A few years ago, I ditched the concept of a dual monitor setup as 30″+ displays started to come down in price, and getting a single large monitor instead of multiple smaller ones made more sense.
After using my trusty Samsung SJ55W 34″ widescreen for a while, I recently tired of the widescreen monitor. It’s not that it didn’t meet my needs; it’s the fact that I program and do stream and screen recording.
The resolution on my beloved Samsung widescreen was 3440×1440 Pixels, which doesn’t lend itself to streaming. You can implement workarounds in Streamlabs and other streaming software, but you either lose some of your display or end up with black bars.
This might seem strange, but I opted for a curved widescreen monitor. I didn’t want to spend too much, because I wasn’t sure if I would like a curved display. So, I purchased the Dell 32 S3222HG monitor.
It’s smaller than my 34″ widescreen (which I have kept and now use in a vertical orientation), but I find it easier to work on. Not to mention, it fits on my desk better. The curve means I don’t need to have such a deep desk or position it in a way where it’s comfortable to look at.
Some of my colleagues and friends rave about curved monitors. I had sat on the fence for a while because the concept felt like a gimmick. It’s not until you use a curved monitor you realise it’s not a gimmick.
The display’s curvature when you’re staring at it for hours feels natural and less fatiguing. I wasn’t sure if I imagined this, so I did some research, and the display’s curvature is more natural and easier for your eyes to focus on due to the field of value compared to a flat widescreen.
The true test of any monitor for me is programming. After some calibration, I found the monitor wasn’t any worse to work on despite being a smaller resolution. Sure, given it’s only a 1920 x 1080 monitor, it’s not as crisp, but it’s still a great monitor that fits my programming needs and streaming and gaming.
Inevitably, I’ll probably look for a higher resolution curved monitor in the future. But, I don’t miss the increased resolution, and I find programming with a curved monitor to feel nicer.
