For years, gaming monitors have mostly been sold at two sizes: 27 inches and 32 inches. Going larger usually meant buying a TV. Philips now says it has a monitor that fills the gap.
The company’s new 36M4C5500P is, according to Philips, the first curved gaming monitor available at 36 inches. It targets players who want more than 27 or 32 inches but don’t want to put a living room TV on their desk.
Refresh rate is the headline spec
It uses a Fast VA panel with a refresh rate of up to 260Hz. Philips quotes response times as low as 0.3ms, while the spec sheet lists 1ms GtG. These are two different measurements, so read the 0.3ms number as a best-case result.
Philips claims the image stays sharp at high frame rates, which is the claim any manufacturer would make. VA panels are known for smearing in dark scenes, so independent reviews are worth waiting for before taking the company’s word on this.
An ultrawide at 1440p
The monitor belongs to the Evnia 5000 series. Its aspect ratio is ultrawide and its resolution is 3440×1440, matching many 34-inch ultrawides. Spread over a larger panel, those pixels PIXEL $0.0051 ▼ -8.2% give you lower pixel density.
Rated brightness is 350 nits, and Philips said HDR mode pushes that to between 450 and 500 nits. That’s enough for a few HDR highlights. OLED and mini-LED monitors advertise far higher figures.
Color specs aimed past gamers
Philips quotes 126% sRGB, 105% NTSC, 91% Adobe RGB and 95% DCI-P3 color coverage. It’s marketing the monitor to professionals as well as gamers, and the screen gets an anti-glare treatment, among other features.
Anyone who edits photos or video at the same desk they game at should pay attention to the 95% DCI-P3 number. Still, how the panel calibrates in practice will count for more than what’s printed on the box.
Connectivity is the weak spot
There are two HDMI 2.1 ports and a single DisplayPort 1.4, which is enough to hook up a PC and a console without trouble.
USB is missing entirely. There’s no hub, no USB-C input and no port for plugging in a keyboard or webcam. Apart from the video inputs, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack. If you charge and connect your laptop through one USB-C cable, this monitor can’t do that.
Philips has not yet given a price or release date for the 36M4C5500P.