Image: Asus
Asus’ latest portable monitor looks as if someone accidentally sat on it and pressed it into an awkwardly wide shape. It’s called the Asus ProArt Display PA147CDV, and it has a 14-inch panel with a 32:9 aspect ratio that looks similar to the second screen on laptop maker Zenbook Pro Duo laptops.
While a large monitor with a 32:9 aspect ratio is capable of acting as two separate normal size screens, the ProArt Display is more of a companion screen for creative professionals, similar to (but hopefully more useful than Touch) a bar or Elgato stream deck.
The ProArt monitor has a 14-inch, 1920 x 500 pixel IPS touchscreen mounted on a mechanical stand that can be positioned horizontally or vertically. Asus says the screen covers 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut and passes Calman-validated color accuracy. At the moment, we don’t know anything about the brightness of the panel. There are two USB-C ports and an HDMI port on the side of the base.
Image: Asus
Another unique feature of this odd accessory is the dial on the side, which is similar to Microsoft’s Surface Dial, and you can customize the tool to access certain features in creative apps like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom Classic. Any application supported by Microsoft Surface Dial can be used with Asus Dial. The monitor also supports Microsoft’s Pen Protocol 2.0 for those who don’t want to smudge the screen or need more precision when making fine edits.
You might be wondering why anyone would need such an ultrawide screen. While this probably won’t replace your Wacom or iPad, ProArt lets creatives separate their tools from what’s being edited on a larger display. In this setup, the display acts as a customizable control panel for applications like Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. It can also hold your timeline, or sit vertically next to your monitor or laptop for taking notes or web pages.
Image: Asus
Asus didn’t give us details on pricing or a release date, other than to say that the ProArt is “available for media review” and will be released in the second quarter of this year. Yes, we’ve reached out to our Asus reps to get a review unit and will let you know what we think of this hot dog bun-shaped display.