ultrawide monitor mainly for work
Discussion
My employer has started giving out allowances to employees to get a decent monitor for their home offices. I've been eyeing up 4K ultrawide curved ones. It would be driven from a macbook pro and a macbook air, i guess ideally though USB-C? Review sites seem fairly inconclusive. Any recommendations please?
What is your workflow like? What programs do you use?
Really the best resolution and format depends on the sort of work you are doing and how good your eyes are.
A budget is also useful. Ultimately you get what you pay for, so if your company has set a £1k budget, you might as well splash out and not bother with budget £200 monitors, especially if your use case demands specific characteristics like colour accuracy.
OP please specify, otherwise you will get all sorts of suggestions for all sorts of use cases. Was a thread here about a month back… ran the whole gamut.
Really the best resolution and format depends on the sort of work you are doing and how good your eyes are.
A budget is also useful. Ultimately you get what you pay for, so if your company has set a £1k budget, you might as well splash out and not bother with budget £200 monitors, especially if your use case demands specific characteristics like colour accuracy.
OP please specify, otherwise you will get all sorts of suggestions for all sorts of use cases. Was a thread here about a month back… ran the whole gamut.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 6th January 23:15
fair enough. Well the budget is 400 euro, so like £350 or whatever. I am happy to put more to it but probably preferred the same again, so total £700 or so. Most monitors seemed to be measured on their effectiveness for gaming or video editing, of which i do neither. I don't use anything for work which involves visual animation or things like that. I will go and try and find the other thread. Cheers
I use a Samasung C34J79x a lot of the time for work and it is also driven from a Macbook Pro via USB C.
I like it as it powers the macbook pro and acts as a dock for my keyboard/mouse receiver, audio and ethernet adapter so it's one cable in and out making it much nicer.
Mines on an arm and the macbook is on another arm to keep the desk clear and it works nicely.
I like it as it powers the macbook pro and acts as a dock for my keyboard/mouse receiver, audio and ethernet adapter so it's one cable in and out making it much nicer.
Mines on an arm and the macbook is on another arm to keep the desk clear and it works nicely.
You've probably already noticed, but 4K screens don't come in ultrawide formats (the display ratios are all wrong).
I have a 43" 16:9 4K panel that I use for gaming and it's just the wrong kind of screen for working, in my opinion. For productivity I use a 34" 21:9 running at 3440x1440 which I find is just about perfect; it's quite awkward to have to move your head up and down to see things whereas looking side-to-side feels much more natural. It's a Dell U3415W and a few years old now, but anything similar will be just as good I'm sure.
I have a 43" 16:9 4K panel that I use for gaming and it's just the wrong kind of screen for working, in my opinion. For productivity I use a 34" 21:9 running at 3440x1440 which I find is just about perfect; it's quite awkward to have to move your head up and down to see things whereas looking side-to-side feels much more natural. It's a Dell U3415W and a few years old now, but anything similar will be just as good I'm sure.
This video is pretty helpful if you're looking to run it off a laptop.
Thinking in terms of ergonomics, its always best for your neck if you are looking straight ahead.
I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 7th January 21:58
wyson said:
Thinking in terms of ergonomics, its always best for your neck if you are looking straight ahead.
I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
I have wondered if that is the case, or I'm just not giving wide-screen monitors a chance. We have them in our offices now, and I can't get used to them. I much prefer two normal 16:9 screens, with one nearly straight ahead where 80% of my attention is.I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
Edited by wyson on Friday 7th January 21:58
Are you sure you want an ultra wide screen and do you do work that lends itself to that over two screens?
I spent some time in ergonomic furniture shops discussing my needs and best practice.
Ended up with an electric height adjustable desk, monitor arms and ergonomic chair, was shown how to adjust everything properly.
Honestly have done 18 hour days and not felt a thing for years since getting that kit and following their advice, where as before, I kept suffering from dead legs, twinges in my neck, stiff shoulders etc.
Ended up with an electric height adjustable desk, monitor arms and ergonomic chair, was shown how to adjust everything properly.
