21:9 - Thoughts from people who reguarly game on one?

I would say 29" UW is just not tall enough, but 34" UW vs 27" 16:9 looks miles better to me, I would not mind getting a 32-40" 16:9 screen, I would not go back to a 27" though. I would say 34-35" UW is a great size for a monitor, but the contrast on IPS screens is lacking compared to my TV for example. I would like to upgrade to a VA or FALD VA monitor for the better contrast and HDR support, but there is nothing around currently. I think when they start releasing TV's with 120hz 4k adaptive sync, there will not be much point in getting a monitor anymore, just get a TV instead, but also Nvidia would need to support adaptive sync.

here is a 27" 16:9 vs a 34" 21:9 :

27-inch-16x9-vs-34-inch-21x9.png


Or a 32" 16:9 vs 34" 21:9... the 32" would not be such a downgrade as a 27"

32-inch-16x9-vs-34-inch-21x9.png
 
NirK said:
I would say 29" UW is just not tall enough, but 34" UW vs 27" 16:9 looks miles better to me, I would not mind getting a 32-40" 16:9 screen, I would not go back to a 27" though. I would say 34-35" UW is a great size for a monitor, but the contrast on IPS screens is lacking compared to my TV for example. I would like to upgrade to a VA or FALD VA monitor for the better contrast and HDR support, but there is nothing around currently. I think when they start releasing TV's with 120hz 4k adaptive sync, there will not be much point in getting a monitor anymore, just get a TV instead, but also Nvidia would need to support adaptive sync.

here is a 27" 16:9 vs a 34" 21:9 :

27-inch-16x9-vs-34-inch-21x9.png
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Absolutely yes. I think if someone has a 24" 1920x1080 then a 29" 2560x1080 or 27" 2560x1440 are equally good "upgrades". But if you already own a 27" then the only upgrade is to a 34", which as you rightly point out is the same height but has that extra 30% area. For some reason above 27" any extra height looks wrong and the ultra is perfect.
 
Pocah said:
My point is here that ultra really is nice, but when peeps choose a monitor they have to make compromises and to my mind there are times when the wide or ultra choice is just not the most important thing.
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What do you think a 16:9 would be more useful for?

I moved from 27" 16:9 to 29" 21:9 UW and its 100% UW all the way for me, at home at least. At work i have a 34" UW and a 29" 16:9 (1080p) beside it. the 34 UW is just brilliant, but even with 3440x1440 i still feel the need for more desktop space at times. I've come to realise the only real upgrade would be a 40" 4k screen.

Dont need that at home though. At home it's light work, browsing and gaming and the UW covers the first two just fine and gaming is brilliant. There's another level to it that just isnt there with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
 
i'm not a massive gamer... but i do own a 21:9 monitor and find it pretty fun to game on the few that i do enjoy

i'd say the current game i play most is Neverwinter online, and that looks absolutely stunning in 21:9 :D

30tp35u.jpg


personally i use the extra screen real estate for workflow in photo and video editing... having the extra screen space in Photoshop, After Effects and Premier Pro is an amazing time saver, can't imagine how i lived on a 16:9 screen before now lol
 
james.miller said:
What do you think a 16:9 would be more useful for?

I moved from 27" 16:9 to 29" 21:9 UW and its 100% UW all the way for me, at home at least. At work i have a 34" UW and a 29" 16:9 (1080p) beside it. the 34 UW is just brilliant, but even with 3440x1440 i still feel the need for more desktop space at times. I've come to realise the only real upgrade would be a 40" 4k screen.

Dont need that at home though. At home it's light work, browsing and gaming and the UW covers the first two just fine and gaming is brilliant. There's another level to it that just isnt there with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
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It's not a question of 16:9 being more useful, on the contrary, I think 21:9 is more suited to how people use a PC. However, I think that it's not always the most important consideration when buying a monitor. We would all have 34" monitors if we could afford them, but realistically people have to make compromises. I think there is a tendency at the moment to utterly write off 16:9 when it can be pretty impressive too and at specific price points often has very real advantages over similarly priced 21:9 monitors.

Actually, I just noticed, looking through the monitor pages that there is something glaringly obvious that is missing from monitor line-ups at the moment, and when I searched online seems other people have raised the same point. There are no great gaming 29" UW monitors. Even when you look at best gaming monitor lists they are 24", 27" and 34". Not a single 29". Maybe I would change my mind about format if there was.
 
