5 reasons why your next monitor should be a super ultrawide beast

I’ve enjoyed using a super ultrawide monitor for a few years now, and while I recently switched to a 4K panel, I only lasted a couple of weeks before needing to switch back to the beast. If you’ve been considering a new monitor for work, play, or both, I’ve got a few reasons why you should shortlist some ultrawide screens. With a super ultrawide, you’ll become more productive, enjoy an immersive gaming experience, and save money (and space) compared to a dual-screen setup.

5

You’ll become more productive

Larger screen real estate for more apps

Having more open apps on your monitor simultaneously will improve productivity, allowing you to interact with multiple elements without switching between them. This is possible with window snapping on a single screen, but an ultrawide (and especially a super ultrawide) monitor will offer more real estate for deploying open windows. Instead of having to sacrifice width to get more content from other sources on the same screen, you can freely move between windows with plenty of pixels to spare.

Once you’ve worked up a productive flow with shortcuts and every other tool your chosen OS offers, you’ll have no trouble getting more work done in the same allotted time. The same goes for downtime too with more room for watching background videos or playing games while performing other tasks — I don’t recommend combining work and play on the same screen.

4

It’s incredible for PC gaming

Immerse yourself with incredible views

Speaking of gaming. Super ultrawide monitors are exceptionally good for gaming. Whether you’re rocking around on a horse as Henry in Kingdom Come Deliverance II or smashing skulls with Johnny in Cyberpunk 2077, a super ultrawide provides the equivalent of two full-size screens combined. Imagine using both QHD monitors for the same game without having a thick bezel separating the two panels. That’s essentially a 32:9 super ultrawide. Once you’ve experienced it, the move back to 16:9 is a difficult one.

I’m still stunned by how gorgeous X4: Foundations looks with a 32:9 monitor. Getting to check out more expansive vistas without moving a muscle is simply breathtaking, so long as your system can keep up with the number of pixels.

3

Better than two screens

Look, ma, no bezels!

The worst part of using multiple monitors in a configuration is the bezels. Unless you’re using two panels with minimal borders (and even then they’re still present), you’ll have to deal with a black vertical line in the middle of your combined desktop. That’s not the case with a super ultrawide panel, which has expansive real estate across the entire surface area. You can have as many windows open as you wish and position them anywhere on the screen without cutting the UI up.

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3 ways an ultrawide monitor is better than two screens

Some reasons why you should consider an ultrawide as your next monitor

2

Buying one monitor can save you money

More cost-effective

Because a super ultrawide monitor is just one screen, you won’t have to double the cost. The same cannot be said for picking up two FHD or QHD screens. Depending on the specs, you could be looking at more than $1,000 for two capable displays compared to less than that for an equally good 32:9 widescreen. And because you’re buying just one screen, there’s a good chance the specifications for your ultrawide will surpass that of the two smaller displays since you’d need to cut the cost for it to make sense.

1

Saves system resources

More efficient than dual displays

Picking up a UHD display for more pixels to be present will require additional system resources. Combine two QHD or UHD panels and you’ll be tasking your system to stream data to two different destinations. A single super ultrawide monitor, usually 5120 x 1440, will not demand as much yet will be closer to 4K in terms of gaming and screen estate than FHD and QHD. To be clear, this is only the case when pushing the displays hard with gaming across both panels.

Go big or go home

Size absolutely matters when it comes to choosing the right monitor for the job. You don’t want to buy a 34-inch FHD screen as it’ll be a terrible experience compared to QHD and UHD. The same goes for comparing a super ultrawide against a standard 16:9 monitor. More games are supporting 21:9 and even 32:9 aspect ratios, so there’s very little reason not to jump ship and try out a huge display. You’ll be able to get more done with multiple apps displayed and won’t have to battle a split in the middle of a dual-screen setup.