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Ultrawide monitors
- Thread starter SDAVE
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I understand where you are coming from because I thought the exact same thing. And I still think that it is true for TVs.
But when sitting close to a monitor, it is a different thing altogether. I went from curve hater to being appreciative of curvature in ultrawide monitors. For 21:9, curved is now my "slight preference". For something 32:9 like h9826790's Sammy, I'd almost think of it as a requirement.
If you do an image search for "triple monitor", you'll see that the vast majority of people tilt the left and right monitors toward the seating position. A curved monitor is doing just that, except smoothly and more subtly.
Dell now has two different 21:9 WHQD (1440) curved monitors, with different levels of curvature. So you can get "mild" curved with U3415W, or "aggressive" curve with U3417W.
It took very little time to see it as perfectly natural. But there is something about the quality of the Apple Displays I miss.
Curved displays may work great for gaming and other uses but I'm a CADD designer. When working in CADD you have many straight lines on your display, and they need to look straight! Curved displays make the lines look curved so most people using CADD will not use a curved display. They call it a horror story when they buy one not expecting the actual result.
Bit late to the party, but I've got the LG 38UC99 and love it. Mostly for use with Adobe CC apps (InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere).
Bit late to the party, but I've got the LG 38UC99 and love it. Mostly for use with Adobe CC apps (InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere).
Yeah that's the other one I was looking into. Is there a non-curved version of this?
I don't believe so, Dell have a model with the same panel and I believe they curve them because it makes it easier to see the entirety of the display without having to move your head.
Do you know, it's actually the same panel or just the same size? I bought my UW3818 before I saw the LG and am having panel envy. LG displays are normally gorgeous.
Does the LG auto-switch the DP1.2 to DP1.1 to show the boot menu?
I own the LG 38UC99 as well as the flat 34UM95. The curved version gives a better experience overall.
Tom's Hardware has the answer to the question of actual panels used in the competing displays.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dell-u3818dw-curved-monitor,5282.html
"The largest such displays now come in a 38” configuration with a 37.5” viewable area. We’ve already looked at LG’s 38UC99 and Acer’s XR382CQK. Both are clearly intended for gamers with FreeSync and a 75Hz refresh rate.
Today, we’re checking out Dell’s U3818DW. While it's based on a similar AH-IPS panel part from LG Display, it trades gaming features for a factory-certified calibration, 10-bit color, and professional-level accuracy. It also sports 3840x1600-pixel resolution, tank-like build quality, and up-to-date connectivity with HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.1 Type C."
I can live with that.
No more FOMA!
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dell-u3818dw-curved-monitor,5282.html
"The largest such displays now come in a 38” configuration with a 37.5” viewable area. We’ve already looked at LG’s 38UC99 and Acer’s XR382CQK. Both are clearly intended for gamers with FreeSync and a 75Hz refresh rate.
Today, we’re checking out Dell’s U3818DW. While it's based on a similar AH-IPS panel part from LG Display, it trades gaming features for a factory-certified calibration, 10-bit color, and professional-level accuracy. It also sports 3840x1600-pixel resolution, tank-like build quality, and up-to-date connectivity with HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.1 Type C."
I can live with that.
No more FOMA!
Not sure what that reviewer is smoking, but like the Acer the LG 38UC99 is factory calibrated. You can also calibrate it yourself if desired: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_38uc99.htm
The claim that is primarily a gaming monitor is pretty silly considering the TH reviewer in his own review of the LG wrote: "$1500 is a lot of money to spend on any monitor, but this one can truly do it all. When the games are put away in favor of actual work, it delivers superb color, grayscale, and gamma performance."
https://www.tomshardware.com/review...ved-ultra-wide-freesync-monitor,4831-6.html#2
It's the same panel, calibrated to the same standard. I was going to buy the Dell originally but found the LG on offer elsewhere.
You mean "CAD", right?
Whether or not curved displays "bend" lines may be a complete myth/misconception. Have you actually tried CAD using a curve display and can speak from experiences, or this is just what you would think? Many say that a flat screen can "bend" lines when it moves out of your central vision. I think the jury is still out whether or not curved screens are "bad" for CAD work. At any rate, we know that the curving is pretty subtle, so I doubt it would have any impact for CAD. Being more immersed in anything you do is a plus.
I just have to say, that yarn demon in the cup is a little bit disturbing.
It's even more disturbing when he steals your car!
[doublepost=1526249134][/doublepost]No.... I mean what I said "CADD". Computer-Aided Design and Drafting. = CADD
38 years of CADD experience (McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Ford Aerospace & more). Now retired but still using CADD daily as a hobby and some Freelance work. I'm on several engineering forums and still have a LOT of friends in the industry. I take their word for it when they tell me of their experiences with curved displays. Everyone I know who has tried one for CADD has returned the display within days.
It's not a myth or misconception that the lines curve, it's simple geometry. A straight horizontal line on a curved display will look exactly straight only if the line is exactly at eye level. Move the line above or below eye level and you will see the curve. The further the line is from eye level the more you will see the curve. This is why they call it a horror story. A straight horizontal line at eye level will look straight. Make another at 3" above or below eye level and it will look slightly curved. Make another 6" above or below eye level and it will look even more curved. So you can have 7 or 8 horizontal lines on your screen and they all have a different amount of curve. It's simple basic geometry. No Voodoo here.
