21:9 monitors has anyone got one

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i've got the asus mx299q, i definitely like it. seems like a good panel to me, has got a little bit of ips glow in one corner though and a single dead pixel way on the left side, both of these problems are just un-noticeable when gaming though.
running on a single gtx770 and power hasn't really been an issue, but i've had to reduce some antialiasing since coming from 1080p.
 
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Do 21:9 screens finally enable movies to be played without black bars? Or are the bars 'baked in' meaning it's even worse? (horizontal + vertical bars)
 
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Do 21:9 screens finally enable movies to be played without black bars? Or are the bars 'baked in' meaning it's even worse? (horizontal + vertical bars)

It depends on the movie software and aspect ratio of the film. Most are 2.40:1 or thereabouts which is 'ultra wide'. On proper movie software it fills the whole screen without black bars. Not meaning to site pimp, but I've got a useful article on this on my website (see site in signature).
 
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It depends on the movie software and aspect ratio of the film. Most are 2.40:1 or thereabouts which is 'ultra wide'. On proper movie software it fills the whole screen without black bars. Not meaning to site pimp, but I've got a useful article on this on my website (see site in signature).

i second this, read the article on PCM2's website, link conveniently placed HERE

it explains pretty much everything you need to know about 21:9 screens.

as far as 3440x1440 goes, i can game on 2560x1440 just fine with my i7 3770k and a single factory OCed gigabyte gtx680 with 4GB VRAM so i think i will be good. if not, i will upgrade my gpu :)

i'm still undecided about the 34" though, the GSYNC stuff is interesting as well from a gamers perspective, so i'm keeping my options open.
 
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It depends on the movie software and aspect ratio of the film. Most are 2.40:1 or thereabouts which is 'ultra wide'. On proper movie software it fills the whole screen without black bars. Not meaning to site pimp, but I've got a useful article on this on my website (see site in signature).

Cheers for that, I'll have a read.
 
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2sq2.png


works pretty well :D and quality is super fantastic apart from one small issue...
there is a message on my screen right in the middle saying input not support LOL
everything works just wish i could get rid of that message, cause the picture quality is amazing......

there must be a hidden service menu or hidden factory menu on these monitors to disable OSD popups :/

also the good thing about these monitors is i can force these resolutions with no issue at all and no osd popup boxes :D they just work

2560x1080 native resolution @75hz or 76hz
2560x1440 works @60hz
2560x1600 works @60hz
3000x1440 functional apart from the annoying osd popup in the middle of the screen @iNPUt not support
3440x1440 "" "" "" "" ""

----------------------------------------------------

to keep it within aspect ratio i have to use 2560x1080p @75hz
also 72hz works and this will completely remove 24hz bluray juddering playback :)

AOC 29" they are pretty good IPS pannels to get native @76hz is amazing to be honest not a lot of IPS pannels will do that.
 
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Big issue with these 21:9 displays is most modern movies are made in 1:85.1 AR NOT 2:40.1 so you have to put up with black pillar boxes. 2:40.1 is used mainly on mega budget movies as the film & cameras to generate the image cost a lot more than 1:85.1 AR so you are going to find a lot of material will not fit the screen properly. Same issue as a lot of PC games do not support it either so they also need pillow boxes on the far left/right or unnatural stretching to fit which will distort the image.

For 21:9 friendly games its a great idea but you need to compromise if you play any older PC games & or movies which filled a 16:9 display as 16:9 does not fit anywhere close to 21:9.

