Curved monitors. Why?

[nuyorican]

I'm looking to buy a new monitor. It's been decades since I last bought one, and now I notice a lot of curved screens on the market. So basically, what's the point of them? Why are they curved?

Thanks

[Mammasaid]

The idea is that all the screen is at the same focal length, so that it's easier on the eye.

They're great for some (I like my 34" Dell), others prefer 2 single monitors.

[mikey_b]

Monitors are much larger than they used to be. A big widescreen might have the edges of the screen a foot or more further away than the centre. Having it curved means you aren’t constantly refocusing when your eyes move around the screen.

[nuyorican]

I see. Thanks.

It will be used for audio work, with the workflow running horizontal like in the image. Would such a monitor be good for this?

[John87]

I bought an ultra wide 21:9 monitor about 5 years ago and supplement it with similar height 16:9 at an angle to almost replicate the curved effect. I could never go back to a normal sized or multiple screens as it is so much better for both productivity and gaming. My next screen will 100% be a 32:9 curved ultra wide but at the price of them I feel like the current set up needs to stop working first!

[nuyorican]

Someone local to me has a 34" curved Gigabyte for £200. Tempted.

Does that sound ok. Never heard of the brand.

[MitchT]

We have a load of 34" curved monitors in the office. They're great.

[John87]

I would be careful of the resolution as you would really want at least 1440p on a 34 inch. Mine is an older model at the same size with 1080p and it can look pixelated at times which isn't great for text. I've had various gigabyte components over the years with no real issues

[nuyorican]

John87 said:

I would be careful of the resolution as you would really want at least 1440p on a 34 inch. Mine is an older model at the same size with 1080p and it can look pixelated at times which isn't great for text. I've had various gigabyte components over the years with no real issues

Seems ok resolution wise.

G34WQC

[Scarletpimpofnel]

I have a curved monitor and also a curved TV (fits in the corner of the room better and I think is easier to watch than a flat panel).

In Lewis' a few weeks ago talking to their TV expert about why they had no curved TVs for sale and he said no one does them anymore, passing fad. I feel like I couldn't buy anything other than curved now.

[mmm-five]

There's also the amount of curve to be aware off.

Everything from 1000R to 2000R...where the 'R' refers to the radius of the circle that would be drawn (so 1000R = 1m radius).

The lower the number, the more acute the curve.

I can get by with a 1500+ curve, but anything less gives me eye strain/brain ache. Ended up with an Alienware AW3423DW @ 1800R.

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 5th March 09:55

[captain_cynic]

nuyorican said:

Someone local to me has a 34" curved Gigabyte for £200. Tempted.

Does that sound ok. Never heard of the brand.

Gigabyte are a good brand, I've used their motherboards for over a decade with no issues. I currently have a Gigabyte 27" 2K monitor that's been great but I've owned that for about 6 months.

[nuyorican]

Thanks chaps. Will go for the Giga if it’s still available.

[Lucas Ayde]

nuyorican said:

I'm looking to buy a new monitor. It's been decades since I last bought one, and now I notice a lot of curved screens on the market. So basically, what's the point of them? Why are they curved?

Thanks

If the screen is wide enough, it makes a big difference to viewing comfort. I have a Samsung G9 (32:9 aspect ration, 49" diagonal) which, when looked at from an offset position, has a massive curve - but when sat in front of at normal 'sitting at a computer' distance works really well to help you see the whole screen with minimal head turning and distance distortion.

For narrower screens though, total gimmick just designed to make the monitor look high tech. Also, no idea why they briefly made curved screen TV sets but the fact that it was such a short lived fad should speak to whether or not it made sense ....

[untakenname]

Having used a curved monitor for the past five years for the home office it's odd going back to flat screens when at work, I also far prefer one widescreen monitor to two standard taking up the same width when it comes to productivity.

[lizardbrain]

I've got a small 24 inch curved gaming monitor and really hate it. It's way too small to be immersive.

You need the screen to be big enough that the curve mimics the bend of your peripheral vision. If it's not huge, it's worse than useless.

[Jinx]

Keep looking at these on Amazon (I have a voucher so would not cost too much extra). Unfortunately I have a perfectly usuable 32 inch 1440p 75Hz IPS display - so struggling to justify the upgrade. I would need to update my GPU as well to take advantage of the higher refresh rates.
What to do?.....

[paulrockliffe]

You must have a terrible machine if it can't push that resolution at 75Hz, even my crappy work laptop will push 3 x 4k at 60Hz! You won't notice 75Hz vs 60Hz, so I would stick at 60 unless you're going to jump to 120.

I do like the large curved monitors, but all mine are flat. The problem with them is that if you have more than one screen, the side screen(s) are then pushed forward on the desk, continuing the curve and you'll generally be left with too tight a radius for your desk depth.

[Jinx]

paulrockliffe said:

You must have a terrible machine if it can't push that resolution at 75Hz, even my crappy work laptop will push 3 x 4k at 60Hz! You won't notice 75Hz vs 60Hz, so I would stick at 60 unless you're going to jump to 120.

I do like the large curved monitors, but all mine are flat. The problem with them is that if you have more than one screen, the side screen(s) are then pushed forward on the desk, continuing the curve and you'll generally be left with too tight a radius for your desk depth.

2D fine - gaming not so much (aging 1080ti)

[Mr Penguin]

John87 said:

I bought an ultra wide 21:9 monitor about 5 years ago and supplement it with similar height 16:9 at an angle to almost replicate the curved effect. I could never go back to a normal sized or multiple screens as it is so much better for both productivity and gaming. My next screen will 100% be a 32:9 curved ultra wide but at the price of them I feel like the current set up needs to stop working first!

I'm the same but I'm starting to feel very constrained by the 21:9. When I upgrade the 21:9 will be vertical and the 32:9 will be horizontal. Having three vertical windows is not enough.