I could make you a simple diagram if it would help to clear things up for you...
I hate to Trump you with my age and experience but I'm retired from CADD Design and 63 years old. You still have a bit to learn.
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Interesting. I have no experience on CADD. I was trained to not trust my feeling but only the instrument. If the computer tell me it’s a straight line, then it’s a straight line. May be this is why I can use a curve monitor without issue. The software will tell me if it’s a straight line
Not, as it may have a bug! (as usual)Interesting. I have no experience on CADD. I was trained to not trust my feeling but only the instrument. If the computer tell me it’s a straight line, then it’s a straight line. May be this is why I can use a curve monitor without issue. The software will tell me if it’s a straight line
I would like to ask you how the CHG90 is over. Did not you regret that you bought it? Well fit into the apple ecosystem. Is not it cumbersome to use?
Now I want to buy this one too. Now there is a LG 34UC98.
Does it make sense to replace it? I'm doing CAD-CAM, internet, little game etc.
Thank!
The monitor works well for me.
This monitor is definitely built for gaming. So, gaming is not an issue at all.
Using browser is better than I expect because now I can open 3 Windows SBS, and focus on the centre one, with 2 assistant windows on left and right.
But I don't know if this is good for CAD/CAM. For me, it works well for other usage including PS / Affinity Photos, FCPX, Blender, etc.
Of course, there is NOT no down side. This monitor's resolution is low (by today's standard), or more precisely, the PPI is low. IMO, with native resolution, the text actually looks bad in macOS. I found a work around which is to enable HiDPI, therefore, the monitor's UI still display at 3840x1080, but rendering at 7680x2160. With this setting, the text look much smoother in normal viewing distance.
Both colour accuracy and brightness is good enough for me, however it's NOT IPS (but VA) panel. For me, it's not an issue at all. This is a 1800R monitor, which means if the view point is 1800mm away from the screen, your view distance won't change across the screen. But I don't think anyone will do that, it's too far away. The manual suggested optimum distance is 45-50cm, but my personal experience feel that about 80cm is the sweet spot. For 1440P monitor, may be you really want 45-50cm, otherwise, the UI / text will me too small small to read. And this is why I give up 1440P but go for this 1080P setup. I can now sit back, relax, but still easily read everything on the monitor. (I believe Samsung is just lazy to determine the real optimum view point for this monitor. 45-50cm is very reasonable for 27" monitor, but definitely doesn't make any sense for 49" monitor. Since this CHG90 is marketing as "putting two 27" monitors together", so may be they simply copy the optimum view distance from a normal 27" monitor)
Back to colour accuracy, except the very last inch on the screen edge. 80cm view point is good enough to maintain visual colour accuracy on this VA panel. But if your setting not allow you to do that, or you often need to show your work to someone next to you. Then VA can be an issue.
In terms of compatibility. It's 100% plug and play in macOS. All my 7950, R9 380, GTX 1080Ti can drive it without any issue. Of course, of older can't, it's not possible to deliver 144Hz or HDR, but the macOS will handle that automatically.
For boot screen (from my HD7950), I MUST set the DP setting to DP 1.1. But if I want 3840x1080 @144Hz, I must set DP to DP 1.2 or higher. The monitor UI is easy to use, and I rarely need boot screen, so, not too annoying to me. But if you need boot screen, this is something you need to think about.
The only function that I can't get it work so far in macOS is NightShift (I mean even with software hack). But since this monitor has 3 profiles quick switch. So, I made one profile with warm colour as "night mode", and I can switch to this mode within 1 second. Very handy.
Compare to 34UC98, CHG90 has less pixels, much lower PPI, not IPS, no speakers. But much bigger in size, much faster respond time, higher brightness, much higher contrast, much higher refresh rate. If you don't need any bigger size monitor, but want better resolution, go for 38" 3840x1600 may be a better option for working monitor.
Thanks for the reply. I like the pictures in the pictures.
Are building quality and materials good?
Build quality is very good on my one. But I don't know if this model is generally well built, or I am lucky.
Anyway, What I didn't expect is the back light is really good. This kind of light usually only exist on gaming monitor, but not working monitor. With the back light, I can now switch off all other ambient lights but can still comfortably work / game on the monitor (and able to read the no backlight Apple board).
Thank you!
Is the monitor completely plastic or is it metal?
You have backlight bleed?
Mainly plastic, otherwise, I believe the weight penalty will be very significant.
No backlight bleed, at least, I can't see any irregular backlight bleed. But as expected, QLED screen can't display true black like OLED screen, so, it's still very dark grey but not black.
It's hard to capture the black screen in dark by my iPhone 6+. The picture make it looks like some bleeding at the top middle position, but those light are actually the noise of the photo (light reflection from the wall)
This screen is on, and playing pure black video
This is with the UI to let you know that it's actually playing video but not switched off.