Samsung announces curved screen monitor

Samsung insists "the curve changes everything" about
watching TV, but can it do the same for PC monitors?
Today the company announced that it's expanding its
portfolio of curved screens to include desktop displays.
The first such product, a 27-inch 1080p display, has
been priced at $429.99 and will go on sale October 1st.
Samsung says its engineers "conducted extensive
research on the human eye to determine the optimal
monitor curve radius."
Those efforts resulted in a curvature of 4000R, which
gives the SD590C a wider field of view than flat panels,
according to Samsung, and makes it appear larger than
it really is. You'd think the curve would be hard to
perceive on a 27-inch screen, but remember that this
one's much closer to your face than a TV. Samsung is
also claiming that the curve reduces "peripheral visual
clutter" since the edges are closer to your eyes and
require you to shift focus less often to see content at
the far ends; we haven't been able to test that theory,
however. The display has a response time of 4ms, 350-
nit max brightness, and a 3000:1 contrast ratio. You'll
find video hookups for HDMI, DisplayPort. and D-sub.
There's "surround sound" audio built in too, though
most people would be better off with a separate set of
speakers or high-quality headphones. Perhaps a more
useful feature is the SD590C's Game Mode, which
"intelligently detects changes in scenes" and
dynamically adjusts color and contrast to make sure you
see everything happening on screen during movies or
games. Some people might not like the display messing
with those levels on the fly, but it's simple enough to
leave Game Mode off. A Game Boost mode promises to
offer similar enhancements for audio, helping "important"
audio effects stand out from a game's background track,
for example.
You can definitely find a 27-inch LED panel for less than
what Samsung wants here; Asus, Acer, Lenovo, and
others all offer quality displays at around the $200 mark.
But those are all flat, of course, and if the curve is
everything Samsung says it is, maybe seeing it in person
will convince many people to spend a bit extra.