Having just recently taken over the monitor beat at Maximum PC, I've been as wide-eyed at this year's CES as a 23-year-old journalist at the Sirens of Treasure Island pirate show. CES, and specifically the display beat, is a constant bombardment of technological achievement: New displays! Bigger displays! Differently connected displays! Displays mashed together! Tiny displays attached to big displays! Pretty displays!

Thank god I don't have televisions as a beat, else I might have gone nuts staring at screen after pretty screen this year. But there were still plenty of advancements that I can (and can't!) talk about for good ol' computer displays, including some monitors that will simply make you drool. Lord knows I did. Sorry, Dell; I'll pay for the towel.

Alienware

I blogged about this at the show, but here we go again: Alienware's Curve Display was nothing short of impressive, given that the 2880x960 monitor was but a mere prototype of things to come. Other news sites have covered this parenthesis-shaped monitor to death, noting that black, vertical bars separate the screen's four rear-projected images. I gathered this was a result of the monitor still being a prototype, and this was confirmed by none other than NEC. Yes, NEC's making a curve display too -- the CRVD-LMD. It has the same specs as the Alienware, given that both companies are partnering with the same manufacturer, Ostendo Technologies.

So yes, NEC and Alienware both have curve displays a'coming. And both are looking to launch in the second half of 2008 -- here's hoping that, by then, both companies will have reconsidered said monitor's lack of HDCP. Sorry, HD-movie enthusiasts.

On a side note, NEC also hinted that they'll be trying to push developers to make content to natively fit such a large screen. As it stands, non-native images can stretch across the large, panoramic screen -- which looks cool from an 'I'm surrounded" perspective, but not quite as grand if you're looking for a super high-quality picture.

NEC

In addition to its CRVD-LMD panoramic display, NEC was also showing off its new line of Accusync monitors. The 19", 22", and 24" monitors come as the fourth iteration of the Accusync series. All I really got from NEC is that they're allegedly more cost-effective to produce than previous models, and they feature nifty downfiring speakers. There's also a new built-in "echo mode," which reduces the brightness of the monitor by thirty percent when you hit the accompanying hotkey. Power consumption goes down by twenty percent as well. Take that, uh, non-energy-conscious monitors.

NEC's also looking to expand out its MultiSync line for gamers -- expect to see a sub-$500, 24" CX version of the MultiSync line around an April-May timeframe. You'll also see 19" and 22" versions, but these will lack a downfiring speaker.

Viewsonic

Viewsonic showed off a number of new monitors at its fancy product showcase. Two representatives never did manage to nail down exactly how many new displays Viewsonic was planning on launching, but it's somewhere in the range of seven to nine. Long trade-show, we know.

The new monitors in the VP, or professional series are the 19-inch VP950b, 21.6-unch VP2250wb, and 26-inch VP2650wb. The latter two dabble in the 1080p resolution range, with native resolutions of 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 respectively. All monitors make use of Viewsonic's proprietary OptiColor technology: the VP950b hits 98%, while the latter two monitors achieve an eye-catching 106%. All the new VP-series monitors support HDCP. Shown below, the VP2650wb:

Viewsonic's improvements to its VX line of monitors include the 19" VX1962wm and the 22" VX2262wm. For the most part, we're talking about stylistic advancements. There's a new base, as well as a highly reflective screen that gives a powered-down monitor a mirror quality to it, as opposed to the standard matte finish found on Viewsonic's other monitors. Both monitors have a native resolution of 1680x1050 -- yes, that's right. Near-native 1080p content on a 19" monitor. Invisible, down-facing speakers round out the deal, and Viewsonic's bringing that quasi-3D SRS WOW technology into the mix to deliver as close to surround sound as a simple monitor will ever get. Shown below, the VX1962wm:

Rounding out the mix is perhaps NEC's coolest upcoming product, the VLED221wm LED-LCD display. Retailing for around $800, the 22" display offers an absurd 118% color gamut as a result of its LED-based backlight. It also consumes less power, but really, that's the least thing you'll be concerned about once you see this little guy in action. Keep in mind that this is all CES-talk, and completely independent of what might happen once we get this guy into the Lab for some hardcore testing. Still, the monitor looked s-h-a-r-p; it was rather obvious to me that something new was going on behind-the-scenes, as the picture looked that much more vivid when I glanced at the VLED221wm, then glanced at its neighboring monitors.

The monitor will come in a resolution of 1680x1050, and the usual mix of integrated speakers and analog/digital inputs. Here's a picture of it, which hardly does the LED display any justice. Look for this to hit stores in February.

After the jump:

Dell's see-through display, HP's rotating-display, and Samsung's side-display attachments!