Being Flat Isn’t Wrong
It would have been nice to test the 40″ ultrawide CrystalPro monitor with a laptop that could properly drive it, as one of the biggest selling points is the USB-C. With a single USB-C plug you would get a display, charger and possibly an extra USB plug which makes this monitor a superior choice to similar models without that option. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with the performance of the DP 1.4 port, though upgrading the HDMI ports would be a good idea considering the popularity of that connection for video capture.
The overall picture quality is gorgeous, and there is not a dead pixel to be seen. There is no apparent bleed through of light on black sections and the brightness is definitely higher than on an HDR400 display. The text in games was legible when quickly scrolling, the response time and adaptive sync implementation is bang on.
The monitor prefers sleep mode to being powered off. When coming in from a cold boot it will take upwards of 20 seconds for the screen to come alive, which is a little slower than other ultrawide displays. This is common to ultrawide displays, but can cause you some concern if you weren’t expecting it. This particular monitor, attached to this RX 6800 XT would suddenly flicker off for a second or two and then come back after a cold boot as well. That would last for about a minute and could be specific to this test setup, but perhaps should be addressed along with the brightness reverting to 90 every time you toggle HDR off. These are not deal breakers, but do mean the monitor has more personality to it than you might want.
At the retail price of $550, there isn’t a lot of competition for a monitor of this size. The others cost several hundred dollars more, though it is fair to point out a monitor of this size is usually 3840 x 1600. That price makes a good middle ground for what you get. The current price of $385 on the other hand makes this monitor a steal. That is a price point for monitors with the a similar resolution but are around 34″ in size. That gives you a higher pixel density, but you lose out on total screen space.
It seems that this display is exactly as big as Monoprice could make it. If it was larger the lack of a curve would certainly become very noticeable, and you really don’t want to stretch out 3440 x 1440 any more. If you are dreaming of gaming on a large ultrawide screen but the price prevents you from being able to, this is a solution to your problems. The more expensive displays will give you more, but the Monoprice 40″ CrystalPro monitor will give you everything you need.
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