Went from 1080p surround to LG34UM95

[exyia]

Just pulled the trigger and bought the 34UM95 today (local Fry's got them and I've been debating it since it was unveiled - when I debate something for this long, chances are I'll end up doing it so I decided to quit wasting time and get it over with).

 

So just thought I would share my experience as someone who actually came from (and ENJOYED) surround.

 

4930k @ 4.5GHz

16GB 2400MHz DDR3

GTX Titan Tri-SLi @ 1250MHz core and 3500MHz memory

Acer H236HL x3 in landscape (5890x1080 bezel corrected) -> LG 34UM95 obviously

 

Right away, the colors on this LG are AMAZING. I've always been told LG makes the best IPS out there, and I'm a believer now. Just switching from the different color palettes is a joy (cinema, gaming, normal, etc etc). normally you're switching these to find the one that doesn't look awful - but ALL of them look good in different ways. I was open minded to TN panels, but after seeing the beauty of this quality IPS - I can't go with anything less.

 

Productivity I'm not 100% sold on. I still prefer the whole "each screen is a task" vs the "how much can fit on screen" mentality since I've grown up on it. I still find it much more intuitive to drag and drop a window to it's own monitor rather than split things up. It felt faster and less hassle to not have to resize windows or anything - just drag and drop and know "this monitor is ____, that monitor is ____"

 

That said - the screen split program is pretty good. I was wary at first, thinking it would be very clunky and not worth the hassle. I was hoping Linus would give some detail on it in his video, but he didn't.

 

Pretty much, it's in your taskbar icon. Click on it, and you select a few "templates" (like side to side, triple, 4-way, etc). Then it draws what are essentially parking spaces on your screen of your selected palette. Then you can drag and drop onto them and the window will be resized easily. It's pretty seamless. The only minor adjustment you will have to make is turning your templates on AND off when done. I won't say it's a downfall, just a reality of using the software. Not sure if I'll adjust enough to it to use it full time, but it's implemented well enough to not be annoying.

 

Now - for surround gaming vs this 21:9.

 

I'm not a surround hater. I enjoyed surround, even encouraged it to some. I actually lived with surround for over a year (unlike others here who base their experience off a 5 minute session). My one and only gripe from going surround to 21:9 was how games render fov.

 

On landscape surround (I never liked portrait personally, so leaving that out of the equation), the last ~25% of the side monitors is so distorted that it's almost useless. Adjusting fov doesn't really help this issue. Game engines still center fov rendering around a center display, not three.

 

This isn't a big deal except for one issue - I'm wasting rendering power on this when it could be used on making the image sharper (higher resolution and/or more AA). You're still playing on mainly a mere 1080p screen, and pushing as much AA as possible is still stressful for even 3 watercooled, flashed and overvolted Titans.

 

So I wanted to trade some pixels on the sides for more in the center - the 21:9. The total pixel count on a 3440x1440 is still much lower than 5890x1080, so I would even be able to push AA to make the image even higher.

 

Anyway-

I was NEVER bothered by bezels - this is personal preference: some are, some aren't. they never bothered me personally. I always found myself immersed enough to tune bezels out.

 

But having bezels removed REALLY changes how you mentally perceive this image. At first, it really didn't feel very wide at all. I felt like it was a huge downgrade. I DO notice the loss of screen estate. It felt like going back to a lowly 16:9. But I kept telling myself that any extra pixels on the sides would be in the "distorted" range.

 

After a while, the experience IS immersive in a more natural way. The higher pixel density with even more AA is VERY noticeable - something that you just can't really have both of with surround with current hardware. It's the combination of the colors, pixel density + AA, and lack of bezels that makes the viewing experience more natural.

 

Overall, I'm happy. It was expensive, and now I'm going to have to figure out a new desk setup for this monitor and acc monitors, but I'm happy as far as gaming. I didn't hate surround, and I've always said the "quirks" were completely overblown - but I couldn't get over how much rendering power I was wasting on distorted side images. Now I can max out AA on an already much higher resolution screen. I traded the sides for more pixels in the center - exactly what I asked for. This is the best mix of both aspects (imho).

