Questions and Recommendations for an Ultrawide Monitor

[Ziggy]

So I have one desk that just wont fit two monitors, and I've decided an ultrawide is the way to go. I have never owned an ultrawide monitor before, and there's a few things I'm a little hesitant on. Of course, I could just Google what the best monitors are. But as always, I'm on a budget and I'd rather hear advice from people here than random internet articles and reviews.

Curved, or not curved? To be honest, I'm just afraid to take the plunge and get a curved monitor. I've heard that they don't really take any getting used to, but it just seems odd when I've been looking at flat panels for so long. Does it make a huge difference if it's curved or not? Do curved panels last as long as flat ones?

This may sound like a dumb question, but... Do I have to worry about an ultrawide monitor stretching out something that's 16:9? I mean, I know I will set the desktop resolution and then whatever software will display a 16:9 video or movie properly. But what about gaming at full screen. If I'm playing at an old game that only supports 16:9 resolutions, will it display properly? As in, not stretching it out? Or is that something I have to control on the monitor, like how I would control it on an HDTV for 4:3?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a budget ultrawide? Currently I have an Asus 1080p 23" 16:9 LED monitor. And I'm kinda thinking of sticking with 1080, mostly for cost. I don't do much modern gaming at all, and I don't have a very good graphics card, so I'm not wanting to push a higher resolution monitor. Nor do I want to purchase a better graphics card (until the prices come down enough).

Here's one that I've looked at: https://www.amazon.com/LG-29WN600-W-29- ... 0876DBCBX/

It's kind of hard to tell, but it would be about the same screen height as my 23" 16:9 (I think it might be a tad shorter) which I'm OK with. I'm not sure how much bigger of a screen I could go because I do have a height limit at this desk. But I also like the price point of the 29" ultrawides, which is around $200.

Open to any other suggestions as well.

[marurun]

Honestly, a dual-monitor arm mount might be a good solution. Then you can still have two monitors and not worry about whether the bases will fit.

[Ziggy]

I would much rather have a dual monitor setup, I just can't swing it. It's not a question if the bases will fit, there just isn't enough enough width for two 16:9 monitors. Even with any kind of VESA mount. I've thought about it for years, and I think an ultrawide is really the best solution. And the upside to getting an ultrawide is a trickle down effect. My main monitor now gets moved to my desk in the basement, where I have two smaller widescreen monitors, so it will be an upgrade. And one of those monitors gets moved to my workbench, where I have a 4:3 monitor that will be upgraded to a 16:9 monitor. Then the 4:3 monitor gets freed up for a floating XP gaming rig I want to make.

What I could do is move my printer, then I would have the space for two monitors on this desk. But the problem there is I haven't been able to come up with a good location to move my printer to. Nothing that wouldn't be a pain in the ass for me. And then I don't have monitor trickle down, since I'd be adding one instead of replacing one.

[Anapan]

I have a curved 1080p monitor, and unless you're right in the zone it distorts the image a lot. Depending on the curve, you really gotta be right in there. This was bought at a pawn shop for peanuts - $45 CAD, and met my needs when I didn't have a decent-sized monitor - I was out of town and packed small, so it was a good buy. I'd definitely prefer a flat monitor, but ATM as a second monitor, because it's a gaming LCD @ 120 it's quite capable. It's an Acer ED273. It passed most of the tests for ghosting well.

[Ziggy]

So I took the plunge and got that LG I linked above since Amazon currently has it for $160 (it was usually around $200). It came in today, and I've spent a limited amount of time with it. But so far, it seems great! Especially for the price.

And to answer my own question from the first post, my monitor has two settings for aspect ratio. "Full wide" and "original," at least that's what my monitor calls them. So I guess full wide will stretch anything to it's 21:9 aspect ration (yuck). And I'm guessing "original" will maintain the source's aspect ration. So when I go fullscreen with a 16:9 video, I get black bars on the left and right. Which is great! I was worried about getting a cheap monitor that would just stretch everything to super wide 21:9.

[opa]

Do you still like it? I'm considering an ultrawide whenever I do a new setup.

[Ziggy]

Short answer: Yes, I do still like it!

At the time of this posting, it's currently $180 on Amazon. That's $20 more than I paid for it, but I would still recommend it for that price. Or even it's usually $200 price tag. This is the sole monitor for my main PC that I use daily. So I've definitely put it through it's paces. I haven't done much gaming on it, yet. But I have played some DOOM Eternal and No Man's Sky. It looks great, good enough for me at least (I don't know and don't care how it might compare to high end displays). And gaming in the 21:9 ratio has been pretty neat. And the 21:9 ratio has also been a very pleasant for basic computer task. Since I cannot fit two widescreen monitors at this desk, I was really missing how much more streamlined certain tasks can be.

Funny enough, I recently spotted it on the desk of a full time YouTuber that I watch. I forget who, it might have been PhilsComputerLab, but it was definitely the same monitor (or line, at least).

I can say this: The 29" ultra wide is as small of a screen as I would get at this point. It might depend on how far back you sit from it, but I definitely wouldn't go any smaller.