LG 21:9 vs Crossover 27"/30"

[Kirihuna]

I'm looking into buying a monitor this Summer (this coming last May).

LG has revised their new 21:9 IPS display and Anandtech says it's about 1ms response time when calibrated, however it is 21:9. So 2560x1080. It's more immersive in games I hear. But am I missing out?

Crossover has their 27" 2560x1440 and 30" 2560x1600. Both sound tempting. However, I don't know many in-depth reviews on the latest versions or the 30". Which should I go for?

LG is about $650-750, depending if there is a sale or not.
27" Crossover is about $300-500 depending on the perfect pixel or not I've seen on ebay.
30" Crossover is about $600-700.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

21:9 monitors are smaller, and especially much shorter in height.

 

[_Rick_]

These 21:9 monitors are smaller

Fixed that.
29"/1080p is just too small for a 21:9 screen, in my opinion. Go check the sizes out at a local shop, so you can compare, but for me 1600 vertical pixels is the way to go.
Of course, going with a cheap 30" is risky, as colors and backlighting won't be great, and you have a higher risk of stuck pixels.

You may want to look at the new Dell 30".

On the other hand, if you're into FPSes, then the 21:9 might be better, as having less pixels to render, means less strain on the graphics card, and no need to drop to non-native resolutions to maintain playable frame rates.

 

[13Gigatons]

I hate 21:9, I hope that does not become popular or shoved down our throats like 16:9.

I would be OK if 1440 became the new standard though.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

The new standard is 4k, just 3+ years away.

 

[_Rick_]

I hate 21:9, I hope that does not become popular or shoved down our throats like 16:9.

I've been using similar aspect ratios for the last ten years
As long as there's enough vertical space, more horizontal space is good (well, until you can't see what's going on at the other end of the screen anymore).

 

[Kirihuna]

Fixed that.
29"/1080p is just too small for a 21:9 screen, in my opinion. Go check the sizes out at a local shop, so you can compare, but for me 1600 vertical pixels is the way to go.
Of course, going with a cheap 30" is risky, as colors and backlighting won't be great, and you have a higher risk of stuck pixels.

You may want to look at the new Dell 30".

On the other hand, if you're into FPSes, then the 21:9 might be better, as having less pixels to render, means less strain on the graphics card, and no need to drop to non-native resolutions to maintain playable frame rates.

The only reason I wasn't going for the Dell 3014(?), is the price is so high and I don't really want to drop it now.

I'm on a 1680x1050 Dell from 2007, so any upgrade would be good right now.

Also, I play all genres. Mostly MMOs, FPSs, and Dota 2 (not a genre but the only game in that genre I play). Some RPGs. Currently running a GTX 680 2GB SC+

 

[smackababy]

I've been using similar aspect ratios for the last ten years
As long as there's enough vertical space, more horizontal space is good (well, until you can't see what's going on at the other end of the screen anymore).

What I really think I would like about a 21:9 is when developing, I can eliminate dual monitors. Being able to have half of the the screen for my IDE and the other half for whatever without losing much space, would be amazing.

I guess for gaming, if the FOV can be set correctly, it might be pretty good as well. However, if that FOV is fixed in a bad spot, it would be awful.

 

[Lonyo]

Why would you want to eliminate dual monitors?
If anything, dual is good. You can use half your 30" for one thing, the other half for another, and then a second screen for something else.
Even more room.

 

[smackababy]

One, a 30" is twice as expensive as this LG. Two, 30" is extreme overkill for developing on. I still use 2 4:3 monitors at work. That is pretty close to 21:9 in the same screen. Three, removing the bezel entirely would be nice when comparing text and when debugging. But, it is just a luxury use for this item. If it was easy to tell the 1.25 vs 1.09 revs, I might think about grabbing one.

 

[Kirihuna]

One, a 30" is twice as expensive as this LG. Two, 30" is extreme overkill for developing on. I still use 2 4:3 monitors at work. That is pretty close to 21:9 in the same screen. Three, removing the bezel entirely would be nice when comparing text and when debugging. But, it is just a luxury use for this item. If it was easy to tell the 1.25 vs 1.09 revs, I might think about grabbing one.

Anyone's that use the P at the end of it are 1.25 apparently.

Originally it was LG 29EA93 I think, now it's 29EA93-P

 

[smackababy]

I did some research today and couldn't get that verified. I will probably check Microcenter this weekend and see what they have. If I decide to buy it, I will open and test it in the store. Apparently, there might be a menu option that identifies it.

 

[_Rick_]

Why would you want to eliminate dual monitors?

Because cross-calibrating is a nightmare

Didn't stop me from getting a portrait 20" 1200x1600 to put next to my 30", but I should probably get a colorimeter to properly align their color spaces.
Considering that I work mostly at around 50cd/m2, that's still not an easy task, because at low brightness color bandwidth on mid-end screens still isn't great.

 

[Throckmorton]

One, a 30" is twice as expensive as this LG. Two, 30" is extreme overkill for developing on. I still use 2 4:3 monitors at work. That is pretty close to 21:9 in the same screen. Three, removing the bezel entirely would be nice when comparing text and when debugging. But, it is just a luxury use for this item. If it was easy to tell the 1.25 vs 1.09 revs, I might think about grabbing one.

Have you ever tried using a widescreen monitor in place of duals? It's not really possible... applications don't split the screen properly. You have to manually drag the window boundaries, and then they'll get messed up, and you'll have to fix them again.

 

[Throckmorton]

Because cross-calibrating is a nightmare

Didn't stop me from getting a portrait 20" 1200x1600 to put next to my 30", but I should probably get a colorimeter to properly align their color spaces.
Considering that I work mostly at around 50cd/m2, that's still not an easy task, because at low brightness color bandwidth on mid-end screens still isn't great.

50cdm2?? Why so dark?

 

[_Rick_]

50cdm2?? Why so dark?

Hate staring at a bright screen.
Especially with so many UIs being black on white, and my room being rather dark, I try to keep the wall-screen contrast low. Dark screen ios one step. Behind-screen lighting the other.
I should probably also increase the gamma curve value a bit, to get more bearable contrast, and less bright whites.

Have you ever tried using a widescreen monitor in place of duals? It's not really possible... applications don't split the screen properly. You have to manually drag the window boundaries, and then they'll get messed up, and you'll have to fix them again.

Easier than the other way around though.

 

[smackababy]

Have you ever tried using a widescreen monitor in place of duals? It's not really possible... applications don't split the screen properly. You have to manually drag the window boundaries, and then they'll get messed up, and you'll have to fix them again.

Windows + arrow key on Windows 7+ snaps to that side. Left and right split the screen, up is fullscreen and down is minimize. I run multiple windows on a single monitor quite often.