If you’re in the market for a new gaming monitor, one of the early decisions you need to make is whether to buy a flat or curved display. The two formats offer different advantages and frequently mean the difference between picking up an IPS or VA panel when considering an LCD screen. Corsair is developing a new monitor that would seem to offer the best of both worlds.
This week, the company announced the Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240, a 45-inch 3,440 by 1,440 monitor you can manually bend to switch between a flat panel and a curved screen. The prototype features a pair of handles on its sides that allow you to adjust the curvature of its LG-made W-OLED panel up to a maximum of 800R. You can even adjust the sides independently of one another – though there’s no practical reason for doing so.
The conventional wisdom when it comes to whether you should buy a flat or curved monitor is that the former is better suited for daily use and productivity tasks while the latter is ideal for gaming since it can make the experience feel more immersive. What will be interesting to see with the 45WQHD240 is just how durable it proves to be over time. Samsung’s foldable phones have a noticeable crease where you bend them open and their screen protectors are known to wear down. For a monitor that will likely cost thousands of dollars, no one wants to see those kinds of imperfections.
Judging by its other specs, the 45WQHD240 will be a more than capable gaming monitor. Its 21:9 ultrawide panel features a 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms gray-to-gray response time and 99 percent DCI-P3 coverage. It’s also G-Sync compatible and can max out at 1,000 nits of brightness. The biggest downside is that it won’t support VESA mounting, but the included stand offers plenty of ports.
The Xeneon Flex 45WQHD240 doesn’t have a release date or price tag yet. Given the feature set, it will probably be eye-wateringly expensive when it arrives. Corsair promised to share more details later this year.
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