Samsung CRG90 LC49RG90SSEXXY (49")

Monitor is amazing! – This is a really great monitor. The only thing you need to be mindful of is having a laptop/PC powerful enough to output the graphics required. The real estate on this screen is very impressive and allows for great multitasking

Massively wide and hugely expensive – For anyone who has worked with multiple wide screen monitors, I don't need to spruik the benefits of having a nice large working desktop for your work or gaming pleasure. If you want plenty of display real estate, there's plenty of ways to skin the cat, as they say - you can have multiple screens, but you'll be having to deal with bezels, which is never as nice as having an uninterrupted viewing surface. In a single unified screen, the 32:9 Ultra-wide format has been around for some time, but mostly in a 1080 vertical resolution and more importantly at lower standard refresh frequencies like 60Hz for example.

This year however, Samsung has upped the ante by lifting both refresh and display resolution to 120 Hz and 5120 x 1440 resolution (which is Dual QHD) respectively. Add to that an overall span of 49 inches and you've got yourself one serious bit of display hardware.

I came from a triple 30" monitor setup (running 7680x1600 resolution combined), so initially it was a real struggle to convince myself to go for this model. Yes, I lost out on some screen work area and yes, it's not quite as tall etc .. but - having a single uninterrupted view is quite simply awesome. This is like two 27" wide-screens side by side. Very immersive!. The high refresh rate also makes for much less eye strain. No regrets - this beast beats multiple screens any day!

Now, this kit doesn't come cheap of course. Is it top notch, is the quality there, is it worth my coin .. gosh darn it, will you get to the point, I hear you ask? OK, so here's my take - Yes (basically). 1) Packaging - excellent. Large box, but not overly huge (I actually expected bigger). You can definitely store it in roof or similar for moving or warranty etc. 2) Assembly - Easy, nice stand, only tool required is a screw driver and they even include a bracket should you have a monitor arm or different stand. Overall, quick and easy to attach; however, the stand could be a bit taller. 3) Screen hardware; mostly good. First thing you will grapple with is gaining access to the ports on the underside of the screen. The stand doesn't allow much height adjust - so you'll have to probably lie the screen down in order to connect all cables. Three custom preset buttons under the front edge allow you to save various settings, which is very nice and allows you to switch quickly between business / game type settings. There's a blue ring LED light on the back, which creates some funky ambient lighting if that's your thing. USB ports - there's both USB3 and USB 3 powered - knock yourself out if you want to scramble to try and get stuff connected whilst working by feel alone, because you can't see them due to the port access issue described above. This kind of stuff would have been nicer in the base or direct from the back for example.

Once you have it up and running however, you're greeted with excellent brightness, contrast, detail etc. WOW.. (and I'll keep it at that).

The bad and the dubious: - There's been a few times where the monitor has had issue re-waking from sleep mode - There's a fair amount of backlight bleed. You don't pick it during the day, but at night - typical of the LCD/LED backlighting issues most have. It's not terrible, but not what I would consider great for a screen this expensive. - Another odd thing is the PBP (Picture by Picture) function, which separates the screen into two parts displaying output from two different sources simultaneously. Once activated, the screen has a fault whereby it won't go back to 32:9 ratio in Win10. It ends up choosing this strange ultra narrow band in the middle. A reboot fixes this - but it's a repeatable bug.

Anyway, should you avoid it, consider it, shortlist it, or go right ahead and buy it? (I know.. don't say it). Well, I reckon - consider it. There's going to be other manufacturers that will follow this trend. And if you can play the waiting game or live with a lower refresh rate, you can can get cheaper options from Philips, Dell, or LG, but if you want it all now - this is pretty much it.