INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Roughly 15 years ago the electronics industry slowly yet steadily begun to transition from the all-time classic 4:3 format displays to the new and more advanced 16:9 format (wide) ones. Surprisingly enough it only took the industry roughly a decade to introduce an even newer format called 21:9 (ultra-wide) and even though it will probably be a very long time until it completely replaces 16:9 (if it does) it already has a very strong following, especially among the PC gaming community. So, you can imagine my surprise when less than a year ago the very first monitors based on the even newer 32:9 format (super ultra-wide) started to make their appearance in the market promising even larger surface area for both gamers and professionals alike. One such model is the brand new SUW49DA by Viotek which arrived at the lab almost 3 weeks ago.

   Viotek is a different kind of tech company. Built on an unwavering will to innovate, Viotek is dedicated to making the best products at the best price for technology enthusiasts worldwide. With an imaginative research and development team and the resources to bring ideas to life, Viotek is committed to never follow but always lead.

   The SUW49DA is actually the 2nd generation of 32:9 super ultra-wide models by Viotek following their very successful SUW49C model released a while back. In terms of specifications the SUW49DA is 49-inch (1239.77mm diagonally) curved (1800R curvature) model based on an VA 8bit W-LED panel (Samsung) which sports a resolution of 5120x1440p (dual QHD/109ppi density) with 120Hz refresh rate, 178 degrees viewing angles (horizontal/vertical), 4ms response time (OverDrive), 121% sRGB color gamut, 3000:1 contrast ratio and 400cd/m2 brightness. As for features the SUW49DA also sports two 3W speakers (stereo), anti-glare matte coating (3H) for optimal viewing results, adjustable stand (height/tilt/swivel), GamePlus technology (fixed screen crosshair), PBP (picture by picture), HDR/HDR400 for high dynamic range content (both in movies and games), low blue light filter, support for NVIDIAs G-SYNC technology and full compatibility with AMD's FreeSync with LFC (low framerate compensation - no motion blur, ghosting or image artefacts, even when the framerate drops below 48Hz) for more fluid movement in fast paced games (eliminates screen tearing). Viotek has also equipped the SUW49DA with 2 HDMI v2.0 ports, 2 DisplayPort v1.4 ports, USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As with other models Viotek covers the SUW49DA with their dead pixel policy and a 3-year limited warranty.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received the SUW49DA inside a very long box that has the company name at the front right over the main product features and a product picture.

 

 

On the left side Viotek has listed some of the product's ports and specifications.

 

 

The bundle contents are printed on the left side right beneath a sticker with the serial number and barcode.

 

 

 

Aside the screen itself inside the box you'll also find the two part stand, power cord, remote control, screwdriver, mounting screws, VESA mounts, two DP cables and the user manual.

 

 

THE SUW49DA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typically, the first step is to attach the base to the stand with the bundled screws as seen above.

 

 

After that just slide the top of the stand into the rear of the screen as seen above.

 

 

Even with a curvature of 1800R this super ultra-wide screen is still massive in length.

 

 

As for numbers the SUW49DA stands roughly 466.02mm tall and 1178.4mm wide.

 

 

Viotek has once again used very narrow bezels for the top, left and right of the screen which are slightly less than 4mm.

 

 

On the other hand, the bottom bezel is quite thicker at around 19mm.

 

 

The company logo is printed on the middle of the bottom bezel and right beneath it we find the activity LEDs and the 5 screen buttons.

 

 

The height adjustable stand the one used with the SUW49DA has a lowest point of just 108mm and a highest point of 200mm.

 

 

The stand also supports tilt (5/-15 degrees) and swivel functions.

 

 

At the rear of the screen we find the company logo, some red glossy plastics and the cable management hole in the stand.

 

 

The available connectors are located behind a magnetic cover (2xHDMI/2xDP/1x3.5mm).

 

 

Although not very big the cable routing hole should be more than enough for most of the available connectors.

 

 

 

SUW49DA MENUS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pressing the menu button (1st from the left) once reveals the button functions.

 

 

The main menu allows the end user to switch between inputs and of course see which input is currently being used.

 

 

From the brightness/contrast tab you can control not only those but also black levels and the DCR (dynamic contrast ratio) function.

 

 

Inside the color setting tab you can change the gamma (5 presets), select a picture mode (6 presets), change the temperature of the screen (warm/cool), enable the low blue light feature and adjust both the hue and saturation levels.

 

 

Not only can you manually adjust overdrive (response time - 4 presets), picture sharpness and noise reduction but you can also enable dynamic luminous control (automatic brightness).

