Philips Announces 5120 x 2160 (5K2K) 40-Inch IPS Ultrawide 21:9 Monitor Featuring Thunderbolt 4

[Peter_Brosdahl]

The Philips 40B1U6903CH is an interesting display that crosses over into multiple usage scenarios. With its 5120 x 2160 resolution at 40 inches which equates to 140 PPI, it's capable of providing crisp images with its IPS panel. Factor in the 21:9 aspect ratio and 2500 R curvature, along with support for Adaptive Sync and a 75 Hz refresh rate, and the potential level for immersion in business or gaming increases.

Where it falls a little short for gaming, but still more than adequate for professional use, is for brightness and the color gamut. It is VESA Certified DisplayHDR 400 (300 cd/m²), supports HDR 10, and supports up to NTSC 113%/sRGB 134% color gamut ( DCI-P3 98% - typical). Other display features for business use include an antiglare coating and flicker-free technology along with SoftBlue (TUV Rheinland Eyesafe RPF 50) and EasyRead for eye care.

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[Zarathustra]

I've generally avoided ultrawide based on poor compatibility in many cases, but this screen does look nice.

I'm not sure about the Thunderbolt conn3ectivity though. Like how does that even work? Does it have its own little video card that connects via PCIe over Thunderbolt? I presume it also has more traditional inputs like Displayport.

The downsides are rather limited HDR, and a refresh rate that maxes out at 75hz.

I think most people would be better off with the 42" LG C3.

 

[LazyGamer]

I've generally avoided ultrawide based on poor compatibility in many cases

I assume that you have your own examples, but in general, I haven't found it to be a problem - using a 38" 21:10 (3840x1600) panel now myself.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

I've generally avoided ultrawide based on poor compatibility in many cases,

Support for UW has come a long way in recent years. 32:9 is still a mixed bag but 21:9 is pretty much a standard in its own right at this point. The biggest problem I still see is that game developers drop the ball with cutscenes, which ironically usually are UW but they don't allow the game to properly adjust the render for in UW, and I often have to use Hexedit to fix it but that is a quick five-minute fix. The only downside is having to reapply every time the game updates.

I think most people would be better off with the 42" LG C3.

I love my C2. Still, the best display in the house, and with a little tweaking of the settings, the text is looking great too. Just wish that LG would make a 21:9 version of it with DP 1.4. HDMI 2.1 is awesome (flawless for me in use) but since PC/NVIDIA doesn't support HDMI CEC I'm stuck with having to manually turn it on/off. A minor problem for sure but it is annoying.

using a 38" 21:10 (3840x1600) panel now myself.

I seem to remember you mentioning that one in another thread. What display is that again? I've got a 16:10 display that I use at the office and have really grown to love that and often thought having a little more height in UW could be nice.

 

[LazyGamer]

What display is that again?

It's an aging (but still current) AW3821DW. Nano-IPS with all of six dimming zones, Nvidia G-Sync module that supports HDMI inputs as well as Freesync (verified with AMD GPUs). 144Hz in 8-bit and 120Hz in 10-bit at 3840x1600.

For the things I play it's the perfect aspect ratio. Text is sharp but there's room for improvement in terms of response times as well of course in contrast.

I'm pretty much waiting for a proper RGB OLED in this size, or for Samsung or LG to make a panel with a higher resolution in this size that can benefit from desktop scaling back to the same effective resolution to counter their wacky sub-pixel arrangements.