Should I Buy UltraWide Monitor For Gaming and Daily Use? 

Quick Answer

While getting an UltraWide monitor for gaming has both its good sides and downside, getting it for daily use depends on the type of things you need. For gaming, it is great for someone who wants a greater field of view, but may not be the best because of the aspect ratio among other things. For daily use, it will be good for someone who does a lot of work that requires multitasking.

When it comes to gaming, there are those that believe that sometimes, more is better even when it has to do with the display. While this is not always true, the UltraWide monitor for gaming is gradually making it to the mainstream. There are, however, still many people who believe that the best monitor for gaming is the 27-inch display.

These UltraWide monitors do not only give you a wider display, they also need greater power and are, of course, more expensive than the normal sized monitors. The question that remains is on whether going for the monitor is worth it for gaming and daily use.

Before anything else, the ultrawide monitor which is gradually taking over from multiple monitor setups comes with an aspect ratio of 21:9 as against the standard 16:9 aspect ratio. This means that they are significantly wider than the everyday monitor you use.

UltraWide Monitor For Gaming

UltraWide Monitor
Image Source

Settling for an UltraWide monitor for gaming like everything else has its positive sides and drawbacks.

Positives of UltraWide Monitor

The first good side of going with the ultrawide monitor is that it gives you a greater field of view in some games. This means that you have more space for details and you are able to see your gaming background fuller. For people who prefer games such as League of Legends and Rocket League, you are sure to get a competitive advantage because you will see more of the game environment and easily spot enemies.

Negatives of UltraWide Monitor

One of the main downsides of the monitor is that it requires a very powerful GPU. Moving from a monitor that has 1920 by 1080 pixels to the 3440×1440 pixels monitor that you get on a 34-inch ultrawide model, you will require so much more power for your GPU because the display will have 140% more pixels.

Another downside of the monitor is that because of the aspect ratio, your images may sometimes have to stretch to fill the entire space since there are some games that only support 16:9 aspect ratio. If it doesn’t stretch, you could also have the edges remaining unused, something that can be very distracting. Nonetheless, this is mostly seen in older games.

UltraWide Monitor For Everyday Use

UltraWide Monitor
Image Source

Positives

The best thing about the UltraWide monitor for everyday use is that it increases productivity, although that is for someone who uses screen a lot and loves to multitask on screen. Unlike the regular monitor that will not give you space to have multiple programs running at the same time, you can achieve that very easily with the UltraWide Monitor.

This, however, may be more suitable for professionals like video editors who want to see their entire timelines and those that work with multiple programs running at the same time.

For a lover of movies, the ultrawide is also good because of the cinematic experience that you get. The only problem, however, is that most videos are shot in 16:9 ratio so you may not get the best with such movies.

If on the other hand, you are only interested in getting an ultrawide monitor for normal usage such as browsing the internet, streaming, and doing some regular computer works, a regular monitor may as well be the best bet for you, most especially because of the price.

Should I buy UltraWide Monitor?

UltraWide Monitor
Image Source

Back to the big question on whether you should get an ultrawide monitor for gaming, the simple answer is that it all depends first of all on your needs. If above everything else you need a wider field of view while you game, going for the monitor will be good. More so, for normal use, it will also be a good choice for someone who is looking for productivity since as pointed above, it allows for easy multitasking and to have different programs running simultaneously.

See Also: IPS vs TN vs VA – Which Is Best Monitor For Gaming? 

Apart from your needs, the components of your computer is also another thing you should consider before thinking of getting an ultrawide monitor. If you have a computer that runs on a GPU that does not have much power, or if you don’t intend to upgrade your GPU, getting the monitor will not give you the best gaming experience you can have.

More so, apart from the need for a more powerful GPU, the price of the monitor in itself is something else that may not make it suitable for casual gamers. While there are some that go for even less than the traditional monitors, ultrawide monitors are quite expensive, most especially if you are going for a very good one. The good news is that it is becoming more affordable by the day, but we are still yet to get to that point where it will be affordable for almost everyone.

Finally, if you have checked every box above and you have the means, there is no reason why you should not get the monitor as long as it will meet all your needs.

Conclusion

Above everything else, if you have your mind on getting an UltraWide monitor for gaming and daily use, you may as well consider settling for a curved monitor rather than a flat one because, with the curved, you will get better advantages such as an increased viewing angle that comes with curved monitors.

More so, apart from getting a curved monitor, we would recommend that you settle for a 35-inch ultrawide monitor over a 25 inch one. A smaller one will be cheaper, but a bigger one will give you more in terms of the field of view and multitasking options.

Finally, with all that is said, more games are now designed to support the 21:9 aspect ratio. It, therefore, seems that it is only a matter of time before the ultrawide monitors are soon going to hit the mainstream and become the order of the day.

Tim Flaherty
Tim Flaherty
Tim is our talented senior tech writer and editor, the one who plays music on replay, drinks more coffee than beer, plays video games, and reads poetry. In between, Tim reviews products, write about computers, games, hardware, software, guides, reviews and talk tech and arts. If there is a WWIII, he thinks it could be caused by bad writing.

Recommended

Featured Today

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness, if you've found a possible error, be it factual, editorial or something that needs updating, please contact us

Read This Next