To be honest, we’ve seen everything when it comes to technology. The new Philips Brilliance 499P9H ultrawide display, on the other hand, practically brings the office to a halt. That’s how dramatic it is.
The question is whether the 49-inch Philips Brilliance 499P9H, outrageously wide-aspect LCD panel impresses, amuses, or even horrifies the observers. Answer: There was a lot of laughter, but there was also some serious thought about how useful this great PC monitor may be.
Of course, this isn’t the only monitor with an extraordinary 32:9 aspect ratio we’ve seen. We looked at Samsung’s C49J89 last summer, for example. Philips, on the other hand, improves the game by eliminating Samsung’s most visible flaw: its vertical direction resolution of 1,080-pixels. The 499P9H increases it to 1,440 vertical pixels and 5,120 horizontal pixels.
Of course, both in terms of proportions and price, it remains a very extreme case of the monitor maker’s craft. As a result, the issue would be to justify the high price tag with superior watching and practical experience. It’s game time.
What you will see here?
Philips Brilliance 499P9H Price and availability
The availability of Philips Brilliance 499P9H new giant screen is limited, but we expect it will cost around $1,100 in the United States, with an RRP of £989 (around AU$1,500) in the United Kingdom.
The first retail copies are being sold at significantly higher costs, but we anticipate that the price will soon settle towards the officially suggested range. That puts it in the same neighborhood as the Samsung C49J89, which is similar but has a lesser resolution. Another 49-inch monitor to consider is the LG 49WL95C.
Design and features
Screen necessitates some significant engineering, which Philips, for the most part, delivers. The tripod is a little tricky to put together. The 499P9H, on the other hand, feels robust and sturdy once set up, which is no minor feat given the display’s size.
We’re talking about a Philips Brilliance 499P9H 49-inch panel with a 32:9 aspect ratio, 5,120 by 1,440 pixels, and a 1800r screen curvature. The significance of such perplexing figures is difficult to fathom. However, one way to think of it is like two 27-inch 2,560 by 1,440 LCDs sitting next to each other. This screen has a host of extra elements in addition to the monster panel.
For starters, adaptive sync is included for improved in-game speed (more on that momentarily). After that, there’s a USB Type-C port. It allows the user to control both the panel and the panel itself. It also includes a docking station and an RJ-45 network adapter.
Is it not enough? There’s also an inbuilt KVM switch, which lets you connect two PCs with a single mouse and keyboard. The pop-up webcam with Windows Hello compatibility for quick face-ID login is another interesting feature, even though the implementation in this case feels a touch shaky when I pop the camera in and out. It’s the one part of construction that gives me the creeps.
DisplayHDR 400 certification completes the basic feature set. This is the absolute bottom level of HDR functionality.
It doesn’t necessitate dimming and just specifies a high brightness of 400cd/m2, as the name suggests. It lacks the elements of a genuine HDR experience. Consider it the capability to process an HDR stream and add some extra visual punch.
Performance
The sheer size of the Phillips Brilliance 499P9H is a serious flaw. But how is the LCD screen quality once you’ve gotten beyond the ridiculously wide format?
To begin with, it’s a VA screen instead of an IPS screen, which has benefits and drawbacks. Colors are vibrant, and there’s plenty of contrast, as evidenced by a static comparison rating of 3,000:1.
As a result, the Philips Brilliance 499P9H takes full advantage of DisplayHDR 400 support. As a result, you’re missing out on the complete HDR experience. However, it’s still a powerful panel.
There is negligible compression in both the black and white scales. To put it another way, the 499P9H captures a lot more detail both in bright and gloomy scenes. It also has a good pixel response and minimum to no input paging. It’s a fascinating gaming concept by their standards.
The viewing angles are less spectacular. Given the sort of VA panel, this isn’t surprising. It’s a small inconvenience with a screen this huge since the user will almost certainly be viewing sections of a panel from fairly extreme angles with the 1800r curvature.
The majority of the encounter is dictated by the height, aspect ratio, and quality of the massive panel. With a density of 5,120 by 1,400 pixels over 49 inches, the DPI is 108.5 pixels every inch. This has the advantage of allowing Windows to run at 100% scaling while keeping legibility. This isn’t, however, a high-density display capable of displaying ultra-smooth fonts.
Aspect ratio
When it came to the absurd 32:9 aspect ratio, it’s a matter of personal preference. It certainly means that mousing all way from across the desktop requires many swipes or setting the sensitivities to the frenzied end of the scale. It’s not the most efficient way to use multimedia.
Cinema portion
Even video footage in the full cinema format of 21:9 fills only a portion of a screen, leaving big black bars on either left of the picture. In terms of game visuals, the overall result is just fantastic. However, it may not always give you a comprehensive view of the game’s world.
Competitive online games like Fortnite simply extend the image as you travel away from the center circle of view, preventing players with ultrawide panels from gaining an advantage.
Oh, and while the 5,120 by 1,440-pixel grid has fewer pixels than 4K, it still places a significant burden on your graphics processor. A good graphics card is required to play smoothly.
Durability
Despite the monitor’s large screen, the total body design places a premium on stability, both in terms of how the screen is linked to the stand and how the stand is constructed. To protect the screen from tilting over, it never extends beyond the bottom of the stand. According to one customer review, the stand is large and solid, so as soon as you have enough workspace, there’s nothing to be concerned about, despite its thin appearance.
Ports
This monitor includes two 5-watt speakers as well as a camera. When you need it, the webcam appears. You can utilize the camera’s built-in face recognition software to unlock your screen more quickly and safely.
This monitor has a lot of connections on the rear. One DisplayPort, 2 HDMI, three USB 3.1 ports, one Ethernet port, one and audio output are included. A USB Type C 3.1 connector with a reversible socket is also included, giving you more alternatives for connecting your devices.
Conclusion
Ultrawide monitors like these are pricey, but they come with a lot of added features like the Windows Hello webcam, built-in speakers, all of the various kinds of connections, and HDR capability. It’s easier to set up than connecting two or three monitors to match the size of the screen, and it comes with high-quality default features.
In the end, whether a display like the latest Philips Brilliance 499P9H appeals to you is a personal decision. It’s attractive, and it’s a fascinating alternative to two smaller panels. It could also be a cleaner solution thanks to the built-in KVM switch and many UBS-C docks.
On the other hand, for a comparable amount, you could get a set of good 32-inch 4K panels or a pair of high-quality 27-inch IPS 4K monitors. In terms of productivity, both of those solutions are likely to be more lucrative and provide significantly more pixels to deal with.
In the conclusion, these 32:9 monitors are more likely to stay specialist models than to make a widespread crossover. The Philips Brilliance 499P9H, on the other hand, may be difficult to resist for individuals who prefer the ultra-wide aspect and value the practicality and additional features on offer.
