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The AOC Q2963PM Ultra Wide monitor arrives in a large, brightly coloured box featuring specifications and images of the panel.
Inside are all the accessories, including a power supply, regional specific plug, literature, and DVD and HDMI cables. The stand is supplied separately, however it is a tool less design, simply slotting ‘into' the other half of the stand, which is connected to the rear of the screen.
The screen is not the most attractive we have seen, but we like the industrial appearance and hefty stand, which is reassuringly supportive. Sadly it is not height adjustable, so it can look very low on the desk, depending on how you sit in association with the desk.
Viewing angles are fantastic however, thanks to the IPS panel. It took quite some distance from the center of the screen to notice any annoying contrast shift.
The top half of the stand also accommodates the connectivity, with DisplayPort, dual link DVI-D and VGA connectors available. There is also a secondary DisplayPort located in the base of the stand which is useful for connecting other monitors. There are also two 3.5 audio ports which offer input and output capabilities.
You will notice an HDMI port as well, although this is MHL compatible for mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. MHL hasn't really taken off yet in the mainstream, but some people find it very useful. You can display the output of your smartphone for instance on the large 29 panel, while charging the unit.
There is obviously a lot of distortion and the images will look very aliased. The Q2963PM does allow you to adjust the aspect ratio to 16:9, 16:10, 1:1, 4:3, so there is the possibility to ‘tweak' the display to suit.
The Q2963PM also ships with built in speakers although there is very little bass at all, much as we would expect. Still if you have nothing else the built in speakers will be useful.
The monitor can be hung on a wall, using VESA mounting holes, you can remove the stand easily enough.
The Q2963PM uses an IPS panel and it is extremely impressive – we will take a closer look at the output quality shortly in the review. The Q2963PM ships with a handy utility called ‘Screen+' which splits the screen into different panels which can each feature different content.
The side view really does highlight the chunky, thick stand which really works well. The buttons to control the display are located along the side of the panel, on the right side. They work really well and we experienced no usability issues during the review although some people with bigger fingers might find them a little fiddly to access.
None of the buttons are labelled which is unusual, but if you press any of them an onscreen menu will appear that uses large icons to describe their functionality.
AOC also include the AOC e-Saver power management software and i-Menu which allows the user to adjust picture settings by using a keyboard and mouse, rather than buttons.
While the stand is chunky, the Q2963PM does offer a very thin bezel around the edges, which looks great when the display is on.
