Samsung CHG90: A Monster 49-inch Gaming Monitor

Ahead of E3, Samsung has announced several wide-screen monitors, and the most interesting one is the Samsung CHG90. At 49-inch wide, this monitor is the largest curved (1800R) gaming PC monitor out there (TVs aside). It spans almost across a normal desk and looks more than impressive, even to jaded tech journalists.

The display uses Samsung’s QLED LCD-based technology introduced in fanfare with the 2017 Televisions at CES 2017. The display’s specifications say that it can reproduce ~1.07 Billion colors, which is a far cry from the 16.7M colors standard still in place for many monitors today. QLED is based on Quantum Dot technology, which consists of using small crystals to control light waves and boost color/saturation more efficiently.

There’s support for HDR (high-dynamic range) for supporting content, either games or movies. This is extremely useful for high-contrast scenes that would otherwise produce saturated colors. As a result, details in both very bright and very dark areas of the image are improved significantly. HDR is something that virtually everyone can “see” when the content supports it.

With a resolution of 3840×1080 ( think (2×1920) x 1080), it is a standard PPI display, but for gaming purposes that remain the preferred standard because many gamers favor high FPS (frames per second), instead of sheer resolution (details). This is particularly true for first-person shooter games (also “FPS”) and action games in general. The 1 ms (millisecond) response time is one of they key metrics that gamers will like. If you are curious, the aspect ratio is 32:9.

Moreover, the Samsung CHG90 can deliver the high-framerates: it clocks at a maximum of 144 Hz or 144 frames per second. It is compatible with AMD’s FreeSync  2, which is a technology that enables an AMD graphics processor (GPU) to synchronize the display’s refresh to the current game speed. The result is the total absence of visible “tearing” in the image, and the perception of the game running smoothly even though the framerate is constantly changing.

Samsung did not say why there isn’t an NVIDIA G-Sync version, which is a competing technology that delivers the same kind of benefits. I think that the licensing fee of G-Sync is higher; and that is the main reason why many OEMs choose Free Sync.

"THE SAMSUNG CHG90 IS A RADICALLY MORE ELEGANT SOLUTION"The main reason of being of this monitor is that it provides unparalleled gaming immersion, in addition to being conveniently tuned and optimized for gaming, down to the menu interface. It can increase your field of vision dramatically. Obviously, you could achieve something remotely similar (even wider) with three 24” monitors in front of you, but the Samsung CHG90 is a radically more elegant solution, if you can afford it ($1499).

However, you do not need to be an avid gamer to enjoy the benefits of this monitor. Anyone who handles a lot of multi-tasking/multi-window could find themselves working in a whole new world after installing this monitor. There are higher PPI alternatives if you want fine text rendering and don’t mind going back to 32”, but I bet that for many users, this is the only monitor that can accommodate their massive multi-tabs web browsing habits – you know who you are!

Alternatively, I have seen some pictures of this monitor with Excel opened in full screen. It is ridiculously large, but for some users who export massive amounts of analytics, that might be the only screen where they can look at their data without horizontal scrolling.

For legacy games/apps that aren’t quite ready for the extremely wide resolution, it is, of course, possible to run them in “normal” 1080p mode with black borders on either side.

Samsung has utilities that help partition the screen in ways that Windows 10 just didn’t foresee. In Windows, it is easy to split things up in the middle, but Samsung pushes desktop surface management to the extreme and lets the user build and select dozens of different options. I wish that Microsoft came up with this!

Connectivity includes DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, 2x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio and 3x USB 3.0. There’s no Thunderbolt and no USB-C connectivity. It is a pity for USB-C Thunderbolt laptop users, but the gaming world can do without that, for now. It is possible to adjust height, tilt, and swivel.

Although $1499 isn’t cheap, the massive size and the lack of peer-competitors still make this an interesting product to look at. If your budget cannot quite stretch to that level, Samsung also launched the CHG70 in 32” and 27” ($699 and $599 – all ship can be ordered now, and will ship “this summer”). Official product page

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: General
Tags: curved monitor, E3, e3 2017, Gaming Monitors, monitors, QLED, Samsung