This puts me off buying one as 1:85.1 & 16:9 are the dominant AR still & unlikely to change anytime soon due to movie making budget issues & throw in needing a high end GPU to render those extra 400,000 pixels when jumping from 1920x1200 makes it a costly upgrade :(
 
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AWPC the monitor AOC not sure about the others have internal scalers i can select from a bunch of aspect ratios on the monitor so that no matter what i will have nothing thats stretched if unsupported ect

21:9
16:9
16:10
4:3
1:1

i can select those for games that do not support the res granted all you would get is pilla boxes on the left and right but you would still get the correct aspect ratio no matter what material you use..

but for proper supported stuff its truly awesome to play games on and watch movies.
even desktop use, you have to use one to appreciate how good they are after 2 days use i dont know what the hell i have been using before these lol
 
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AWPC the monitor AOC not sure about the others have internal scalers i can select from a bunch of aspect ratios on the monitor so that no matter what i will have nothing thats stretched if unsupported ect

21:9
16:9
16:10
4:3
1:1

i can select those for games that do not support the res granted all you would get is pilla boxes on the left and right but you would still get the correct aspect ratio no matter what material you use..

but for proper supported stuff its truly awesome to play games on and watch movies.
even desktop use, you have to use one to appreciate how good they are after 2 days use i dont know what the hell i have been using before these lol
I know they all have decent internal scalers but Pillarboxing is the only issue for me I would love to get a 21:9 I agree they are stunning but that kills my enthusiasm along with lazy devs refusing to support anything except 16:9 in 2014 :(

The point I was trying to make is for movies you will find the majority do not support 21:9 without pillarboxing black bars as most are made in the 16:9 friendly 1:85.1 aspect ratio (much cheaper to shoot in that vs scope 2:40.1!!).
 
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But on a 16:9 monitor, with widescreen content, you get black bars top and bottom instead, so how is that any better?
A 21:9 monitor is the same height as the 16:9 equivalent, so with black side bars you get no less, no disadvantage, and then when the content does support 21:9 you get the benefit

As a reason to not buy one iit doesnt really stack up, as most of the time you will get a benefit from the extra real estate, and even the odd game that doesnt support it you get no real disadvantage
 
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Big issue with these 21:9 displays is most modern movies are made in 1:85.1 AR NOT 2:40.1 so you have to put up with black pillar boxes. 2:40.1 is used mainly on mega budget movies as the film & cameras to generate the image cost a lot more than 1:85.1 AR so you are going to find a lot of material will not fit the screen properly. Same issue as a lot of PC games do not support it either so they also need pillow boxes on the far left/right or unnatural stretching to fit which will distort the image.

For 21:9 friendly games its a great idea but you need to compromise if you play any older PC games & or movies which filled a 16:9 display as 16:9 does not fit anywhere close to 21:9.

This puts me off buying one as 1:85.1 & 16:9 are the dominant AR still & unlikely to change anytime soon due to movie making budget issues & throw in needing a high end GPU to render those extra 400,000 pixels when jumping from 1920x1200 makes it a costly upgrade :(

please name one modern movie which was not made in a 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 ratio. it's quite the other way around. most modern movies are made in 2.40:1 actually.
 
Soldato
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But on a 16:9 monitor, with widescreen content, you get black bars top and bottom instead, so how is that any better?
Not with 1:85.1 content it fills the screen on 16:9 displays. 2:40.1 is the content which does not fill the screen on 16:9 or 16:10 only on 21:9 displays!

A 21:9 monitor is the same height as the 16:9 equivalent, so with black side bars you get no less, no disadvantage, and then when the content does support 21:9 you get the benefit
The point I was making is there is not much 21:9 movie content..... so you have to look at massive black pillarboxes either side!!

As a reason to not buy one iit doesnt really stack up, as most of the time you will get a benefit from the extra real estate, and even the odd game that doesnt support it you get no real disadvantage
Its more than the odd game most games pre 2012 will not support it natively either FOV & or UI will be squashed & or distorted so the majority of games need pillarboxing just like the jump to 16:10 (from 4:3) in the mid 2000's meant you had to use your GPU to scale for 4:3 games like Max Payne2 with pillarboxing.

21:9 is superb for 2:40.1 big budget movies (no TV series ever used this AFAIK).

21:9 is superb for games that support it.

The problems are the majority of PC games do not support this its a niche resolution they do not even support 16:10 as much as they used to anymore either!!

So if you buy a 21:9 display you should be aware of that & the need to have those large black boxes either side (far more immersion breaking than the letterboxing top/bottom IMO.
 
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