Is the era of gaming on a super-wide 49-inch monitor upon us? Not as far as we're concerned, but that hasn't stopped companies from releasing these expansive displays. Asus is the latest to jump on board with its new ROG Swift XG49VQ, a 49-inch monitor with a "double Full HD" resolution (3840x1080).
This is the second 49-inch monitor announcement this month. Dell trotted out its equally wide UltraSharp 49 a couple of weeks ago, though unlike Samsung's CHG90 that came before it, Dell's monitor wasn't built for gaming. Instead, it made headlines for being the first dual QHD monitor, which translates to a 5120x1440 resolution. Philips also previously announced a 49-inch monitor with 5120x1440 resolution, but it's still not available.
The XG49VQ doesn't match that higher pixel count, but it does offer a few bells and whistles for gamers. Namely, it has a fast 144Hz refresh rate and is a FreeSync 2 HDR monitor, meaning it supports both AMD's game-smoothing FreeSync technology and is capable of displaying HDR visuals.
That latter bit comes with a caveat. HDR in all its glory really necessitates a super bright panel, typically 1,000 nits or higher. The vast majority of HDR monitors that exist don't come anywhere near as bright, and the XG49VQ is no exception—it meets VESA's DisplayHDR 400 certification, which suggest that it checks it at 400 nits. DisplayHDR 400 is VESA's entry-level HDR badge, the other two being DisplayHDR 600 and DisplayHDR 1000.
While it doesn't get as bright as monitors like Asus's own ROG Swift PG27UQ, the company claims a wide color gamut—125 percent of the sRGB color space, to be exact.
Asus also touts something it calls "Shadow Boost," which is supposed to make it easier to see opponents in darker areas in first person shooters. The company tells Neowin that Shadow Boost's advantage "is not cheating, just good design."
There's no word yet on when the XG49V will be available or for how much.
