday use. The VA panel technology offers an excellent contrast ratio and a wide viewing angle, which contributes to a quality visual experience.

Philips also placed great emphasis on connectivity. The USB-C port is not only suitable for data transfer and video signal transmission, but also has a charging function. This simplifies cabling and increases the tidiness of the work area, which can be an important aspect in the design of modern, clean work environments.

In this article, I will examine the Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor in detail. I will review its external appearance, connection options, technical specifications, and share the experiences gained during use, supplemented by measurement results found on the Internet, which I myself, unfortunately, cannot provide. The goal is to give you a comprehensive picture of this promising ultra-wide monitor, helping you to decide whether it meets your needs and expectations.

External and connectors

The exterior of the Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor is simple but elegant. The display has an almost bezel-less design, which maximizes the usable screen area and gives the display a modern look. The thin frame is black, which fits well with most work environments and home setups. The Philips logo is discreetly located in the lower bezel, while a small white LED in the lower right corner indicates the operating status of the monitor.

The back of the monitor has a simple, textured black plastic cover. This is not only aesthetic but also practical as it resists fingerprints and scratches. I really like the play of light and pattern on the convex back, although this is something I rarely see, since it is facing the wall.

The built-in 5 megapixel web camera is located on the upper part of the back, or rather on the upper cup, which has a physical cover, thus protecting our private sphere. This solution allows users to exercise full control over the use of the camera, that is, we can prevent for prying eyes to peek into our home via the Internet.

The design of the stand and base is robust and stable, which is essential for a monitor of this size. The hexagonal shape of the base is not only aesthetic, but also provides a large enough floor space to securely hold the monitor. I particularly like the fact that the sole is not divided, its surface is not too large, so cleaning and dusting becomes much easier when appropriate. The stand can be easily attached to the monitor with one click and can be removed just as easily if necessary. The monitor is VESA compatible, so you can even use a monitor stand instead of the factory base.

The Philips 34E1C5600HE performs well in terms of ergonomics. The stand allows for 130 mm height adjustment, which helps to set the correct eye height. The display can be tilted between -5° and +20°, which allows you to set a comfortable viewing angle. It is important to note that the monitor does not have a rotation function, which may be a limiting factor for some users, so this is a small negative point in the review.

The connectors are located on the back of the monitor, facing downwards, which helps the cables to be routed in an orderly manner, but since the monitor cannot be rotated, it can only be tilted back a little, making it difficult to connect the cables. Fortunately, this is only needed once, during commissioning. The connectors include an HDMI 2.0, a DisplayPort 1.2, and a USB-C port that can transmit video signals and charge up to 65 W. In addition, four USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports are available, one of which is also suitable for fast charging. The monitor also has a 3,5 mm audio output for connecting headphones or external speakers.

Regarding the USB-C port and 65-watt charging, it is important to note that the first Type-C monitors did not yet have a charging function, so for example the Xiaomi Pro notebook I used was essentially unusable with them. On this machine (as on many other machines), charging is also done through the full-fledged Type-C connector, which can transmit both sound and image. On the other hand, if there is no charge, especially when an external display is turned on, the notebook quickly drains.

The Philips 34E1C5600HE solves this problem by charging via the Type-C connection. In other words, when using this monitor, the sound also goes through the notebook, the image also goes through the notebook, but in the meantime, the power comes from the monitor, so the notebook does not run down.

The monitor controls are discreetly located on the right rear side of the display. Control is made possible by a familiar, easy-to-use joystick from Philips, which provides intuitive navigation in the on-screen menu (OSD). This solution significantly simplifies changing monitor settings compared to traditional buttons.

Overall, the appearance and design of the Philips 34E1C5600HE reflect a well-thought-out, functional design. Not extra, not ostentatious, not luxurious, simply beautiful and practical. The Philips 34E1C5600HE does not have striking design elements or extra functions, but its appearance is pleasant and professional, and fits well into both office and home environments. The arrangement of connectors and controls is practical, and the ergonomic functions contribute to comfortable long-term use.

Specification

We are over the exterior, the appearance, now let's briefly see the factory specification data!

The Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor features a 34-inch VA LCD panel with W-LED backlighting. The display offers an Ultrawide Quad HD (UWQHD) resolution of 3440 x 1440 pixels, which is an ideal compromise between detail and performance requirements. The 21:9 aspect ratio provides an extra wide working area, which can be especially useful during multitasking or applications that require a wide field of view.

The monitor has a 100 Hz refresh rate, which results in smoother image movement both during work and entertainment. The response time is 4 ms (gray to gray) and 1 ms MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time), which provides acceptable performance in most areas of use, although, since this is an office monitor, it understandably does not reach the speed of dedicated gaming monitors.

The brightness of the display is 300 cd/m², which is average and sufficient in most environments. The contrast ratio is 3000:1, which is one of the strengths of VA panels, and results in deep blacks as well as vivid colors. The monitor offers a viewing angle of 178 degrees both horizontally and vertically. In terms of color performance, the 34E1C5600HE flashes excellent capabilities, even if not as good as a display made for graphics work. The 99,25% NTSC and 123,24% sRGB color space is excellent, as these data imply a wide color gamut and accurate color reproduction. This can be especially beneficial for creative professionals who do color-critical work.

The monitor supports adaptive sync, which helps eliminate screen tearing and stuttering during gameplay. It also has LowBlue mode and flicker-free technology, which reduce eye strain during long use.

The built-in 5 megapixel web camera supports Windows Hello face recognition, which enables convenient and secure login. In addition to the camera, there is also a noise-canceling microphone, which improves the sound quality during video calls. The monitor also has two 5-watt built-in speakers that provide adequate sound for general use.

