Can ultra-wide replace dual monitor?

[Astrus]

Hey guys

 

I’ll be honesty, I really love the idea of 34 inch ultra-wide monitors and as a gamer I think it’s awesome that more and more games support this. Played Fallout 4 on ultra-wide at a friend’s place and totally loved it. Sadly, I don’t own one but I will definitely consider buying one in e year or two once they hopefully become a little cheaper (Plus I’ll probably need a new GPU for a 1440p one).

 

 

 

However, I am also a huge fan of dual monitor as well. So practical for schoolwork and also or having the browser or a YouTube video open while gaming. If you would have asked me a while ago I would have sworn that I would never go with only one monitor again. This might have changed now.

 

I heard ultra-wide should be very efficient for school/work because the aspect ratio of two windows side by side on a 21:9 is supposed to be pretty awesome and more natural. But I guess gaming with a second Window open wouldn’t work. So maybe an ultra-wide and a normal 1080p combo would be the way to go.

 

 

 

For you guys who already have an ultra-wide or are planning to buy one. Can ultra-wide totally replace a second monitor or do you still use a monitor next to the ultra-wide.

 

 

I'd love to hear your preferences on this topic

 

edit: are there any 21:9 and 16:9 monitor combos that match? I mean aesthetically

[Curufinwe_wins]

Yea definitely. It can replace 3 way surround monitors imho.

 

But I always love having a smaller side monitor (at like a 45/90 degree angle from the main one) for some things.

[shadowbyte]

yes

I have one, and it's like having dual monitors.

In fact, as I write this, I have youtube open in another window, with no downscaling of either window.

[Bajantechnician]

2 minutes ago, Astrus said:

Hey guys

 

I’ll be honesty, I really love the idea of 34 inch ultra-wide monitors and as a gamer I think it’s awesome that more and more games support this. Played Fallout 4 on ultra-wide at a friend’s place and totally loved it. Sadly, I don’t own one but I will definitely consider buying one in e year or two once they hopefully become a little cheaper (Plus I’ll probably need a new GPU for a 1440p one).

 

 

 

However, I am also a huge fan of dual monitor as well. So practical for schoolwork and also or having the browser or a YouTube video open while gaming. If you would have asked me a while ago I would have sworn that I would never go with only one monitor again. This might have changed now.

 

I heard ultra-wide should be very efficient for school/work because the aspect ratio of two windows side by side on a 21:9 is supposed to be pretty awesome and more natural. But I guess gaming with a second Window open wouldn’t work. So maybe an ultra-wide and a normal 1080p combo would be the way to go.

 

 

 

For you guys who already have an ultra-wide or are planning to buy one. Can ultra-wide totally replace a second monitor or do you still use a monitor next to the ultra-wide.

 

 

I'd love to hear your preferences on this topic

 

edit: are there any 21:9 and 16:9 monitor combos that match? I mean aesthetically

I dont have an ultrawide, but, personally, id go 2 monitors instead of one. One for movies or games, other for work or whatever. 

Its a good idea for you to have a ultrawide and a 1080p

[Volbet]

Whether or not it can replace a second monitor depends on how you use your second monitor. 

Personally, I do use an ultra-wide, but I could never move away from having a secondary monitor to put my less important windows on.

 

21:9 monitors are good for porduction, since you can have mulitple important windows open on one screen.

Or have a projetc take up the entirety of your visual field.

[spellmanuk]

for sure 

[Astrus]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

Yea definitely. It can replace 3 way surround monitors imho.

 

But I always love having a smaller side monitor (at like a 45/90 degree angle from the main one) for some things.

Yea that's what I was thinking.. Don't think I could go without a second smaller monitor to the side.

[2FA]

IMO, dual monitors is a necessity. Do to my desk and considering I have a miniITX rig which I can't put on the floor I don't have room for my second monitor. It makes multitasking much more difficult and multiple windows on a single screen doesn't cut it.

[Glenwing]

9 minutes ago, Astrus said:

Hey guys

 

I’ll be honesty, I really love the idea of 34 inch ultra-wide monitors and as a gamer I think it’s awesome that more and more games support this. Played Fallout 4 on ultra-wide at a friend’s place and totally loved it. Sadly, I don’t own one but I will definitely consider buying one in e year or two once they hopefully become a little cheaper (Plus I’ll probably need a new GPU for a 1440p one).

 

 

 

However, I am also a huge fan of dual monitor as well. So practical for schoolwork and also or having the browser or a YouTube video open while gaming. If you would have asked me a while ago I would have sworn that I would never go with only one monitor again. This might have changed now.

