If you look beyond general-purpose use, you can lump curved monitors into three categories: for multitasking (productivity work with several application windows at once), for professional use, and for gaming. Curved monitors tend to be big. The smallest we've seen is 24 inches (measured diagonally); most are 27 inches or larger, with clusters at 30, 34, 35, and 49 inches. The LG 49WL95C-W’s vast screen area and good resolution for its size makes it ideal for professionals who need to keep multiple application windows open at once. Its image quality proved good for text, photos, and video. Connectors include two HDMI 2.0 ports, four downstream USB 3.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 port, and a USB-C port; the latter supports DisplayPort Over USB-C as well as USB Power Delivery, letting you charge a laptop or other device. Thanks to its powerful speaker system, if you want to watch video or crank up the tunes, you can do so without headphones or attached speakers. Who It's For

inch monitors are perfect for gaming and are definitely better than 27-inch ones. The major problem with 32-inch monitors right now is the resolution and refresh rate. The PA34VC Professional Curved Monitor is a cool, sprawling panel designed for creative professionals. Its excellent color accuracy recommends it to video editors, designers, and photographers, while game designers will appreciate its curved 1900R screen with ultrawide aspect ratio as well as its FreeSync support and 100Hz refresh rate. As mentioned, many gaming-focused models employ a curved screen to provide for a more immersive experience. A common curvature for gaming monitors is 1800R, which means that if you were to place enough monitors side by side to form a circle it would have a radius of 1,800mm (1.8 meters). The higher the curvature number, the gentler or shallower the curve. Conversely, the lower the number, the more drastically curved the panel; we've seen monitors with curvature as extreme as 800R. (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)In the professional-content-creator arena, graphic artists and photographers can benefit from extra screen width. They can open and work with two or more images (or several versions of the same photo or illustration) side by side. Ultrawides often let photo or video editors look at their source material in full resolution, while allowing enough screen space alongside it for palettes, toolbars, or timelines to coexist without requiring resizing or shuffling. (Credit: Molly Flores) These panels are also a good substitute for multi-monitor arrays. A 32:9 monitor is twice the width of a 16:9 monitor with the same vertical pixel count. A 49-inch ultrawide with 32:9 aspect ratio gives you a screen size equivalent to two 27-inch monitors put side by side. (Remember again that screen size is measured diagonally, not left to right.) Curved monitors aren't for everyone. They're a mixed bag for gamers, and they don't provide practical advantages at small to medium sizes. Apart from their aesthetic appeal, what sets curved displays apart from other computer monitors is that the edges of the screen face you, which isn't the case with a flat panel. This provides a more panoramic view with less distortion, which can be a boon to gamers, graphic artists, and multitaskers alike. The experience of using a curved display is often described as immersive. It draws you into the scene, lending a feeling of dimensionality that you don't get with a flat panel. Many recent ultrawide monitors, including all the 49-inch gaming and business monitors we've reviewed, are curved, which gives the user a wider field of view with minimal distortion at the edges. Nowadays, there are plenty of good 30 inch monitor options on the market and it might be difficult for you to choose one out of all them. Below, you can find a guide that will help you find the most suitable model. How Big Is Big Enough?

