14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS is in full throttle today, as it will be throughout CES. We've written about the Ares II dual-GPU HD 7990 graphics card, and now we can see something else that is twice as large as normal.
The word “double” defines many things today. The aforementioned dual-GPU board is one example. The ASUS MX299Q monitor is another.
Unlike normal screens, this product has an aspect ratio of 21:9 versus the normal 16:9, and a native resolution of 2560 x 1080, not 1920 x 1080.
Thus, it is a screen wider than widescreen. Much wider, it turns out, although its diagonal of 29 inches might come as a surprise to those who like big displays in general.
Then again, 29 inches is a lot. The only reason sub-30-inch sizes have started to be viewed as “small” is the influx of increasingly large HDTVs and UHDTVs, like Samsung's 110-inch 4K UHDTV, Toshiba's own 4K LED UHDTV, the many 55-inch OLED TVs (Samsung and LG) and, most importantly, the 110-inch UHDTV form Westinghouse. But we digress.
ASUS' MX299Q wide-angle monitor uses white LED backlighting (WLED) and a frameless, edge-to-edge design. The thin profile is an asset all on its own as well.
The viewing angles are of 178 degrees, both horizontally and vertically, and the Sonicmaster technology (co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower) adds clear sound on top of everything else.
The PC audio-in jack will need a cable to make the link between the panel and the PC though, unless the HDMI port is used.
Speaking of which, the newcomer uses an HDMI port, complete with MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link), meaning that smartphones and other portable consumer electronics can stream video and audio to it.
ASUS will ship the MX299Q to anyone who wants it starting this quarter (Q1 2013), for $599 in the US, and 458-599 Euro in Europe.