Industrial monitors, a market that values quality over price. The deep corporate pockets of their customers removes the normal cost limitations of the retail world, creating a technological bubble. A place where the latest technology often appears first, with astronomical price-tags. Wince inducing scary kinds of numbers. An amazing technological preview for the rest of us.

The latest technology preview, for the rest of us, is the industrial Eizo DuraVision FDH3601 4k display. This 28kg heavy weight monster is able to display a 4096 by 2160 pixel picture over its 37.4 inch IPS LCD Panel. At 8.8 megapixels the monitor, designated the DuraVision FDH3601, is the first in a new class of high density IPS panel. Imagine a 37.4 inch iPad 3 retina display with better color.

Using the display port inputs the monitor can display 10bit color, making a palette of over a billion colors available. This is orders of magnitude better than full 100% sRGB. Color accuracy and consistency are best in class. Internally the monitor uses a 16bit look-up table of 278 trillion colors to draw from. This is the sort of monitor that requires a video card that matches it’s spec’s, a workstation video card that’s capable of 10bit color and 4k resolution.

The maximum brightness is high at 700 cd/m2 but even more impressive is the ability to control brightness, with very fine step control down to 30 cd/m2. Allowing the monitor to be setup and tuned for multi-monitor displays incorporating different display technology.

Incredibly even with the demanding 4k resolution and high color the DuraVision still manages a very respectable 8ms refresh rate. Fast enough to watch movies or play any games that allow the 4k resolution.

Being an IPS panel the contrast ratio is excellent at a 1000:1 and the viewing angle stretches round to a neck cracking 176 degrees. Providing smooth gradients and consistent picture quality from every angle.

Being an industrial monitor this display will be used in situations that are actually life and death. As a medical display even the simple task of looking at patients x-ray requires utmost accuracy. Sending someone in for surgery because a dead pixel looks like cancer isn’t a good outcome. Imagine the trouble air traffic controllers could find themselves in with poor displays.

With a number of modes intended for specific industrial purposes the DuraVision can display a 4K x 2K image across the entire screen or it can display a 2K x 2K image and auxiliary information simultaneously.

EIZO may not be an instantly recognizable brand name, they were known as Nanao in many parts of the world. They name was abandoned in 1996 when the unified brand name EIZO was adopted. A new logo was also introduced at the same time.

EIZO have produced display technology since the late sixties, with the long established reputation for producing high quality, durable displays EIZO owns a large chunk of the industrial monitor market. Airport Traffic Control and Medical Imaging Displays amongst their specialties.

The DuraVision has been available in Japan since late 2011, for a jaw dropping $36,000 USD. The DuraVision FDH3601 will be the center-piece of EIZO’s stand at this year’s NAB 2012 display conferencem expect many oww ahh moments at the stand. Availability for the rest of the world is unknown. Lets hope it’s not too many years before these monsters invade the retail market.

Reference: EIZO

Eizo DuraVision FDH3601 Specifications

• Size: 36.4″ / 92 cm (923 mm diagonal)
• Native Resolution: 4096 x 2160
• Display Size: (H x V) 817.1 x 430.9 mm
• Pixel Pitch: 0.1995 x 0.1995 mm
• Display Colors: 1.07 billion from a palette of 278 trillion (maximum)
• Viewing Angles: (H / V, typical) 176°, 176°
• Brightness (typical): 700 cd/m²
• Contrast Ratio (typical): 1000:1
• Response Time: (typical) 8 ms (Gray-to-gray) Video Signals
• Input Terminals: DVI-D 24 pin x 2, DisplayPort x 2
• Digital Scanning Frequency: (H / V) 31 ~ 140 kHz, 29.5 ~ 61 Hz (VGA TEXT supported)
• Maximum Power Consumption: 350 W
• Power Save Mode: Less than 6 W
• USB: 2 port of USB hubs, USB 2.0 Power