Many ultrawide gaming monitors are available as well. Not every gamer or game will benefit from an ultrawide panel, but they're particularly suited for racing games, flight simulators, and other genres that give players a panoramic vista or reward gamers by letting them see areas in their peripheral vision. You can’t find many 1440p 32-inch monitors on the market as the majority of them are 4K. 1440p are usually the 27-inch monitors. With 49 inches of screen real estate, the Philips Brilliance 499P9H is a delight for multitaskers. Its curved ultrawide screen with 5K native resolution lets you work with photos and intricate diagrams or view two or three program windows side by side. It's bright, it supports HDR, and it has good color coverage. Like others in its class, the 499P9H is on the pricey side, but it's a highly capable display that's easy to recommend for any office seeking a multitasking monster and a good user experience. Who It's For Users have been waiting for many years for OLED technology to switch to PC monitors. But it’s not close yet despite ongoing teasing and large technical exhibitions. Gamers have additional potential concerns. Depending on the specific game and your playing style, ultrawide monitors can be a boon or a hindrance for multiplayer gaming. The panels can deliver benefits in many MOBAs, battle royale titles, and real-time-strategy (RTS) games. But hardcore esports competitors may actually want a smaller, more focused view of the proceedings without, say, being distracted by enemies that appear suddenly at the periphery of the screen. Some esports pros strongly prefer a compact 16:9 monitor to keep the action in the primary field of view. (Credit: Molly Flores)inch monitors are suitable for working, playing games, watching films on Netflix, YouTube, etc. It’s very important to choose a model that fully fits your needs, wishes and purposes. When choosing a PC monitor, you need to get the one that will nicely fit on your desk and give you a lot of screen space. People used to buy 20-inch monitors in the past. Though the current ultrawide wave is the most radical expression, computer monitors have gotten progressively wider relative to their height over the decades. Around the turn of the millennium, many monitors had a boxier 4:3 aspect ratio, which originally came from motion pictures (it's the standard aspect ratio of 35mm film). Around 2005, monitors with a slightly wider 16:10 aspect ratio came into vogue, but their popularity was short-lived (although 16:10 laptops are now booming). Within five years the desktop standard became a 16:9 ratio—the dimensions of a high-definition television (HDTV) image. (Credit: Molly Flores) The 16:9 ratio remains the most popular today. Familiar resolutions such as 720p (1,280 by 720 pixels), 1080p (1,920 by 1,080), 1440p/QHD (2,560 by 1,440), and 4K or UHD (3,840 by 2,160) all have a 16:9 aspect ratio. The first 21:9 monitors appeared in 2012, and 32:9 displays in 2017.

Many ultrawide business monitors have curved screens, although their degree of curvature tends to be milder than those of curved gaming displays. More on that in a moment. Ideally, 1920×1080 resolution is suitable for monitors not bigger than 24 inches. 1440p will be perfect for a 27-inch monitor. 4K is good for monitors with a size from 27 to 32 inches. Give preferences to LG monitor models. Few viewers would normally be that far from the screen, except perhaps when watching movies in a group. When you do move closer, especially with a large ultrawide monitor, the curve makes for a panoramic experience as the screen's edges almost seem to wrap partway around you. This creates a three-dimensional, immersive effect and is often said to reduce eyestrain. In recent years, curved monitors have gone from being rarities to familiar sights. They tend to be panels for gaming and professional design and content-creation applications, but some general-purpose home and business monitors have adopted a curved design, too. And while they're certainly ultramodern-looking, their appeal goes beyond mere appearance. The type of monitor depends on the features you want it to have. Some people are looking for a nice display, some value connectivity the most.

Next-Gen Console Gaming

The slim, feature-rich Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is a feast for the eyes, and the 32:9 aspect-ratio curved monitor to beat for immersive PC gaming. Its slim, sleek frame, paired with a gorgeous OLED panel, means that this 49-inch curved monitor is sure to impress even the staunchest of ultrawide naysayers. The OLED G9 has exceptional color accuracy and color-gamut coverage for a gaming monitor, not to mention the magnificent contrast that we’ve come to expect from an OLED screen. It is also a smart monitor, which means it has access to Samsung’s online gaming hub, as well as other media features you might see on Samsung TVs, including plenty of streaming apps. If money’s not an object and you need to go big and broad, the Odyssey OLED G9 is the one. Who It’s For

A few monitors in this class can also make use of a USB-C port for a virtual keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) switch. Such a feature lets you control two computers connected to the monitor via a single keyboard and mouse, as long as one computer is connected via the USB-C port. Users doing render work or data processing on a second PC might be attracted to this unusual, space-saving feature. (Credit: Zlata Ivleva)It doesn’t matter if you’re going to buy a monitor because your old one broke or you just want the latest model – getting a new monitor is a big deal. Generally, ultrawide business displays have an abundance of ports: at least one HDMI and one DisplayPort input, both upstream and downstream USB ports, and USB Type-C ports are typical. With many newer ultrawide business monitors, the USB-C port can transfer data as well as the video signal (the latter using the DisplayPort over USB protocol), while simultaneously powering or charging the laptop from which it's displaying the image (if applicable). (Credit: Zlata Ivleva) Philips' Brilliance 499P9H is a valuable addition to offices that can afford and have room for it. Its enormous curved screen makes it easy to work with multiple application windows at once, and between its high resolution and spot-on color coverage it handles photos and videos deftly. Extras like a Windows Hello-compatible webcam and a built-in KVM switch complete the picture.