Best Aspect Ratio For Gaming – Which One Should I Choose and Why?

Quick Answer

When picking a gaming monitor, gamers have a lot of things in mind such as the resolution, refresh rate, response time, and the type of panel it has. Something else that is important yet forgotten most times is what one can call the best aspect ratio for gaming.

Like all other things that come to play when you decide on the type of gaming monitor to get, the aspect ratio is also important to your gaming experience since whatever is displayed on your monitor will need to fit the display itself. While this may be complex, let’s look at what aspect ratio is.

What is Aspect Ratio?

In simple terms, the aspect ratio is the ratio of the width of the monitor in relation to its height. In the earliest times of TV, what became the standard ratio for a very long time was the 4 by 3 ratio (4:3) and it remained so for many years to come when the widescreen ratio was used. From then on, it kept changing.

While you will still have different aspect ratios on displays such as the 5:4, 16:10, 18:9, 32:9, as well as many others, for gaming, the aspect ratios that have remained very popular are the 16:9 aspect ratio and the 21:9 aspect ratio. That said, the 16 by 9 is what is preferred by a lot of people. In fact, many popular streaming websites including YouTube make use of it.

Best Aspect Ratio For Gaming

Back to the question of the best aspect ratio for gaming, the 16:9 displays have the advantage of being in the most popular of all the aspect ratios available, even more popular than the 21:9 aspect ratio. Hence more games are designed to easily fit monitors that come with the ratio.

More than just that the aspect ratio is popular because it is the most favorable if you want to downscale to other resolutions. In fact, this stands as one of the main things that have favored the 16:9 ratio.

When it comes to the 21 by 9 aspect ratio, its main benefit is that it gives a wider field of view and thanks to this, you get a more immersive experience than with the other much smaller aspect ratio. The more the aspect ratio you get, the more the immersive experience for a more engaging gaming experience.  You can easily see more of the gaming world around you which can make your gaming experience top-notch, most especially if you are making use of a curved monitor.

Another thing is that if you are a gamer who finds himself always playing on a multi-monitor setup, there is no reason why the 21:9 aspect ratio should not be the best for you.

For games that are not adopted by the 21:9 aspect ratio, you may not get the best gaming experience if you are running on full-screen most especially as a result of screen stretching when games of lower resolution are forced to fit the 21:9 display. Something to remember, however, is that there are still many games that are optimized to support the resolution.

See Also: Are Curved Monitors Worth It For Gaming? [Simple Answer]

Another important thing to consider is the refresh rate. Although most gamers still use the 144Hz refresh rate, there are others that [refer the 240Hz. If you are in the latter group, the 21:9 monitors may not be what you will want to go for because for now, 21:9 monitors do not come with 240Hz.

Even though, as pointed out, the 16:9 aspect ratio display monitors are the most popular ones you would get, the 21:9 monitors are gradually making it to the market and are becoming accepted by gamers.

Which One Should I Choose and Why?

The answer to this question may not be as easy as one may want because it will all have to come down to individual preference as well as the games you prefer to play. If you are a gamer who is also into content creation, the best aspect ratio for you may just be the ultrawide 21:9 aspect ratio. This is because it makes multitasking more convenient and allows for productivity.

If, on the other hand, you are only looking for an aspect ratio for gaming, the most popular consensus, or something close to that, supports the 16:9 aspect ratio. This means that there are games that do not natively support wider aspect ratio such as the 21:9 displays, leaving you with the 16:9.

One of the biggest turn-offs for the 21:9 aspect ratio monitors has to be the cost. Although there are some 16:9s that are very expensive, most of the ultrawide screen monitors run into the thousands of dollars. This may be worth it for someone who wants it for multitasking or other professional work, but for gaming, it may not be worth it most especially if you consider what it has to offer. There are some cheaper options that you can go for at even less than $500.

Therefore, unless you have the money to spend and you want that extra immersive experience, going with the 16:9 aspect ratio monitor may be the best thing to do because it is has a very wide support, it is cheaper, and it gives higher refresh rate among other things.

Conclusion

At the end of it all, there are more aspect ratios, as stated above beyond just the 16:9 and 21:9 aspect ratios. Nonetheless, the two have remained the most popular when it comes to gaming. While both of them have their good sides and bad sides for gaming, the 16:9 aspect ratio which is the very popular one has the edge.

For now, the 21:9 aspect ratio is still on the background, but it is still very much on the rise and it is becoming popular in the gaming world. Before then, it still has the problem of support as shown above, which makes the 16:9 the best aspect ratio for gaming.

With all that has been said, the aspect ratio should not be the most important thing that you will want to look out for if you need a gaming monitor. Things like the refresh rate, resolution, response time, and more are still the key things when picking a good gaming monitor.