In summer 2023, I made a significant decision: I replaced my two small monitors with a large model. Now, almost 3 years later, I can say that it was the best decision I could have made.
The initial situation: For many years, I only worked and played with a single monitor, as that was usually sufficient for my daily tasks. However, with the increasing responsibilities as an editor and other tasks, one monitor quickly led to problems:
- If I want to do research, writing, and corrections on one monitor, I constantly have to look for and switch windows. This regularly disrupted my “workflow” and cost me time.
- Additionally, I still need to communicate with colleagues and keep track of other things. With one monitor, this simply became unmanageable over time.
The first change: Eventually, I placed a second monitor next to the first one. I hoped this would solve my problems for the time being. And indeed: while I had more space, completely new problems arose:
- Constantly switching back and forth between two devices became tiring compared to having everything on one display.
- I had no good way to securely place both monitors side by side, which led to chaos every time and was extremely annoying.
- When I wanted to play on the computer after work, the second monitor annoyed me, as I couldn’t use it since the content there just distracted me from gaming.
A good friend finally recommended that I replace the two small models with a large one. And that’s exactly what I did, and I don’t regret that step to this day.
3 years with a large monitor: The best decision for my daily life
The current situation: For the reasons mentioned, I replaced the two small devices with a large device: UWQHD resolution and 34 inches. All of a sudden, I had significantly more space on my desk and especially more space on the display.
This solved nearly all my problems in one fell swoop: I can handle all work steps on one display without constantly moving windows or searching for things. In gaming, I benefit from the high resolution, which feels much more immersive and natural than with a small display.
After about 3 years, I can only say that it has been my best decision for my work life and my gaming experience. My next sensible step would now be to switch to an OLED model.
Are there disadvantages? Yes, there are. On the one hand, many games and movies still do not support UWQHD resolution. This means: Cutscenes or certain menus in games are displayed in 16:9. However, my monitor uses a 21:9 ratio. On my monitor, I then see black bars on the right and left.
Another disadvantage: Game consoles like the PS5 or the Xbox Series X still officially do not support UWQHD resolution. So I have to live with either stretched content on the display or, again, with black bars. You can also read my self-test with the monitor and the PS5 on MeinMMO: I tested my PS5 on an ultrawide monitor and feel forgotten by Sony
