Ultrawide monitor for work?

Homer-Simpson

Homer-Simpson

Homer-Simpson

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Currently thinking of getting a new monitor for my WFH setup. I'm toying with the idea of an ultrawide. For people who made the move how did you find it? Any advice? Would you do it again? Is there anything that I need to be aware of?
 
For me it was brilliant. No real downsides. Just much more real estate and productivity. I ummed and ahhed about whether to just get a 4K screen and whether the curve of the ultra wide would be an issue. I found the curve not just good, but required frankly. Gaming is secondary to me so I wasn't bothered about any complexities with it. I was pleasantly surprised how fun and awesome doom looked on mine in hdr.
 
An ultrawide set-up is pretty good for productivity. The Samsung Odyssey monitors spring to mind.

Downsides:
- Not easy to transport.
- Take up a lot of space.
- They don't give you vertical height which is useful for coding.
- They're expensive, and you could get the same effect with a triple monitor setup more cheaply, albeit it's not seamless.

I think there are tools that would let you snap windows into place on such a monitor, and that would be important for productivity.

What brands and models are you considering?
 
radderfire said:
An ultrawide set-up is pretty good for productivity. The Samsung Odyssey monitors spring to mind.

Downsides:
- Not easy to transport.
- Take up a lot of space.
- They don't give you vertical height which is useful for coding.
- They're expensive, and you could get the same effect with a triple monitor setup more cheaply, albeit it's not seamless.

I think there are tools that would let you snap windows into place on such a monitor, and that would be important for productivity.

What brands and models are you considering?
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Not really got any brands/models in mind yet, still currently reading various posts but thought I'd start by asking the questions, budget it around £1,000.

Would be interested to know if people are just running the default tooling in W11 to manage the windows. Just conscious I don't have the ability to install anything so that might be a pinch point. Will likely use another monitor for coding, although these days it's very limited and would mainly be PowerShell or KQL.
 
I have a 40” 5K2K use at 100% scaling which works really well for what I do which is largely reading a lot of reports and using an online case management system. Just have to connect my work laptop via one of the USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports and I’m good to go.

It was a bit of a luxury (albeit obtained at a good sale price) I bought with overtime money since I don’t use it for anything else but means I can work far quicker than on the antiquated x 2 1080p monitor set-ups the desks at work have. If I need to screen-share on Teams I just use the laptop screen.

If I had to replace it… I’d be looking to see if there’s anything even bigger / higher res as for me I’d rather just have more screen directly in front of me than it going way off to the left/right like on a super ultrawide and it’s less faff and bezels than three monitors.
 
I upgraded to ultrawide years ago, I hated the bezel from the dual monitor setup.

Also a built in KVM and speakers was a must have for me.

I do recommend don’t go OLED for heavy work usage… burn is still real in 2025 (from 1st hand experience).
 
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I've got a 49" Philips superwide (https://www.philips.co.uk/c-p/49B2U...nitor-329-superwide-curved-monitor-with-usb-c) at work and was a game changer coming from 2x 32" 1440p screens, despite having the same effective resolution.

I use power toys to separate it into a 1440p centre section leaving a 1280 wide section either side. Means you can focus on a main task in front of you whilst having things like emails or ticketing systems in your periphery vision. (Whereas with 2x monitors I always tended to favour one and didn't make much use of the other)
 
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Homer-Simpson said:
Currently thinking of getting a new monitor for my WFH setup. I'm toying with the idea of an ultrawide. For people who made the move how did you find it? Any advice? Would you do it again? Is there anything that I need to be aware of?
Click to expand...

Don’t forget the other 2 in 1 monitor, the LG Dual-up, which is two 1440p monitors stacked one above the other for a resolution of 2560x2800.
 
Quartz said:
Don’t forget the other 2 in 1 monitor, the LG Dual-up, which is two 1440p monitors stacked one above the other for a resolution of 2560x2800.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion but not really something that I think I would benefit from with my current work content etc. I might end up with 1 monitor above but feel an ultrawide would be better for me.
 
I’ve been using a 5120x1440 49” Samsung CRG90 for a few years now.

I really rate it, great for working in windows. It’s nice having the central space, and loads of room either side for additional windows.

I am probably selling it though, as I do a lot of 4k video editing, and I’ve just switched to Mac and Mac OS just works better on higher DPI monitors, so will probably switch to a pair of 4k monitors
 
radderfire said:
Worth a look:

Dell UltraSharp 49" Curved USB-C Hub Monitor - U4924DW

Although some people say it's not curved enough.
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Ive got an older model of this type, U4919DW. Love it, use it for working from home, and for my own pc (gaming, surfing, some home productivity stuff). The software with it lets you set up splitting the screen, so mine is set to divide equally into 3, but theres a load of presets and you can also set up your own splits. I didnt want a curved screen, so this model is pretty much flat and it suits me, but it may not suit everyone, and i assume later models are different anyway.
 
For me I moved from a ultrawide 34" 3440x1440 to a a non-ultrawide 4k 32", and found the latter much more useable for WFH. Probably a combination of the increase in vertical space and resolution bump. But the UW was perhaps more immersive during gaming, but its not worth the trade-off IMHO.
 
Every time I WFH and have to share my screen with laptop users through Teams I have to zoom in to 150% so they can actually read the text on my screen on their screen. Sometimes a 1440p, 16:9 screen is better for sharing content with others.
 
I use a uw for work and when sharing on teams just share the program and that seems to work. I can imagine if you need to share the whole screen it would be an issue though
 
I have a Samsung Odyssey 49" and love it. I use DiplsayFusion to set up virtual monitors, which I can change between profiles using hotkeys. (So, one half and half, one in thirds, a specific one for meetings etc)
 
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