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Just in time for holiday shopping season, AOC this week unveiled its Agon AG493UCX curved gaming display. The super-wide 49-inch monitor boasts with a high resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and is FreeSync Premium Pro certified. In addition, it features a USB-C input and a built-in KVM switch for multiple hosts. But what really strikes attention is its price that is not too high.
The AOC Agon AG493UCX monitor uses a 49-inch VA panel featuring a 1.8-meter radius curvature, a 32:9 aspect ratio, a 5120 x 1440 resolution, a peak brightness of 550 nits, a 3000:1 contrast ratio, 178º/178º vertical/horizontal viewing angles, a 1ms MPRT or 4ms Gray to Gray (GtG) response time, and a variable refresh rate of up to a 120Hz refresh rate with AMD's FreeSync Premium Pro technology on top.
(Image credit: AOC)
The LCD carries VESA's DisplayHDR 400 badge, so it supports at least HDR10 transport, though there is no word about Dolby Vision. As for colors, the display can reproduce 121% of the sRGB, 90% of the DCI-P3, and 90% of the AdobeRGB color spaces.
Since the Agon AG493UCX will primarily compete with the best gaming monitors, it supports features primarily aimed at gamers, including a built-in FPS frame counter, a crosshair overlay, three presets for different game genres, and three user customizable presets.
(Image credit: AOC)
The AG493UCX display can connect to up to five hosts using its two DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0, and one USB-C input (that also supports up to 65W Power Delivery), enough to attach a couple of consoles, a PC, and a laptop that needs power. In addition, the monitor has a triple-port USB 3.1 hub that uses the USB-C input as its upstream port.
(Image credit: AOC)
Despite its gaming nature, the ultra-wide curved Agon AG493UCX can use one of its main features — a 32:9 aspect ratio — to improve productivity when working with two PCs at once. The monitor comes with a built-in KVM switch that allows to use one keyboard/mouse set for both when using them simultaneous in picture-by-picture mode.
Like other higher-end gaming monitors, the new unit from AOC is equipped with a stand that can adjust its tilt and swivel. As an added bonus, the product also has a pair of 5W stereo speakers and a headphone jack.
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AOC says that the Agon AG493UCX monitor will be available in Europe already in December. In the UK, the product will cost £899, whereas some stores in mainland Europe are offering it starting at €1,036. The ETA and MSRP of the AG493UCX for the USA is unknown, but based on the recommended price in the UK, it is likely that it will carry a $999 price tag across the Atlantic. Considering the fact that we are talking about a 49-inch curved display with a decent resolution and an up to 120Hz refresh rate, the price is not high at all.
Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
I don't know why this article is showing up everywhere, but this monitor and its competitors from Monoproce, Viotek, Dell, and Samsung (Who makes the panel) have been around since at least March of this year maybe longer! What makes even less sense is that there are new releases of this panel from Asus, Deco Gear, and Spectre!
I own the AOC and it's amazing! It's especially good for racing & flight sims. The HDR 400 isn't as bad as people have claimed in reviews. I have a Samsung Q70R TV so I know what good HDR looks like.
