Ultra wide monitors

[PicodeGallo]

So after trekking out to my local Micro Center to check out monitors, I'm mildly interested in ultra wide curved monitors. My primary question, that they couldn't answer to my satisfaction, is how well do games/applications scale on them? I don't have a specific monitor in mind yet; I'm just tossing around the idea. I would say it must be at least 1440p and at least 100Hz refresh rate. While very much welcome, I'm not necessarily looking for specific monitor recommendations, but more of how well they function on a day to day basis--QoL if you will. I have a huge desk and sit far enough away that it would/could work out well. On the other hand, I really enjoy my 27" 1440p/60Hz monitor and have the Acer Predator 1440p/144Hz picked out to replace it if the ultra wide option doesn't work out. I have no interest in 4k at this time.

Are they worth it?

 

[JLK03F150]

Does the Acer have an IPS panel? What panels are in the widescreens you’ve been researching? Panel type is my first consideration followed by size, resolution, and hertz. I guess you need to work out your own order of preferences.

I run a 17” 1440p 60hz monitor now, but ran 3 1080p for many year and I never had problems with games scaling to that Eyefinity/Surround widescreen. You really need to tweak your mouse settings with that much desktop though. Lots of space between the start button and the clock. lol

 

[PicodeGallo]

The Acer is the Predator XB271HU. I would say an IPS panel, 1440p, and >60Hz refresh rate are mandatory. Size is the primary variable. I can't go too tall, as vertical space on my desk is limited to 18.5" while horizontal space is plentiful. It's a corner type desk and I think a curved monitor would work really well. I would never consider one for my living room tv. One monitor that stood out was a 34" Alienware. There was a Samsung version also, but they didn't have it working. I don't play competitive shooter games, so ultra high refresh rates aren't necessary for me, but 60Hz is visibly...meh. Immersion is more my thing.

They look great and would fit well, but my main concern is how applications, primarily games, are supported. I don't want to have to constantly tweak in order for games to display properly. I don't mind doing it for some 'legacy' games, but any modern game, imo, should be supported from the get go. Would this be an issue for me?

 

[Dolk]

Ultrawide monitors are an interesting class. I fell in love with them about 4 years ago when I got the LG 29UM58. I got that monitor because my current rig was targeting to run games at 1080p/1440p. I liked the idea of having the wider view point without having to pay for the extra cost in vertical resolution like you would with a normal 1440p monitor. I've had that monitor as my primary monitor for roughly 4 years now.

Just this past week I upgraded to a LG 34gk950f. I am in love with this monitor. As reddit said, it is the king of the ultrawide class. 144hz, 1440p, 1ms response time, enhanced A-sync for Freesync2 and G-sync compatibility. The monitor has it all and more.

With that said, you need to experience gaming on an ultrawide first before really making a decision. I instantly fell in love with mine because it brought me back to the old days of where I played CS1.6 with a CRT monitor right up against my nose. Ultrawide monitors give you the same breath of view point without sacrificing your close vision. Other people want other experiences, this is just mine.

When it comes to curve vs no curve, I'm partially in favor for no curve. Yet these are getting harder and harder to find as the panel size increase. I've noticed with my LG 34 curved, that the field of view (FOV) seems a bit more pointed than it used to. I need to play around with games like DOOM and more to really see if its just adjustment of FOV, a trick in the human eye, or something to see really what the difference is. But so far this is my only complaint, and should be minor as most games have a means to change FOV.

As you can see, I am very biased towards LG and their monitors. I think their IPS panel creates the best picture. As they venture more into HDR, I think they will have some of the best monitors in the coming years. I used this website to figure out which monitor I was going to upgrade to:

https://www.displayninja.com/new-monitors-in-2019/

It lists all of this years models, so depending on your budget, I'd suggest looking through this list and seeing what fits you. I've heard great things about those that use the AUO VA Panels, so Acer ASUS, etc. Dell also makes great monitors with IPS and Ultrawide, but they can be a bit of a higher price. Next up would be Samsung and LG on my top list. Both companies make their own panel which is very rare these days. They also have the best Ultrawides in my opinion, as they will obtain the higher refresh rates that you need for today's games.

 

[EarthDog]

how well do games/applications scale on them?

Not all games scale to their odd resolutions well. Most of them do, butr there are some that will have to stretch to fit. I don't believe it to be a high percentage, but it is something to be aware of.

 

[Bustos]

If you're a gamer, you may want to rethink the ultrawide option. Even if the game scales well with ultrawide, you have more real estate to pay attention to and makes the smaller details in a game harder to keep track of, especially in FPSs or MOBAs. You can only 'see' so much at one time. If you play single player games, or very casually, then it doesn't matter as much.

 

[motherboard1]

I like em. Been using them since the first one I laid eyes on.

What Blutos said about only seeing so much at one time has a tiny bit of merit when it comes to FPS games, your area of focus is smaller than you think and most of what happens in the peripheral will go un noticed when you've got a lot going on. But it would be illogical to think that this alone makes 16:9 better than 21:9

21:9 is beneficial in games like rocket league where there is less information to track and seeing a little more in your peripherals gives you a greater window to read and react. RTS again, your eyes are always scanning rapidly for information so if it's on screen, even on the edges this is better not worse. In FPS it's beautiful to behold even if it doesn't always translate to more kills because of the nature of those games, it's a great show piece and more is NEVER less, it's just not always that much of an advantage on the competitive side.

A quick Hex mod will fix almost any game that doesn't officially support UltraWide. I only have like 2 or 3 titles in my extensive game Library that can't do Ultrawide and like 95% of those that do, do so natively with no Hex mod. Flawlesswidescreen tool automatically fixes a lot of older games.