Designed for gamers, the BenQ XR3501 ($999.99) brings curved screen and ultra-wide panel technology to the desktop for under $1,000. This massive monitor is equipped with a 35-inch, Vertical Alignment (VA) panel with a 2,000R curvature radius and a 21:9 aspect ratio. It delivers good gray-scale performance and inky blacks, but its color accuracy could be better, and it lacks USB connectivity. Moreover, the panel's 2,560-by-1,080 resolution pales in comparison to the 3,440-by-1,440 resolution that you get with our top pick for big-screen, ultra-wide gaming monitors, the Acer Predator X34.

Design and Features
The first thing you notice about the XR3501 is its massive 35-inch curved panel. Unlike the Acer XR341CK and Predator X34 monitors, which have a 3,800R curvature, the XR3501 has a 2,000R curvature which is more pronounced. (This means that if you a bunch of XR3501 monitors edge to edge to create a complete circle, the circle's radius would be 2,000mm.) The screen is housed in a matte-black cabinet with a band of silver trim around its edges and framed by thin (0.5-inch) bezels. The 24-pound cabinet is supported by a V-shaped stand with a shiny chrome finish and a red cutout that keeps your cables organized. The stand offers tilt adjustability, but does not let you adjust the panel's height.

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At the rear of the cabinet facing downward are two HDMI inputs, a full-size DisplayPort input, a mini-DisplayPort input, a headphone jack, an audio-out jack, and an audio-in jack. Missing are the USB ports found on the Acer XR341CK and Predator X34. There are mounting holes for hanging the cabinet on a wall, but you need an optional mounting kit and a special adapter plate ($37) to do so.

Beneath the lower bezel are six function buttons and a Power switch. The buttons are used to access the settings menus and can also be used as hot keys to select an input source, change the Preset Picture mode, and activate the Black eQualizer, which enhances dark shades of gray for better shadow detail. These keys can also be programmed to serve as hot keys for any setting.

There are nine Picture Presets, including Standard, Movie, sRGB, Racing, First Person Shooter (FPS)1, FPS2, Photo, and two user-defined Custom settings. Basic picture settings include Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Gamma, and Color temperature, and advanced settings include Black eQualizer, Low Blue Light (to help ease eye strain), Super Resolution, (enhances standard definition images), and Color Vibrance (adjusts color saturation levels). You also get several Picture-in-Picture (PIP) and Picture-by-Picture (PBP) settings, as well as controls for Dynamic Contrast and Aspect Ratio.

BenQ covers the monitor with a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. It ships with HDMI and DisplayPort cables and a resource CD containing drivers and a User Guide.

Performance
The XR3501delivers a sharp picture with vibrant colors and inky blacks, but it can't match the image detail that you get from high-resolution monitors like the Acer Predator X34 and the Dell UltraSharp U3415W, both of which boast a 3,440-by-1,440 resolution. Color accuracy is also less than ideal; as shown on the chromaticity chart below, red and green colors (represented by the colored dots) are not aligned with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes). You won't notice any oversaturated colors as a result, but if you plan on using the monitor for color-critical work, you have to calibrate it first.