[AllstaRawR]

I hate you. Now I'm starting to think I should have gotten that instead of 3 U2414H's.

 

... I'm probably just going to get the PB279Q 4K IPS when it comes out to replace the middle U2414H and use the two side ones for productivity - or get the LG24UM95 and put two U2414H's in portrait. I keep changing my mind on what I want with my monitors. >.<

[Gnator]

Wow much jelly x.x 

[exyia]

update after a longer usage time (yes I'm still happy with it)

 

game support is a little WORSE than 1080p surround. I find this giggle-inducing. People who spout "you would also have to deal with game support with surround, don't do it" clearly just haven't lived with it. Splinter Cell Blacklist and Skyrim have WORSE support on 21:9.

 

Blacklist supports surround natively, but not 21:9. You can select 3440x1440, but the sides are cut off to just give you a 1440p display. There is no available fix/hack, probably because it supported surround natively out of the box - and is usually the driving factor for users/modders/hackers to make widescreen fixes in the first place.

 

Skyrim's fix from Flawless Widescreen is WORSE than on surround. The UI scaling is a little bit off with FW's fix, but it worked flawlessly on 1080p surround. I could try Widescreen Fixer, but I'd rather not as it's interface and execution is much worse than Flawless Widescreen

 

XCom Enemy Unknown is practically broken in surround, but it's still not 100% in 21:9. While I can actually get it rendered in 3440x1440 now, anything in a weird aspect ratio throws off the cursor calibration. I just run this game in a smaller window, which doesn't bother me given the lightweight nature of this game

 

that's about all I played this weekend. I just found it funny that game support is worse on 21:9 so far.

 

oh, and I setup two of my monitors from surround as my accessory displays - fair warning, this LG will make 1080p look terrible first world problems

[-iSynthesis]

Do you mind dropping one of the titans for me?

[Hyp0xia]

Your thoughts on the LG 34UM95-P are appreciated. I have one coming my way on Wednesday and you've only made the wait more unbearable.

[exyia]

Your thoughts on the LG 34UM95-P are appreciated. I have one coming my way on Wednesday and you've only made the wait more unbearable.

 

No problem, glad you found it insightful

 

I got sick of all the posts here about surround from NON-surround users, that I thought a review with some actual perspective was warranted

[AllstaRawR]

No problem, glad you found it insightful

 

I got sick of all the posts here about surround from NON-surround users, that I thought a review with some actual perspective was warranted

 

I learned to take them with a grain of salt. As a previous surround user, I didn't really like it. For the advantages you gained you had all sorts of stretching, distortion, and driver issues. Some love it, though.

 

Thanks for the actual perspective.

[adnank77]

Thanks Exiya .. This was the last piece of encouragement I needed to pull the trigger myself.

Selling the three monitors and going for this LG wonderful ultrawide

[TheCook]

Just in general, do you suggest a 21:9 monitor? I'm looking at the Lg 29UM65 and was curious to know. Of course it's not the same monitor but it has some similarities.  

 

[cluelessgenius]

Thanks Exiya .. This was the last piece of encouragement I needed to pull the trigger myself.

Selling the three monitors and going for this LG wonderful ultrawide

why not get the aoc one coming up, it has an adjustable stand looks bettes and is probably gonna be at least a bit cheaper using the same panel

[exyia]

no problem, try to fit in a i1 display pro to calibrate this beauty if you can. colors are much better once I got mine

 

but 21:9 on a 2560x1080? eh

 

**I haven't personally gamed on a 2560x1080, just seen them in store**

 

I personally wouldn't bother. 2560 isn't really "wide" enough to feel like it's filling your POV imo. It's the same width as 1440p, so why not just upgrade the pixel height while you're at it and get more screen estate in general?

 

3440 width strikes a good balance of immersion field of view while not stepping into the "distorted" range of the side views

[adnank77]

Thanks for the inspiration exyia .. I've sold my monitors .. waiting for my ordered 3440x1440 to arrive 

[Ryiuu]

I'm currently running a gtx 770 4gb and plan to sli in the future, will this 1 card at least be able to run games at a decent fps on med settings though (for now)?