Asus’ newest portable monitor looks as if someone accidentally sat on it and squished it down into an awkwardly wide shape. It’s called the Asus ProArt Display PA147CDV, and it has a 14-inch panel in a 32:9 aspect ratio, giving it a similar appearance to the second screen on the laptop maker’s Zenbook Pro Duo laptops.
Whereas large monitors with a 32:9 aspect ratio market their ability to act as two separate normal-sized screens, the ProArt Display is meant to act more as a companion screen for creative professionals, similar to (but hopefully more useful than) the Touch Bar or an Elgato Stream Deck.
The ProArt display 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% of the sRGB color gamut and is Calman-verified for color accuracy. For now, we’ve been left in the dark as to how bright the panel gets. On the side of the base are two USB-C ports and an HDMI port.
Another unique feature of this strange accessory is the dial on the side, which is similar to Microsoft’s Surface Dial in that you can customize the tool to access certain functions within creative apps like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom Classic. Any app supported by the Microsoft Surface Dial will work with the Asus Dial. The monitor also supports Microsoft’s Pen Protocol 2.0 for those who don’t want to smudge the screen or who need more precision when making fine edits.
You might be wondering why anyone would need such an ultra-wide screen. While this likely won’t replace your Wacom or iPad, the ProArt lets creatives separate their tools from the content being edited on a larger display. In this setup, the display acts as a customizable control panel for apps like Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. It could also house your timeline or be placed vertically next to your monitor or laptop for notes or web pages.
Asus didn’t give us pricing or release date specifics, stating only that the ProArt is “available for media review” and will be released in Q2 of this year. And yes, we’ve already pinged our Asus rep for a review unit and will let you know what we think of this hot dog bun-shaped monitor.
