Las Vegas - Ultrawide monitors, curved monitors, and oversized monitors are all fairly common in the gaming space. But what happens when you combine ultrawide, curved, and oversized gaming monitor designs? A ridiculously large, ridiculously wide, ridiculously curved peripheral: the Samsung G9. Pricing and release date for this massive monitor are still undecided (likely later this year), but we'll have to call it what it is because there is absolutely nothing else like it out there.

I tried to wrap my head around the G9 at the Samsung booth at CES 2020, and a device this large was not easy. The screen is 49 inches diagonal, but it is not shaped like a 49-inch TV. Instead, the device, which Samsung calls an "ultra-wide screen," curves around the user's head like a futuristic display in a science fiction movie.

It's hard to say whether the device will benefit gameplay; the G9 occupied an important spot in Samsung's CES booth, where curious onlookers stopped for seconds or minutes to see the screen's capabilities. This made it difficult to play more than a minute or two of "Overwatch" to test the device.

I can say that the experience was a bit puzzling, as the G9 was still part of the gaming PC setup, and I couldn't sit back far enough to get the entire 5120x1440 resolution screen into view. However, I don't think that is necessarily the goal. Rather, where the G9 excelled was in covering the peripheral field of view. In first-person shooters especially, the key to success is not to see everything happening on the screen clearly, but to know which fleeting moments of vision to prioritize. With the screen surrounding my head, I could see an amazing amount of what was happening in the game at any given moment. The effect was a little exhilarating and a little overwhelming.

My time with the Samsung G9 was so brief that there is not much I can say about it yet. As far as I know, the G9 is the widest curved gaming monitor ever released, with a curvature of 1000R that mimics human peripheral vision; for gamers not ready to dive into the 49-inch, Samsung is also releasing the G7 curved monitor in more manageable 27-inch and 32-inch configurations in more manageable 27-inch and 32-inch configurations.

Tom'sGuide will have more to say about the G9 when we get a review unit in our office. Until then, we must tell you that it is a novel, strange, and somewhat fun technology product, and CES is all about showcasing novel, quirky, and somewhat amusing technology.

For the latest news and hands-on impressions from Las Vegas, be sure to check out our CES 2020 hub.