Honestly have done 18 hour days and not felt a thing for years since getting that kit and following their advice, where as before, I kept suffering from dead legs, twinges in my neck, stiff shoulders etc.
deckster said:
You've probably already noticed, but 4K screens don't come in ultrawide formats (the display ratios are all wrong).
I have a 43" 16:9 4K panel that I use for gaming and it's just the wrong kind of screen for working, in my opinion. For productivity I use a 34" 21:9 running at 3440x1440 which I find is just about perfect; it's quite awkward to have to move your head up and down to see things whereas looking side-to-side feels much more natural. It's a Dell U3415W and a few years old now, but anything similar will be just as good I'm sure.
And then you have me who moved from the 49” Odyssey G9 to a 43” gaming monitor, because once you experience the crispness of 4K text, you can’t go back. Plus, I don’t overly like the way macOS handles ultrawides in terms of window management. I have a 43" 16:9 4K panel that I use for gaming and it's just the wrong kind of screen for working, in my opinion. For productivity I use a 34" 21:9 running at 3440x1440 which I find is just about perfect; it's quite awkward to have to move your head up and down to see things whereas looking side-to-side feels much more natural. It's a Dell U3415W and a few years old now, but anything similar will be just as good I'm sure.
wyson said:
Thinking in terms of ergonomics, its always best for your neck if you are looking straight ahead.
I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
I have a super ultrawide, normally at work I would have 2 monitors side by side.I would be wary of an ultra wide screen 21:9 monitor for MS Office type work.
You might need two documents side by side, in which case you want your main work straight ahead and the other document off to the side, so you are looking mostly ahead.
You can most easily achieve this by buying two monitors and mounting them on arms.
With a 21:9 ultrawide, sitting in the middle, you will keep having to look side to side, which isn’t the best.
Anyway, I won’t keep speculating. Why do you think a 21:9 curved ultrawide will be best? Or do you mean a 16:9 curved monitor?
Edited by wyson on Friday 7th January 21:58
This is much better, the lack of gap in the middle is a plus and the curve means I'm not constantly changing focus.
Yes there is the turn on the neck, but we would be doing that anyway and the increased work area is necessary for my role.
wyson said:
Thinking in terms of ergonomics, its always best for your neck if you are looking straight ahead.
This is why I am trying 3 monitors (2 x 24 and a 27 in the middle) at one desk, and a 34" ultrawide at another. I like the extra space of 2 ~24 or 27" monitors, but find not having one straight ahead annoying. Curious which I will end up preferring.Blown2CV said:
fair enough. Well the budget is 400 euro, so like £350 or whatever. I am happy to put more to it but probably preferred the same again, so total £700 or so. Most monitors seemed to be measured on their effectiveness for gaming or video editing, of which i do neither. I don't use anything for work which involves visual animation or things like that. I will go and try and find the other thread. Cheers
I have two SH Dell 30” running side by side at work plus a laptop. The 30” screens were ~£250 each from eBay. I have a 43” monitor (landscape) next to a 24” (portrait) pair at home. On balance I prefer the 30” pair. I can get two >A4 images on each screen, and I tend to work on one and refer to the other. There is some heading turning required rather than eye turning.
The 43” is really too big for two page sized images side by side.It will display three pages well, but that means having two (say) Adobe windows open as my software won’t display three pages, though even then there is an unused/unusable strip of screen at the top. And there is still head turning rather than eye turning. The 24” tends to get used for reference.
I went for a curved Dell ultrawide which is also a built in KVM hub
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/dell-ultrasharp-34...
The wireless keyboard and mouse swap over between the PC and laptop, and it's hotkey swappable. I also set up the sound so it's driven off the monitor through an external SoundBlaster, for as seamless an experience as possible.
Workwise, I tend to have main doc in the middle, and reference doc on the left. Most other programs are scattered around but usually so a corner or an edge is showing. For email/calendar, it's tall enough to stack the two Outlook windows on the left and still have a "main" window in the middle while I work, which means I can keep an eye on incoming email subjects without swapping windows or interrupting my flow.
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/dell-ultrasharp-34...