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34" 1440p UW does offer the best of both worlds though, vs anything short of a 4K, but that's a pain when it comes to gaming if you're chasing high FPS or want more than 60Hz. I find the extra width is fantastic for any document/writing/DTP work I do, as well as offering more immersion in gaming at FPS up to 100. Yes these monitors are expensive, but I really wouldn't have anything else and it's been well worth it for me.
 
agreed... i mostly use it for workflow space... but will admit, having the extra space for watching full cinema style movies on a night time... oh god it's heaven lol
 
Pocah said:
It's not a question of 16:9 being more useful, on the contrary, I think 21:9 is more suited to how people use a PC. However, I think that it's not always the most important consideration when buying a monitor. We would all have 34" monitors if we could afford them, but realistically people have to make compromises. I think there is a tendency at the moment to utterly write off 16:9 when it can be pretty impressive too and at specific price points often has very real advantages over similarly priced 21:9 monitors.

Actually, I just noticed, looking through the monitor pages that there is something glaringly obvious that is missing from monitor line-ups at the moment, and when I searched online seems other people have raised the same point. There are no great gaming 29" UW monitors. Even when you look at best gaming monitor lists they are 24", 27" and 34". Not a single 29". Maybe I would change my mind about format if there was.
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Probably because 29" is too small, its not as tall as a 24" 16:9 screen, whereas 34" is taller than a 27" 16:9.
 
NirK said:
Probably because 29" is too small, its not as tall as a 24" 16:9 screen, whereas 34" is taller than a 27" 16:9.
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I don't know. But I do agree with you ~ when I first bought a 29" I was using 24" monitors, and my first un-boxing reaction was "that's small".
I have been mulling over the idea of getting two new monitors, and constantly it niggles me that 29" is just too small, despite the fact that it's got the same area as a 27" 16:9. Mind, there are no better ones than the one I already have because none of the manufacturers make a decent 29" imo. Perhaps that's why they make so many of the 34" 2560x1080 monitors? Because people just think the 29's are physically too small?
 
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Pocah said:
I don't know. But I do agree with you ~ when I first bought a 29" I was using 24" monitors, and my first un-boxing reaction was "that's small".
I have been mulling over the idea of getting two new monitors, and constantly it niggles me that 29" is just too small, despite the fact that it's got the same area as a 27" 16:9. Mind, there are no better ones than the one I already have because none of the manufacturers make a decent 29" imo. Perhaps that's why they make so many of the 34" 2560x1080 monitors? Because people just think the 29's are physically too small?
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Yes they are too short, I would rather have a 27" 16:9 over a 29" 21:9, but then a 34-35" 21:9 is about perfect size for PC monitor.
 
I'm pretty much set on getting an ultrawide now, my main monitor died on me during the Christmas break so I've had to use an old 24" 1080p monitor that I'd stored up in the loft. The picture quality isn't great but it's the drop from 120hz back to 60hz that has been really jarring to me, everything just feels off and I'm struggling to adjust.

I'd also just taken my brothers 980ti off him so that I could run SLI, annoying as it's complete overkill now at this resolution and refresh rate. I was originally thinking of going down the 4K route but after testing on my TV it honestly didn't impress me that much, I think I'd prefer the more immersive aspect ratio & higher refresh rate.

I've been looking at the X34a, but with CES being so close I'm quite hesitant to buy one. If they give some proper details on the X35 I'd be tempted to try and wait, it will obviously be quite expensive but something like that would be a massive improvement over what I have and will no doubt last me another several years.
 
I do think the X35 will potentially be 1.5k or something ridiculous like that, 1.3k etc. Because it will have 3440x1440, 200hz, 512 zone FALD nvidia HDR, Gsync etc. I cannot see it being remotely cheap.
 
29" 2560x1080 is perfectly ok imo, I came from a 23" 1920x1080 and the 29" 21.9 screen is still a massive upgrade over it.

16.9 just can't match the 21.9 aspect ratio for immersiveness regardless of what size the display is (well when we are talking about <40" screens anyway imo). I would still choose a 29" 21.9 screen over 27" 1440. Personally I think 34" is pushing it for a "desktop" display too but that's subjective at the end of the day, I just feel 29" is the perfect width for desktop setups, anything more and it's just too wide imo, no doubt, I would definitely would like another 1-2" for height but not a deal breaker.

Saying that, I much prefer my OLED 55" screen for gaming now, not so much for the 4k or/and sheer size of it though, but due to:

- superb motion clarity even at 60HZ and then in 120HZ, it is ace (as long as my FPS are 100+ too)
- the main reason...... OLED panel, obliterates every other display where IQ is concerned especially for dark areas/gaming

Just need to figure out how to get custom 21.9 resolutions working on the OLED TV (probably going to need to switch to nvidia.....) and I'll be over the moon.
 
I ended up going with the Dell 38" U3818. It's not a gaming monitor (60 hz), but it is taller than the alienware AW3418 (which I returned).

My gaming is in VR so I haven't tested it for gaming.

The colours are great and the productivity gains over using two monitors and a laptop screen is fantastic.
 
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