It's the same panel, but without the bend.
(Image credit: LG)
Hardware announcements are cropping up all over the place recently, with many products being demonstrated during and around the Gamescom celebrations. With line ups like Hyper X’s brand new line of gaming monitors (opens in new tab) and this crazy curving screen from Corsair, (opens in new tab) monitors aimed at gamers are seeing tonnes of hype (opens in new tab).
One of the latest to be announced is the LG UltraGear 240 Hz curved OLED screen. It’s set to be shown off in just a few days at IFA, a computing and gaming exhibit in Germany. However, what makes this screen a bit of an odd one is that it’s using the same kooky curvable panel from the new Corsair monitor, but without the flat-to-curve potential.
Until we see it out in the wild, Corsair’s Xeneon Flex (opens in new tab) monitors could turn out to be all gimmick. It’s hard to say how functional constantly changing your monitor will feel in action, but it’s definitely a neat idea. If the general specs of the Xeneon piqued your interest, and you’re not too worried about the bendy screen, then LG’s UltraGear could be worth a look.
It sports a wide 21:9 aspect ratio with 3440 x 1440 resolution on a 45-inch screen with a 240Hz refresh rate, so it’s clearly aimed at gamers rather than graphic design. It also has that huge 800R curvature to encompass you, making it a potential great choice for things like racing sims. Plus the OLED screen paired with a high contrast ratio should make for some great looking scenes.
Screen queens
(Image credit: Future)
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It’s also fair to say that a few gamers out there aren’t too impressed with these latest panels. Many were hoping for higher resolutions, especially given the curved ones are designed to have you sit closer to the screen. Without seeing how they run in person it’s impossible to speculate too much.
Additionally, while not too common at the moment, it’s likely we’re going to see new graphics cards support displayport 2.0 (opens in new tab) while these monitors are still only working with 1.4. That’s not going to be a problem for most people looking to add a screen to an already existing kit, but for anyone wanting to make upgrades in the near future, DP 2.0 could be worth thinking about (opens in new tab).
We’ll hold off passing any judgements on the LG UltraGear until we’ve had the chance to go hands-on. Pricing is also yet to be announced, though we wouldn’t expect this monitor to be super cheap. Still, this is LG’s first curved OLED 240Hz display, so we’re keen to check it out.