Why get two gaming monitors when you can just have one obscenely wide one?
That was my first thought when I saw Samsung's new CHG90, a curved, ultra-wide gaming display that spans a whopping 49 inches. It's available now for $1,499, and it's utterly ridiculous in a very good way.
One of the first things you'll notice about the CHG90 (aside from the fact that it's gigantic) is that it's pretty darn bright and colorful. Like all of Samsung's new gaming monitors, the CHG90 supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) while utlizing Samsung's Quantum Dot technology. That means you can look forward to rich colors, high contrast and lots of brightness. While I've yet to see a game running on Samsung's crazy-wide display, the HDR images running in a demo video on the monitor left me hopeful.
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As far as specs, the CHG90 touts a 1,800R curvature and a 178-degree viewing angle. It should thoroughly engulf you, whether you're fighting aliens in Mass Effect: Andromeda or flying X-Wings in Star Wars Battlefront. The monitor's 3840 x 1080 (or "double full HD") screen packs a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, which means that you shouldn't have to worry about input lag despite the massive real estate. It also supports AMD's FreeSync 2 technology, which is designed to provide smoother graphics performance for folks playing on AMD graphics cards.
If, for some odd reason, you don't have space for a 49-inch curved monitor, Samsung has two other new gaming displays that are more conservatively sized. The company's CHG70 display comes in 27-inch ($599) and 31.5-inch ($699) variations, boasts a sharp 2560 x 1440 resolution and features the same HDR, FreeSync 2 and Quantum Dot tech you'll find in the CHG90. These displays seem like a smart evolution of last year's CFG70, retaining the same colorful display and flexible hinge that made that monitor such a standout while upping the resolution.
While Samsung's new lineup of gaming displays were a joy to look at, they seem primarily aimed at gamers with big wallets. The CHG90's $1,499 price tag is quite daunting for a 1080p display, especially since you can get sharper ultrawide displays such as the Acer Predator X34 for hundreds of dollars less.
At the same time, the CHG90 eliminates the need for a dual-monitor setup, and extra features such as FreeSync, HDR and Quantum Dots could make both new displays worth it for folks willing to splurge. We look forward to putting both models to the test soon.
Photo Credit: Mike Andronico / Tom's Guide