 

 

Both the aspect ratio and the HDMI mode can be changed from the Display tab (as long as the input used allows it).

 

 

You can choose the audio input and adjust the volume for the 2 stereo speakers from inside the audio tab.

 

 

Viotek also offers a convenient picture by picture (PBP) feature which you can enable from the multi-window tab.

 

 

Everything in regards to the OSD (language included) can be adjusted from its very own tab.

 

 

Of course, you can also enable/disable the FreeSync mode and HDR feature from the other tab (you can also switch between DP versions).

 

 

VIEWING ANGLES / PICTURE QUALITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image quality is actually a lot more crisp and vivid than I was expecting from a 32:9 model, especially a 49-inch one which naturally stretches everything more than what I’ve used to (of course this depends a lot on the material/content you’re watching – every picture in this page is uncompressed so you can see exactly what you’re getting).

 

 

Viewing angles are also very good but do take into account that this is a monitor with a curvature of 1800R so angles are not quite the same as with normal wide screen monitors.

 

 

As for gaming two things stand out, first there’s very little backlight bleeding (considerably less than what I’ve seen from other gaming models) and second you will probably notice no ghosting or lag whatsoever, I know I didn’t. The downside is that some games do look strange on such a large/long monitor, even if they support the 32:9 aspect ratio (so it may take a while for your eyes to adjust/adapt).

 

 

TEST RESULTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DATACOLOR SPYDERX ELITE MEASUREMENTS

By using the SpyderX Elite Colorimeter by Datacolor i measure both the color gamut (SRGB and Adobe) and the brightness levels of the monitor at hand.

 

 

Here you can see results for Color and Luminance Screen Uniformity (instead of just listing results at 100% brightness I’m listing all of them - 50/67/83/100%).

 

 

Datacolor rates monitors based on their overall results so it was decided to include this chart as well.

 

POWER CONSUMPTION

Power consumption may not be what most people look for when out to get a brand new monitor but at the end of the day it's still an important factor so i do hope this is of interest to some of you.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   When i saw the SUW49DA get advertised on the Viotek website i was so impressed by its gigantic size that i immediately asked for one to review and even though it did take a while for that to happen it finally arrived almost 3 weeks ago. The more “crucial” aspects of the screen I’ve already talked about and so basically the VA panel used (grade-a by Samsung) does a very good job in producing clear and vivid results, especially for such a wide area. G-SYNC also works as advertised as does FreeSync so regardless of what card you own (NVIDIA/AMD) the SUW49DA will work fine. At 120Hz the SUW49DA may not be the “fastest” monitor out there (far from it - still at that resolution climbing over 120fps with most current gen games will be hard even with the latest RTX30XX/RX6XXX cards) but during my tests i didn’t encounter any ghosting and/or lag even with fast passed games so there’s that (on top of that it fully supports 4K 3840x2160p resolution - not good for playing games but you can still use it for benchmarks). That being said the SUW49DA is not perfect, for one the stand is not as sturdy as I’d like it to be (especially for a 49-inch screen), there’s no built-in USB hub (which could really come handy for some people), the 32:9 aspect ratio makes some movies and games look weird (although most people will easily get used to that) and as for overall build quality the plastics used on the screen are not exactly what I’d call first rate. Yes, the plastics used will probably not be of much concern to most gamers out there but it would be nice if the SUW49DA felt like an all-around premium product.

   At the time of this review the SUW49DA by Viotek retails for USD979.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and even though that may seem as a lot to some people it’s worth pointing out that it’s currently the most affordable 49-inch Dual QHD (5120x1440p) Monitor in the market. Of course, once again if you’re willing to climb higher in price (much higher for something visibly better) you can find higher spec models but again that’s true with just about everything in the electronics market. At the end of the day the SUW49DA is a massive and impressive monitor and since it does delivers on everything Viotek markets it for it’s definitely worth the Golden Award.

PROS

- 5120x1440p Dual QHD Resolution
- 49 Inch Super Ultra Wide LED Backlit VA Panel (Samsung)
- Very Good Image Quality
- Features (GSYNC / FreeSync With LCF / PBP / HDR / HDR400)
- 4ms GTG Response Time (OverDrive)
- Stand Features (Tilt / Swivel / Height Adjustment)
- Single USB Port
- Built in Stereo Speakers (3W Each)
- Available Connectors (2xHDMI v2.0 / 2xDisplayPort v1.4 / 3.5mm Mini Jack)
- 3 Year Limited Warranty (Plus Dead Pixel Warranty)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- 32:9 Aspect Ratio (Strange / Weird At First)
- Quality of Plastics (For Some)
- No Built in USB Hub
- Availability Outside The USA