Dell announces additions to the UltraSharp monitor line at the Adobe MAX conference, with the flagship display being the UltraSharp 49 (U4919DW)-- a curved 49-inch dual QHD monitor the company says is a world first.

The UltraSharp 49 offers an ultra-wide 32:9 aspect ratio and a resolution reaching 5120 x 1440, making it the equivalent of a pair of 27-inch QHD monitors. As Dell puts it, the monitor offers "an immersive panoramic experience without compromising design or functionality," with an IPS panel allowing users to view more content across wide ((178°/178°) viewing angles.

The curvature of monitor is 3800R, while brightness reaches 350 nits with a 1000:1 contrast ratio. The monitor handles content from up to two PCs via dual HDMI ports, as well as on DisplayPort 1.4 connector, and included Dell Display Manager software allows users to select between Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes. Further connectivity comes through x1 USB-C and x5 USB 3.0 ports.

Facebook unveils a long rumoured foray into hardware with the Portal-- a videoconferencing device consisting, essentially, of a tablet-style display, AI-powered cameras able to track users around the room, a 4-mic array and Alexa capability.

The Portal comes in two versions, regular or Portal+. The regular Portal has a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution display and 10W speakers on the bottom, while the Portal+ has a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 display, 20W speakers, 4-inch woofer and a stand able to rotate from landscape to portrait mode with a touch. Both are sold by the social network as primarily a video chatting solution, even if the addition of Alexa makes them rivals to any number of similar devices already available on the market.

Acer launches a pair of monitors aimed at gamer customers-- the XZ271U and XZ321QU, both featuring HDR10 curved VA panels with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 3000:1 contrast ratio, 1ms MPRT response time and AMD FreeSync.

The two monitors are identical, other than the XZ271U being a 27-inch model with 250 nits max brightness while the XZ321QU is 32-inch and offers 300 nits brightness. Both have a 16:9 aspect ratio, 144Hz refresh rate and cover 85% of NTSC colour space, meaning they (technically) reproduce over 100% of sRGB colour gamut. AMD FreeSync support covers Low Frame Rate (LFC) capability, while a Black Boost feature automatically adjust the brightness of dark game scenes, making it easier to find opponents in the dark.

LG uses IFA 2018 to launch a gaming monitor brand-- Ultragear, with the first two products being the 34GK950G and 34GK950F. Both are 34-inch curved displays, with the main difference being support for either Nvidia G-Sync or Radeon FreeSync 2.

The arguably best specced monitor of the two is the FreeSync-friendly 34GK950F, with higher 144Hz refresh rate and VESA Display HDR 400 support. The 34GK950G supports G-Sync, and offers a 100Hz (120Hz overclocked) refresh rate and no HDR. That said, the G-Sync model does offer RGB LED rear sphere lighting, while the FreeSync model has red LED rear lighting.