Curved monitors have made a surprisingly large splash in everything from high-res 4K TVs to productivity-minded displays built for gaming. Asus wants to break into curved gaming monitors in a big way with its 34-inch Republic of Gamers PG348Q display.
The monitor is absolutely massive and when you stick your head near the center of it, the PG348Q really does envelop your entire field of view. It also sports an incredibly sharp 3,440 x 1,440 resolution even after all the pixels have been spread across a giant 34-inch canvas.
There's also plenty of technology packed into the screen, including G-Sync to smooth out frame rate issues and tearing. The display also uses an IPS panel so it renders vibrant and accurate colors with deep blacks.
I got the chance to see the display in action at Asus' Republic of Gamers event in California this week, I and it produces an amazingly uniform picture. Typically displays that span such a wide area run into uniform backlighting issues, but none of these problems were present.
However, I did notice some splotchy areas of shadow. At the time the screen was looping a Fraps demo so it might have had more to do with the source footage than the quality of the screen.
Aside from the massive size of the screen itself, the design of the ROG Swift PG348Q display is bonkers. For instance, the monitor stands on a metal base that spirals from the top all the way to its feet like a twisted tree. It's a unique motif I haven't seen in many products before, and it's even etched into the surface of the display.Along the back of the unit, you'll find lines that coil into themselves.
Oh, and it also projects a logo onto your desk, which is both utterly useless and one of the coolest things I've seen built into a monitor.
Asus has yet to announce pricing or a release window, so it's unlikely we'll see this 34-inch curved display any time soon. Still, I love the gorgeous picture quality and Asus ambition to release a wholly gamer-focused curved monitor.
