4K or UltraWide? In search of the best gamer monitor: a field report
11.4.2016
Translation: machine translated
The advantages of a really good monitor are often underestimated. A good picture often improves the visual impression in games more than setting the graphics settings from High to Ultra. In addition to rich colours and good illumination, there are two main arguments when buying a monitor: size and resolution. For this reason, I recently switched from a 4K monitor to a 34-inch UltraWide. Find out now whether it was worth it.
Before I entered the elite world of 4K pixel porn (wipe my hand over my shoulder), a 27-inch Dell monitor served me excellently. At 2560 x 1440 pixels, it was no lightweight either. A year ago, I finally treated myself to a 28-inch 4K monitor from Asus with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. The upgrade was definitely noticeable and visible! Games like The Witcher 3, World of Tanks or Star Wars Battlefront look amazing. Oh yes, and the extra space is also very practical for working. Windows 8.1 and 10 scale relatively easily. Which is far from being the case with all programmes. Sometimes the font is too small, the icons too big or the windows blurred. Even the Chrome browser hasn't offered native 4K support for very long. The software manufacturers need to make improvements here.
I need more power
But, and here's the real catch: "With great power comes great responsibility". Or in my case: with a fat resolution comes a fat hardware requirement. A second Nvidia GTX 980 graphics card was needed to be able to play performance-hungry games smoothly with all the details. The processor plays a subordinate role here. Even an i7 6700K wouldn't make any leaps and bounds compared to my i7 4770K. While the fantasy adventure The Witcher 3 ran smoothly, The Division was as tough as leather. I had to reduce the resolution to 2560 x 1440 pixels in order to hit anything in the infested New York. An outrage! The game still looked good, but not like 4K.
I'm spreading out
Thanks to tracking cookies, Father Christmas and a conspiracy between Digitec, Google and monitor manufacturers, my eye fell on an UltraWide monitor a few days ago. The Acer Predator X34 is wider than any stoner and, at 21:9, has the same format as cinema films. I've been fascinated by these giants for a long time. 34 inches, a curved IPS display, 100 hearts and G-Sync to boot (more on this later). You have to let that melt in your mouth. The only flaw: the resolution is "only" 3440 x 1440 pixels (UWQHD), which is less than 4K. However, after a little research, I came to the conclusion that the trade-off - pixel density for a more intense gaming experience - is worth it.
So I decided to buy one of these incredibly expensive monsters. You have to fork out almost 1300 francs for the Acer. ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED! Ufff. The thought of selling my old monitors to recoup at least half of the investment helped a little with my guilty conscience.
I'm impatient, so I naturally wanted to pick it up from the shop as soon as possible. Then I could have played with it a WHOLE day earlier. Uiuiui. But that would have taken just as long as having it delivered to my home for free. Resigned, I chose the dispatch option. The disappointment lasted right up to the moment when the postman delivered the parcel to my front door with the sentence: "Your new TV has arrived". Never before have I been so glad that Digitec's main warehouse is not in Winterthur. Even if it would have been hilarious for the rest of the commuters to watch me manoeuvre what felt like a two-metre-wide, 16-kilogram box onto the city bus. I would probably even have had to buy a second ticket.
Only virtual reality is better
Like a little kid, or er, me at Christmas, I ripped the mega monitor out of its packaging and heaved it onto my desk with an unhealthy crack in my back. Thanks to the massive base, the X34 Predator stands a good deal closer than my old monitor. But with a typical desk depth of 80 centimetres, it's still in the green zone. It also means that the monitor takes up the entire field of view. Great. I quickly tested one game after another and my enjoyment increased with every title. The width really makes the difference - you know how it is 😉 Not only can you see much more of the game, you're right in the middle of it. When you marvel at the white gold panorama in the snowy level of Hoth in Star Wars Battlefront, where colourful laser beams shimmer through the air and explosions light up the night sky, the corners of your mouth go up steeply.
Differences in quality
Most games barely notice the significantly lower pixel density (4,953,600 pixels with UWQHD compared to 8,294,400 pixels with 4K), if at all. I noticed the loss of quality most in Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2, which I suspect is due to the smoothly polished comic look that particularly benefits from 4K. But even on my new Acer, the game still looks damn good. The ship-sinking game World of Warships has also lost some of its lustre. However, the overall gaming fun curve is clearly pointing upwards.
The curvature of the monitor is also not to be sneezed at. It ensures that the viewing distance drops less towards the edges compared to the centre. However, the angle should be a little more pronounced. Compared to curved televisions, where the seating distance is significantly greater and only one person can sit in the centre, you are always optimally aligned in front of the PC
Under the bonnet are the real special features
34-inch monitors are also available in much cheaper versions, but at the expense of two crucial components that ultimately lured me away from my 4K. Firstly, 100 Hz refresh rate (must be activated via the monitor menu) and secondly, G-Sync. The former is particularly effective in games that run at 100 frames per second or more - which is rarely the case with the high resolution. But even below that, it ensures a smoother and more fluid image flow.
G-Sync (requires a current Nvidia graphics card. AMD's alternative is called Freesync), on the other hand, is a hardware solution that makes V-Sync superfluous. Both techniques are used to prevent screen tearing. This gives the viewer the impression that the image is torn, which can be extremely distracting when playing games. With G-Sync, the problem is history - without compromising on performance.
Productivity
Normally, I work with two monitors. I always have the problem that no matter how I align them, I almost get stiff neck. Somehow the working area is always such that I have to twist my head. I can easily position three windows next to each other on an UltraWide. And if I do need a bit more width, such as with the Twitter app Tweetdeck, there's room to mess things up. If any of my bosses are reading this: I'd be even more productive with a 34 UltraWide 😉.
Disadvantages
The most obvious disadvantage is the horrendous purchase price. Mortgage clarifications or early redemption of the pension fund cannot be ruled out. If you only have one monitor in use so far, you can clear out your desk. The X34 needs space, lots of space. And on all sides.
Multitask friends also need to learn to concentrate on gaming. Without a second monitor, the days of watching Let's Plays in parallel are over - unless you do without full-screen view.
The pleasure has limits, thick black limits
While we're on the subject of videos: YouTube films, TV series etc. rely on the widespread 16:9 format. This means you can look forward to two really thick black bars to the left and right of the picture. If you watch films on a PC, on the other hand, you get the full cinema experience without any compromises.
Tinkering is the order of the day
The biggest disadvantage apart from the price, which will probably never disappear, is game compatibility. Many games, especially new ones, natively support the niche 21:9 format, but with old games, as well as many current games, you have to do it yourself if you don't want to stare at two black bars like when watching a video. Sometimes the problem can be solved by manually adjusting the resolution and aspect ratio in a system file. Or you can use the start options in Steam to make the desired corrections. However, there are also programmes such as Flawless Widescreen that can help with compatibility problems. With UltraWide-Monitor, you will have to try things out again and again, and in certain games you will even have to do without bar-free gaming enjoyment completely. Overall, however, the results are positive.
Conclusion: No way back
Despite various hurdles and problems, I don't regret selling my 4K monitor for a second. Gaming and working on a 34-inch UltraWide is a dream. However, should an UltraWide with 5K resolution including technical gaming bells and whistles turn up, I can't guarantee anything. But the hardware requirements for this beast are already giving me nightmares.
In addition to the Acer, there is also this extremely classy Asus with the same features
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.