With a bigger screen, you’re free to get more done.
That’s the basic theory behind Philips' latest ultrawide productivity panel, the Philips 40B1U5600.
It’s a 40-inch beast with a 21:9 aspect ratio.
For starters, there’s a KVM switch allowing you to share this monitor across two computers.
For image quality, the good news is that you get an IPS panel that supportsHDRand runs at 120Hz.
That relatively high refresh is normally the preserve of gaming monitors.
But it has a benefit for general computing in terms of day-to-day smoothness and responsiveness.
Similar thinking applies to HDR support.
It’s not directly relevant for most mainstream workflows, but it’s nice to have.
If all that sounds impressive, there is a catch.
The Philips 40B1U5600 only offers a native resolution of 3440 by 1440.
That’s pretty low for such a large display.
Likewise, the HDR support is fairly limited and the USB-C charging power tops out at just 15W.
The all-black plastics and unadorned, straight-edged design is fairly anonymous.
This isn’t your average office monitor.
Speaking of ergonomics, most ultrawide displays of this large scale feature a curved rather than flat screen.
In the end curved versus flat is a personal preference.
Even better, there’s USB-C connectivity with power delivery.
All of which means this monitor is very well specified in terms of connectivity and ergonomics.
Philips 40B1U5600: Performance
The Philips 40B1U5600’s IPS panel is a decent performer.
It’s just a pity that the colour balance of SDR content in HDR mode is a little off.
So, dont go in expecting one of thebest monitors for photo editingor thebest video editing monitor.
The 120Hz refresh support is also a nice extra.
It’s not strictly necessary for most workflows.
But it makes for an added sense of smoothness and responsiveness for day-to-day computing.
120Hz is just better.
What’s more, you get user-configurable overdrive, so you might tweak the response to your preference.
Where it isn’t so good is pixel density.
The connectivity, including a KVM switch and USB-C with 100W of power delivery is great.
The core image quality of the 40-inch ultrawide IPS panel is pretty nice, too.
It’ll even make a decent fist of playing games.
Despite all that, there is one pretty obvious limitation and it’s pixel density.
For Windows users, this remains a pretty usable monitor.
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