For the past several weeks, I've been using an HP E45c G5, a 45-inch curved, wide-screen monitor with 5120-by-1440 resolution (DQHD or "dual QHD") that works as a replacement for two monitors and has a variety of extra features. I've found it to be a nice step up from using two 24-inch displays, providing more flexibility. Plus, it works as a USB-C hub.
With a 44.5 diagonal display area and a 32:9 aspect ratio, it takes up a fair amount of desk space, measuring almost 43 inches wide and 13.21 inches tall (not counting the stand). But a pair of 24-inch monitors would take up an equivalent amount of space. I tried the E45c monitor with both Windows and Macintosh machines, and it worked well with both, though HP offers more software for the Windows side.
The monitor itself looks quite good, with a 1500R curve that does seem easier to read than two flat monitors would be. With 400 nits of brightness, support for 99% of sRGB colors, and a 165Hz refresh rate, it seems quite smooth and accurate. It features EyeEase, a low blue light filter said to reduce blue light exposure without impacting color accuracy; and has an ambient light sensor that can automatically adjust brightness. It supports FreeSync but it is not designed as a gaming monitor. I used it for the business applications for which it is designed.
As such, I found it quite handy. Of course, you can use it like you would two screens, with applications on either side. But you could also put a document in the center and use the outer parts of the screen for your notes, presentations, a browser, or tools like Teams or Slack. You can extend a large spreadsheet across the full width, showing many more columns of work, without a border in the middle.
It has two 3-watt speakers which seem better than those that come with many laptops, but they're not exceptional. It does not come with a webcam, so if you want to use it as a monitor for video conferencing, add one.
The monitor has a lot of ports, including two USB-C ports, Display Port 1.4, HDMI 2.1, gigabit Ethernet, and two USB-A ports, one of which you can use to charge an external device such as a phone. Using USB-C, you can charge your computer (up to 100 watts); or even two laptops at the same time, up to 65 watts. Or use it as a USB-C hub, connecting a mouse and keyboard, or a webcam, or external storage. Combined with the built-in audio, it offers a way of reducing the number of power cables you have on your desk. As with recent HP machines, there's a single power-on option.
The monitor itself offers an onscreen display that lets you adjust several features such as brightness, color temperature, and inputs. On Windows machines, it seems easier to use the HP Display Center software to control all these things and set up various screen partitions for particular applications. For enterprises managing a lot of monitors, HP offers Display Manager software that can remotely control a fleet of screens.
One interesting feature is the ability to connect two laptops to the display and use it with one machine on the left and another on the right, but sharing a keyboard and mouse, as with a KVM switch. I made this work with one Windows machine and one Mac, an interesting combination. Moving the mouse onto the display causes that machine to be active, just as you'd like. It's a nice idea, though a little tricky to set up.
It has Device Bridge 2.0 software that lets you drag files from one machine to another, if they both have that software installed. Note though that finding the right software for the Mac took some doing; the HP website only lists Windows options, but if you pick one and then select "choose a different OS," you'll see a Mac link. Once installed, it worked as advertised.
On Windows, another interesting feature is "virtual dual display." In this case, you can set it up so that the monitor appears like two screens, one that you can share in a conferencing application, and another that is not shared. For instance, you could share a PowerPoint personation on one half of the machine, while keeping notes about it on the other side. That worked well.
Overall, I was quite pleased with both the size and features of the HP E45c G5 display. With a list price of $1,099, it's not for everyone. But for business users that need more screen space—particularly in applications such as trading or big spreadsheets—it fills a great need.