Could your next monitor be designed by Porsche?

It isn’t often that you hear of a car manufacturer designing a PC monitor, let alone one of Porsche’s stature. AOC, the multinational panel manufacturer, has teamed up with Studio F. A. Porsche to design the 24in PDS241 and 27in PDS271 monitors, which were a feast for the eyes when I saw them at Porsche’s factory in Leipzig.

[gallery:1]

Both monitors have a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) panel and use AH-IPS technology to cover a broad colour gamut. AOC claims the panels are able to cover 100% sRGB and 90% NTSC colour space with its own Supercolor WCG technology.

If its panel doesn’t make you sit up and take notice, its design most certainly will. Both monitors have a three-side borderless design, making it easier to look at the screen without becoming distracted by large bezels. However, it’s the stand that sets these monitors apart from the rest of the crowd.

[gallery:8]

Through a single metal design, the monitor tilts, and carries both the video signal and power input. But it does more than just route cables: the stand carries the signal through a mini-HDMI port. That’s right, you plug your monitor in from the base of the stand. The core components, including the power source, are situated in a small metal enclosure that sits away from your monitor. An ingenious design – but then again, you’d expect nothing less from the German car manufacturer.

AOC’s director of marketing and business management, Stefan Sommer said that AOC is “very proud of the result of AOC’s collaboration with Studio F. A. Porsche” and feels that the “new, futuristic and elegant monitors from the PDS line make a bold statement about AOC’s dedication to delivering innovative products – both technology and design-wise”.

Video input is limited, though, since the monitors feature only has a single HDMI input. This shouldn’t be a problem for most, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you need a monitor that supports multiple video sources.

[gallery:10]

You’d now expect to hear the bad news: the price. Surprisingly, the Studio F. A. Porsche monitors aren’t as expensive as you might think. At £189 for the 24in PDS241 and £259 for the 27in PDS271, both models are competitively priced against other IPS monitors in the market. They’ll be on general sale in June 2017. Stay tuned for my review in the upcoming months.