Samsung is no stranger to curved monitors. The company already offers a batch of products in the category with varying sizes, resolutions and supplementary features. But the CJ79 set itself apart back at CES 2018 by being the first curved monitor to offer Thunderbolt 3 support, and now Samsung has finally released the monitor in Europe, with the promise that it will be available in the rest of the world sometime "soon."
The CJ79 measures 34 inches diagonally with a 21:9 aspect ratio and 3440 x 1440 resolution. Samsung said the monitor's 1,500R curvature is supposed to make it easier to work on multiple projects simultaneously--i.e. "work and watch Netflix at the same time"--and the included Picture-By-Picture (PBP) and Picture-In-Picture (PIP) features help by letting users put two sources next to each other or one inside the other, respectively.
Of course, the main draw is the inclusion of two Thunderbolt 3 ports that offer 40Gbs data transfer speeds and provide up to 85W of power to a connected device. Thunderbolt 3 is starting to make its way into more products and is already present in many other monitors, but Samsung remains the first to add support for the connection type in a curved monitor.
Samsung also said the CJ79 uses its Quantum Dot technology to offer a 3,000:1 contrast ratio and great details across a 125 percent sRGB color spectrum. That could help the monitor appeal to creative professionals, and the inclusion of a 100Hz refresh rate and support for AMD's FreeSync could also intrigue gamers who like the immersion curved monitors can offer (and who don't mind a 100Hz instead of 144Hz refresh rate).
The CJ79 doesn't seem destined for everyone's gaming setup, however, at least not at launch. Right now Samsung doesn't even publicly list the CJ79's price; you have to submit an "Inquiry to Quote" and wait for one of the company's sales representatives to contact you. Samsung is clearly positioning the CJ79 as a professional monitor, so we'll have to wait and see how long it takes to get a curved monitor with Thunderbolt 3 support for personal use.
Oh well--at least curious gamers (and professionals who don't want to wait for a response from Samsung) can look into the CHJ389 in the meantime.
