Advice on 21:9 super-widescreen monitors please

[Inaharry]

Hi,

I'm trying to help my son decide on which 21:9 Super-Widescreen to go for, but as I've never physically seen one to judge the resolution and pixel density etc., I'm finding it difficult to help...

He has a maximum budget of £350 and the system is running an i7-920 with an Nvidia GTX670. GSYNC monitors are above his budget for this type of screen and he knows that he won't be able to take advantage of monitors that have FREESYNC capability, even though the ones we've been looking at seem to have this feature anyway. Apart from occasional browsing or watching Youtube, the system is only ever used for gaming, particularly FPS games like CS:GO, COD and Fallout 4 etc.

The questions I have are:

1. There are a few LG monitors within his budget, (29UM67, 29UC97C and 34UM57). Is the backlight bleed really bad on the LGs and would it be that noticeable if he's only gaming on it?

2. There are two monitors that are very close in price. The 29UC97C and the 34UM57. Which would be better to go for, a 29" curved screen or a 34" flat screen? As they're the same resolution, is a 34" screen going to look particularly bad in games?

3. We know that there are quite a few games that don't natively support 21:9 resolutions. If the stretching is particularly bad or the menus aren't displayed properly, is it possible to set the games' resolution back to 1920 x 1080 to look normal? Can the 21:9 monitors scale down correctly and place black bars down the left and right-hand sides of the screens?

4. He likes the look of the LGs, but should he be considering any other make / model like the Asus 21:9 screens, (PB298Q / MX299Q) for gaming?


If anyone has one of these monitors or could offer any advice, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[old gamer]

well if you have never seen one in the flesh imagine a 23" 16.9 and then add half the width of the screen then that will be the 29" and likewise for a 27" to give you a 34".

for me it would be the lg 34" as I always feel the 29" is a bit small, the 2560x1080 34" res should look the same as a 27" 1080p.

and yes 16.9 games will play 1920x1080 with black bars at the sides but support is pretty good for 21.9 cod bo3 and cs go will play fine and there are fixes for games like fallout 4

 

[Phixsator]

I might have been lucky but i got a near perfect sample when i bought the 29um57. No dead pixels, no yellow ips glow at all and no backlight bleed even on dark scenes and only a tiny tiny amount of purple'ish/magenta glow(bottom left corner)on total black screen, so little that my camera does not pick it up and it isnt disturbing at all and that is with brightness cranked to over 60%+. Personally love the size of a 29" ultrawide but certainly a 34 inch has a bigger wauw factor to it(ive had 2.. 1x34 inch 2560x1080 and 1x34inch 3440x1440).

 

[Inaharry]

Thanks for the replies.

yes 16.9 games will play 1920x1080 with black bars at the sides but support is pretty good for 21.9 cod bo3 and cs go will play fine and there are fixes for games like fallout 4

That's good to know, thanks old gamer.

Personally love the size of a 29" ultrawide but certainly a 34 inch has a bigger wauw factor to it(ive had 2.. 1x34 inch 2560x1080 and 1x34inch 3440x1440).

As you've had 34" screens with both 2560 x 1080 and 3440 x 1440, would you say it's worth going for that kind of screen size with such a low resolution or does it look ok? Most review sites tend to sound quite negative running 2560 x 1080 at 34" and the ones that say 2560 is acceptable recommend 1440 over 1080.

In your opinions, would you go for the larger screen over a curved 29" then? He really likes the idea of a curved screen as he thinks it'll be more immersive, but the price difference between the 29" curved and the 34" flat is minimal and I know I'd prefer the bigger screen...

 

[Haggisman]

I personally wouldn't go bigger than 29" ultrawide @ 1080p - I had a 27" normal 1080p (so same size pixels as a 34" ultrawide) for a short while, and had to get rid of it because all I was seeing was a mess of pixels, now have a 34" ultrawide 1440p and it's great

If you have a high street store near you with monitors on display, then go take a look and compare a 24" and 27" 1080p monitor - that's basically the same difference you'll get between the 29" and 34" ultrawides - the 29" will look far sharper than the 34", and that's what I'd go for in your position!

 

[CapitalOne]

I have been using my 34UM57 for a couple of days now - love it. Some games dont look great i.e. "stretched" but others look great. You can see the comparison with the 27" ROG Swift to the left.

Spoiler

Edit: no issues with pixels or blb if that helps.

 

[andicole0]

I didn't like super wide, I always wanted to look up and down given the width. I'm much happier with 2560x1440.
Well worth trying to view some.
Andi.

 

[Phixsator]

As you've had 34" screens with both 2560 x 1080 and 3440 x 1440, would you say it's worth going for that kind of screen size with such a low resolution or does it look ok? Most review sites tend to sound quite negative running 2560 x 1080 at 34" and the ones that say 2560 is acceptable recommend 1440 over 1080.

In your opinions, would you go for the larger screen over a curved 29" then? He really likes the idea of a curved screen as he thinks it'll be more immersive, but the price difference between the 29" curved and the 34" flat is minimal and I know I'd prefer the bigger screen...

Well i only played World of Warcraft on the 34 inch 1080p model but that seemed perfectly fine, desktop was a little more rough, not much, but im not as big a a pixel ***** as many others are so it was a non issue for me. That said i would say that 29 inch is perfect if the resolution is 1080p and that my old dell 3440x1440 was just awesome for desktop use.

A sidenote: i would say if the budget is for it get a freesync model. Reason being that since your son is using a 670 it might see an upgrade in the future and then a midclass amd card would be cheap and then offer freesync support which would be a nice addition on top of the extra performance.

I have been using my 34UM57 for a couple of days now - love it. Some games dont look great i.e. "stretched" but others look great. You can see the comparison with the 27" ROG Swift to the left.

Edit: no issues with pixels or blb if that helps.

You can go to your control panel for your graphics card and force it to keep aspect ratio, that will prevent stretching but give you black bars instead, which imho is a better solution. Usually you can do the same thing from the panels OSD menu.

 

[MissChief]

I absolutely adore my 29" Ultrawide, the 29UM65 I think. Only thing I can see is that the 670 in your sons machine is going to struggle pushing the extra pixels. He may need a further upgrade to make the best use of it. I had a 780 6GB which was great and now have a 980 which also runs very well.