At CES 2025, LG bends its new gaming monitor better than Beckham
Use it flat, curved, or somewhere in between
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Both curved and flat monitors have their place. Some prefer the look of the flat monitor, while curved monitors offer a little more immersion for a variety of experiences. What if you could have one monitor that was both curved and flat? That's the concept behind LG's new bendable monitor we just saw at CES 2025, which is flexible in a way that allows you to use it as a flat screen or a curved display as needed.
Not only is the LG UltraGear 45GX990A monitor bendable, but it can actually be curved with multiple different curvatures, allowing you to set exactly how immersive the view of the monitor is. That means you can have it slightly curved for productivity tasks and more curved for things like gaming when you might want the most immersive experience possible.
To be clear, this isn't actually LG's first bendable monitor. The company has released a few models over the past two years or so, but this is the most advanced bendable monitor from LG by far—and it’s the first one LG is billing as a gaming monitor.
Benefits of a curved screen
There are actually plenty of reasons why you might want a curved monitor. Curved monitors not only make the viewing experience more immersive, but they can also reduce distortion on the edges and prove to be a little more ergonomic in situations where multiple people are viewing the screen at once. For a personal desk, that shouldn't matter all that much.
That said, different people have different preferences as to how curved they want the monitor to be. For some, being a throw if they want it to be means less curvature. Others, however, prefer to get an all-encompassing experience, especially those who plan on using their monitor for gaming.
The way it works in practice is pretty simple. At CES, the monitor simply switched between a flat and a curved mode with the press of a button, and a representative told me that it’ll work through a remote when it ships to consumers. On the show floor it only had two modes—but users will actually be able to set exactly how curved they want it, rather than only being able to select between “flat” or “curved.”
Actually a good screen
Even apart from the fact that the monitor is bendable, it's pretty high-tech. It's 45 inches, which is absolutely huge for a desk monitor, and it has a resolution of 5120 by 2160 with a 21:9 aspect ratio. It has a native refresh rate of 165Hz. If you lower some of the resolution settings, the monitor is designed to be efficient with my setup, offering versatile connectivity. It supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-Sync variable refresh rate technology.
The monitor also has LG's WebOS software built into it, so it can essentially function as a smart TV when you're not using it as a monitor connected to a computer. Using WebOS, you can access your favorite streaming services as well as live TV.
The curve you want
Often, products like this unveiled at CES are prototypes, but this is actually a monitor that you'll be able to buy. It certainly won't be cheap, but pricing and specific availability have yet to be revealed. Hopefully they’ll be available soon, and won’t cost an arm and a leg.