Digital Trends

Gateway XHD3000

December 12th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Universal Remote

Because the Extreme HD monitor can connect to six sources at once, it makes it ideal for use with DVD players, gaming systems, etc. Gateway includes a universal remote control that handles on-screen menus (monitor settings, PIP, etc.) as well as a growing list of video input devices. You don't have to use the universal remote, but it is nicely designed (albeit pretty vanilla), fits well in the hand and is easy to use.

Extreme Angles

One of the most exciting aspects of the Extreme HD 30" monitor is the wide viewing angles. Unlike many large-format LCD monitors whose viewing angles are restricted to near-direct-view, the Gateway Extreme HD LCD can be viewed from almost 180 degrees with a minimal amount of distortion. It's simply amazing. Whether you're looking at the monitor from a near 90-degree left or right, or if you've got the monitor sitting well above your head, it just doesn't seem to matter. What you see at an angle is almost exactly how you see it straight on. Our Digital Trends minds are still boggled at how awesome this is. Let the max-res Photoshopping begin!

Control screen setting with the included remote control

HD, Blu-Ray and More

The Gateway Extreme HD monitor can handle up to 1600p HD resolution for video. This means that it'll easily handle (and almost scoff at) 720p, 1080i, 1080p videos. Don't have any high-def video at 1600p? Don't worry - someday you will, and the Extreme HD monitor will be able to process and view it in its full glory. Until then, you can view stills and upscale/enlarged videos at 1600p.

How does high-def video look on the Gateway Extreme HD LCD monitor? How does a 12-cylinder Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG drive? Stunning, better than expected, almost sinfully good. With the 1000:1 contrast ratio and 400 cd/m² brightness, the on-screen colors look beautiful and properly saturated. Black pixels are deep and rich. Whites are brilliant. With the proper HD content, there is little to no pixilation. Standard DVDs look gorgeous when viewed at standard res, and though they get upscaled as you increase the video playback screen, going max res leaves understandable artifacting. The same can be said for online content, whether YouTube, Vuze or trailers. It all depends on native res and encoding quality.

No matter what you watch on the XHD3000, it's going to look very, very nice. The most difficult part of watching such sexy HD content on this LCD is knowing that at some point, we're going to watch video on other screens and that many of them will look wretched in comparison.

Conclusion

The Gateway Extreme HD 30" LCD monitor (XHD3000) is more than just a beautiful monitor - it's a full-fledged HD video display that will upscale even the most gorgeous 1080p HD movies to 1600p; the colors, brightness and clarity are all very impressive. Stills and video look breathtakingly accurate. The 2560x1600 screen resolutions makes computing a sincere pleasure and can be a serious productivity enhancer, especially for spreadsheet enthusiasts, Photoshoppers, video editors and any hard-core multitaskers.

The XHD3000 has some impressive stats and a very competitive price point of $1699 USD. With such a serious piece of hardware, we recommend physically testing a sample of this monitor before committing to the $1699 purchase. But we also feel confident that you'll be satisfied (if not blown away) by this 30" LCD screen once you get it on your desk.


Pros:

• Huge gorgeous display
• Eye-popping 2560x1600 screen res
• Truly amazing viewing angles
• Up to 6 video inputs at once
• 720p, 1080i, 1080p and 1600p HD video resolutions
• High Def Picture in Picture
• Impressive sound quality from sound bar
• Universal remote control included
• Touch-sensitive, bezel-controlled menus

Cons:

• Screen height cannot be adjusted
• Menu navigation can be finicky
• $1699 out of range for most people