How adequate/awful are Office docs & emails on a curved monitor?

[esde]

Someone has suggested that (as I am seeking a new monitor) that I should consider a curved monitor as I do enjoy RPG (Skyrim, Mass Effect, Dishonored, et al) games but I am dubious as to how well (or not) Windows, Word documents, emails, etc, are displayed on a curved screen.

Tis a >2 hour round trip to the nearest store, so I was wondering if anyone could share possibly their curved monitor experiences regarding this aspect?

[virtuo]

I think they are better for office/productivity work than they are for gaming.

Nice to get 4 pages side by side in a word document, and Excel is pretty intimidating full-screen. I spend 90% of my time coding and getting a few windowsside-by-side is a massive plus.

You forget about the curve most of the time, you only notice it if you are looking at the top or bottom of the screen, in normal use all the windows look square enough to me.

If your main use is going to be for gaming, the novelty wears off pretty quickly, I'd invest in a larger/4K screen or higher refresh rate (if your GPU is half decent), it'll be a better upgrade.

[DanceswithUnix]

I bought my daughter a curved 1920x1080 monitor last month, the curve wasn't part of the purchase decision and I don't think she notices or cares that it is curved in use. She remarked on the colours being an improvement on her old screen but nothing else. Thread on that is here: https://forums.hexus.net/displays-mo...s-monitor.html

Personally I went for a 27" 1440p flat gaming monitor. I wouldn't be able to see individual pixels at 4K, so this seems a good balance of pixel density and gives me a really good working area for coding and documents. For gaming, 27" pretty much fills my vision so eg falling off a cliff in game really makes my stomach lurch. Being high refresh rate helps too.

[esde]

Thanks for your postings which were most helpful.

If a curved screen does not significantly enhance the gaming experience, there appears to be little reason to go down that route at all.

I am on the cusp of ordering a new PC system, based on the GTX1070.

Out of curiosity DanceswithUnix, which monitor did you purchase?

I currently have a 24" LG24M77 which I have been very pleased with:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/lg-24g...w-33157-8.html
The colours are excellent and the high refresh rate has convinced me that I would struggle to return to a 60hz monitor.

However, I would like a 27" monitor on my desk but am a tad limited budget wise @ <£499, although I (erm, my responsible adult) would prefer that the figure actually start with a 3. <sigh>

[virtuo]

If a curved screen does not significantly enhance the gaming experience, there appears to be little reason to go down that route at all.

I don't want to put you off it too much as it's only my opinion, there are a couple of types of games where you look at it and think, "yeah that's very nice" - think flight/space sims, some FPS, and driving games where a wider FOV is useful. But I still think 16:9 is king for gaming.

At the time I got mine I was running ROTTR on it, and while it looked nice it was a bit disorientating watching so much scenery whizzing by when you are making right turns. Same with Rocket League, you see a lot but it's no easier to play.

I've found quite a few games that plain just don't like that resolution/aspect ratio as well, either crashing or glitching out.

I did get C&C RA2 going on it with some tinkering. couldn't see a thing but it was superb all the same.

Dell U3415W 3440x1440

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Curved monitors are a bit meh as TVs and for my usage even more meh,as for image editing the curve does not help plus you increase the chance of reflections. If anything curved monitors and screens make sense only at larger sizes and perhaps for certain kinds of games IMHO.

[DanceswithUnix]

Out of curiosity DanceswithUnix, which monitor did you purchase?

Not sure you can get it any more, but as in my "DancesWithUnix's System" tab on the left my monitor is a Benq XL2730Z. It is FreeSync which wouldn't help you much, but tbh I have run it as a fixed 144Hz monitor and that works pretty well. It was £450 back then, I would hope you can get something as good for cheaper these days.

In fact, first place I looked there seems far more choice these days. Nothing G-sync in there for your price range, but as long as it is fast enough refresh you should be OK.


https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Compute...ending&410=Yes

So looks like £380 gets you something that looks OK. Good luck with the review reading, always feels like my head will explode from reading reviews when I buy a monitor

I don't want to put you off it too much as it's only my opinion, there are a couple of types of games where you look at it and think, "yeah that's very nice" - think flight/space sims, some FPS, and driving games where a wider FOV is useful. But I still think 16:9 is king for gaming.

Not all curved screens are ultra-wide, my daughter's one is 16:9 1080p.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Novatech has a good deal on a 27" 4K IPS monitor with FreeSync:

https://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...27ud69p-w.html

Edit!!

Here is a review:

https://www.144hzmonitors.com/review...7ud69p-review/

It seems to use a 10 bit panel(8 bit + FRC).

[DanceswithUnix]

Does 4K really work yet, gaming frame rate and Windows scaling?

[virtuo]

Not all curved screens are ultra-wide, my daughter's one is 16:9 1080p.

Whoops, never even picked up on that, just interpreted it as a UW question

[Agrroz]

Curved monitors are overrated, you barely notice it on most monitors and you need something like a ultrawide or 40" 16:9 where it starts to become a benefit from my experience.

I used a 48" curved samsung TV as a monitor for a year or so and at that size from about 2 feet away it was alright but not essential.

[Fantom]

Im using a dell u3417w at the moment for office tasks, it a fantastic monitor but I could take or leave the curve.