I have to admit to you all, there isn’t much in the world of computer hardware that I really really want at any given time.  Sure, there are new graphics cards like the pending AMD Radeon HD 7000 series and new CPUs like Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E, but in truth, after more than a decade of seeing hardware releases, I pretty much know what to expect.

Imagine my surprise (and my wife’s disappointment) when I found an incredibly gorgeous monitor that I simply must have, but is sadled with a ~$30,000  price tag. 

You are looking at the EIZO DuraVision FDH3601 – a monitor with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 with a diagonal length of 36-in.  That equates to a pixel density of 128.6 PPI (pixels per inch) compared to your standard 24-in 1080p monitor with a PPI of 91.7. 

At a recent event I got to have some hands on time with one of these badass monitors and I have to say I was incredibly impressed with the image quality it provided.  It was running Dirt 3 at the native 4096×2160 resolution and the game has never looked as crisp as it did then.  While it didn’t eliminate it, this kind of resolution would really make a dent in the need for higher quality AA algorithms. 

Here you can see Windows 7 running at the same resolution…

To connect this monitor to any modern graphics hardware on your PC it requires a pair of dual-link DVI connections or a pair of DisplayPort connections in order to have enough bandwidth for peak refresh rates.  The monitor is definitely not a thin device but for being one of the first 4K displays available to consumers, we’ll gladly accept the depth. 

If you want drool over these specs as well, you can head over to the EIZO website.  Alternatively, if you would like to purchase one as a holiday gift for me, just send me an email and I’ll give you my address!!