 

I heard ultra-wide should be very efficient for school/work because the aspect ratio of two windows side by side on a 21:9 is supposed to be pretty awesome and more natural. But I guess gaming with a second Window open wouldn’t work. So maybe an ultra-wide and a normal 1080p combo would be the way to go.

 

 

 

For you guys who already have an ultra-wide or are planning to buy one. Can ultra-wide totally replace a second monitor or do you still use a monitor next to the ultra-wide.

 

 

I'd love to hear your preferences on this topic

For me, it can't replace dual monitor. First, a 21:9 monitor is only equivalent to one 16:9 monitor plus 1/3 of another one; for two full windows side-by-side you only get the equivalent of around dual 5:4 monitors. Window snapping and maximizing applications is also much easier when windows sees two actual monitors, and of course full screen applications will still fill up the entire screen, so hardware monitoring, communications apps, etc. will not be visible when a game is open. IMO 21:9 doesn't really offer much advantage in multi-tasking, it is still a single monitor and doesn't carry any of the multi-tasking benefits over from dual-monitor. The advantages of 21:9 are in a wider field of view in gaming, and better work area in workstation applications especially if you do any editing (video or audio) that involves horizontal timelines.

[Moonzy]

imo, an ultrawide + a small secondary screen = best for gaming AND productivity

[machooper9]

This is my plan, I hate bezels so I am going to go for a large ultrawide monitor with maybe a small screen above or to the side for productivity resons (probably in portrait mode for coding) I think it will look a whole lot better than 3 monitors 

[Astrus]

2 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

IMO, dual monitors is a necessity. Do to my desk and considering I have a miniITX rig which I can't put on the floor I don't have room for my second monitor. It makes multitasking much more difficult and multiple windows on a single screen doesn't cut it.

Yea I don't like multiple windows on a screen either. But I guess on a 24" it's suboptimal anyway. I think on a ultra-wide it would be a different story

[Paralectic]

I don't like the aspect ratio, I'd rather have a bigger screen with the ultrawide's width, but also with the height.

27" 4K display would do fine for me, but 1440p 144hz is where it's at.

[KemoKa]

For me, I need a divided workspace. Having one massive monitor just doesn't work for me. Okay, if you're used to working with 5:4 monitors, then it can feel like two monitors in one, but for someone like me who has five monitors, four of which are widescreen, it just doesn't do it justice. One can never have too many monitors, but one can have too few.

[Astrus]

1 minute ago, KemoKa said:

For me, I need a divided workspace. Having one massive monitor just doesn't work for me. Okay, if you're used to working with 5:4 monitors, then it can feel like two monitors in one, but for someone like me who has five monitors, four of which are widescreen, it just doesn't do it justice. One can never have too many monitors, but one can have too few.

I think my brain couldn't handle five monitors

[Paralectic]

2 minutes ago, KemoKa said:

For me, I need a divided workspace. Having one massive monitor just doesn't work for me. Okay, if you're used to working with 5:4 monitors, then it can feel like two monitors in one, but for someone like me who has five monitors, four of which are widescreen, it just doesn't do it justice. One can never have too many monitors, but one can have too few.

Opinion, Windows does everything perfect on a big monitor with a high resolution.

[KemoKa]

1 minute ago, Astrus said:

I think my brain couldn't handle five monitors

It's the most amazing thing evar. Multitasking everyday.

[Monkey Dust]

Ultrawide monitors top out at 60Hz, except the predator, but that has issues, so you might as well go 4K IMO

[bimmerman]

For some folks, yes, ultrawide can replace dual monitors.

 

For myself and others, no.

 

I bought the Dell 34" ultrawide last year and it has merely supplemented, not replaced, my existing dual Dell 27" 16:10 monitors for productivity work.

 

The ultrawide is great for excel spreadsheets and to some degree coding work, but I prefer the 16:10 monitors for CAD and most other work I do. I don't game much at all, but the ultrawide is pretty nice for that use case provided the game supports it. Similarly, the ultrawide is nice for video content, if the streaming service supports it.

 

My biggest complaint with the ultrawides is the lack of height. I like the width, but if they were physically taller (i.e., not a :9 ratio), I'd be happier. Same reason I'm a 16:10 holdout.

 

That, and I don't have to use scaling on the 27 inch 1200p monitors but I do with the ultrawide. So that is a bit annoying and/or tiring on the eyes.