S
uper-wide PC monitors with
21:9 aspect ratios are nothing
new. Ditto super-wide screens
with curved panels. But while we’ve
seen scores of monitors measuring
29 inches, 34 inches and 35 inches
across, Asus is going for the more
novel 38-inch niche with its latest
high-end monitor, the Designo
Curve MX38VC.
This isn’t the first time a 38-inch
21:9 monitor with a 3,840x1,600
pixel native resolution has hit the
market. LG has that honour with
the 38UC99, which debuted in- But 38-inch 21:9 monitors like
this remain unusual and exotic.
The Designo Curve MX38VC has
taken a while to hit the market –
Asus first showed it off in summer - Perhaps, because of that
delay, the MX38VC now appears to
lack some features that have since
become more common at the high
end, including high refresh rates
and HDR support. So is the Asus
MX38VC worth the wait?
Price & availability
This class of PC monitor is never
going to be cheap. At £1,000
($1,099) Asus has priced the
Designo Curve MX38VC pretty
much in parallel with its main
competition, the LG 38UC99.
In fact, it’s very likely the two use
the same LG-manufactured LCD
panel. But one thing is for sure, with
38-inches of quality IPS technology
this is a premium display.Design and features
The headline-grabbing feature here
is that 38-inch screen. Strictly
speaking, it’s a 37.5-inch item with
a native resolution of 3,840x1,600
pixels and a 2300R curvature.
That pixel count means you’re
getting the equivalent of a 4K
monitor across the horizontal, but
fewer vertical pixels. The resolution
and panel size combo also make for
109 pixels per inch (ppi), which isn’t
particularly stellar from a pixel
density perspective.The panel itself is capable of
8-bits per channel of colour, with
FRC dithering bumping that up to
10-bit and thus the claimed 1.07
billion colours. The panel type is
IPS, which bodes well in terms of
viewing angles and colours.
However, this isn’t a cutting edge
display with a huge colour gamut,
local dimming or HDR support. It’s
a pretty conventional LCD monitor
with a single LED backlight,
maximum brightness of 300cd/m^2
and contrast rated at 1,000:1.
However, that isn’t to say it
doesn’t have a few extra tricks you
may not see elsewhere. Probably
the standout feature is the Qi
wireless charging dock built into
the base. It’s configurable in the
OSD menu to function even when
the display is in sleep mode.
There’s also a USB Type-C port
with support for up to 60W of
power delivery, so you can charge
your laptop at the same time as
driving the display. With one cable.Asus Designo Curve MX38VC
£1,000 | $1,099 http://www.asus.com
Asus’s 38-inch mega monitor is a sight to behold
84 |^ |^ May 2019