Is it worth buying an ultrawide monitor?

The search for comfort when playing or working has never been so important in times of home office and isolation. Having a good screen is essential, and a different kind of device is becoming more and more affordable: the ultrawide monitor. What may seem, initially, just a "stretched canvas", is an excellent option for the most varied types of consumers. But is it really worth the investment? Are they good? And that's what we're going to find out.

Difference between Ultrawide and Widescreen monitor

Before commenting further on this type of product, it is interesting to be aware of the difference between ultrawide devices and the well-known widescreen devices that you normally use. So, here's a brief explanation.

Widescreen

Starting with the basics, widescreen monitors, in a literal translation, are called “wide screen”, with an aspect ratio of 16:9, that is, for every 16 pixels in length, 9 pixels will be increased in height. In other words, that means the large side of your screen is 1,77 times larger than the small side.

Too confused? Don't worry, these guys are the most common monitors to come across, like the ones you use in college, school, or even work.

UltraWide

The format of an ultrawide monitor goes to 21:9, which has very similar concepts to the previous ones, but only changing the numbers. This screen format is usually used in movie theaters, which is why when we watch a movie on PC or TV they get those black horizontal borders.

Now that we've got that little snag about the difference between the two types of monitors out of the way, it's time to talk specifically about the ultrawide features.

The viewing angle for the monitor

It is important to emphasize that the human field of vision is merely limited. As we expand the viewing area, it shrinks. In more mathematical terms, the eye's most accurate focal point is between 3 to 5 degrees, depending on the image. From there, our vision starts to concentrate other information, such as colors, symbols, and when we reach a spectrum greater than 100 degrees, things start to complicate and we make use of peripheral vision, with a much lower perception.

But then what is the advantage of the ultrawide monitor in this regard? It's quite simple, as we'll have a larger screen space on the sides, and although our vision is limited, this extra provides details that we wouldn't get on a widescreen device. Even if you can't see with 100% accuracy, the human eye will be able to capture movements, in case of games, and extra information on the screen. Of course, we are taking into account a static user, but this increase also provides a larger area for activity.

The situation is even more favorable when our ultrawide has a curved screen. That's because its curvature provides a more pleasant experience, as it can better cover your peripheral vision and "bring you" inside the device, creating greater immersion without distortion to the user. A wonderful example is the Acer Predator X34, that has a review on Showmetech.

Ultrawide monitor features

As much as it is often tied to games, an ultrawide monitor can also be the perfect choice for work. Multitasking, like writing articles, editing images and videos is much more practical. You can divide your screen in several ways according to your device, and some models even allow you to separate the display according to its outputs. So you could set aside half the space for your PC, while the other half displays your TV.

Of course, there is also the option of use two or more widescreen monitors to increase our working area, but it may be more interesting to acquire a single product with these characteristics and optimize our productivity.

O LG 29WK500, model in the image above, is an ultrawide monitor with LG's OnScreen Control technology, which allows you to split the screen through software. He is found for R$1.614 at Magazine Luiza.

And in games?

As stated earlier, the ultrawide monitor has been widely sought after by the gaming community, particularly for competitive games such as Fortnite e Battlefield. This is because as there is more screen space (about 33%) it is possible to see enemies faster and have more reaction time in online matches.

On the other hand, as we physically gain more screen space, we also increase our resolution. Generally, a widescreen device has the resolution of 1920×1080 (Full HD), 2560×1440 (Quad HD) or 3840×2160 (4K Ultra HD), while the ultrawide monitor starts from the resolution 2560×1080 to 3840×1080.

In practice this can be exemplified as a factor that needs a little more performance, as your computer is rendering a Full HD image of 2560×1080 pixels, and no longer the standard of 1920×1080. Therefore, this change may affect your gaming performance according to your settings. Therefore, it is important to know if your hardware will do the trick, and you may need to lower your game's graphics options further. Note that this type of device also follows higher update rates, such as 75hz and 144hz.

Another factor to consider is that not every game supports an ultrawide monitor, as Overwatch, Dark Souls 3 e Fallout 4. Eventually mods are created by the players themselves to fix these issues while official help is not released. But in general, developers are adapting well to this new format.

There is also the inclusion of some technologies on the NVIDIA and the AMD. We're talking about G-Sync and FreeSync, respectively. These two features basically work the same way: preventing screen tear. O screen tear, roughly speaking, happens when your video card cannot keep up with the refresh rate of your monitor, resulting in deformities in the display of images. These technologies minimize this difference by smoothing the frames.

Ultrawide monitor pricing

As with any product with good technologies, we will have to shell out a certain amount of money if we want the best in the market. Generally, a more affordable ultrawide monitor like the LG 25UM58G costs around R$ 990 reais, while a top-of-the-line model like the surreal Samsung QLED 49′ Ultra HD is found for substantial R$ 8.022.

It is worth it?

To answer this question, you must analyze which device fits best in daily use, and especially in your pocket. If you're looking for something for competitive gaming, or for multitasking, maybe an ultrawide monitor will suit you perfectly. But if you're a more casual user, and just want a new screen, the standard widescreen may be fine.

Take the opportunity to check out our special selection of 4K and Full HD monitors, with options for various applications and pockets.