Answer:
Overall, ultrawide monitors provide a more immersive gaming experience, but they’re usually not the best when it comes to competitive FPS gameplay.
For professional use, a dual-monitor setup can give you more screen space depending on the resolution, but you’ll also have to deal with the bezels between the displays and the fact that the image may not look perfectly consistent across both screens.
Ultrawide monitors are exceptionally useful for audio and video editing, as you get a broader view of timelines. Moreover, for most people, a high-resolution ultrawide display offers more than enough screen space.
Deciding between an ultrawide display and a dual monitor setup depends on what type of video games you play and what kind of work you do.
You will also have to take into account other monitor specifications, such as panel type, screen size, resolution, refresh rate, etc.
In this article, you’ll find everything you need to know to make an informed decision about your next display.
21:9 UltraWide vs. 16:9 Widescreen
For comparison, we’ll be using the most popular widescreen and ultrawide screen size/resolution combinations: a 34″ 3440×1440 ultrawide or a dual 27″ 1440p setup.
So, a 27″ 2560×1440 monitor will provide you with roughly the same pixel density (pixel-per-inch ratio) as a 34″ 1440p ultrawide. Similarly, a 23″-24″ 1080p monitor offers roughly the same pixel density as a 29″ 2560×1080 ultrawide.
With ultrawide displays, you get ~33% of extra horizontal screen space in comparison to a single 16:9 display, meaning that dual monitors provide more workspace than an ultrawide.
There are also 32:9 “super-wide” ultrawide monitors, which actually provide you with screen size and space equal to two 16:9 displays, though at a higher price.
Curved vs. Flat Screen
We recommend curved ultrawide monitors over flat ones as the curvature provides a more immersive viewing experience with less distortion.
With standard widescreen displays, a single curved monitor doesn’t make a very noticeable difference, especially if it’s under 32″.
For a dual or multiple monitor setup, it is up to your preference, but we find that typical 24″ – 27″ widescreen displays don’t really benefit from curved screens.
UltraWide vs. Dual Monitors For Professional Use
If you want to get as much screen space as you can, then a dual or multiple monitor setup is the way to go.
However, make sure you’re getting a monitor with a high pixel density. For instance, a 27″ monitor with 1920×1080 resolution has a low pixel density of 81 PPI (pixels per inch), which results in smudgy text and details.
In this case, if you can’t afford a 2560×1440 monitor, you’re better off with a 24″ 1920×1080 monitor, which has a pixel density of 91 PPI and, therefore, a much sharper picture.
Here are the optimal screen size/resolution combinations:
- 23″ – 25″: 1920×1080, 2560×1440, 3840×2160
- 27″: 2560×1440, 3840×2160, 5120×2880
- 32″ – 43″: 3840×2160
- 25″ – 29″ ultrawide: 2560×1080
- 34″ ultrawide: 3440×1440, 5120×2160
- 38″ ultrawide: 3840×1600
- 39″ – 45″ ultrawide: 5120×2160
- 44″ super-ultrawide: 3840×1080, 3840×1200
- 49″ super-ultrawide: 5120×1440
- 57″ super-ultrawide: 7680×2160
When it comes to color-critical tasks, there are some additional facts to consider.
First of all, even if you buy two identical monitors, they will likely have at least slightly different colors, contrast, uniformity, etc. Getting both monitors to display identical colors can be quite frustrating if you don’t have the proper equipment, such as a colorimeter.
Moreover, due to their wider screen, ultrawide displays provide a fuller view of timelines, which can be very useful for audio editing, video editing and content creation in general.
Lastly, there is such a thing as too much screen space. If you put two 27″ 1440p monitors side by side, you may find that you have to move your neck and eyes from one side to another too often or that you’re not using all the space available.
In the end, it all boils down to how much space you need and what type of work you handle.
For professional use, we recommend ultrawide monitors with IPS panels as they offer the widest viewing angles, as well as the most accurate and consistent color reproduction.
UltraWide vs. Dual Monitors For Gaming
Gaming on a dual monitor setup is not recommended because you’d have a crosshair or your character right where the monitor bezels meet – unless you plan on using one monitor for gaming and the other for web surfing, chatting, etc.
In the former case, a triple-monitor setup makes more sense, since you can put one monitor on your left, one on your right, and one in the center, thus increasing your field of view, which is a particularly popular setup for racing games.
On the other hand, an ultrawide gaming monitor will provide you with a more seamless and immersive gaming experience without any bezels and gaps. It’s also a cheaper and simpler option.
Compatibility
There are a few things you should keep in mind about gaming on an ultrawide display.