The wireless keyboard and mouse swap over between the PC and laptop, and it's hotkey swappable. I also set up the sound so it's driven off the monitor through an external SoundBlaster, for as seamless an experience as possible.
Workwise, I tend to have main doc in the middle, and reference doc on the left. Most other programs are scattered around but usually so a corner or an edge is showing. For email/calendar, it's tall enough to stack the two Outlook windows on the left and still have a "main" window in the middle while I work, which means I can keep an eye on incoming email subjects without swapping windows or interrupting my flow.
I got this recently after a bit of a search for home MS Office type stuff, its great for what I wanted to spend, I paid £350. I run a mac and a windows (for the work stuff) laptop on it and its very good. No on board audio or webcam though FYI.
NB The Dell Screen Manager doesn't work well on Mac, but I have had no issues as a result, I just manually move the various panes, whereas on windows the app can set various layouts for you.
Dell S3221QS is the one, 5 yr warranty from Dell too.
I now go to work where I have 2 HD screens and it feels rubbish. One 4k is much better.
NB The Dell Screen Manager doesn't work well on Mac, but I have had no issues as a result, I just manually move the various panes, whereas on windows the app can set various layouts for you.
Dell S3221QS is the one, 5 yr warranty from Dell too.
I now go to work where I have 2 HD screens and it feels rubbish. One 4k is much better.
Ultrawide is nice but you still need a second screen IMO as it's 'only' 21:9 - works well with a laptop though providing the second screen. That's how my setup is in the office (so long ago ......),
If you are going to buy one for home, go super-ultrawide (ie 32:9 aspect ratio). It gives you the equivalent of two 16:9 screens but without a bezel.
I got a G9 and don't regret it. 49" 32:9 5120x1440 ... effectively like 2x 27" 16:9 1440p displays. It seems excessively curved the first time you set eyes on it but in fact it works extremely well to 'wrap around' your field of view at sitting distance and you quickly don't even notice it.
Works great - most modern hardware can drive it with no issues for displaying a desktop (speed in games might be a problem though if you wanted to use full resolution, you definitely need a powerful gfx card for that).
You can even drive it as if it were two monitors using a second cable from the PC, there is a 'picture by picture' mode that puts the screens side by side on the monitor screen using two video inputs. Also useful for running two completely different things at the same time on the same screen, like a computer and games console.
The only drawback IMO is lack of video inputs ... the G9 has 2x DP and 1x HDMI. I'd like to see another HDMI and a full function USB-C that could also power a suitable laptop. My Ultrawide at work has that and it is excellent - truly a single cable for power, video and connection to the USB hub in the monitor, it's a surprising omission on something so expensive as the G9. There are no speakers but it does have a headphone output that you can hook to external audio (or you just connect your PC or whatever directly to an amp).
If you are going to buy one for home, go super-ultrawide (ie 32:9 aspect ratio). It gives you the equivalent of two 16:9 screens but without a bezel.
I got a G9 and don't regret it. 49" 32:9 5120x1440 ... effectively like 2x 27" 16:9 1440p displays. It seems excessively curved the first time you set eyes on it but in fact it works extremely well to 'wrap around' your field of view at sitting distance and you quickly don't even notice it.
Works great - most modern hardware can drive it with no issues for displaying a desktop (speed in games might be a problem though if you wanted to use full resolution, you definitely need a powerful gfx card for that).
You can even drive it as if it were two monitors using a second cable from the PC, there is a 'picture by picture' mode that puts the screens side by side on the monitor screen using two video inputs. Also useful for running two completely different things at the same time on the same screen, like a computer and games console.
The only drawback IMO is lack of video inputs ... the G9 has 2x DP and 1x HDMI. I'd like to see another HDMI and a full function USB-C that could also power a suitable laptop. My Ultrawide at work has that and it is excellent - truly a single cable for power, video and connection to the USB hub in the monitor, it's a surprising omission on something so expensive as the G9. There are no speakers but it does have a headphone output that you can hook to external audio (or you just connect your PC or whatever directly to an amp).
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