Why You May NOT Want An Ultrawide Monitor For Gaming

After my first time trying a 34 inch Ultrawide monitor, I realized there was one big reason to not get one for gaming.

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[FlowMichael]

The description of how going from 16:9 to 21:9 is underwhelming, but going the opposite direction is a huge difference is how I felt getting a high refresh rate monitor. At first 144hz felt no better than 60, until I tried going back to 60.

[davidhodge]

21:9 is criminally underrated. I swapped to a 1440 144hz 34" a few years ago and I can't go back. Such a nice experience, if you have a pc to push it properly of course. It's not easy to run in some modern titles.

[AnnaDoes]

I can attest to the fact that Dawid was very sad with his previous monitor when he switched back to it after his time with ultra 😅

[DevonElmore]

If you play MMOs at all, Ultrawide is amazing. It lets you move UI elements off to the side that you don't need to see 24/7 (but still want to be able to see the information at a glance) and gives you extra FOV.

[OmairArif]

A lot of games let you adjust the HUD area so stuff like the minimap doesn't get pushed into your peripheral vision. I tend to push the hud to be roughly where it would be in 16:9, which also allows me to crop the capture in OBS if I want to stream or record in 16:9 while actually playing in 21:9

[MrXaniss]

I got an ultrawide a few months ago, and my god, it won't transform your gaming experience, but it will definitely enhance it, and in 3rd person games especially its amazing.

[detachmentalist]

having a vertical 16:9 beside my 21:9, I instantly felt the huge positive impact the ultrawide provided for my daily work
the added FOV in ultrawide-supported games, not so much, but it is still very appreciable, especially in exploration-type games like No Man's Sky

[nightbirdds]

Some games have Ultrawide options in their settings that can move HUD elements further in. Sometimes this happens automatically, other times you have to enable them. Still other times, and most of the time, really, you just get stuff moved off to the periphery. Mileage may vary depending on the game.

[vadim.ka]

Backlight flashing, overshoting and blury motion is VA panel's fault. When I upgraded from the old LG IPS 1080p ultrawide to 1440p 34" VA, I instantly disliked it for the same reasons. There was a ton of ghosting, black colors were getting smushed, blurry movement etc. But as luck would have it, the monitor had a cluster of dead pixels, so I was able to return it and get IPS 1440p 34" ultrawide and all of the issues were gone. Yes, IPS does have it issues like glow, but its not nowhere near as annoying as having multiple VA problems.

[tbray]

I've had a couple of ultra wide screen monitors - kept selling them and getting "regular" monitors until I realize that I actually really like them for gaming - and working - so much space! I've got a Huawei Mateview GT and I absolutely love it. Love your videos - still binge-watching :D

[ernieoporto]

Please do a 32:9 monitor now. I've been using a Samsung 49" Super Ultrawide for the last year for gaming and for work, and will NEVER go back to anything less! I'd LOVE to see your take on it!

[CMDZamora]

Dawid i had the exact same reaction as you. Initially wasn't that impressed, was thrown off by the curve, then went back to matching 24in monitors and i realized right away i could never do this again. Awesome vid as always.

[reaveralpha]

I completely agree with this video: when I first upgraded from a flat 27" 1080p to a 34" flat 1440p ultrawide, it was a little bit overwhelming but you do adapt to it very quickly. Every game was such a pleasant experience. Now having jumped from 34" flat ultrawide to a Samsung G9 49" curved ultrawide was mind blowing and pretty overwhelming! (especially sitting 2-3 ft from it)

League of legends took awhile to get used to which then becomes really awesome (and yes - you do turn your head from side to side just to see the mini map & read chat). Flying, racing, survival simulators such as Forza, Stranded Deep, The Forest and Flight Simulator are just a sight to behold and experience. You will have the biggest smile during the immersion. Finally, farming sims and 2D platformers are amazing to see on ultrawide. The extra vision of the environment is crazy cool and helps with how you envision your farm or what resources are around you. In Terraria you can see so far on either side to plan what you want to do next or see something hostile approaching you with time to react.

Afterwards, I have tried to game on a 32" 1080p monitor on another system and just couldn't do it. The realization of being spoiled by having the extra real estate and the immersion provided by the aggressive curvature hit me pretty quick. I can't go back to 16:9 for gaming. All I have to say is get immersed & lost in your games and have fun.

[Creed.]

I've been gaming on ultrawide since 2018, and I CAN'T go back. I love playing single player games with the added immersion, and the extra fov is a huge help for pvp.

I've got a 3440x1440 144hz 21:9 monitor and it's simply beautiful

[CoolColJ]

You can always run a custom resolution on the ultra wide and have black bar on the sides, so you have a standard 16:9 ratio screen in the centre

[skirwan]

I've been using the Acer X34 Predator that I bought back in 2015ish and I'm still using it today, it was about 1100$ when I bought it but man has this been worth every penny. There are few items in my house that have gotten as much use as this monitor. ZERO regrets 7 years later.

[Azurantine]

Went ultrawide back in 2017 and haven't looked back (flat though for me not curved). There are some tiny annoyances but ultrawide support has come a long way since even then. Flawless widescreen was almost a must have at that point.

[ankur]

I have had a flat LG UltraWide for 4 years now and I love it. Once you start using it, you can't go back to 16:9. Most games support 21:9 now. A lot of the games also allow you to adjust the Hud size/location now, but it never bothered me that much. I would always recommend 21:9 over 16:9. Not sure what to think of the curve as i have never experienced that.

[PlazmaBooy]

The HUD issues can be fixed by game developers, in GTA V for instance, the HUD is within the normal 16:9 space, but you just have more screen real estate. So it's the best of both worlds.

[Filux]

Switched to 21:9 about 6 months ago. It definitely took a day or two to get used to but it's really hard to go back after that. For office work and media creation the extra space is really usefull when you move your windows to be optimal. For gaming, I really love the peripheral vision for most FPS games (it really helps) and more cinematic 3rd person games.