Dell's 52-inch enormo-monitor is a tsunami of impractical fun

FIRST LOOK Dell's UltraSharp 52 display is a joyously enormous head-turner, but probably too much monitor for most users.

Dell debuted the display at the CES show earlier this year.

It's now on sale for $3,000.

Sadly, I lack a PC capable of driving the screen at its full 6144 x 2560 resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate.

Even at a miserly 3840 x 2160, however, I often marveled at how much it could display.

Consider the screenshot below, which shows 50 columns and 89 rows of a single Excel spreadsheet – 4,450 cells in total.

Here's another look at the monitor in full flight: a screen grab of Zwift, the virtual cycling metaverse I visit regularly as part of my exercise routine.

At that size, Zwift felt more immersive and enjoyable than it does on a smaller screen.

The display also handled motion smoothly during Zwift. other games, and streamed video.

Getting used to it It took me a while to appreciate the monitor.

When I first plugged it in, my occasionally-stiff middle-aged neck strained as I swiveled to view content at the edges and corners, while wielding my mouse to move its pointer between the screen's extremities felt like flapping my arms.

My eyes didn't enjoy the experience at first either.

I wear mild reading glasses while working, and found myself repeatedly refocusing as I looked across the curved display.

For the first few days I spent with the screen, I therefore practiced "pillarboxing" – running the display at 3840 x 2160 and only using the center of the monitor while pixels on the edges remained dark.