Why widescreen monitors are better

The issue with editing on dual monitors is that inconsistencies are bound to occur because of the fact that no two displays are created equal. This can become an issue when moving photos from one screen to another as you may not be sure which screen is displaying the most accurate information.

For those comfortable with the ease of managing windows on dual monitors, the Windows Snap feature in Windows 10 implements similar window management functionality that is suitable for an ultrawide monitor. Using Windows Snap, you can easily snap windows to different areas of an ultrawide screen to have windows opened up side by side fairly seamlessly.

While both dual monitors and ultrawide monitors offer a slightly different take on window management, Windows Snap is an effective tool for managing multiple windows on an ultrawide monitor. In terms of convenience, there is no doubt that managing settings such as brightness and other display settings on a single monitor are simpler than doubling your work by making each adjustment twice. If you are planning to calibrate your monitor as every professional editor should , there is no doubt that calibrating one single screen is much easier than calibrating two separate screens every time you need to calibrate.

Adjusting settings and calibrating one ultrawide monitor takes half the time and effort than it does to do the same for dual monitors.

As you probably know, monitors come in a range of different resolutions. In a perfect world, a dual monitor setup would include two identical monitors — same size, same resolution; as we all know, however, this is not always the case. Dealing with two monitors of different sizes has its own shortcomings as well. Note: WQHD seems to be a sweet spot for using both photo editing and video editing software.

Using an ultrawide with a higher resolution really brings out the benefits of having horizontally extended screen space. One solution for this is to just match the resolutions of the two screens via the monitor settings. In this setting, a single ultrawide monitor has a clear advantage as it is one uniform resolution all the way across.

In the case of the monitor that we used in this ultra wide vs. Having an ultrawide monitor with a higher resolution seems to help maximize the extra horizontal real estate in a way that pairs very nicely with an ultrawide screen.

Ultrawide monitors are a convenient solution for ensuring that resolution and screen size stay consistent across your entire display. With a dual monitor setup you can set them up side by side or set them up at an angle but you can never make them curved. The monitor we used leverages a curved screen , which helps to create a feeling of immersion that is not attainable on a dual monitor setup.

We already know both ultrawide and dual monitor setups are an excellent way to boost your editing productivity. When comparing an ultrawide vs. When it comes to comparing ultrawide vs. Luckily for all of us, ultrawide monitor options including ultrawide curved monitors are becoming more and more common.

If you are interested in exploring some ultrawide monitor options for photography and editing, the ViewSonic ultrawide monitor referenced in this article is a solid option as well, as it is designed for excellent color performance and accuracy. Sign in. Log into your account. The result? You literally see more game than on a monitor. Gamers considering an ultrawide monitor often ponder buying an HDTV instead.

You can snag a nice inch HDTV for the price of most inch ultrawide monitors. The in-game perspective remains tied to a aspect ratio. Your in-game perspective will be identical on a inch, inch, inch, or inch display. An ultrawide, with its aspect ratio, offers a broader perspective. This is great in games that focus on an immersive experience or benefit from seeing as much information as possible. Microsoft Flight Simulator is simply better on an ultrawide display.

Your field of view is constrained on a monitor or television. Driving games like Forza 7 and American Truck Simulator are better on an ultrawide for the same reasons. Strategy games like Civilization VI will offer a wider view of the game map, letting you see more of the world at once without zooming out.

Competitive esports games are one example. Ultrawides remain controversial in this arena because a wider field of view can be a competitive advantage. Player complaints have forced most competitive games to support ultrawide monitors, but support may come with problems like an odd perspective or an unwieldy interface.

Gamers serious about going pro should stick with , as professional competitive scenes rarely let players use an ultrawide monitor. This is true even for cross-platform games that support ultrawide monitors on the PC.

You can connect a game console to an ultrawide monitor, but you will see large vertical letterboxes on each side of the screen. If you do want to use an ultrawide monitor with a console, look for an ultrawide that has a split-screen mode with multiple inputs. At the end of the day, ultrawide monitors can be great.

They may even be the future of traditional workspaces. The difference is pretty stark—gamers and movie fans will love the full surround experience without bezels in the way, and productivity hawks will love being able to keep multiple applications up side by side or tiled without actually having to resize anything to make them all usable at once. Plus, if you like having your displays angled a little on either side of your desk like I do , those curved displays are especially nice. Of course, that brings us to the biggest drawback, at least for now: price.

Both get you x pixels of working space. Even so, if you have the money to get an ultrawide—especially one of the curved models—it can make work and play a whole new experience. For now, that is. When I first saw these, I was really intrigued.