The Philips BDM4350UC is a true monster of the working desk. Check out that model number – 43 inches, people. This is a giant, so you had better have a giant desk to go with it. Of course, had the legs been designed more like a traditional Samsung with feet spreading out from the middle, you could settle for some overhang.
But this Philips BDM4305UC, in all its 4K glory, does require some extra spread. So, assuming you have the real estate to cope with a monster like this, let’s get going and check if it is even worthwhile or not.
Well, of course it is. This is a magnificent monitor. As Philips says of its BDM4305UC, it is an expansive 43 inch Ultra HD Professional display that gives you room to spread out and see the big picture. Remember, 4K means four times full HD, so this thing carries some real detail.
Now I am a bit of a gamer. I don’t play many titles, but I do like to see what I am doing. For a gamer, using this monitor on a work desk and work chair, it is a little too large. I also play racing games on the XBox One using a 55 inch screen, but I am sitting just a little further back, not much because I like that immersive approach.
But in an office, sitting back a bit means you are going to have to have your keyboard in the lap, and heaven only knows what you do with the mouse. So that’s a tad difficult. Not impossible, mind. I played a few rounds of Call of Duty and did as well as I usually do, which is about average, and it looked amazing with that 3840×2160 resolution singing straight back at you. Even Age of Empires looked great.
So gaming is a big yes, yes, yes, but think carefully about your layout. If you have a corner desk, those extra inches gained by pushing it back a little further would be wonderful. Work-wise, however, this is the best thing I have ever used. I tend to have open a few windows at once, and jumping from one to another is okay, but with over 40 inches to play with, jumping is redundant.
The IPS panel gives a 178 by 178 degree viewing angle, so everyone can see what you are doing. Plenty of controls will allow some pretty fussy users get the best from the range of colour, brightness, and so on, settings. Out of the box, it looked brilliant.
Philips said of its SmartUniformity system: “With a colour metric to assess colour accuracy, this mode is calibrated to meet average luminance uniformity of more than 95 per cent. Selecting this mode will produce uniform and accurate images.”
With so much space, up to four different devices can be connected at once with a picture by picture system. Love that. Smaller screens struggle with this. There are myriad other settings which are surely going to appeal to every purist out there, but for the normal user like me, I just can’t fault this monitor. USB 3.0 hub for charging, zero power switch, pretty powerful speakers, slim bezel, easy to use controls, lots of the usual inputs like HMDI, DisplayPort, there is nothing not to like.
I wouldn’t try taking the feet off too often, though. Once fitted, best leave them where they are during moves. It was a sad day when this left, but once the Philips BDM4305UC was off my desk, I could see outside once more, so that was nice.