Many times we have talked about the advantages that ultra-wide monitors provide, both for playing and working, and also for multimedia entertainment (watching movies in American format without horizontal black bands is priceless). However, for some people an ultra-wide monitor is too wide and they have to turn their head or move their eyes to see both sides of the screen, something that can be somewhat alleviated if the monitor is curved. That said, we raised the question: is it worth investing a little more in having your ultrawide monitor also curved ? The difference is evident?
To give you an idea, and regardless of the resolution it has, a 34-inch diagonal ultra-wide monitor is the same height as a 27-inch monitor, and the rest is merely additional width. That additional width (remember that we went from a 16: 9 to 21: 9 format) on very large screens and, especially, if the user sits too close to the screen -something not recommended but sometimes unavoidable- makes it necessary to straining your eyes to see both sides, and even in some cases you have to turn your head.
So do you have the same problem if the monitor is curved?
Curvature in ultra-wide monitors
Before entering the subject, we must explain what it means for a monitor to be curved. Many of you will be clear: it means that, literally, the screen is curved, and this is indeed the case, although it is true that you should know that not all curvatures are the same. Although each manufacturer usually uses one or other curvature figures, you must understand that this figure means the radius in millimeters that the screen would have if it formed a complete circle . This means that the higher the number, the less curvature the screen will have.
Let’s take an example: if we say that a monitor has 3000R curvature, it means that if we put so many monitors next to each other as to form a perfect circle, it would have a 3,000 mm radius, and therefore it means that the curvature is quite mild. In contrast, a 1000R curvature monitor means that the radius would be 1,000mm, a much smaller circle and therefore a much tighter curve.
The reason for curving the screen is twofold: initially the manufacturers told us that the curve of the screen is designed to adapt to the curvature of the human eye itself, producing a greater sensation of immersion. The reality is that the curvature is thought taking into account the distance at which the user will sit from the monitor, so that the ends of the panel are at the same distance as the center with respect to the user.
Indeed, this serves to create a greater sense of immersion, and largely alleviates a problem that an ultra-wide monitor has that is not curved, and that is that the sides are further away from us than the center.
So is a curved ultra-wide monitor worth it?
Go ahead, in the end, it all depends on where you place the monitor or, rather, where you place yourself with respect to it. If you buy an extremely large ultra-wide monitor and stand very close, obviously you will have to turn your neck to be able to get from one side of its viewing area to the other, and there the problem is not that the monitor is too large but that you sit too close to it.
If the monitor is curved, does this solve this problem? Obviously not, and it is a matter of physics. That the monitor is curved will serve so that, if you sit at the appropriate distance from it, you can see the entire screen at a single glance and that all parts of it are at the same distance from you. But if you sit too close, part of the monitor will move out of your focus area (not viewing) and therefore to focus on another part of the screen you will have to move your eyeballs or even your neck.
Now, despite this, if you ask us whether or not it is worth investing a little more in an ultra-wide monitor that is also curved, we will say flatly that it is. Even with a slight curvature the difference in immersion is quite noticeable, especially in games and movies. As we have mentioned before, one of the advantages of this type of monitor is that in American format films those horrible black horizontal bands below and above disappear, and the image of the film fills the entire screen thus maximizing the viewing area.
With games, in most cases (at least those compatible with ultra-wide monitors) we will have a certain advantage because we will literally be seeing a greater area of the stage than our rivals. In competitive MMO-type games it is a great advantage, but if we talk about MOBAs like League of Legends, it means that you will see your enemies arrive sooner.