First of all, not all games support the 21:9 or 32:9 aspect ratio, which results in either a stretched-out picture or black borders at the sides of the screen.
You can check a list of all games that support ultrawide resolutions here.
Note that there are games with native 21:9 support that may still show in-game cutscenes as 16:9 with black bars at the sides of the image. There’s a quick and easy fix for this using a free HEX editor, such as HxD (link to the official website).
How to fix black bars in cutscenes on ultrawide monitors?
Download HxD, drag and drop the .exe game file to it, go to ‘Replace…‘, select the ‘Hex-values‘ tab, put ‘39 8E E3 3F‘ in the ‘Search for‘ box, and ‘8E E3 18 40‘ in the ‘Replace with‘ box, select ‘All‘ for search direction, ‘Replace All‘ and ‘Save‘. The program will automatically create a backup .exe file as well.
If you have an ultrawide monitor with a different resolution, you’ll need to put a different hex code in the ‘Replace with’ box depending on the exact aspect ratio:
2560x1080 (2.37:1) - 26 B4 17 40
5120x2160 (2.37:1) - 26 B4 17 40
3440x1440 (2.38:1) - 8E E3 18 40
3840x1600 (2.4:1) - 9A 99 19 40
5120x1440 (32:9) - 39 8E 63 40
7680x2160 (32:9) - 39 8E 63 40
You can also use the Flawless Widescreen application, which can automatically fix ultrawide resolutions in most games.
Note that pre-rendered 16:9 cutscenes will still be shown with black bars, but this won’t be as immersion-breaking given that there are only a few of those in most games.
Also, because ultrawide monitors offer a wider field of view in video games, you get a slight advantage over other players as you can spot the enemies from the left or right more quickly and have a better view of the map in RTS games.
That’s why some competitive games such as StarCraft II and Valorant limit the aspect ratio to 16:9. So, make sure to check out whether your favorite games support ultrawide resolutions.
Other Features
For fast-paced gaming, we recommend IPS panel ultrawide displays as they offer a faster response time than VA panel models.
If you prefer more graphically oriented games, VA panels will provide you with a higher contrast ratio, which results in deeper blacks and more vivid details in the shadows and highlights of the picture.
Nowadays, you can also find both ultrawide and widescreen displays with OLED panels or mini LED backlights for proper HDR support.
Other things that you should consider when purchasing a monitor are the display’s maximum refresh rate and VRR (variable refresh rate) technology.
UltraWide Vs. Dual Monitors For Everyday Use
For everyday use and home entertainment, we recommend ultrawide displays with VA panels, as they are usually cheaper than the IPS models and offer a higher contrast ratio, as long as you don’t mind their slower response times.
Moreover, an ultrawide monitor’s 21:9 aspect ratio is close to the native 2.35:1 format used for many movies, which helps create a more cinematic and immersive viewing experience.
Lastly, with an ultrawide screen, you won’t run into potential issues that can occur with a dual monitor setup, such as different calibration out of the box, aligning the monitors (if they are different models/sizes), lack of connectivity options on your GPU, etc.
32:9 UltraWide Monitors
The 32:9 ultrawide monitors (also referred to as ‘super-ultrawide’) are equivalent to two 16:9 monitors side by side, just without the bezels in between.
For instance, a 49″ 5120×1440 ultrawide is basically equivalent to two 27″ 1440p monitors, a 44″ 3840×1080 display is similar to two 24″ 1080p screens, etc.
When it comes to gaming, most video games that support the 21:9 format also support the 32:9 resolution, and you get an even wider field of view for a more immersive viewing experience.
It’s rare to find content other than games that support the 32:9 format, so 21:9 and 16:9 movies will have black bars at the sides of the screen.
Besides gaming, audio and video editing greatly benefit from 32:9 screens, as well as general productivity and content creation.
However, if you just want a lot of screen space, for the price of the cheapest 32:9 5120×1440 display (~$800), you can get more than two 27″ 2560×1440 monitors (you can find one for around $110).
Of course, if you want to minimize clutter and use a super-ultrawide monitor for both gaming and work, it can be worth the investment.
You can further improve your productivity by using a monitor with Picture in Picture or Picture by Picture support or integrated KVM functionality. Some monitors also have fast USB hubs, USB-C ports with enough Power Delivery to charge a laptop, display output ports for daisy-chaining, an RJ45 port, etc.
In case you’re interested in something like that, we recommend checking out our best 32:9 monitors guide, as well as our guides for the best USB-C PD, KVM and Docking Station monitors.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve found this article helpful. For more information and the best deals, visit our best ultrawide monitors and best dual monitor setup buying guides.
