What is an ultrawide monitor?
An ultrawide monitor is exactly what it sounds like, a very wide screen that reduces the need for multiple monitors. For a monitor to be considered an ultrawide monitor it must exceed a width of XX.
You may be wondering, why would someone want an ultrawide monitor? Well aside from being the coolest person in your friendship group, an ultrawide monitor enables a much greater gaming experience due to the ability to display a game across the entire screen.
An ultrawide display is the preferred display for competitive gaming worldwide due to the wider viewing angles and ability to view their gaming world in a superior way. Strategy games are particularly great to play on ultrawide monitors on a 21:9 aspect ratio as long as your graphics card can handle it. This gives them a competitive advantage while also offering a more immersive gaming experience.
Ultrawide monitors are becoming increasingly popular amongst other computer users as well with many average consumers realising the benefits ultrawide monitors can offer. Ultrawide resolutions offer incredible viewing angles, even mid-range ultrawides offer far superior experiences when watching movies, PC gaming or playing on game consoles.
Families who love to cuddle up and watch movies are starting to realise the benefit of an ultrawide monitor. Massive TV’s have become expensive and with money tight for many people, ultrawide monitors are becoming the more affordable option.
Creative individuals such as digital artists love the extra screen space ultrawide monitors provide which is useful for video editing. Small screens can hinder an audio or video’s progress as the lack of horizontal space makes watching videos difficult.
Ultrawide vs a dual monitor setup
Ultrawide displays are similar to dual monitor setups as they both provide the user with extra horizontal space. This extra screen real estate allows for such things as split screen mode, multiple windows, larger aspect ratios and/or multi tasking.
An ultrawide monitor is not as flexible and versatile as a dual monitor set up which can be rearranged as the customer sees fit. The main issue with dual monitor setups is that often putting two monitors together will lead to big black bars that can ruin a gaming setup by ruining your in game perspective.
Ultrawide monitor’s strengths are that they are less difficult to use than a dual monitor setup. They may share many of the same features but even a fantastically spec’d monitor can’t compare with the benefits of an ultrawide monitor. More space makes an ultrawide monitor worth it for those wanting a larger portrait orientation and aspect ratio.
More screen space is preferred by the majority of computer users but dual monitor setups are great for those wanting more flexibility with their desk space. Ultrawide monitors are much larger than traditional screens and are often seen as being more extreme panels.
However, this does create space issues for those with limited desk space who only need the benefits of multiple standard monitor occasionally.
Final Verdict
Ultrawide monitors are a great innovation as they offer more horizontal space which allows for a broader perspective much larger than most monitors. A larger display is great especially if you have a small desk and want to maximise the whole screen as much as possible.
Dual monitor setups are great for flexibility and are better than most televisions except those full sized HDTV models. Windows side by side can cause issues with black bars, especially on a 16:9 aspect ratio with an IPS panel.
Most games such as competitive games such as american truck simulator or microsoft flight simulator get better value when used with an ultrawide monitor, more so than a traditional game console.