In terms of connection options, the monitor is well equipped. It has HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2 and USB-C ports. USB-C supports DisplayPort Alt Mode and up to 65W charging. There are also four USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports on the monitor, one of which is capable of fast charging.

Of course, the Philips 34E1C5600HE has an OSD menu, which is also the usual sophisticated solution from Philips. The management of the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu is assisted by a discreetly placed EasySelect menu switch button (the small joystick on the back), which provides quick and easy access to the settings displayed on the screen. This allows users to change monitor settings quickly and efficiently.

The OSD menu is available in many languages including English, German, Spanish, Greek, French, Italian, magyar, Dutch, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish, Russian, Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, Czech, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean. This wide language support ensures that the monitor is easy to use for users of different nationalities.

Among the functions available in the menu is the SmartImage game mode, which offers preset image modes for different game types, optimizing the visual experience. In addition, users can adjust the brightness, contrast, color settings and other picture quality parameters through the OSD menu.

Experiences

I said that the specification will not be long, let's immerse ourselves in the experiences!

Some of what is described below is not the result of my own measurements, I collected them from the net. Unfortunately, I myself do not have the proper tools to perform accurate measurements. So the point is, in this chapter you will find a mix of my own experiences and other information available on the internet.

When using the Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor, we can observe many positive and some less ideal features. Let's start with color performance, which is one of the most important aspects when evaluating a monitor.

In terms of color performance, the monitor shows remarkable results. It achieved 84% coverage of the AdobeRGB color space in the tests, which, although not the best among similar monitors available on the market, is a very competitive value. This means that the monitor can display a significant part of the AdobeRGB color space, which can be beneficial during professional photo and video editing.

DCI-P3 provides even better performance in terms of color space coverage, with a value of 90%. This is an excellent result and shows that the monitor can be suitable for displaying HDR content and editing movies and videos. This value is the same as the Philips Brilliance 498P9Z monitor, which is a higher-end product. In other words, the Philips 34E1C5600HE is a product suitable for multimedia, video editing, or image manipulation.

However, in terms of color accuracy, the monitor shows less than ideal results. The average Delta-E value is 1,47, which is higher (and therefore less accurate) than similar monitors on the market, that is, in the case of direct competitors. This means that although the monitor can display a wide range of colors, the color accuracy does not reach professional levels. This won't be a problem for most users, but those who do color-critical work may want to look for another option.

Understandably, this is still more of an office than a professional graphics monitor. It's true, nobody has claimed the latter yet, but it's good to know that if you're a professional graphic designer for whom the correct display of colors is vital, you'd better choose a different display.

In terms of color uniformity, the monitor performs well. Most of the screen shows a value below 1,5, which is an excellent result. There is some deviation at the edges of the screen, but this is not an unusual phenomenon for large monitors. The maximum deviation is 2,3, which is still in an acceptable range.

Evenness of brightness can also be said to be good. Compared to the center, the largest deviation is 11%, which is located in the upper part of the screen. In most areas, the difference remains below 10%, which is considered a particularly good result. This means that users can see an evenly lit image across the entire screen, which can be especially important during long sessions.

During the practical use of the monitor, the 34-inch, 21:9 aspect ratio display proved to be extremely effective for multitasking. The wide screen allows for the convenient arrangement of several windows next to each other, which increases productivity. The 3440 x 1440 pixel resolution provides a sharp and detailed image, although some users may find the number of vertical pixels limiting when scrolling through long documents or web pages.

This last data means that the vertical resolution of 1440 "only" corresponds to a 2K resolution. This is still much better than plain FHD resolution, but falls short of 4K resolution. In exchange, we can display two full-size 2K images side by side, which is not a bad option!

The 100 Hz refresh rate results in noticeably smoother image movement compared to traditional 60 Hz monitors. This is not only felt during games, but also during general use, for example when moving windows or scrolling web pages.

The quality of the built-in webcam and microphone proved to be adequate during video calls. Windows Hello facial recognition makes logging in quick and convenient, although some users have noted that the system sometimes struggles to recognize faces in strong backlight conditions.

Overall, the Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor proved to be a versatile and capable device that performs well for both work and entertainment. Although it doesn't offer top performance in all aspects, it can be an excellent choice for most users, especially those who value increased workspace and all-in-one solutions.

Conclusion

The Philips 34E1C5600HE monitor is a versatile and impressive and exciting device that, in my opinion, successfully combines the needs of a modern work environment with home entertainment. With its 34 x 3440 pixel resolution and 1440:21 aspect ratio, the ultra-wide 9-inch display provides an excellent basis for efficient multitasking and immersive visual experiences. And the 100 Hz refresh rate ensures noticeably smoother image movement, which is beneficial both during work and entertainment.

One of the monitor's biggest strengths is its color performance. The 90% DCI-P3 and 84% AdobeRGB coverage is an impressive result, which makes the monitor suitable for creative work and displaying HDR content. Although there is room for improvement in terms of color accuracy, this is not a problem for most users. The excellent contrast ratio and wide viewing angle further enhance the visual experience.

The built-in 5-megapixel webcam, noise-cancelling microphone and Windows Hello support offer extra features that can be especially valuable in the age of remote work and online communication. The USB-C connection and the built-in USB hub further increase the monitor's versatility and usability.

Overall, the Philips 34E1C5600HE is a well-designed, feature-rich monitor that can satisfy the needs of most users. Although it doesn't offer top performance in all areas, it's good value for money, especially when you consider the built-in webcam and wide functionality. This monitor can be an excellent choice for those who want to combine productivity and multimedia experience in one device, whether it is a home office, creative work or casual gaming. The Philips 34E1C5600HE proves how a well-designed ultra-wide monitor can become a versatile hub for modern digital life.