34" ultrawide curved monitor
I bought LG 34WN80C 34" UltraWide curved monitor. Intended to replace my 17" laptop + 24" monitor setup now that I have a desktop PC again. My old monitor was Dell U2412M UltraSharp. I bought two over the years and I can’t praise it enough.
I never worked on the monitor with a VA panel but I did some reading, saw some comparison videos and concluded that I just don’t wanna risk downgrading from IPS.
Next, I decided against going with 32" 4K since higher resolution on smaller real estate means everything would be tiny unless I increase scale in Windows which would bring me back to single monitor dimensions. And apparently not all software deals with scaling correctly.
I’m not a gamer and I mainly use the monitor for two purposes: work and leisure. Work consists of having open about 4-5 apps at a time. The non-work time I spend browsing random stuff, listening to music and just watching a lot of tv and movies (via Netflix, YouTube or download).
This monitor has a "normal" refresh rate of 60hz which I guess makes it not good for serious gaming but I still hope I’ll manage to run some older games (like GTA V) for a bit.
This model also doesn’t feature speakers like the more expensive 34WN85C but I have external ones anyway and would rather take USB-C and lower price than 5W crappy built-in speakers.
¶ First impressions
Turns out a lot of blockbuster movies are filmed in 21:9 resolution so there are no black bars and the experience is great, provided good enough movie quality. Now minimum quality for my downloads will have to be 1080p which means more space on disk. I think Netflix automatically chooses quality based on my connecting which is not great so I’m stuck at 720p there but planning to ditch them anyway. Vertical black bars for TV shows and YouTube look a bit weird and will take getting used to.
The curve feels very natural. Like it’s always supposed to be that way. It doesn’t interfere in any way.
I don’t like LG’s large, ugly monitor stand. The Dell stand was much better but that’s a minor objection. Bigger disappointment is only 2 USB-3 ports. My old monitor had USB-2 but 6 of those (4 in the back and 2 on the side) so now I either have to buy a USB hub or move some of my peripheral connections onto PC. Exact possibilities of USB-C I’m yet to figure. For now, I’m just using it to connect the monitor to my machine so I can use other USB ports on the monitor for my mouse and keyboard.
I couldn’t find out monitor controls until a friend pointed out a joystick thingy below the center of the screen. I’m yet to tweak any display settings, but out-of-the-box picture looks good. And I’m yet to play with LG’s official software for managing screen space.
Also gonna need to increase mouse sensitivity. Feels like I need to swing my arm to get from one end of the screen onto the other.
I do feel like now I’m sitting too close to the screen but my desk doesn’t really allow me to go further back. I hope this won’t become a serious issue.
¶ Second-month impression
The image is very nice. Hardly needed to change any default settings. For screen managing, I ditched LG software and went with WinDock. Distance is not an issue. My old Dell now feels super tiny. The weirdest this was getting used to not having a browser on full screen.
Work - since I use multiple apps and don’t do any video or sound editing, I feel a dual monitor would be a superb solution.
Curve - for gaming it might make sense but at this size and distance, I don’t feel it adds anything. Not that I mind it much but I think the tech store guy was right saying it’s just a current marketing trick.
Stand - Monitor wobbles very noticeable when I type. A cheap Ikea desk and crappy stand equal terrible experience for someone who types by kicking the keyboard. I’ll probably need to invest in a wall stand to prevent this. Sigh.
TV - laying at 2m distance, the picture is nice but the majority of what I watch is still at 16:9 and vertical black bars and more noticeable than horizontal so I’m often reminded of wasted space. Also, I started to notice bleeding on the edges. Not sure if it’s ISP glow or backlight bleeding and would it be less or more on a regular flat screen.
¶ Conclusion
Not big quality of life improvement I hoped for, considering the price. I should have gone with a bigger flat 16:9 ISP + laptop setup.