3440x1440 > 3840x1600 upgrade

[Vexr]

Wondering about this. I currently have a 34" Samsung C34J791 3440x1440 100 Hz monitor. I use it for both gaming and work.

It's a VA panel. I love the VA panel on my living room 4K TV, but am amenable to going back to IPS for a PC screen (I previously had an IPS Dell U3415W 3440x1440 60 Hz ultrawide)

I'm thinking the time might be right for a 38"+ 3840x1600, which would be an upgrade in resolution, screen size, and presumably refresh rate from 100 Hz to 144+ Hz.

Anyone else made the transition from 3440x1440 to 3840x1600 and can comment? Any monitor recommendations?

 

[Yaayuh!]

I've used both, currently have the AW38.

Personally I find the resolution perfect balance for gaming, probably one of the best IPS screens too. It's a nice step up in size without being too ridiculous, but this differs on environment and fit I suppose.

Would still love an OLED version, but I don't think it's ever going to happen

Worth noting that the PPI is pretty much the same.

 

[Vexr]

Found a decent sounding deal on an Acer Predator X38S, so have ordered that.

Was also tempted by an LG 38WR85QC or LG 38WN95CP, but I figure that Gsync Ultimate and a potential OC to 175 Hz on the Acer may be of more benefit to me than the selling points of USB-C and Thunderbolt on the LGs (and KVM and HDMI 2.1 on the former).

 

[chaparral]

Don’t think I could put up with the glow on an ips monitor. This was what I hated about my old Asus 34” UW

But then again I been looking for a IPS TV for my niece room today as the VA TV in her bedroom has crappy viewing angles.

 

[Vexr]

Few thoughts on the Acer Predator X38S:

The good:
- Resolution and size is definitely hitting the sweet spot for immersion and detail compared with a 3440x1440 34"
- Gsync is absolutely rock solid on my AMD GPU Not even a flicker in loading screens bouncing between 30-500 fps
- The monitor is absolutely silent - I wouldn't have known there was a fan in it for the Gsync module
- 100 Hz to 144 Hz is looking like a great upgrade. It's hard to tell what's due to Gsync, the (presumably) improved pixel response rate over my Samsung VA, or the raw Hz increase. Not tried a 160 / 175 Hz OC yet
- The increase in refresh rate is also the difference between making frame generation viable or not. I'm quite happy to play a 70-80 fps frame-genned to 144 Hz. 60 fps frame genned is still a no though, and frame gen had almost no use on my old 100 Hz monitor
- Incredible brightness possible with HDR. A beam of sunlight breaking through the ceiling of a cave in SOTTR was so bright it almost felt like the real thing

The bad:
- The variable backlight / local zone dimming ramping up far more than needed in dark areas with a small patch of light, greying out the dark part - but then turning it off creates the same negative effect but in a stable manner
- General IPS issues (glow not bleed I think), possibly made worse by turning the above off. I last had an IPS in 2018 coming from a TN, but going back to an IPS now from a VA is a different story and it seems will require some adjustment

Early days yet. Only just figuring out how to partially mitigate the bad points with settings. Having got the monitor for £570, I'm certainly reluctant to return it, especially as all the other UW 38" 3840x1600's use the same IPS panel I believe.

 

[Adrianr]

I didn't do that move from 3440x1440 to 3840x1600 specifically, but I did order and try the Alienware 34" along with this LG 38", and spent about a week with each. Was really surprised how much larger the 38" felt from the 34". There were a few other reasons I chose to stick with the 38" in the end but for productivity the extra screen space is *very* noticable. If my pure use case was gaming, and HDR was important to me, I'd have stuck with the OLED, but for a true all-round use monitor these 38s are very hard to beat IMO.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

I didn't do that move from 3440x1440 to 3840x1600 specifically, but I did order and try the Alienware 34" along with this LG 38", and spent about a week with each. Was really surprised how much larger the 38" felt from the 34". There were a few other reasons I chose to stick with the 38" in the end but for productivity the extra screen space is *very* noticable. If my pure use case was gaming, and HDR was important to me, I'd have stuck with the OLED, but for a true all-round use monitor these 38s are very hard to beat IMO.

I've got an LG 38" 3840x1600 and I'm very happy with it, the only fly in the ointment is the backlight bleed on on dark scenes but thats obviously the case for all IPS panels you either live with it or you don't. I'm keeping an eye on OLED but the issues

"they are less well suited to static content, with some challenges in text rendering caused by the somewhat unusual pixel layouts of the panels. The main challenge here though is around the risk of image retention and burn-in, so make sure you consider your usage carefully" https://tftcentral.co.uk/guides/the-best-oled-gaming-monitors-to-buy-in-2024

aren't enough to make me want to switch currently 99% of my usage is desktop and I usually keep monitors for longer than the warranty periods the large panels are a costly investment. Theres also the matter that other than one exception (Asus ROG Swift PG42UQ its basically a TV) everything up to and including 45" monitors are all 3440x1440 there is no 3840x1600 recommended available currently, if it exists at all.